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ADVANCED LEGAL RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET: SELECTED SOURCES



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


February 15, 2002

  1. Selected Internet Tools
    1. E-mail
    2. Electronic Discussion Groups
    3. File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
    4. Telnet
    5. World Wide Web

  2. Types of Legal Research Resources on the Web
    1. Free
    2. Fee-based
      1. Conventional CALR systems - Lexis, Westlaw
      2. Newer products and pricing options - LOIS, Versus Law, Quicklaw America,
        National Law Library, USSC+ Online
      3. Law-related resources by subscription - Wall Street Journal, accessKansas
    3. Subscriptions paid by Washburn but available to all users IN School of Law Library

  3. Search Strategies for Legal Content on Free Resources - Precision & Relevance
    1. Already known, precisely pertinent URL (uniform resource locator)
    2. Portal or collector sites - general, law, specialized topic
    3. Search engines - Google, Alta Vista
      1. See Diana Botluk, "Search Engines Comparison 2001" http://www.llrx.com/ features/engine2001.htm
      2. 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 .H63) See also the Extreme Searcher's Web Page http://www.extremesearcher.com
      3. See Seekhelp.com http://www.seekhelp.com


General Sites Helpful to Attorneys

  1. HOTSHEET - Recommended site for exploring selected non-Law sources.
    http://www.hotsheet.com

  2. PC MAGAZINE TOP 100 WEB SITES - 11 categories
    http://www.pcmagazine.com

  3. YAHOO - Best known DIRECTORY of Web resources - integrates directory and indexing functions
    http://www.yahoo.com

  4. TOURBUS - Fun way to learn more about the Net via a twice weekly e-mail message.
    http://www.tourbus.com

  5. WASHLAW WEB - Recommended starting point for legal research.
    http://www.washlaw.edu

    WashLaw WEB named to ABA TECHSHOW "60 Sites" Hall O' Fame (see 5-3)

  6. ABA TECHSHOW
    http://www.techshow.com

  7. OTHER MAJOR LAW PORTALS (selected)

    1. FindLaw http://www.findlaw.com - recently purchased by West

    2. Hieros Gamos http://www.hg.org

    3. Internet Legal Resource Guide http://ilrg.com

    4. LawGuru.com http://www.lawguru.com

    5. American Law Sources On-Line http://www.lawsource.com

  8. JURIST: The Legal Education Network
    http://jurist.law.pitt.edu

  9. SEEKHELP.COM - How to use the major Internet search engines
    http://www.seekhelp.com

  10. Search Engine Showdown - User's Guide to Web Searching
    http://searchengineshowdown.com

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

  1. LEXIS [$ - phone 800-227-4908]
    http://www.lexisnexis.com

  2. LexisONE
    http://www.lexisone.com

  3. WESTLAW [$ - phone 800-762-5272]
    http://www.westlaw.com

  4. LOIS [$ - phone 800-364-2512]
    http://www.loislaw.com

  5. Versus Law [$ - phone 425-250-0142]
    http://www.versuslaw.com/

  6. Quicklaw America [$ - phone 800-387-0899]
    http://www.quicklawamerica.com

  7. National Law Library [$ - phone 877-484-7529]
    http://www.itislaw.com

  8. WASHLAW - Kansas Supreme Court/Kansas Court of Appeals Opinions
    http://www.kscourts.org/kscases

  9. WASHLAW - United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit Opinions
    http://www.kscourts.org/ca10

Citators

  1. Shepard's [$]
    http://www.shepards.com

  2. KeyCite [$]
    http://www.keycite.com

Court Information

  1. Kansas Judicial Branch
    http://www.kscourts.org

  2. Kansas Courthouses (photos of every county courthouse - some extensive coverage)
    http://www.midusa.net/~ggsoldan/Court2.htm

  3. Shawnee County District Court (includes rules and forms)
    http://www.shawneecourt.org/

  4. United States Court of Appeals - Tenth Circuit (includes Practitioner's Guide and Forms)
    http://www.ck10.uscourts.gov

