Electronic evidence: e-mails come back to haunt companies in court

by: Verespej, Michael A.

Source: Electronic evidence: e-mails come back to haunt companies in court. (1998). Verespej, Michael A.. Industry Week/IW, 247(12). Retrieved September 17, 2009 from Ebsco http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ulh&AN=830939&site=ehost-live&scope=site


Abstract

The article shows that e-mail is like a written memo but in electronioc format. Several instances wherein a company lost a court case due to some recovered e-mails was given in the article. It was further explained that email is not only found within the computer of the sender and the receiver, it can also be found in other computer for instance the computer hosting the e-mail server. The article also enumerated several measure in order for employers to avoid or reduce legal liabilities.

What I have learned?
1. I have learned that e-mail can be use in court and it can be a strong evidence.
2. I have learned that we should be careful in we write in our e-mails since what we have written could be use against us.
3. I have also learned that if I will be an employer, I should put a guidelines on how to use e-mails and also other electronic resources of the company.

Implication.

We librarian use e-mails in several ways, one is to answer queries of our clients and another is to disseminate new and timely information to our users. Upon reading this article I realized that a written rule or guidelines in using the electronic resources of the the library is essential. This rules and guidelines can be use to inform the user that electronic mail can be use in court. The article also made me realized that we should be careful in what we write and we should always report to the authorities all unwanted e-mails that we receive. We should also be observant in the way we answer e-mails since this could reflect the kind of service that we give to our clients. This e-mail can be used to prove whether we are doing our specified jobs or we are not working the way we should work.