The development of the Internet, cloud technologies and cheaper hosting services have significantly affected the spread of various databases, both online and offline. These include the currently popular reference and legal systems. These are online and offline databases that contain detailed information about decrees, laws, regulations and other information that various departments and enterprises can use in their daily work.
Implementation of the help system
In the days before the invention of the Internet, information about changes in laws, regulations and decrees were published in print media. With the development of the field of electronic media - CDs, it became possible to use offline versions of reference books on your computer. True, to maintain relevance, it was necessary to release new media every time.
Then the Internet came and did its bit. Now you can, without leaving your home, find out what has changed in a particular area of legislation, as well as find out what the document was before. Moreover, the information will always be up to date.
Working principles
ModernA legal reference system is not only a set of useful data. This is a convenient rubricator, search and friendly interface. Everything is arranged in such a way that the user using the system can quickly find any information of interest to him. At the same time, it must be reliable and up-to-date.
Characteristics of the legal reference system
From the properties of any help system can be distinguished:
- Functionality. The system allows you to quickly find the information you need.
- Convenience. No need to flip tons of books, everything is available through search and catalog.
- Relevance. With the development of the Internet, it is enough for developers to update everything on one central server so that all information becomes up-to-date.
- Autonomy. The ability to use the offline version, for example, for long trips to regions with poor Internet.
This list of legal reference system features is not exhaustive and may vary between implementations.
Domestic products
Russian legal reference systems are represented by three main products: Garant, ConsultantPlus and Codex. It is worth taking a closer look at each of them to find out the pros and cons.
ConsultantPlus
Reference and legal system "Consultant Plus" first announced itself in 1992. The history of its creation is closely intertwined with the Garant system. That was the name of the first sample of the product, whichsaw the world in 1990. Two graduates of Moscow State University - D. Novikov and D. Persheev worked on it. During development, as often happens, disagreements arose between the partners. Persheev wanted to increase the final price of the software and expand its functionality. Novikov, on the other hand, suggested delving into the distribution and availability of the product. As a result, the first one got the "Garant" and all the initial developments, and the second one had to start everything from scratch. This is how "Consultant Plus" was born.
Despite the fact that "Garant" was almost ready, "Consultant" immediately quickly began to bypass the competitor. Perhaps it was the correct product distribution policy and its promotion, while "Garant" focused on manufacturability and "goodies".
Today, the legal reference system "Consultant Plus" occupies a large part of the market for the provision of information services in this sector.
Description
As of the beginning of 2017, the Consultant's databases contain more than 102 million documents. The main users of the legal reference system are students, teachers, heads of enterprises and organizations, accountants and lawyers.
The main sections where you can get information look like this:
- legislation;
- legislative comments;
- document forms;
- jurisprudence;
- consultations for various fields;
- international legal acts;
- technical regulations.
An interesting feature of the system is that each item is divided into so-called "information banks". This gives the legal reference system "ConsultantPlus" a special flexibility and modularity. That is, it is possible to use exactly those documents that are suitable for a specific task. In this way, developers can complete various areas with their own "distributions" - accounting, legal, budget, construction, medical, etc.
Interaction of the "ConsultantPlus" system with the user
Using the legal reference system "ConsultantPlus" is quite simple. The main element of navigation is the search in the database. With found documents, you can perform many different actions, for example, save, print or send by e-mail.
System cost
The online version of the system makes it possible to use a limited set of documents for free.
Apps available on mobile platforms also provide non-commercial access to most documents. There is a caching option that allows you to use the product offline.
Separately, you can highlight the application "ConsultantPlus: Student", which is equipped not only with access to legal information, but also has several textbooks that will help students understand the terms of the studiedscience.
Features and capabilities
Summing up, we can highlight the main functionality and unusual "buns" of the electronic reference legal system "ConsultantPlus".
An interesting function "Documents under control" will allow you to put the desired document into monitoring mode. As soon as the legislation changes something in it or completely removes it, the user will be immediately notified about it.
A quick look at any document to understand its necessity in a certain situation is facilitated by a table of contents formed from links for quick navigation.
Embedding your comments or notes in the text of the document will help you quickly find an important place later. You can also create your own collection of documents, acts and sample forms in a separate folder.
Garant
Since the legal reference system "Garant", in fact, is "ConsultantPlus", the history of its appearance was described above. Her influence in the market is slightly less than that of "Consultant", but still she has her own audience.
Structure of the software package
Reference and legal system "Garant", as well as "KP", is divided into information blocks. These are instances of databases formed according to a common principle. These blocks form one whole product, which is focused on a specific user.
The system has several upgrade and access options. That is, it can be used at the enterprise for the complexmachines or locally, update both via the Internet and using electronic drives.
There is a separate product that is produced in cooperation with 1C - "1C:Garant Legal Support".
Features and capabilities
Reference and legal system "Garant" has a modern user-friendly interface. Even an unprepared user can intuitively understand how the product works.
Search for obsolete documents will allow you to find laws, regulations and decrees that have ever existed. In this case, all links, comments and notes will also rely on the same time period.
In the "Guarantor" the ability to create an interface "for yourself" is supported. That is, the user can give the appearance of the system a special look that is convenient for him.
In order to track user activity, there is a mechanism for the history of actions performed - something similar to a log in browsers. This environment saves search requests, found and viewed documents, which are then easy to pick up and analyze.
In the network versions of the computer reference and legal system "Garant" it is possible to create special folders with selected documents. They can be configured so that it is convenient to share data with other users by restricting access.
Code
In addition to the main legal reference systems, there is another one that is not as well known as the first two, but allis worthy of attention. It's called "The Code". This is a legal reference system that appeared back in 1991 on DOS platforms. With the release of Windows 95, Codex moved to this operating system.
Like her two "sisters", she is a huge complex of documents, regulations and bills.
The system also has a modular approach, that is, you can connect one or another set of necessary documents and databases.
Search in the complex is multi-level, divided into specifics - you can search by situation, in intelligent mode or by individual attributes.
Comparison of legal reference systems
In fact, comparing such software systems is like drawing analogies between the families of Linux and Windows operating systems. Since they all have modularity, the ability to select specific categories of documents and sections, you have to choose between ease of use and support.
Meanwhile, the distribution among the three presented systems by the volume of users looks like this: the first place is occupied by "ConsultantPlus", followed by "Garant", and then - "Kodeks".
Judging by the reviews, some users note that the convenience of the Guarantor is an order of magnitude higher, others say that updating documents in the Consultant is faster.
The approach to system resources is also noted."Garant", according to users, is much less productive on weak machines.
In general, it is hardly possible to draw any parallel between the systems. How many people, so many opinions, someone is used to the old interfaces, someone is not so important how quickly documents are updated … That is, the choice of a specific system should be justified by current circumstances and conditions.
