INTERNET LEGAL RESEARCH WEEKLY
February 16, 2003
Tom MighellWelcome to Issue #101 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!
And away we go…..
News Update
More on spam
James Gleick provides a lengthy report on the spam epidemic. It's a pretty good article, but he's a little behind on one item: he spends some time discussing SpamAssassin, which no longer exists. The software was purchased by McAfee in January, and will be integrated into that company's SpamKiller product sometime later this year(Note: there's another SpamAssassin that still very much exists, but I'm not sure the article's talking about that version).And the Washington Legislature is all set to pass an anti-spam bill that will allow courts to hear cases involving out-of-state defendants.
Your Google Doppelganger
Further proof that Google is permeating our national culture -- the New Yorker has another cartoon on the search engine.It's nice to have cache on hand
Greg Notess at Search Engine Showdown has an interesting article on working with Google's cache. The Google Cache can definitely help you find Web pages that are no longer available -- if you know how to use it.This Week's Blawgs
Six new law-related weblogs to mention this week. First up is MyShingle, a site for and about solos and small law firms. Also very new is Weblogs at Harvard, a blog so new they're still testing things out. There are 36 weblogs listed there now, with more to come. Speaking of student blogs, check out the new community law student blog, OpenandNotorious.com, or "what no one ever told you about law school." I like this idea -- multiple law students carrying on a dialogue about their trials and tribulations in the same place. Also very new to the blawg scene is SohoAttorney, a site for SOHO (small office-home office) attorneys.Lawyer and Internet technology guru Dennis Kennedy has finally debuted his blog, DennisKennedy.blog. It's brand new, so give him some time....but big things are going to happen here. And Monique Svenson goes live with Products Liability Blawg, a weblog devoted to...yes, products liability.
Talk to a law librarian, 24-7
Legal Reference Services, Inc., a live service that will provide legal professionals with around-the-clock reference services, debuted this week. You can chat with a librarian, surf the Internet together, and receive a transcript complete with all the links found during your session. This site is brand new, so they're not officially open for business yet. And a business it is: you'll have to pay to access the service, but they haven't posted the pricing structure yet.Cut 'N Paste for PDF
This Q&A from the New York Times describes ways to siphon the text from a PDF file.A better man than I
Can you imagine going 20 days without a computer? I can't. Read how someone did and lived to tell about it.Archiving the future
Law.com has an article today about the challenges facing court administrators as they try to determine the best way to electronically archive documents.New search engine features
Search Engine Watch reports on new features for Alta Vista and MSN Search.
Tooth, Justice and the American Way: Dental Resources on the Internet
By now, most of you have consumed the pound or so of chocolate you received for Valentines' Day, and it's about time you thought about seeing a dentist. Whether you're personally seeking a dentist or researching dental information, the following sites are help places to start your search.
Although I'll mention other associations and academies later on, let's start first with the American Dental Association, the self-proclaimed "premier source of dental health information." Like many of the dental sites, the ADA has one section for dental professionals and one for the public. The area for "members and non-members" includes information on dental practice, government and advocacy, education and careers, meetings and events, and publications. Many of these resources are available only to ADA members, but civilians can still find resources of value, including the ADA Code of Ethics and the Journal of the American Dental Association. Unfortunately, the articles of the JADA are only available to non-members for a fee, but you can still read abstracts before you decide to buy. You can also access the dental licensure requirements in the various states, as well as links to U.S. and Canadian dental schools. For the public, there's a terrific listing of oral health topics, from Abscessed Tooth to X-Rays, as well as access to the ADA Member Directory.
For good general information on dentistry and other matters of oral health, try MEDLINEplus. There you'll find the latest news, a general overview, and information on nutrition, prevention and screening, research, specific conditions, statistics, and more. MEDLINEplus also has pages devoted to Child Dental Health, Gum Disease, Tooth Disorders, and Mouth and Teeth Topics. This is a terrific resource; much of the information you find here is provided by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and the National Oral Health Clearinghouse. Another great basic information page is provided by New York Online Access to Health. And if you want to learn more about clinical trials involving mouth and tooth diseases, Clinicaltrials.gov lists 91 trials that are currently recruiting members.
