INTERNET LEGAL
RESEARCH WEEKLY
September 18, 2005
Tom
Mighell
Welcome to Issue #206 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....
Taking Control of Your Internet Research
I wrote an article for this month's Texas Bar Journal on new tools for capturing your Internet legal research. Check out New Tools Help Manage the Chaos (PDF File). Interestingly, the sidebar Weblinks are from Nivine Zakhari, whose Tech Law Geek blog was featured here in July.Keep Up With Patent Lawsuits
The guys at rethink(ip) have sure gotten bit by the RSS bug. First they go and do the USPTO's job for them and create a set of news feeds. Now they have created a feed that provides notice of new patent lawsuit filings. This is tremendously useful. If RSS is not your thing, you can register for e-mail updates at the rethink(ip) home page.HelpKatrinaLawyers.org
The legal technology folks who are providing services to lawyers affected by the Katrina disaster have found a permanent home on the web -- HelpKatrinaLawyers.org has lots of great resources, both for lawyers seeking assistance and those who want to help. There's a listing of companies currently volunteering their services, as well as a page where you can sign up to volunteer your own. You'll also find a page with Katrina and aid-related links, and a community discussion board is available for use.Google finally searches blogs
Google finally unveiled its Blog Search tool last night, and it's pretty nifty. I have run a few searches on it, and I am primarily impressed by the speed -- this thing is fast. It doesn't have the same bells and whistles as Technorati (not yet, anyway), but it also doesn't take a full 20 seconds to run a search there either.When you just can't wait for your search results
Those search engines Google and Yahoo, always having to one-up each other....not a day after Google introduces its blog search tool, Yahoo! sends a shot across the Google bow with its new Instant Search feature. Just start typing your search terms (Katrina, Oakland A's, Chicago pizza), and a balloon will pop up with instant information -- a link, news articles, sports scores, local information, whatever. If you like the feature, just click under "Like what you see?" and you can add the feature permanently to your main Yahoo search page. Yahoo's dig at Google, "why feel lucky when you can be right?", is pretty funny.Blawgs of the Week
Here's another set of great law-related weblogs for you to peruse this week: first up, another of Sheppard Mullin's great set of blogs: The Bankruptcy and Restructuring Blog features up-to-date information on bankruptcy, reorganization, and creditors' rights. Boating Safety Law is a place "for those who are interested in boating and marine safety to discuss issues that are important to them....Also, where professional mariners can discuss maritime and admiralty law issues that may apply to seamen, passengers and boaters." It's published by contributors Dwayne Clark and Kristen Watson. Here's an intriguing blog -- The Real-Life Twinkie Experiment purports to tell the tale of identical twins who decide to see if they can change places without getting caught. One of the twins has apparently substituted for the other, who is a law student. The blog is apparently being written by a friend, who posts from the e-mails received from the twins. Is this real, or a fictionalized blog, a la the Anonymous Lawyer? I don't know, but it makes for fun reading. Brandy Karl is a copyright and IP attorney living in Boston. Her blog bk! is not her first; I'll always know her as Alice, from a mad tea-party fame. Congrats on the new digs, Brandy! Office Hour is a weekly podcast by Professor D. Gordon Smith of the University of Wisconsin Law School. Professor Smith is also blogging at Conglomerate, and here at Office Hour he's discussing recent developments in business and law. Prolific blogger Ross Kunkel is publishing another employment-related blog. This one is called NLRB Law Memo, and it deals with legal issues and the National Labor Relations Board. Finally, at Knowingly, Recklessly the law student KR shows why "law school pedagogy makes my head hurt."You can never have enough keyboard shortcuts, can you? Well, you probably can -- I only use a few, but I always like learning about new ones. Here are some shortcuts you might not know about:
Windows Key + E = Open Windows Explorer to My Computer
Windows Key + R = Open the Run dialog box
Ctrl+Shift+Esc = Open Windows Task Manager
Shift+Delete = Delete with using the Recycle Bin
F2 = select a file or a folder, and F2 will let you rename it quicklyDo 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
American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology
This site features "original articles on new examination and documentation procedures, as well as provocative discussions of the forensic pathologist's expanding role - in human rights protection, suicide and drug abuse prevention, occupational and environmental health, and other key areas." The archives are available online, but for a price. Guests can sign up and view abstracts for free, but to download HTML or PDF versions of the article, you'll have to pay $25 each. Archives go back to 1996. There's even an RSS feed available if you want to keep up with new articles.Center for Information Technology and Dispute Resolution
Billed as being "at the intersection of technology and dispute resolution," this site could definitely use some organization. The home page has three columns running down it: one for Headlines, one for Upcoming Events, and one for the ODR News Blog. There are no navigation links until you get to the very bottom of the page. If you really dig, you'll find the ODR Resource Database and ODR Library Index, as well as working papers and courses offered. You'll find some great information here -- you'll just have to search more than is necessary.OceanLaw ($$)
OceanLaw is an independent initiative focusing on international law of the sea and international fisheries law research. There are four major resources here: the Internet Guide to International Fisheries Law, International Fisheries Law and Policy Review, OceanLaw Online Papers, and the OceanLaw Discussion Group. The discussion group and online papers are free; for fisheries guides you'll need to pay -- about $300/year for an individual.Internet Law and Regulation ($$)
Pike & Fischer is a BNA Company, and it's providing compete coverage of legal and regulatory developments affecting e-business at this site. Unfortunately, all of the content here is fee-based -- you'll have to pay $1,045 for a year-long subscription. But the information provided appears to be of good quality.Merck Manual Home Edition
The past two sites charge you to look at the good stuff -- while Merck's Home Edition essentially gives it away. This is the online version of the Home Edition medical manual, and it's great. Browse sections ranging from Accidents and Injuries to Women's Health Issues, or check out the many resources -- anatomical drawings, multimedia, drug names, weights and measures, common medical tests, and more.National Atlas
Gee, this site has changed a lot since I first reviewed it 4 years ago. The National Atlas claims to be (and probably is) the single best Federal source for national maps and geographic information on the Web. You can use MapMaker to print or view your own map, print pre-formatted maps on different topics, play with interactive maps, and order larger maps for your wall. Those of you who use GIS or mapping applications and download accurate, reliable and integrated data for your work.
Finally, some fun and useful sites to explore this weekend:
Get a speeding ticket? Want to keep your auto insurance low? Maybe an online traffic course will help. Try TrafficSchoolOnline.com, which offers courses across the country.
Spend some time putting the pictures together with Dragger.
Well, that’s it for Issue #206 – 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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