Tag Archives: Research

An Easier Way to Research The Code of Federal Regulations.

14 Tuesday Feb 2017

Posted by in Code of Federal Regulations, GPO, Research

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Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, GPO: U.S. Government Publishing Office

 http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/ECFR?page=browse

How many of you enjoy researching the Code of Federal Regulations? Hands? I thought so. Have you tried the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR)? If you haven’t, I highly recommend that you check it out. Look to the left to find search tips, FAQs, and a link to a parallel Table of Contents and Authorities. This web site is kept up to date, unlike the print version which is updated once a year. This will remain an “unofficial” version while it’s “technical and performance issues are satisfactorily resolved.” Don’t let that put you off. This website will become the official government Code of Federal Regulations. -CCE

Reference, Facts, News, Search Engines, Email, and More. Easy Peasy.

12 Sunday Jun 2016

Posted by in Dictionary, Glossaries, Grammar, Punctuation, Quotations, References, Research, Style Manuals, Thesaurus

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Refdesk.com – Fact Checker for the Internet

http://www.refdesk.com/

Refdesk.com has been around a long time. If you have never seen it or used it, please give me the honor of making the introductions.

Go the home page: http://www.refdesk.com. There is a lot to absorb.  Take your time. Scroll down the page, and check it out.

Bothered by the ads popping up on the page? There is an easy fix. Support Refdesk. Contribute $25, and Refdesk is add free for a year. No, you don’t have to contribute $25. You don’t have to contribute at all. But, if you want to use Refdesk frequently, I encourage you to contribute something.

If you are like me, you do not want to keep scrolling to find what you want to see – you simply want to get there. Go to the top of the website, and look to the right. You will see three search tools: (1) Check Email; (2) Quick Links; and (3) Reference Desk.  Right away, you can see that this has potential as home page.

I want to look up grammar and punctuation rules. Go to Reference Desk, click the down arrow, and choose “Grammar/Style.” That’s a nice assortment of writing guides, but not exactly what I want. I’m looking for The Elements of Style. Click on More at the bottom of the page. There it is.

You have seen one small example of the information this site can give you. I leave it to you to seek out the rest.  -CCE

Using the Wayback Machine To Authenticate Evidence.

24 Tuesday May 2016

Posted by in Evidence, Intellectual Property, Research, Rule 901, Wayback Machine

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Wayback Machine Builds Reputation with Judiciary, by CMLaw Library Blog (with hat tip to William P. Statsky)

http://cmlawlibraryblog.classcaster.net/2016/05/12/wayback-machine-builds-reputation-with-judiciary/

What is the Wayback Machine? It’s been around since 2001. It is a mega-archive of websites. If you are a serious researcher, it is worth your time to learn how to use it. It is more than just a trip down nostalgia lane. You can easily find blog posts, articles, and videos that will give you an in-depth explanation on the Wayback Machine’s creation and what it does.

I like this post because it is the first illustration I’ve seen in which someone used the Wayback Machine as persuasive evidence in court. Thanks, Bill! -CCE

An April 2016 decision from the District of Kansas has given judicial notice to information contained in screenshots from the Wayback Machine. The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine preserves images of websites as they appeared at particular points in time. In the case at hand, Marten Transport, Ltd. v. PlattForm Advertising Inc., (D. Kan., Case No. 14-2464-JWL, 4/29/16), Marten sued PlattForm for infringement, alleging that PlattForm had continued to display Marten’s logo on PlattForm’s website after the two had stopped doing business together.

The court determined that testimony from an employee of the Internet Archive concerning the screenshots showing PlattForm’s website at the time in question was enough to meet the standards in Federal Rules of Evidence, Rule 901.

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Say Goodbye to THOMAS.

15 Sunday May 2016

Posted by in Congress.gov, Government, Research, THOMAS

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Time to Turn off THOMAS: July 5, 2016, by Andrew Weber, In Custodia Legis, Law Librarians of Congress

http://blogs.loc.gov/law/2016/04/time-to-turn-off-thomas-july-5-2016/?loclr=ealln

THOMAS appeared online on January 5, 1995: http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/1995/95-002.html?loclr=bloglaw. 

THOMAS will be retired on July 5, 2016, and replaced by Congress.gov, which was always the intent when Congress.gov came online in September, 2012.  Congress.gov was designed to replace THOMAS, and it has features that THOMAS did not, and never could, have.

You can find all posts at www.researchingparalegal.com about the additions and improvements made to Congress.gov since its inception here:

https://researchingparalegal.com//?s=congress.gov&search=Go.

Please take a NEW long look at Congress.gov here: https://www.congress.gov/.  There is much, much more to see.  -CCE

Search Engine for The Wayback Machine!

