A Case Study on H2O OpenCasebook : Uncovering Digital Reading in Law School

Abstract

This study investigates the digital reading experiences of law students and conducts a usability test on H2O, a digital open-casebook platform developed by the Harvard Library Innovation Lab. 9 in-depth user interviews and 16 user surveys on digital reading experiences of law students were conducted. The results of this study provide insights into the reading preferences and habits of law students that can be used to inform the design of digital learning tools in law school. Despite anecdotal reports that earlier users of the platform preferred physical casebooks, we found that many law students now prefer using digital casebooks. More than half of the participants (53.3%) in our study reported that they preferred digital casebooks or that the format did not matter. Even for those preferring print books, cost or weight reduction was often more important than format preference, and print-preferring users expressed an interest in using digital annotation tools, collaboration and additional search features. This study suggests that student preferences for learning materials are rapidly changing - a change that may have been accelerated by the pandemic - and that assumptions about student preference may need to be reevaluated. It also demonstrates the importance of comparing old vs. new offerings, such as print vs. digital, to evaluate the strength of the preference relative to other preferences such as cost, and to teach participants what new features are enabled by the new format.