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	AustLII User Survey 1998	AustLII Usability Study Feedback
You are here: AustLII >> About AustLII >> AustLII User Survey 1998

Summary

Last updated: 30 Sept 1998

The 1998 AustLII User Survey received 1,554 responses in the period during which the survey was run. We'd like to thank those users who took the time to respond to our survey, especially those who wrote comments on improvements they'd like to see (over 90 pages worth). Your comments are being read by the staff now.

As promised we are releasing the aggregate results for all respondents, as well as some notes on differences observed when results where calculated for specific groups. By way of general observation:

• In interpreting results generally it should be noted that the fact that the survey was run on AustLII (and linked only from the home page) has probably skewed results, usually in AustLII's favour. This is particularly true of questions that referred to other online services.

• Being voluntary, the survey was most likely filled in by regular users, which may also affect aggregate results.

• Response was generally positive although definite key areas were marked as needing attention. Particular attention is being paid to user comments, where many users voiced concern over currency and accuracy. See User Comments for a summary of these.

• Most popular databases were the High Court, Commonwealth Acts and state legislation.

• Male users are slightly better represented than female users across most groups. It is suggested that this is more a reflection of Internet usage generally than AustLII usage in particular.

• The two largest user groups were students and legal professionals (approximately 33% each). Most users (42%) were from NSW -- the next largest states were Victoria (16%), Queensland (11%), South Australia and the ACT (8% each).

• Most respondents (71%) use AustLII at least once a week. 89% use AustLII at least once a month.

• When asked to pick the single most important feature, users tended to favour free access and currency (27% each), followed by coverage and integrity (14% and 17% respectively).

• AustLII users also use SCALEplus (32%), Butterworths Online (24%) and Foundation Law (24%). AustLII users found that AustLII compared favourably with these services (although no basis for comparison was suggested by the survey).

• Users tended to use AustLII for work (57%), then study (39%) -- although a large number noted that they used it for both.

Additional Information

For more information, see

• Summary of Responses (All Respondents)

• Demographic Comparisons (under construction)

• Summary of User Comments

• Other Database Usage by State

If you have further comments or queries about any of these survey results you can contact AustLII at

feedback@austlii.edu.au