INTERNET LEGAL RESEARCH WEEKLY
February 9, 2003
Tom MighellWelcome to Issue #100 of the Internet Legal Research Weekly, a newsletter that delivers relevant and timely legal research information, and other fun stuff, to your inbox every Sunday. If you like what you read, please forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be interested, and encourage him or her to do the same! To subscribe, all you have to do is visit Inter Alia and fill out the subscription form -- it's free!
100. Cien. A Benjamin. I can't believe I'm writing my 100th issue. When I started this newsletter back in August of 2000, my intent was to provide lawyers and other legal professionals with the tools needed to effectively leverage the Internet as a legal research resource. My thanks to those of you who receive my words each week -- if it weren't for you I wouldn't be around.
And away we go…..
News Update
What? Spam is a problem?
InfoWorld has a lengthy article on current efforts to combat spam.A workshop on how spam is a BIG problem
The Federal Trade Commission will host a three-day workshop to discuss problems with spam.And while we're on the subject...
Those wily spammers are figuring out ways to get around spam filters -- creative punctuation. (Warning: contains adult subject matter)A new look for FindLaw
Law portal FindLaw is sporting a new look these days, with more compact topic areas and soothing, spring-like pastel colors.The top 250
Looking for ideas to spruce up your firm website? Check out the 250 law firm websites honored in the 2003 Internet Marketing Attorney Awards. There are mentions for small, mid-size, and international firms, too.Surf's up, but who's paying attention?
Fewer and fewer, it seems. A study by web analytics company WebSideStory find that fewer Internet users are "surfing" these days, preferring instead to go directly to the site they want. According to the survey, 64 percent arrive at sites through direct navigation -- that's up from 53% last year. This is what I would hope to see as Internet users mature in their abilities to search the web. In all of my seminars I tell people that the best way to find what you're looking for on the Internet is to "know where you need to go before you need to go there." Looks like more and more people are taking that advice.And in another study....
If you're thinking about implementing a personal Internet use policy at work, read this first: a survey by the Center for e-Service reports that Americans spend more time at home on the Internet for work reasons than they spend on the Internet at work for personal reasons. Get that? The survey finds that those who have access to the Internet both at home and at work spend an average of 5.9 hours per week at home using the Internet for work reasons. That compares with 3.7 hours per week spent at work using the Internet for personal reasons. So we more than make up for our personal surfing at work by doing more work surfing at home, right? Not necessarily. The survey also shows that for those without home Internet access, personal use of the Internet at work jumps all the way up to 6.5 hours per week. That's almost a whole work day per week. Yikes.Finding websites you can't see
As many of you may know, the Invisible Web contains many high-quality resources not available via traditional search engines. Noted web search guru Chris Sherman co-hosts a 45-minute online "webinar" on Using the Invisible Web for Competitive Intelligence. If you're interested, there's a pitch for a competitive intelligence product called Intellimagic that takes up most of the second half of the seminar.Attack of the Blawgs
Time now for my weekly report on new law-related weblogs. First up are LawMuse, from a 3L at Notre Dame School of Law, and Naked Ownership, yet another Louisiana blawg. Also new is Attorneys Suck, which features mostly personal musings by the self-styled "Incompetent Attorney." InstaLawyer is a weblog covering "news, events, links and philosophies from the point of view of trial lawyers who represent the interests of regular people." And New York lawyer John Maltbie goes live with actualmalice.com, a blawg devoted to libel, privacy, newsgathering, and other First Amendment issues.
The State of the Internet, 2003
Throughout the first 100 issues, I have tried to understand how and why people use the Internet, and apply that knowledge towards helping legal professionals efficiently conduct research on the Web. One terrific source of information is the study conducted yearly by the UCLA Center for Communication Policy -- "The UCLA Internet Report -- Surveying the Digital Future." This week I want to take a look at some of the latest findings, and what they might mean for the future of Internet searching.
The study first asks, who's online? 71.1 percent of Americans went online in 2002, just slightly lower than the 72.3 percent online in 2001. Although the number of users stayed the same, the amount of time spent online increased, from 9.8 hours per week in 2001 to 11.1 hours per week last year. The difference in time spent online between new and experienced users is fairly significant -- 5.5 hours per week for newbies, and 15.8 hours per week for hardcore Internet addicts. The number of people who have Internet access at home jumped over 25%, to 60 percent of users. An interesting statistic is that the number of "new" Internet users seems relatively low; last year 15.1 percent of the respondents reporting being online under two years. That means 85 percent of the users surveyed have been online longer than two years.
As you might expect, the most popular Internet activity is e-mail and instant messaging, for 87.9 percent of the users. Web surfing or browsing came in second (76%), then there was a big drop-off to reading news (51.9%), accessing entertainment information (46.4%), and shopping and buying online (44.5%). One statistic I watch carefully is the users' ratings of their ability to use the Internet. In 2002, 63.1 percent of the users ranked their Internet abilities as good or excellent. While this is down from the 65.5 percent in 2001, it's still a pretty decent number, but I'm not all that sure it's accurate. In my experience, people often overestimate their abilities on the Web; Google is a big enabler of that perception, helping users find information with (often) little effort.
