INTERNET LEGAL RESEARCH WEEKLY
March 23, 2003
Tom MighellWelcome to Issue #106 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!
A busy weekend for me, so this week's issue will be "ILRW-Lite."
And away we go…..
War-watching via the Web
USA Today reports that the Internet will revolutionize media coverage of the war in Iraq. What the article doesn't mention is that weblogs are also changing the way that war is covered. Here are a few sites worth visiting for up-to-date perspectives on the war: Kevin Sites, a CNN correspondent, has a weblog with his account of a journalist's life on the front lines -- Kevin is also posting audio clips on the site. Unfortunately, as of March 22 he was asked by CNN to suspend posting, so nothing new is available. Probably the most compelling weblog on the subject is Where is Raed? a site apparently maintained by an english-speaking resident of Baghdad. Blogger Jeff Jarvis has created a War in Iraq breaking news weblog -- I just wish his posts would have timestamps on them.You can read daily transcripts of Department of Defense war briefings, hear them live, or receive them by e-mail. You can also read White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer's Press Briefings on a daily basis.
Help for Maryland researchers
AskUsNow is a service that makes Maryland librarians available for live online chat sessions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.De-Google yourself
Tired of being Googled? Christina Buu-Hoan offers some tips on creating a Google-free space online. Good luck with that.Crutch for the web surfer?
PC World reports on Richard Mander, who wants to abolish your browser's "Back" button. Well, maybe not, but he does believe web designers rely on a surfer using it rather than design appropriate navigation tools within the website itself.Those were the days
Law.com takes us on a stroll down document production memory lane with this article on the evolution from drudgery to digital.Ethics for e-mailers
Another helpful article from Law.com discusses the ethical obligations inherent when lawyers practice law by e-mail. Follow these suggestions.Speaking of e-mail...
PC World asks the question, why are you getting so much spam?. The article highlights a study from the Center for Democracy and Technology, and provides some good (if basic) recommendations on reducing the flood of spam. I'll be posting more on this in the next few weeks.This Week's Blawgs
As usual, there are a few law-related blogs to tell you about this week. First up is Legal Mac, a weblog for legal professionals who use Macs (the author tells me there are over 500 of them...) And the Legal Theory Blog focuses on recent scholarship in jurisprudence, law and philosophy, law and economic theory, and theoretical work in substantive areas, such as constitutional law, procedure, criminal law, torts, contracts, and more.The creator of the Louisiana Supreme Court Report expands his offerings with the Louisiana Legislature Report, which follows the latest prefiled, pending and passed legislature in Louisiana, complete with summaries and commentary. Following on the heels of last week's article on Computer and Technology Law, Jonathan Bender e-mailed me to introduce his new Internet law weblog, iBusinessLaw -- check it out! <Content/> v.3 is a weblog with a focus on technology in legal academia and in the legal industry. And check out SW Virginia Law Blog for the latest in Virginia legal news.
And in the Law Student Category, we have 4 entries. Must....Sleep chronicles the life of a law student living (and sleeping, hopefully) in Chicago. University of Memphis law student Mason Wilson maintains two blawgs -- his own weblog, blogwash, and Tiger Law, a full service web log for Memphis law students. Mason's currently preoccupied, understandably, by the NCAA tournament... Finally, Brad Gerke has been blogging [Blog Goes Here] for several years now, and he's currently a law student at the University of Oregon. If you want to reminisce about days of law school past (or if you want to confirm that your decision never to go to law school was the right one), check out these sites.
Take advantage of Find: When conducting research, do you ever find a page that will take you forever to locate the words you're looking for? Just click Ctrl- F, and the Find feature is activated. Just click Find Next to find all instances of your word or phrase on the page. If you happen to have the Google Toolbar, all you have to do is click the Highlight key, and your word/phrase is highlighted in yellow throughout the page. A good way to speed through your research.
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
This week's issue is heavy on U.S. government resources -- enjoy!
OMB Watch
OMB Watch was established in 1983 to lift the veil of secrecy shrouding the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which oversees regulation, the budget, information collection and dissemination, proposed legislation, testimony by agencies, and much more. The front page contains primarily news headlines regarding budget issues, and the tabs across the top cover such topics as federal budget, regulatory issues, nonprofit issues, right to know, and take action. On the left side of the home page you'll find a lot more information, including user forums, a file library, and a list of hot topics ranging from access to government information to fair taxes for all. There's even several e-mail lists to which you can subscribe to receive regular updates on the latest happenings from the organization.Seminar Information Services
The folks at Seminar Information Services want to make sure you find the seminar you want, when you want it. There are over 360,000 live, in-person seminars, classes, workshops, corporate training events and conferences listed on this site annually. You can search for a seminar by keyword, city, or date, or just browse the subjects -- they include Finance and Accounting, Personal Development, Computer, Communications, Sales and Marketing, Energy and Environment, and more. You can enroll for seminars online, and sign up to receive regular e-mails on new course offerings.The Constitution of the United States
Produced by the Government Printing Office, this is the online site for a print publication of annotations of cases decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. The 1992 edition of the publication contains individual links to each constitutional article and amendment, with PDF and text files explaining the background behind the constitutional provision along with cases decided by the Supreme Court. There are also updates through June 28, 2000.U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board
The CSB has a simple mission: to promote the prevention of major chemical accidents at fixed facilities. The home page primarily consists of news headlines and video clips on chemical safety issues, but it's the menu on the left where the useful information can be found. There you can read investigative reports and reviews, news releases, recommendations, and get information on conferences and job opportunities. You can access the Chemical Incident Reports Center for information about chemical incidents around the world, and sign up for e-mail updates from the website.WonDir
Got a Question? Better yet, got some answers? WonDir may be for you. The site's goal is to offer a unique combination of broad metasearch, deep search of the invisible web, and live human answers. Once you ask your question, you'll be taken to a page with different options -- there's a list of search results from both search engines and Invisible web sites, a listing of WonDir users who might be able to answer your question, and related news, newsgroups, or mailing lists. I think the idea of this site is terrific, but I have two criticisms. First, there's no criteria to answering questions -- anyone can sign up, no matter your knowledge level. Second, it doesn't look like a lot of serious questions are being asked here -- maybe it just isn't well-known by enough people.
Finally, a useful site for you this week. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has a list of Top 12 Ways to Protect Your Privacy Online -- some very helpful information and links are contained in this article.
Well, that’s it for Issue #106 – 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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