INTERNET LEGAL
RESEARCH WEEKLY
July 27, 2003
Tom
Mighell
Welcome to Issue #119 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…..
A Pair of Amazon Stories
I know, I know...we'll never be able to have the contents of entire libraries available online. Amazon, however, thinks full text availability will sell books, so it's negotiating with book publishers to make searchable texts of nonfiction books available to its users. And if you're an Amazon addict like me, but sometimes find all the ads and features somewhat overwhelming, Amazon Lite may be for you. The site is still pretty busy, but it gets down to business in a no-nonsense kinda way.Get a second opinion
Not happy with your search results? Now you can get a second opinion from Lycos. Just download the Lycos SideSearch, and you can view Lycos search results alongside those of other major search engines.Advanced Google News Search
Can't remember the right syntax to use on the Google News page? You don't have to anymore -- here's a handy Advanced Search page for you to use. You can limit your search to particular news sources, geographical regions, dates, and more.Safe Surfing
The FBI reports that "web spoofing" continues to grow as a serious problem. Lately we've seen fake e-mails targeting PayPal and Best Buy, and apparently these scams must be working -- otherwise they wouldn't keep happening. Protect yourself by adopting the tips at the bottom of the FBI's press release. Also, the Federal Trade Commission announced the relaunch of GetNetWise, a site designed to provide consumers with the information they need to protect themselves and their families on the Internet.A Swiss-army knife for your search arsenal
This week's SearchDay reviews Copernic, one of my favorite search tools.Computer research and the standard of care
Several times in the past year, I have given speeches asking the question whether a lawyer's failure to take advantage of the vast amounts of free information available on the Internet might subject that lawyer to a claim of negligence. This month, GPSolo Magazine features the article Keep Up or Face Peril -- which attempts to answer my question as it pertains to traditional online research (Lexis, Westlaw, etc.). Although I would never abandon the library as a valuable source of information, I think it's important to strike the right balance between the print and online research worlds -- they are both critical to having complete access to information.The "legal research" referred to in the article refers mostly to research of "primary sources" -- caselaw, statutes, etc. But let's expand the definition of "research" a bit. Let's say your client's opponent has some dirty laundry, but you haven't discovered it yet. Let's also say that information may be (to the opponent's regret) readily available on the Internet, either for free or a reasonable price. Should a lawyer's obligation go that far?
By the way, check out A Lawyer's Judgment Will Never Be Automated, for an opposing perspective on the issue. (thanks to ethicalEsq? for pointing me to the article and the great discussion on it).
Weblog Roundtable
Check out the Internet Roundtable over at LLRX for a discussion of What Are Blogs and Why Is Everyone So Excited About Them? I was pleased to take part in the discussion along with Jerry Lawson, Brenda Howard, Dennis Kennedy, and Ernest Svenson.Blawg of the Week
After the onslaught of new law-related weblogs last week, we just have one today. Fellow Texas lawyer Jeanne Pi has launched the Texas Elder Law Blawg, a web portal to federal, state and local web information, resources and services related to Texas Elder Law. I bet you can find some great non-Texas elder law resources here, too.
A Grid-Lock on Internet Research
Every now and again, I like to visit one of the many meta-search tools available on the Internet, to show you new and different ways of finding what you need. This time we'll take a look at InfoGrid, an EXTREMELY busy site. There's a LOT to take in on the home page, and it can be somewhat overwhelming. Let's try to break it down.
We'll start with the toolbar across the top of your screen -- basically, you can forget about it, unless you're interested in downloading ActivatorDesk, InfoGrid's browser utility. ActivatorDesk works just like a browser, with all of the InfoGrid resources loaded. You can try AD free 30 days free, or purchase it for $49.95.
Just below this toolbar are links to several different search tools: Google, Open Directory, Yellow Pages, White Pages, and much more. When you click on a link, the search box above changes to that particular search tool, and your search results will appear below. Selecting InfoGrid as your search tool gives you a long menu of specialized searches - for auctions, news, images, videos, shopping, and others. If you select InfoGrid/All The Web, you'll get to use the meta-search tool. I tried california recall governor, and it returned 204 results. Each result has links allowing you to mail or translate the page, or find similar pages. At the bottom of the first page of results you can customize your search, by selecting among these search engines:
- Teoma
- OpenFind
- About
- Ah_Ha
- AlltheWeb
- AOLSearch
- EntireWeb
- FindWhat
- GoClick
- Kanoodle
- MSN
- ODP
- Overture
- WiseNut
- Yahoo
Another nice feature is located on the right side of the results page; just click on any of the links and your search will be run automatically using the specialized sources I mentioned above, or you can run your query in one of the separate search engines, including some not used in the meta-search.