  5. PACER - U.S. Party/Case Index [$]
    http://pacer.uspci.uscourts.gov

  6. CourtLink [$]
    http://www.courtlink.com

Selected U.S. Supreme Court Sources

  1. Court Information
    1. U.S. Supreme Court Official Web Site
      http://www.supremecourtus.gov
      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. Findlaw Supreme Court Center
      http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/supreme_court/resources.html

    3. JURIST - U.S. Supreme Court
      http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/supremecourt.htm

    4. Cornell's Legal Information Institute - Supreme Court Collection
      http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct

  2. Current Awareness Services

    1. Cornell's liibulletin - syllabi of decisions emailed within hours after release
      http://www.law.cornell.edu/focus/bulletins.html

    2. Willamette Law Online - same-day summaries of certiorari granted, oral arguments, and decisions emailed
      http://www.willamette.edu/wucl/wlo/us-supreme/index.htm

  3. Oyez Oyez Oyez - listen to oral arguments using digital audio (Real Audio)
    http://oyez.nwu.edu

  4. Supreme Court Briefs

    1. FindLaw - Since 1999 Term
      http://supreme.findlaw.com

    2. BriefServe.com - Since 1984 Term [$]
      http://www.briefserve.com

    3. Office of the Solicitor General - Briefs filed by SG - Comprehensive since 1998, selective 1982-1996, see web page for coverage details
      http://www.usdoj.gov/osg/

  5. Opinions

    1. LexisOne - since 1789
      http://www.lexisone.com

    2. FindLaw - since 1893
      http://supreme.findlaw.com

    3. USSC+ Online - since 1897
      http://www.usscplus.com

    4. Cornell's LII - since 1990, selected historical
      http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/

  6. News

    1. Yahoo - AP, major newspapers
      http://fullcoverage.yahoo.com/fc/us/supreme_court

    2. Law.Com Supreme Court Monitor - AP, legal press
      http://law.com/us_supreme_ct/news.html

Selected U.S. Congressional Sources

  1. THOMAS
    http://thomas.loc.gov/

  2. Lexis-Nexis Congressional Universe [Washburn Law Library]
    http://lib.wuacc.edu, click on "Book/Article Databases," click on "Congressional Universe"

  3. CapitolHearings.org - A service of C-SPAN
    http://www.capitolhearings.org

Selected State Legislative Sources

  1. WASHLAW - StateLaw
    http://www.washlaw.edu, click on "State Legislation" or a particular state

  2. accessKansas: The Official Web Site of the State of Kansas (formerly INK) [some $]
    http://www.accesskansas.org, click on "Kansas Legislature"

  3. CJOnline - Topeka Capital-Journal
    http://cjonline.com/legislature

  4. Kansas Bar Association - Legislative Connection
    http://www.ksbar.org

  5. National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws
    http://www.nccusl.org
    Drafts and Final Acts of Uniform and Model Acts
    http://www.law.upenn.edu/bll/ulc/ulc_frame.htm

Selected Administrative Law Sources

  1. WashLaw - Federal Agencies
    http://www.washlaw.edu

  2. Federal Web Locator - formerly at Villanova, now at Chicago-Kent
    http://www.infoctr.edu/fwl

  3. National Archives & Records Administration - Office of Federal Register
    http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html
    CFR, Fed Reg, Priv Act, Pub Laws, US Gov Man, Weekly Comp Pres, GPO Access

  4. MarciveWeb DOCS - Catalog of US Government Publications (1976-date) [Washburn Law Library]
    http://lib.wuacc.edu. Click on "Book/Article Databases", click on "MarciveWeb Docs."
    To get list of URLs for many U.S. government publications on the Web, "browse" "stock number" index for "http".

