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Legal and Fact Research on the Web:
Strategies and Selected Sources

John E. Christensen
Library Director and Professor of Law
Washburn University School of Law

Presented, 2005 Recent Developments in the Law, Washburn University School of Law, June 24, 2005

Copyright © 2005 by John Christensen

Strategies

1. Selected Internet Tools
   1. E-mail
   2. Electronic Discussion Groups
   3. Blogs (blawgs)
   4. File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
   5. Telnet
   6. World Wide Web
2. Types of Legal Research Resources on the Web - Categorized by Cost
   1. Free
      1. Web Pages
      2. Blogs
      3. Digital Collections
         • D-Space
         • OAISter
   2. Fee-based
      1. Conventional Computer Assisted Legal Research systems - Lexis, Westlaw
      2. Newer CALR products and pricing options - LOIS, Versus Law, etc.
      3. Traditional legal publications now available on web - looseleaf reporting services, treatises, journals, newsletters, book collections, indexes, etc.
      4. Working Papers and Electronic Periodicals
         • Legal Scholarship Network (SSRN)
         • Berkeley Electronic Press
      5. Law-related resources by subscription - Wall Street Journal, accessKansas
   3. Subscriptions paid by Washburn but available to all users IN School of Law Library
      1. Public access terminals for Shepards and Key-Cite
      2. See ELECTRONIC RESOURCES page at Law Library web site
3. Search Strategies for Legal Content on FREE Web Resources - Precision & Relevance
   1. Already known, precisely pertinent URL (uniform resource locator)
      1. Web Site
      2. Blawg
      3. Digital space
   2. Portal or collector sites - specialized topic, general legal, general
   3. Search engines - Google, Yahoo, MSNSearch, Ask Jeeves, Clusty
      1. See Randolph Hock, The Extreme Searcher's Guide to Web Search Engines: A Handbook for the Serious Searcher (2d ed. 2001) (WULaw Ref ZA 4226 .H61
         See also Extreme Searcher's Web Page
      2. See Search Engine Showdown - User's Guide to Web Searching
         • Features chart
         • Links
      3. Google caveat - see http://www.google-watch.org and http://www.google-watch.org/bigbro.html
      4. Meta-search engines - dogpile, Twingine
      5. Directories - Yahoo

Selected Sources

General Sites Helpful to Attorneys

1. HOTSHEET - Recommended site for exploring selected non-Law sources
2. PC MAGAZINE TOP 100 WEB SITES (use google to locate)
3. General Search Engines and Directories
   1. YAHOO - Best known DIRECTORY of Web resources - integrates directory and indexing functions
   2. Google
   3. MSNSearch
   4. Ask Jeeves
   5. Clusty
   6. Dogpile
   7. Twingine
   8. Search Engine Showdown
4. TOURBUS - Fun way to learn more about the Net via a twice weekly e-mail message.
5. WASHLAW WEB - Recommended starting point for legal research.
   1. Law Library Journal published study on pervasive linking - both to and from
   2. Named to ABA Techshow Hall Of Fame
      • Visit the other Hall Of Fame sites when you get home
   3. 2005 ABA Tech Show 60 Sites in 60 Minutes Links
6. JEFF FLAX'S WEB PAGE - Includes links from previous 60 sites in 60 minutes session
7. OTHER MAJOR LAW PORTALS (selected)
   1. FindLaw - purchased by West
   2. Hieros Gamos
      • Includes "Doing Business in ..." guides
   3. American Law Sources On-Line
      • Includes Canada, US, Mexico
   4. LexisOne - geared to small law offices
8. BLOGS (Blawgs)
   1. Blawg Republic: Blawg Directory
   2. Law Professor Blogs
   3. SCOTUSb1og
   4. Supreme Court Nomination Blog
   5. Start your own!

