INTERNET LEGAL
RESEARCH WEEKLY
August 12, 2007
Tom
Mighell
Welcome to Issue #275 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!
Correction -- last week I mentioned Nanoscan, a program that will scan your computer for viruses without downloading anything. That's not exactly true. Nanoscan does download a small program to your computer -- it's not as big or bulky as a regular antivirus program, but it's a download nonetheless.
News Update -- from the Inter Alia Weblog
Great Apps for Online Notetaking
This article was posted a few months ago, but it's still worth a look. It's called 7 Apps for Online Note-Taking, and it discusses tools you can use to take notes of the research (or anything else, for that matter) that you find online. I'm partial to Google Notebook (for its ease of use) and Zoho Notebook (as the most full-featured of the group), but try all of these out and decide for yourself.Blawgs of the Week
Here are some of the great law-related blogs featured on Inter Alia this past week:
- Sheryl Schelin is no stranger to blogging -- the South Carolina lawyer has had some type of blog up and running for quite a number of years. One of her blogs is The Inspired Solo, described as "a breath of fresh air for solo lawyers and those who want to be." Her blog provides a place to stop and breathe once a day, to refresh your viewpoint, and find some inspiration.
- Here's a blog from the attorneys at the Community Rights Counsel, a public interest law firm that "promotes constitutional principles to defend laws that make our communities environmentally sound and socially just." The blog is called Warming Law, and it's discussing ways such firms are "changing the climate in the courts."
- Christopher Marston is leading a team of lawyers at Exemplar Law Partners, a firm that's doing some interesting things in terms of fixed-fee pricing and out-of-the-box thinking. He's also blogging at Inside the Firm of the Future, where he invites you to "take a journey with a change agent and law firm leader to create a better vision for the future of the professions."
- The Iowa firm of McKee, Voorhees & Sease is blogging at Filewrapper, an intellectual property law resource. The bloggers' goal is "to provide cutting-edge information about recent developments in intellectual property law, including relevant case law updates, proposed legislation, and intellectual property law in the news."
Help Desk
Keeping and remembering good passwords isn't always easy, but it's a necessary chore. Here are some tips to keep in mind when managing your passwords:
-- Change passwords every month to six weeks.-- Don't recycle old passwords or use the same one for several different applications (this is probably the toughest!)
-- Use a word you know, but substitute numbers or symbols for the letters. For example, monkey could become m0nk3y, or Harry_Potter could become H@rry_P0tt3r.
-- Use a passphrase instead of a word. If you're a Bruce Springsteen fan, "born in the USA" might be a good passphrase. Note that some sites won't let you use something that long.
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
National Institute of Mental Health
One of the many great resources of the National Institutes of Health, one of the missions of NIMH is "reducing the burden of mental illness and behavioral disorders through research on mind, brain and behavior. In addition to the many things you can learn about the Institute itself, you probably will find most of the valuable resources under the Health Information tab. There you can view basic information on several mental health topics -- Anxiety Disorders, ADD, Autism, Bipolar Disorder, Eating Disorders, Panic Disorder, Schizophrenia, and more. You can also download or order publications from the Institute.Prince Edward Island -- List of Statutes
You will probably *never* have need to research statutes of Prince Edward Island.....but if you do, here it is. It's a very simple page -- just a listing of all PEI statutes, with links to PDF files of the laws. You can also search by keywords to find statutes containing a particular word or phrase.Journal of Philosophy, Science, and Law
The objectives of this journal is to stimulate research and dialogue at the intersection of philosophy, science and law. It's edited and written by professors at several different universities, and hosted by the University of Miami. The best part of this journal is that all of the articles are FREE. There's a current article on punishing expert witnesses for unethical testimony, as well as one on conflicts of interest. Definitely worth a look.Tribal Court Clearinghouse
This site has been around since 1997, providing resources for those involved in the improvement of justice in Indian country. There are sections with resources on Tribal Law, Federal Law, and State Law, as well as a listing of specific topics affecting the Native American populations -- domestic violence, alcohol abuse, stalking, elder abuse, Indian housing, Indian probate, and more. Some of the links are older or no longer working, but there's a lot of new information on the home page.U.S. Code Collection
You can of course access the U.S. Code through one of the government websites, but the Legal Information Institute's version makes it super-easy to find information, and fast. You can browse a listing of all titles, the table of Popular Names, or use the search engine for specific keywords. It is generated from the most recent official version of the U.S. code, so it's kept up-to-date.
Finally, some fun and useful sites to start off your week:
Thinkature allows you to collaborate with someone else on the Internet, at the same time -- it's a visual workspace where you can create diagrams, drawings, or other ideas and share them in real time with others.
Gee, this maze is hard -- at MazeFrenzy you guide a small red dot through a difficult maze in the shortest time possible. Good luck!
Well, that’s it for Issue #275 – 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
Subscription Information: If you want to keep on receiving issues of the Internet Legal Research Weekly, send me an e-mail at tom(at)inter-alia(dot)net, or visit Inter Alia and sign up there! If you no longer want to receive the newsletter, just click on the link at the bottom of this newsletter.
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Questions? New websites? Just want to talk? Send me an e-mail at tom(at)inter-alia(dot)net.