ALA Technology and Information Systems Flashcards

Which term describes the legal and IT obligation to preserve electronic evidence once litigation is reasonably anticipated?

Answer: Litigation hold

A litigation hold (also called a legal hold) suspends routine document destruction policies to preserve potentially relevant electronically stored information.

What is the primary benefit of integrating time-tracking software directly with the firm's billing system?

Answer: Reducing manual data entry errors and accelerating invoice generation

Direct integration automatically transfers recorded time entries into billing, minimizing transcription errors and speeding up the billing cycle.

Which technology allows attorneys to search the full text of scanned paper documents?

Answer: Optical character recognition (OCR)

OCR software converts scanned images of text into machine-readable characters, enabling full-text search of digitized paper documents.

What does a VPN (Virtual Private Network) provide for law firm remote workers?

Answer: An encrypted tunnel for secure remote access to firm resources

A VPN encrypts internet traffic and creates a secure connection, allowing remote staff to access the firm's internal network safely.

In a legal IT context, what is metadata?

Answer: Data embedded in files describing their origin, authorship, and editing history

Metadata is information stored within documents that may reveal authorship, revision history, and prior versions—often critical in litigation.

Which IT governance framework is most commonly used to align technology investments with law firm business objectives?

Answer: COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and Related Technologies)

COBIT provides a framework for IT governance and management, helping organizations align technology strategy with business goals and manage risk.