Computer-Assisted Legal Research (Internet) Options for Kansas Attorneys

9. LEXIS [$ - phone 800-227-4908]
   1. Searchable Directory of Online Sources - 31,000 databases
   2. KBA Practice Materials
10. LexisONE - free but registration required
    1. U.S. Supreme Court opinions - free
    2. Five years of federal and state appellate opinions - free
    3. Forms
    4. Internet guide
11. WESTLAW [$ - phone 800-762-5272]
    1. Westlaw database directory
12. LOIS [$ - phone 800-364-2512]
    1. Purchased by Aspen - now treatise libraries online
13. Versus Law [$ - phone 425-250-0142]
14. Fastcase [$ - phone 703-740-5920] - cases from Versus Law
15. TheLaw.net [$ - phone 877-452-9638] - cases from Versus Law
16. Quicklaw America [$ - phone 800-387-0899] - purchased by Lexis' parent
    1. Comprehensive U.K., E.U., Irish collections
    2. Rapid integration of new material in USC, CFR
17. National Law Library [$ - phone 877-484-7529]
18. Kansas Supreme Court/Kansas Court of Appeals Opinions (hosted by Washburn Law)
19. United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit Opinions (hosted by Washburn Law)

Citators

20. Shepard's [$]
21. KeyCite [$]

Court Information

22. Kansas Judicial Branch
    1. New Case Inquiry System for the Kansas Appellate Courts
23. Kansas Courthouses (photos of county courthouses)
    1. So far: Allen, Anderson, Atchison, Barber, Barton, Bourbon, Brown, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua
24. Shawnee County District Court (includes rules and forms)
25. United States Court of Appeals - Tenth Circuit (includes Practitioner's Guide and Forms)
26. U.S. District Court - District of Kansas
27. PACER - U.S. Party/Case Index [$]
28. Free Court Case Docket Monitoring, article by Paul Bush

Selected U.S. Supreme Court Sources

29. Internet Researcher: Selected U.S. Supreme Court Sources, 71 J.Kan.B.A. 32-36 (April 2002) - article and live links.
    • Court Information
      1. U.S. Supreme Court Official Web Site
         • About the Supreme Court
         • Docket
         • Oral Arguments
         • Bar Admissions
         • Court Rules
         • Case Handling Guides
         • Opinions
         • Orders and Journal
         • Writing the Court
         • Public Information
         • Related Websites
      2. b. Findlaw Supreme Court Center
      3. Cornell's Legal Information Institute - Supreme Court Collection
30. Current Awareness Services
    1. Cornell's liibulletin - syllabi of decisions emailed within hours after release
    2. Willamette Law Online - same-day summaries of certiorari granted, oral arguments, and decisions emailed
31. Oyez Oyez Oyez - listen to oral arguments using digital audio (Real Audio)
32. Supreme Court Briefs
    1. FindLaw - Since 1999 Term
33. Opinions
    1. LexisOne - since 1789
    2. FindLaw - since 1893
    3. USSC+ Online - since 1897
    4. Cornell's LII - since 1990, selected historical
    5. U.S. Supreme Court - since 1991 (502 US)
34. News
    1. Yahoo - AP, major newspapers
    2. Law.Com Supreme Court Monitor - AP, legal press

34. a. Other U.S. Supreme Court
    1. John Davis Autograph Collection of U.S. Supreme Court Justices at Washburn University School of Law Library (includes useful links about Justices).
    2. Blogs - SCOTUS, Supreme Court Nomination Selected U.S. Congressional Sources
35. THOMAS
36. Lexis-Nexis Congressional Universe [Washburn Law Library], click on "Book/Article Databases," click on "Congressional Universe"
37. CapitolHearings.org - A service of C-SPAN

Selected State Legislative Sources

38. WASHLAW - StateLaw, click on "State Legislation" or a particular state
39. accessKansas: The Official Web Site of the State of Kansas (formerly INK) [some $], click on "Kansas Legislature"
40. National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws

Selected Administrative Law Sources

41. WashLaw - Federal Agencies
42. GPO Access
43. National Archives & Records Administration - Office of Federal Register CFR, e-CFR, Fed Reg, LSA, Priv Act, Pub Laws, US Gov Man, Weekly Comp Pres, Unified Agenda
44. Hein-On-Line - Federal Register Collection [Washburn Law Library ER]
45. LLMC Digital [Washburn Law Library ER]
46. MarciveWeb Docs - Catalog of US Government Publications (1976-date) [Washburn Law Library ER]
47. accessKansas - Government [some $]