02 Monday Nov 2015

Posted by in Legal Directory, References, Research, Wayback Machine

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International School of Information Science

http://www.bibalex.org/isis/frontend/archive/archive_web.aspx

and

The Wayback Machine, Internet Archive

https://archive.org/index.php

These links are two great ways to get to the Wayback Machine. Not familiar with it? Please allow me introduce you. The Wayback Machine has been around for 19 years, and has literally billions of saved URLs. If you ever tried a hyperlink and got that annoying 404 message, did you know it was still alive and well on the Wayback Machine?

As you can imagine, the Wayback Machine is huge. There has been only one way to search on the Wayback Machine – you had to have the URL. If did not have the exact URL, you were out of luck.

The great news is that the Laura and John Arnold Foundation have donated several million dollars to create a search engine for the Wayback Machine. The word is that it will be ready sometime in 2017. Imagine being able to search that much data!

Commonly, if you are researching on the Internet, you use Google, Bing, or another major search engine. How long do those links stay available? It varies, right? You thought Google was huge? It is said that the Wayback Machine has snapshots of every webpage ever posted on the Internet. Every single one.

Think about a researcher’s possibilities when the search engine is up and running. It is going to be interesting. -CCE

 

New And Easy-To-Use Search Tools for SSRN.

04 Sunday Oct 2015

Posted by in References, Research, SSRN

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Did You Know? Searching SSRN Just Got Easier, by Gregory Gordon, President and CEO of the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) (with hat tip to Sabrina I. Pacifici, BeSpacific Blog)

http://ssrnblog.com/2015/10/02/did-you-know-searching-ssrn-just-got-easier/

Scholars of all types share their research here. You will often see it at SSRN before you see it in books and other publications. If you have not taken the time to truly investigate what you can find here, please give yourself a treat. -CCE

In What We Don’t Know We Don’t Know, I wrote about the overwhelming amount of data that is available today.  This is especially true of the SSRN eLibrary. With over 600,000 papers, finding the right research may seem daunting. So, we significantly improved our search functionality.

SSRN’s new page centralizes all the tools you need to find stuff in the eLibrary. We combined Quick Search and Advanced Search onto one tab, and made it simple to switch to Browse SSRN Networks or Browse JEL Codes. Did you even know all of those functions existed? . . . .

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GetHuman™ — Talk To A Real Person, Not A Machine.

17 Wednesday Jun 2015

Posted by in Internet, References, Research

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GetHuman™

http://gethuman.com/

Every so often, you need information from a company or business. Your boss wants it yesterday, and all you have is a telephone number you found on the Internet. Each time you call, you end up in a never-ending voice machine loop.

If you haven’t heard of GetHuman™, take a minute to check it out. This is what I like about it. I can use its database to find a direct number to the company. It gives me instructions to bypass the voice machine, and talk to an actual person. Better yet, it is the person who has the answer to my question.

The last time I used it, it gave me an 800 number to call and then told me to press the star button four times when asked for an account number. A voice machine asked one easy question and, after a few minutes’ wait, someone from the legal department asked how he could help. I could ask all my questions, and get the answers I needed. From there, it was a short step to finish the assignment.

If you are unsuccessful, tell GetHuman™ what happened. How long did you have to wait? What was the problem? Did it have the company you needed? GetHuman™ takes that information, and uses it to fix improve its database.

It may not always be perfect, but it has helped me more often than not. Give it a try. -CCE

 

Tamara Thompson’s Favorite Private Investigator Links. Let The Feeding Frenzy Begin!

09 Tuesday Jun 2015

Posted by in Legal Technology, References, Research

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My Favorite Private Investigator Links, by Tamara Thompson Investigations, PI Buzz.com

http://pibuzz.com/my-favorite-private-investigator-links/

Tamara has been doing this a long time, and she always has a varied type of valuable information. And the majority of the links she has shared are free. Definitely worth a look. -CCE

Mostly free websites for fact-finding and online research for private investigators, genealogists, info pros, attorneys, journalists and the public. . . .

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Research Your Judge!

26 Tuesday May 2015

Posted by in Judges, Research

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21 Ingenious Ways to Research Your Judge, by Ken Lopez, A2L Consulting, The Litigation Consulting Report

http://tinyurl.com/nsca2lu

For small town attorneys, it is possible to get to know a local judge quite well. Not only do you spend time in front of the local judges frequently, but you very likely see them socially as well.

Most of our clients, though, work in large and medium sized law firms in big cities. They likely try more cases outside of their home town than they do within it. They likely appear in court more often on a pro hac vice (temporary) basis than they do in the jurisdiction where they are admitted to practice. So for these lawyers and the teams that support them, it can be a real challenge to understand your judge’s likes and dislikes. . . .

