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Monday, August 04, 2008
Ind. Law - ILB makes the complete history of the Indiana Code of 1971 accessible; and a plea for funding
Today I am very pleased to announce that I have been able to make available online the complete legislative history of the Indiana Code of 1971. Here is the preface:
This is the complete history of the deliberations of the Indiana Statute Revision Commission, covering the course of its existence - 1969-1970.The plea. I started the Indiana Law Blog over five years ago with a number of goals:I served as the Director of the Commission. I kept a copy of every official document. These copies have been stored away for nearly 40 years, in large part because it was nearly impossible to find anything in the foot-high stack of papers.
Recently when I began looking into the current status of the Indiana Code, I turned to this invaluable history and determined to make it generally available. This involved quite a bit of effort.
I have scanned all documents [the files occupy 50MB], arranged them, and created indices making them accessible both chronologically and by topic. As they are scanned documents, they are not searchable by word. But that seems unnecessary due to the arrangements.
A lot of people whose names are now a part of history contributed to the creation of the Indiana Code of 1971. This record is a memorial to their work.
Marcia J. Oddi
August 4, 2008
- One was to keep track of Indiana appellate decisions at both the state and federal level, and to put a spotlight on our courts.
- Another was to bring together law-related stories from all over the state, and news from outside the state that might have an impact here, creating a kind of shared warehouse of knowledge -- I have seen too much of people in various counties re-solving the same problems.
- And I wanted to help create an Indiana-wide legal community so no matter whether you are a big city lawyer or in an isolated rural county, whether you are located across the border from Chicago or Louisville, you can still access the internet and read material that might actually be important to you.
- Also, and this was essential, I wanted to tie things together -- I didn't want to have to scratch my head and think -- I've read something like that before. Hence my hopefully very accessible archives, going back to 2003 and even before.
- One more goal was to show the public that "law" impacts much of what we do and is not limited to court decisions or statute books.
- A final goal was to be a spark for new ideas and new ways of doing things. For instance, well over four years ago now the Indiana Law Blog received authority to post Supreme Court transfer lists every week. And the Indiana Law Blog long argued for making not-for-publication opinions more available; as they now are.
I continue to hope that Indiana law firms, business organizations, and not-for-profit associations will sign on as substantial annual supporters of the ILB so that I may continue my efforts.
Current supporters of the ILB, to whom I am very grateful, are listed in the blog's right-hand column. The ISBA this July renewed its support for a second year. DoxPop signed on in April.
Other than these contributors, the Indiana Law Blog, along with the ILB's Resources on Judicial Retention and other similar projects I hope to undertake in the future, is entirely self-funded. Hence this plea.
Now where is that complete legislative history of the Indiana Code of 1971? Access it here.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 4, 2008 02:24 PM
Posted to About the Indiana Law Blog | Indiana Government | Indiana Law