Local Government

48. Shawnee County Government
49. City of Topeka

Periodicals, Indexes, Directories, Current Awareness Services

50. Hein-On-Line - legal periodicals in image and full text [Washburn Law Library ER]
51. Index to Legal Periodicals and Books [Washburn Law Library ER]
52. LegalTrac [Washburn Law Library ER]
53. Current Index to Legal Periodicals [Washburn Law Library ER]
54. SmartCILP [$] - Current awareness email of legal periodical citations from subjects you select.
55. Ingenta - Search contents pages [free] and/or receive current awareness email [$] of specified journals. Select from 26,594 publications from about 1990. Registration required.
56. Washburn Law Library Journals (initially e-journals, but list will be expanded to include all -- electronic, microfiche, hard copy), click on "Library", click on "Find Electronic Journals"
57. ATLAS Online Catalog - Associated Topeka Libraries Automated System - Databases [Washburn Law Library], Click on "Book/Article Databases".
    1. InfoTrac SearchBank - Click on "InfoTrac" (6 databases)
    2. OCLC FirstSearch Select - Click on "FirstSearch Select" (14 databases)
    3. OCLC FirstSearch - Click on "FirstSearch" (45 databases)
    4. Reference USA - Based on Business and Residential Telephone Pages

Working Papers and Digital Repositories

58. Legal Scholarship Network (SSRN)
59. Berkeley Press
60. OAISter
61. D Space
62. ELECTRONIC RESOURCES - Washburn University School of Law Library Most of these resources are available for public use IN the law library.

Books, Indexes to Books and Union Catalogs

63. ATLAS Online Catalog - Associated Topeka Libraries Automated System
    1. Also includes holdings from Kansas Supreme Court Law Library, State Library of Kansas, Kansas Historical Society Library, Mabee Library
64. IndexMaster (access contents pages and indexes of hundreds of legal treatises) [Washburn Law Library ER]
65. WorldCat on OCLC FirstSearch (Union Catalog of OCLC Libraries Holdings - 48 million records of 6,000+ libraries) [Washburn Law Library] Click on "Book/Article Databases," click on "FirstSearch Select," click on "WorldCat".
66. Matthew Bender Treatises - Authority [License restricted to law faculty, staff, students]
67. NetLibrary (E-Books) [Washburn Law Library ER]
68. Bibliography of Early American Law (to 1860) [Washburn Law Library - Hein CD-ROM]
69. Index to Legal Theses [Washburn Law Library - Hein CD-ROM]

Reference Tools

70. Gale's Ready Reference Shelf - consolidation of 15 major directories [Washburn Law Library ER]
71. Encyclopedia Britannica - Encyclopedia and Internet Guide [Washburn Law Library] Click on "Books/Articles Databases", click on "Encyclopedia Britannica."

Foreign and International Legal Research

72. Foreign Law Guide [Washburn Law Library ER]
73. Tax and Commercial Laws of the World [Washburn Law Library ER]
74. InterAm Database - National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade [Washburn Law Library ER]
75. United Nations Treaty Collection [Washburn Law Library ER]
76. U.S. Treaty Index (Hein CD-ROM) [Washburn Law Library]
77. U.N. Treaty Index (Hein CD-ROM) [Washburn Law Library]
78. Treaties and International Agreements Online [Washburn Law Library ER]
79. Access UN (1991-2005) Readex Index to United Nations Documents and Publications [Washburn Law Library ER]
80. Columbia International Affairs Online [Washburn Law Library ER]

Miscellaneous

81. Matisse's Glossary of Internet Terms
82. Texas Young Lawyers Association - Ten Minute Mentor - collection of short instructional presentations for the busy lawyer - free.
83. Terra Server - USA - aerial photographs and topographical maps
84. Charity Navigator
85. SeatGuru.com
86. Stephen's Guide to Logical Fallacies
87. Answers.com