Fake Facts, Real Consequences: Mitigating Risk in the Digital Age

The law library landscape has changed. We all know this; sometimes it feels like every single article you read opens with that premise.

However, despite the cliche, the amount of change in technology in the past 20 years has entirely revolutionized how law librarians work. There has been a seismic shift from working with physical books in an actual library to managing static digital databases and on to working in dynamic, online, and AI-informed environments.

There has been an absolute explosion in online content. It has mushroomed, and it can be challenging to keep up with the sheer volume of it. This is weighted against the risk of missing something that may be vital. Next, throw in the double-edged sword of AI - our growing reliance on it, how much easier it can make the job, and the real risks it can introduce to the pipelines.

Technology hasn’t made law librarians redundant - as is often the warning cry - but it has and will continue to reshape the landscape in which they work.

The Changing Role of the Law Librarian

Cast your mind back 20 years. Fall-Out Boy is on the radio, Juicy Couture tracksuits are everywhere, and YouTube made its debut. At that point, print material was the core of a law librarian’s workload. While online content was beginning to exist, it was limited, and many essential sources were still only available in print.

By comparison, recent research by UK media regulator Oxcom, shows that YouTube is the second most-watched media service, behind only the BBC. The move to digital has been all-encompassing. With most of the content law librarians have access to now online, their role has become more strategic. They’re now managing the distribution of online information and subscriptions; they need to have substantial knowledge of what and why certain information is needed in order to anticipate that requirement. But, on top of that, law librarians have also needed to become risk mitigators and the intermediaries of AI in the process.

So tech-fluency and digital ethics will now be a mainstay of law librarians’ workloads.

The Challenge of Too Much Content

You don’t need to be a law librarian to be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of content available these days. It seems every website has a blog, every outlet produces content. Newsletters, court filings, regulatory updates, policy reports, government documents, online news, press releases - the list is endless.

This tidal wave of information creates an issue: How do you cut through the noise? On one hand, you risk over-filtering the information and potentially missing out on something important. But on the other hand, you risk providing too much, making lawyers disinclined to read their alerts, and they will miss that information anyway.

There needs to be a balance of relevance, accuracy, and timeliness. Law librarians now need to work really closely with their end-users to discover what their specific needs are - how much information do they need and how frequently? This will change based on their role and why they need the content.

Risks in AI-Driven Legal Research

Arguably, one of the biggest disruptors to the law library space is the rise of AI. If you attended any library or knowledge management event this year, you couldn’t escape the scores of talks on how AI is impacting the landscape.

And there’s a clear reason for that - it could reduce a huge amount of the ‘admin’ of being a law librarian that cannot already be automated. This will ensure that library staff can do much more with the limited time and resources available to them.

However, on the flip side, there are significant risks that cannot be ignored: 

• Hallucinations - We’ve covered this in some detail before, but AI hallucinations have already caused real-life ramifications for law firms. The potential damage caused by case law or regulations that AI has invented is huge, which puts significant pressure on law librarians to fact-check their results - something they may not have had to consider in the past, considering the reliability of their sources.
  
  
• Copyright Violations - Similarly, AI is in the spotlight (and not just in law libraries) due to its failure to adhere to copyright laws. Multiple authors, artists, and creators have launched legal battles against AI operators for using - and disseminating - their work without permission. In outsourcing aggregation and curation to AI, librarians are at risk of using sources that firms don’t license or have rights to.
  
  
• Disinformation - Introducing AI to the information pipeline - without proper training and detailed oversight - can therefore generate skewed insights or false narratives, or place unfair emphasis on information gathered from unreliable sources.

But, this does not mean that all is lost. Law librarians are now in the unique position that they can build better, more accurate pipelines by embracing the benefits of all of this new technology, while mitigating the risks.

Building Better Information Pipelines

A well-designed information pipeline is the backbone of modern legal research. In this new environment, law librarians are not just information managers - they play a strategic role in generating trust. The goal is no longer simply to collect content, but to create systems that filter, verify, and deliver it in a way that is reliable, relevant, and timely.

A strong pipeline might include:

• Trusted Source Curation – A defined list of vetted, high-quality, and licensed sources to avoid copyright and credibility issues.
  
  
• Metadata & Tagging – Structured categorization so that search and retrieval are quick and context-aware.
  
  
• AI Usage Guidelines – Clear policies on when and how AI is used, with a human always in the loop.
  
  
• Fact-Checking Layers – Verification processes before content reaches the end user, especially if AI has played a role in its generation or summarization.
  
  
• End-User Feedback Loops – Regular check-ins with lawyers and staff to adjust scope, frequency, and format.

By putting these measures in place, law librarians can use AI to take on repetitive or time-intensive tasks - like initial search queries, tagging, or summarization - while keeping control of the accuracy and relevance of the final product.

Striking the Right Balance

The challenge is to have enough information to be comprehensive, without drowning your users in noise, and to embrace AI without putting it in the driving seat.

This is a balancing act:

• Too much content, and the important details get lost. Too little, and you risk missing something critical.
  
  
• Too much reliance on AI, and you risk hallucinations or unlicensed content. Too little, and you miss out on efficiency and speed.

The sweet spot comes from an intentional blend of human judgment, ethical sourcing, and targeted automation.

Future-Proofing the Law Library

Looking ahead, the role of the law librarian will continue to expand. Vable CEO Matthew Dickinson talked about how he thinks technology will change the landscape in the future on The Geek in Review podcast (you can check it out here)

But what we expect for the future is:

• Greater involvement in managing risk – Not just finding and distributing information, but actively shaping firm policy on AI and data governance.
  
  
• Closer cross-department collaboration  – Working with IT, compliance, and legal teams to design resilient systems.
  
  
• An increasing role holding the keys to AI – Helping colleagues understand how AI reached an answer, and whether that answer can be trusted.

Far from being made obsolete, law librarians are becoming more essential - guardians of accuracy, protectors of copyright, and navigators of an increasingly complex information ecosystem.

Conclusion

The law library landscape has changed beyond recognition, but that change brings opportunity. By building better information pipelines - ones that combine the speed and scale of AI with the discernment and ethics of a skilled librarian - firms can reduce risk, maintain credibility, and ensure that the right information reaches the right people at the right time.

In an era of information overload and AI disruption, the law librarian’s role is clear: curate, verify, and deliver trusted knowledge that stands up in court and in the court of public opinion.