Wherever there's a profession, there's an academy or association (or two, or twelve) organized to support it. Dentistry is no different. What's interesting about these sites is the nearly complete lack of anything of value for the researcher or non-professional; they are almost exclusively devoted to their respective memberships. I mention them here, however, because even though you might not be able to find any substantive information, you might be able to find an expert through one of these organizations, who can then provide substantive information to you in person. The organizations include:
American Association of Orthodontists
American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology
American Dental Education Association
American Dental Hygienists' Association
American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology
American Academy of Periodontology
American Association of Endodontists
American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
International Association for Dental Research
American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry
American Academy of Oral MedicineDo you know of a helpful dental site that I missed here? If so, drop me an e-mail and I'll try to mention it in an upcoming issue!
Help Desk
Our last week of tips on using your mouse. This week: want to make your pointer appear poised over the default option when you open a dialog box? Head over to Mouse Properties and click the Pointer Options or Motion tab and check the box under "Snap To" or "Snap to Default" (Windows 2000 or XP) or "Smart Move" (Windows ME). Then click Apply, and OK.
Next week, we'll begin a four-part series on picking the right PC to suit your needs.
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
JurisPro
JurisPro is a free expert witness directory with an amazing amount of information. As opposed to other expert sites, here you can review the expert's C.V. (in PDF format), see a photo, hear the expert speak, read their articles, and learn more about the expert's background. You may search by keyword, or browse the list of expert categories, which is pretty extensive -- even more amazing are the subcategories! I don't know if the featured experts are worth your money, but this site is definitely worth your attention.LibraryLaw
Maintained by former librarian and current lawyer Mary Minow, LibraryLaw provides useful links on legal issues arising in the library. Here you'll find compilations of cases and legislation involving libraries as well as specific issue areas including copyright, disability, employment law, Freedom of Information Act, First Amendment, latchkey kids, policymaking, and more.Cruise Ship Inspection Search
With the recent outbreaks of illness on cruise ships, this site is especially timely. The database contains the results of inspections on international cruise ships over the past 13 years. Specify one ship, or look for inspection scores on all the ships at once. The ship I sailed on last November was inspected in December, and scored 96 out of 100. Not bad.Pain and the Law
This site was developed by the Center for Health Law Studies at Saint Louis University and the American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics, and concerns how law and public policy impact the issue of providing pain relief to the chronically and terminally ill. The home page features breaking news on pain management from around the country, and there are some useful links in a menu bar at the top. Learn about statutes and regulations, malpractice and civil actions, palliative care and criminal actions, agencies and organizations, entitlement programs, and more.Rutgers University Business Research Guide
Part of the Subject Research Guides at Rutgers University, the Business guide is an awesome collection of over 2,000 links to selected business and management Internet resources. The subject index includes Accounting, Banks and Financial Services, Company Research, Databases, Electronic Commerce, Financing Your Business, Market Research, Job Searching, and much more. Next to each subject is the date when the links were last updated -- a nice touch. Once you select a subject, you'll get another page of annotated links, with easy-to-locate updated information. Business researchers should make this site a permanent part of their Favorites Folder.
Finally, a fun and useful site for you this week:
Test your typing skills at Letters, where you blow away letters as they move from left to right on the screen. I scored 297 my first time out, which I thought wasn't bad. Then I saw the high scorer had 10 million. Gee, that guy has a lot of time on his hands.
Looking for the best Internet price for a book, music, or other items? BestWebBuys can help. Just enter the name of the book, CD, video, or electronic equipment you want to buy, and you'll get a listing of sites selling the item, along with the pricing (including estimated shipping cost).
Well, that’s it for Issue #101– 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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