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37 FCIL Newsl. 1 (2022-2023)

handle is hein.lbr/aafcnlt0037 and id is 1 raw text is: Volume 37, Issue 1 October 2022 FOREIGN, COMPARATIVE, AND INTERNATIONAL LAW SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION Resource Revie s: EC LEX Part of series of reviews prepared by the Electronic Research Interest Group Juan-Andrks Fuentes INTRODUCTION ECOIiLIEX is a free electronic legal database that is a product of joint efforts by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). HOW WELL-KNOWN IS THE SOURCE? Among environmental law experts, there is consensus about the prestige and usefulness of ECOLEX. However, in times when en- vironmental law must be a priority for all, especially politicians and civil society, the dissemination of technical and accurate in- formation on the topic leads us to write this review. In that sense, some efforts could be dedicated to improving the ranking appear- ance of this source in commercial search engines. Terms of art such as international environmental law database did not list ECOLEX in the results. Having said that, the results of this query could vary, depend- ing on the device used, its location, and the browser used, among other factors. HOW ACCESSIBLE IS IT? ECOLEX is an open source, available on computers, tablets, and it also has a mobile web design. There is no need to create an account to access it, which is a distinctive feature. Likewise, its images are sharp and the load-speed of the website is optimal. Perhaps one issue that could be improved is that when searching for the word ECOLEX on popular search engines, it does appear first on the results ranking, but it is stated that no information is available for this page because the website prevent- ed the search engine from creating a page description. Taking care of this aspect might help to increase its accessibility to users. HOW AUT HORITATIVE IS IT? This source involves collaborative work by three specialized entities with universal scope: FAO, IUCN, and UNEP. Therefore, it is trustworthy. HOW COMPREHENSIVE IS IT, IN TERMS OF ITS CONTENTS? This database is comprehensive because it aims to cover every aspect of the legal en- vironmental field, as will be detailed below. So far, it has made significant progress to- wards that objective. HOW EASY-O-USE (USER-FRIENDLY) IS IT? The main content of the website is visible on the home page. Users do not need spe- cial training to take advantage of ECOLEX because the website is intuitive. The legal content is organized into five (5) topics, which are self-explanatory and are listed below the search bar: treaties, treaty deci- sions, lgtislationf, jurisps dence, and litera- ture. Even though the information is accessible in the original language it was adopted, ECOLEX fulfills its purpose to be a univer- sal specialized database because the website structure is in simple English, French and/or Spanish, with helpful key- words that give the user a basic idea about the content of the search-result documents. Additionally, searches can be performed in other languages. HOW U U T ITY O ANWER OTH OMMO ANDRAR continued on page 2

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