  5. accessKansas - Government [some $]
    http://www.accesskansas.org/government/index.html

Local Government

  1. Shawnee County Government
    http://www.co.shawnee.ks.us

  2. City of Topeka
    http://www.topeka.org

Bar Associations

  1. Kansas Bar Association - including new KBAville (available 14 Feb 2002 - members only)
    http://www.ksbar.org

  2. Topeka Bar Association
    http://www.topekabar.com

Periodicals, Indexes, Directories, Current Awareness Services

  1. Hein-On-Line - legal periodicals in image and full text [Washburn Law Library]
    http://heinonline.org

  2. Index to Legal Periodicals and Books [Washburn Law Library]
    http://hwwilsonweb.com

  3. LegalTrac [Washburn Law Library]
    http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/tope92518

  4. Current Index to Legal Periodicals [Washburn Law Library]
    http://washburnlaw.edu/lawlib/cilp/cilp.htm

  5. SmartCILP [$] - Current awareness email of legal periodical citations from subjects you select.
    http://lib.law.washington.edu/cilp/scilp.html

  6. Ingenta - Search contents pages [free] and/or receive current awareness email [$] of specified journals. Select from 26,594 publications from about 1990. Registration required.
    http://www.ingenta.com

  7. Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals [Washburn Law Library]
    http://autoweb.rlg.org/cgi-bin/webscr/kswl/ewebyel96.scr

  8. ATLAS Online Catalog - Associated Topeka Libraries Automated System - Databases [Washburn Law Library]
    http://lib.wuacc.edu, 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)

  9. OCLC FirstSearch - Mid-America Union List of Legal Periodicals [Washburn Law Library]
    http://lib.wuacc.edu, Click on "Book/Article Databases," Click on "FirstSearch Select," Click on "UnionLists," Select "Advanced Search," Group is MAUL.

Books, Indexes to Books and Union Catalogs

  1. ATLAS Online Catalog - Associated Topeka Libraries Automated System
    http://lib.wuacc.edu

  2. IndexMaster (access contents pages and indexes of hundreds of legal treatises) [Washburn Law Library]
    http://www.indexmaster.com

  3. WorldCat on OCLC FirstSearch (Union Catalog of OCLC Libraries Holdings - 48 million records of 6,000+ libraries) [Washburn Law Library]
    http://lib.wuacc.edu, Click on "Book/Article Databases," click on "FirstSearch Select," click on "WorldCat".

  4. Internet Resource Guide (Includes Matthew Bender Treatises - Authority)
    http://198.252.9.108:8081/indexesa-f.html

  5. Matthew Bender Treatises - Authority [License restricted to law faculty, staff, students] (Access via Internet Resource Guide or ATLAS)

  6. NetLibrary (E-Books) [Washburn Law Library]
    http://www.netlibrary.com/library_home_page.asp

  7. Bibliography of Early American Law (to 1860) [Washburn Law Library - Hein CD-ROM]

  8. Index to Legal Theses [Washburn Law Library - Hein CD-ROM]

Reference Tools

  1. Gale's Ready Reference Shelf - consolidation of 15 major directories [Washburn Law Library]
    http://galenet.gale.com/a/acp/db/grr/index.html

  2. Encyclopedia Britannica - Encyclopedia and Internet Guide [Washburn Law Library]
    http://lib.wuacc.edu, Click on "Books/Articles Databases", click on "Encyclopedia Britannica."

Foreign and International Legal Research

  1. AccessUN (UNConnection) - Readex Index to United Nations Documents and Publications (most recent two-three years)
    http://www.newsbank.com/un/

  2. U.N. Publications (Readex CD-ROM) [Washburn Law Library - has from 1990]

  3. U.N. Treaty Index (Hein CD-ROM) [Washburn Law Library]

  4. Foreign Law Guide [Washburn Law Library]
    http://www.foreignlawguide.com/login.htm

  5. InterAm Database - National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade [Washburn Law Library]
    http://www.natlaw.com

  6. Oceana's Treaties and International Agreements Online [Washburn Law Library]
    http://www.oceanalaw.com

  7. Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (see 57-1)

Miscellaneous

  1. Matisse's Glossary of Internet Terms
    http://www.matisse.net/files/glossary.html
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