One statistic I do NOT understand concerns the question posed to Internet dropouts, those who stopped using the Web for one reason or another. 47.8 percent stated they do not miss ANYTHING about the Internet. Gee, my DSL line was out of commission two days this week, and I was about to slit my wrists...
On the bright side, Internet users appear to be watching fewer episodes of the Anna Nicole Show. The study found that users watched 11.2 hours of television per week last year, compared to 12.3 hours in 2001, and Internet users watched an average of 4.8 hours less of television per week than non-users. Another encouraging statistic concerns the quality of information found on the Internet. In 2000, 67.3 percent of survey respondents stated that the Internet was an important source of information -- in 2002, the number is down to 60.5 percent. And only 52.8 percent of the users believe most of the information available online is reliable and accurate. I think this is a good thing -- Internet users are learning how to be more discerning with regard to the information found on the Web.
One last statistic and then I'm done. I have long been an advocate of the concept that "information wants to be free." As a result, most of the resources you'll see here in the newsletter or on Inter Alia are free to anyone willing to look for them. That sentiment is shifting slightly among users in the study; 47.0 percent agreed or strongly agreed they would be willing to pay a reasonable price if a free online service began charging an access fee. That's certainly good news for the future of online subscription services.
I've only scratched the service of this data-packed report -- there are also findings on Consumer Behavior, Communication Patterns, and Social Effects. If you're interested, check out the report.
Help Desk
Let's continue our series on optimizing your mouse -- this week we'll talk about speed. If your cursor takes forever to get across the screen, or if it jumps all over the screen just by touching it, chances are you need to change your mouse speed. Pull up Mouse Properties (located in Control Panel), and click Pointer Options (Windows 2000/XP) or Motion (Windows 95, 97, ME) -- in some systems you'll find it on the Basics tab. Adjust the slider under "Speed," "Pointer Speed," or "Select a Speed," depending on the mouse software you use. This setting changes how far the pointer travels each time you nudge your mouse. Try out different settings until you find the speed that's right for you.
Do you have a question about searching the Internet or your computer in general? Drop me an e-mail– I’ll post your question (don’t worry, I won’t use your real name) and try to get an answer for you!
Legally Relevant – Sites on the Internet
Interment.net
I'm not sure if this site has true value for the legal researcher, but I'm intrigued by the concept. Interment.net provides 3,262,394 cemetery records across 6,758 cemeteries from around the world. If you're trying to find where someone is buried, this *might* be a good place to start. However, most of these records appear to be contributed by visitors to the site, so I imagine quality control is an issue. However, you can find information on how to find a lost grave, read recent cemetery news, and submit your own cemetery transcription (well, not your own, but....you know what I mean).Pocket Litigator ($$)
Ever wish you could hold the Constitution, Federal Rules of Evidence, Civil Procedure, and Criminal Procedure in the palm of your hand -- all at once? Now you can -- and in the PocketPC in your hand, too. Pocket Litigator offers downloadable "e-book" formats of these publications, as well as the California Code of Civil Procedure, California Rules of Evidence, and Texas Rules of Civil Evidence. All downloads are $19.95, and fit right on your PDA. You can also use them on your lap- or desktop PC.CCH Human Resources Information
Where to start with this site? CCH is known as a leading provider of tax and business law information, and it provides this site to promote its human resources products. There's a good deal of free information on the site -- it's navigating to that content that's confusing. The site is created using frames, so no matter where you go, the initial URL remains the same. Start with the home page, and find the tiny link that says "News Library" under News and Information. That will take you to frequently-updated capsule news on Employment Law, HR Management, Payroll, Pension and Benefits, Unemployment Insurance, and Workers' Comp/Safety. There are also free e-mail newsletters on the same topics. Terrific resources here, but what a mess.The Hill
The Hill describes itself as "News for and About the U.S. Congress." It claims to be non-partisan and non-ideological, and from what I can see, that appears to be true. You'll find lots of headlines on the front page, and you can check out many of the feature areas such as Campaign 2004, Staffer Spotlight, Red Hot Rhetoric, and more. As you might expect, you'll also find editorials, offerings from political columnists, and such regular newspaper fare as classifieds, restaurant reviews, and an events calendar.Research Guide to the Federal Register/CFR
This is not a site, but rather a PDF file for you to download, print out, and treasure. Published by the Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C., this 10- page guide provides valuable information on researching the Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations.
Now for a few fun and useful sites:
This intriguing game may remind you of an old favorite. Just make sure you're not the first to say "you sank my french fry!"
If there's one thing I hate, it's having to find parking at the airport when I'm trying to make a flight. Now you don't have to worry -- reserve your airport parking in advance.
Well, that’s it for Issue #100 – I hope you liked it! If you did, pass this along to anyone you think might be interested, and encourage him or her to subscribe. Also, feel free to drop me an e-mail any time if you have questions, or if you have websites or other topics you want included in a future issue.
Tom Mighell
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