INTERNET LEGAL
RESEARCH WEEKLY
November 16, 2003
Tom
Mighell
Welcome to Issue #133 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 issue will be ILRW-Lite -- enjoy!
And away we go…..
Overcoming Googlification
Gary Price has an excellent article on WebMastery -- What Google Teaches Us Has Nothing to do with Searching. As I say here again and again, while Google is a terrific research tool, providing arguably the most relevant results of any current search engine, it's not the only search solution. This article is directed primarily at librarians, but it contains wisdom that all Internet searchers should absorb.Search Engine Connections
Check out this cool graphic that demonstrates how the search engines are related to each other. It's a good way to get an idea of the inter-relatedness of the search tools.Catching up with Google
Microsoft has announced that its updated version of Internet Explorer will feature an ad pop-up blocker. And who knew that search engines would be big players in the fight against pop-up ads? Yahoo is the latest; its Yahoo! Companion search toolbar now comes with its own pop-up blocker.For those of you who don't have a newsreader...
You should read What is RSS, and Why Should You Care?, a nice review of the topic.Why are Yellow Page Search Sites so poor?
That's my opinion, anyway -- in general, Yellow Page search sites aren't very accurate, and don't have great results. Maybe the Yellow Page publishers don't want these sites to be very good; after all, usage of the print version is declining. Dick Larkin reports on how other search engines are getting into local search.Keeping Tabs on Legislative History
West has added a Federal Legislative History Tab, designed to show entry points to all Westlaw databases on legislative history of federal laws. This is a terrific tool -- I only wish we could have one here for Texas law.Blawgs of the Week
Only two law-related weblogs for you this week, and they're both law students. Disputation is written by a software and systems engineer-turned-law student at Georgetown University Law Center. And although I originally thought Letters of Marque was written by someone named -- well, Mark -- it turns out the blog is actually "Heidi Bond's blog of life as a weird Michigan law student."It's a good idea to periodically update the software on your computer. Sometimes you have to update the driver of a particular application, like your sound or video card; there are times when an updated driver has an adverse effect on your computer, such as a system crash or other malfunction. In Windows XP, there's a way to "roll back" your system, to a time before the bad driver -- just use the Device Driver Rollback feature. Open the Control Panel and select the System applet. Under System Properties, choose Hardware, and select Device Manager. Expand the menu until you find the type of device you want to roll back. Right click on the device, choose properties, and then click on Roll Back Driver. In no time you'll be back to the old, trouble-free driver.
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
Science Direct Web Research Guide
Science Direct provides online access to more than 1,800 journals, and the Web Research Guide is designed to help students, faculty members, authors and research scientists find the information they need on the Web. The page is divided into ten "themes," each focusing on a different aspect of Web research. The themes include "Get Better Answers by Asking Better Questions," "Subject-Specific E-Mail Alerts," "Advanced Search Techniques for the Web," "Choose the Right Search Engine," and we're just getting started. A nifty guide for those who want to learn more about searching the Web.U.S. Newspaper List
This no-frills site features links to newspapers in all fifty states, including links to radio and television stations. Each state page also contains links to news, weather, business and other information.WhittleBit
WhittleBit is a search engine that helps you "whittle" down to the right results. Just enter your search query, like "senate judicial nominations;" I got 10 results with that query. Each result has a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" icon, which you can click to narrow your focus. When you're done, click "Whittle," and WhittleBit adds or removes certain terms from your search query, and gives you a new set of results. Just keep whittling until you get to where you need to go. I haven't had time to give this a thorough evaluation, but the concept is intriguing.ABC News Video Source
Looking for video news content? Look no further; ABC has a ton of it. To search the database, you'll first have to register, and wait to receive a User ID by mail or telephone call (I didn't get my User ID before sending out the newsletter on Sunday, so I couldn't access the databases). The collection includes ABC news from 1963 to the present, Associated Press Television News dating back to 1963, British Movietone News from 1896 to 1979 and VideoSource FilmReels.Asian Law Online
A product of the University of Melbourne Law School, the Asian Law Centre bibliographic database is offered to the public as a service to assist students and scholars of Asian legal systems. You can browse or search the database; browsing allows you to search by country (with 32 countries listed), or by subject, with categories ranging from Administrative Law to Terrorism. Unfortunately, the database will only take you to citations from publications contained in the law school's library. Alas....
Finally, some fun sites for you this week:
What's a blogger's worst nightmare? When your mother finds out you have a weblog.
Keep your cows milk-free and alive, at Udder Insanity.
Well, that’s it for Issue #133 – 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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