Heading back to the main page, you'll find a news scanner below the search box, and a directory structure just under that. The directory sites are all supplied by the Open Directory Project, which is common for many directories on the Internet.
Even better directories are found on the left and right menus. Unfortunately, many of them cannot be accessed unless you're using the ActivatorDesk, mentioned above. Grids you *can* use include Banking, Chat Forums, Security, Travel, Lifestyle, Health, Jobs, and Humor. All of the InfoGrids on the left menu are available. Each of these grids contain dozens, and sometimes hundreds, of helpful links in the particular category.
One navigation tip -- if the frames are too much to handle, there's a "no-frames" version you can check out.
Like I said before, InfoGrid is an awfully busy place to visit. But if you're patient, you can find some really great resources.
If you use Windows XP, you have access to a little-known feature known as the On-Screen Keyboard. It was designed for people with mobility problems, but it may also be useful if you have a tablet PC, or if something happens to your regular keyboard. To launch it, just go to your Start menu. Select RUN, then type OSK, and press Enter. Use the mouse to type, or select the hover mode, so you can just point your cursor at a letter and it gets typed.
Do you have a question about searching the Internet or your computer in general? Drop me an e-mail at tom(at)inter-alia(dot)net – 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
Legal Alerts and Current Awareness Resources
Genie Tyburski of the Virtual Chase offers this handy list of resources that can keep you up-to-date on the latest news and information in the legal field. Sites listed here include several law-related weblogs, and a number of sites that will send you regular e-mails to notify you of updated information. Check out the EPA and GPO listservs, as well as newsletters from FindLaw. A lot of great resources here.Federal Register Tutorial
You can't ask for a better title: "The Federal Register: What It Is and How To Use It." This site is provided by the National Archives, and features a brief but very helpful explanation on how to search the Federal Register. Here you'll learn about the FR's historical background, the Daily FR, the Code of Federal Regulations, online research, public participation, and more. You can even attend a workshop, held in D.C. or other cities around the country. If you like, you can download the entire tutorial in PDF format.NewsNow
I am an unabashed fan of Google News, but I realize it's not the only game in town. NewsNow, a British creation, is a worthy competitor. With constant monitoring of over 10,000 news sources, you're sure to find the story you're looking for here. NewsNow gives you several options for searching the news; in the center of the page are the latest headlines in topic areas such as Current Affairs, Business and Finance, Information Technology, Sports, and Entertainment. The left menu allows you to search by keyword, or to browse the news by hundreds of categories. The news is archived for 30 days, and offers coverage in more than fifteen languages. One cool feature is the Live Feed, which displays a list of the most current headlines, updated every 5 minutes.PoliticalWeb
PoliticalWeb.Info "bridges scholarship and public knowledge about the role of the Web in the political process." This site is maintained at the University of Washington, and at first I was a little nervous that this site wasn't updated very often; from the home page it's hard to tell. But once you start exploring, you'll find a lot of worthwhile stuff. The Featured Project page offers the 2002 Campaign Web Analysis, and 2000 election information can be found in the Published Research area. From the home page, check out the 2004 Presidential candidate web pages and how they compare.National Mental Health Information Center
Part of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the NMHIC provides information about mental health to users of mental health services and their families, the general public, policy makers, providers, and the media. From the home page you can access current features, recent news, and find mental health services, resources or statistics in your state. The Topics menu will take you to hundreds of other mental health websites. There's a lot to explore here.
Finally, let's take a look at some fun and useful sites:
Citing mounting debt and a decline in tourism dollars, the state of Maryland will shut down for good on August 31. Who knew?
Need to learn how to use Access? PCAnywhere? PCShowandTell can help. You'll find over 40,000 animated, voiced tutorials on more than 100 software titles.
Well, that’s it for Issue #119– 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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