46 | Principal’s Overview
LAW LIBRARY BLAZES TRAIL THROUGH REVISED LICENSING AGREEMENT
Library is better able to focus on its core activities with respect to collection development and the processing of the material which is sent to vLex. • Development of Caribbean Jurisprudence The reach of CARILAW has expanded since 2017, with almost 500 subscriptions in 28 countries. The Law Library now has more extra regional courts citing Caribbean judgments and more importantly, more Caribbean courts are citing Caribbean judgments! • Increased Revenues Given the global reach of vLex, the Law Library has seen an increase of 34% in revenues earned from CARILAW over the last 5 years. This has surpassed expectations, with further growth projected, as the potential of some markets has not yet been realised. The success to date of the UWI/vLex Agreement stems from the relationship that was developed over many years between the two entities, which started informally and later became official through the signing of Agreements. It is expected that over the next academic year, other products will be added to CARILAW, which could lead to further growth and development of the resource. NEW MURAL CELEBRATES FOLK CHARACTERS OF THE CARIBBEAN Travelers along the University Drive section of the Gordon Cummings Highway were been treated to a new piece of scenery in the year under review, in the form of a mural on the external wall of the Frank Worrell Hall. The first phase of the project was facilitated by a grant from the Arts and Sports Promotion Fund of the Ministry of Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment. Work started in March 2022 and was completed within two weeks, with 150 feet of the wall being painted. The lead artist, Neville Legall explained that the project was the brainchild of former Campus Principal, Professor the Most Honourable Eudine Barriteau. Mr Legall stated “We were at a fundraising event about three years ago, I think it was called Fashion, Art and Jazz … Professor Barriteau spoke to me and said she had this idea of a mural running down this stretch of the wall. The wall wasn’t yet plastered, it was a rough wall, but it was just an idea to see this wall
Background: In April 2017, the Faculty of Law Library embarked on an ambitious agreement with the then Justis Publishing Ltd (now vLex), to manage the Law Library’s CARILAW collection and to “promote, market and sell the product in all regions globally”. The CARILAW collection, a searchable database created in 2003, is made up of the judgments of the courts of the English-speaking Caribbean, dating back in some instances to the 1950s, and totals approximately 50,000 records. The database, while accessible freely to members of the UWI community, was available on a subscription basis to others. This meant that the Law Library was not only responsible for the collection, processing and maintenance of the print collection, but also for producing and maintaining the online resource. As the demand for the database grew, increased pressure was placed on the Library’s resources to manage the subscription accounts while keeping pace with technological advances. Eventually, the situation became untenable, as an inordinate amount of time was being spent on database administration alone. Additionally, staff did not have the technological expertise to enable the Library to perform efficiently as a modern database publisher. The time had come for an alternate arrangement to be put in place. During this period, interest was shown by two legal publishing companies based in the United Kingdom to license CARILAW as part of their offerings. The Campus considered the proposals and accepted the proposal from vLex, thereby developing a formal relationship with that entity. Renewal of Agreement The Campus’ renewal of the Agreement with vLex on February 18, 2022, saw the two entities sharing a 50% split in net revenues. Some of the benefits of the partnership between the two entities include: • Focus on Core Activities With vLex handling the technology development, account management, marketing and other administrative arrangements of CARILAW, the Law
THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES CAVE HILL CAMPUS ANNUAL REPORT TO COUNCIL 2021/2022
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