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How To Research Corporations.

10 Monday Nov 2014

Posted by in Corporate Law, References, Research

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From Due Diligence to Corporate Intelligence, by Internet for Lawyers Blog

http://tinyurl.com/po56fuh

Say you’re working on a big case, and you need as much information on the opposing company as possible. Or perhaps you’re pitching a potential new client, and want to know everything about their business for your presentation. Maybe your client’s competition is developing a new product or you want to read all the news stories about some development that will affect your business or your clients’. Do you know how to get that information quickly? And for free?

There was a time not so long ago when a law firm would have to use an ‘information specialist’ to find this information, or in extreme cases, hire a ‘corporate spy’ to dig up the most sensitive competitive business information. But today, with so much business, legal and news information available on the Internet, getting this kind of ‘business intelligence’ is infinitely easier. If you know where to look, you too can be a corporate 007. . . .

Wall Street Executive Library.

19 Sunday Oct 2014

Posted by in Dashboards, Finding Assets, References, Research, Statistics

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Wall Street Executive Library

http://www.executivelibrary.com/index.asp

Similar to www.ceoexpress.com.  Includes Weather, Flights (look up any airline’s flight information), Date & Times, Tools, Phone Directories, Personal, Newspapers (domestic and international, news wires, markets, sports, and more), Radio, Magazines & Journals, etc., Web Search & Computer, Business Toolkit, Government Research, Financial Markets Research, Company & Industry Research, Business & Legal Research, Marketing & Advertising Research, Statistics & Economics Research. -CCE

Georgetown’s Legal Ethics Research Guide.

05 Monday May 2014

Posted by in Legal Ethics

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Legal Ethics Research Guide, Georgetown Law Library

http://bit.ly/1mx4ms9

This guide focuses on the codes of professional ethics and ethics opinions available from the American Bar Association and various state bar associations. Contents of this guide include Codes of Professional Ethics and ethics opinions.

Introduction

When researching issues of legal ethics, you will need to consult sources beyond the familiar cases and statutes, such as codes of professional ethics and ethics opinions issued by state and national bar associations. To assist you with your research, there are numerous secondary sources that focus specifically on issues in legal ethics. These secondary sources, including books and journal articles, are designed to help you understand the issues and locate primary materials.

This guide will give you an overview of the materials available, both print and online, that you will need to conduct your research in legal ethics. Locations of materials in the library are given. . . .

National Center on Elder Abuse

24 Thursday Oct 2013

Posted by in Assisted Living Abuse, Elder Law, Federal Law, Legal Directories, Nursing Home Abuse, Research, State Law

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National Center on Elder Abuse – Administration of Aging
http://www.ncea.aoa.gov/

An excellent resource with current information on best practices, news, resources, FAQs, training, and a library. Research data includes:

State Resources: http://www.ncea.aoa.gov/Stop_Abuse/Get_Help/State/index.aspx

Tribal Resources: http://www.ncea.aoa.gov/Resources/Tribal/index.aspx

Statistics and Data: http://www.ncea.aoa.gov/Library/Data/index.aspx

Research Briefs for 2013 and 2012: http://www.ncea.aoa.gov/Library/Review/Brief/index.aspx

Four Fantastic Dashboards for Lawyers, CEOs, Doctors, Journalists

23 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by in Dashboards, Legal Dictionaries, Legal Ethics, Legal Writing, References, Research

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If you have not seen or used these, you are overlooking outstanding resource. These Dashboards are one-stop clicking at their best. You will find links to research, practice areas, finance, news, reference material, social media, and more. Rearrange the information to suit you. (Free registration.)

http://www.lawyerexpress.com

http:www.ceoexpress.com

http://www.mdexpress.com

http://journalistexpress.com

Browse the Manual for LawyerExpress: http://www.lawyerexpress.com/manual/enduser.asp

State and federal court rules, forms, and dockets — all in one place.

21 Monday Oct 2013

Posted by in Court Rules, Dockets, Legal Writing, Research

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LLRX Court Rules, Forms and Dockets
http://www.llrx.com/courtrules/

Legal research experts and librarians Sabrina I. Pacifici and Margaret Berkland last updated this site in January 2011. It contains over 1,400 links to state and federal court rules, forms, and dockets.

Free Public Records (really free – not a false lead to a paid subscription)

21 Monday Oct 2013

Posted by in References, Research

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Search Systems.Net
http://publicrecords.searchsystems.net/

Unlike so many websites that started as free and now do not disclose that there is a hidden fee if you want the information they say they can provide, this site is the real deal. Yes, if you want to sign up for premium sites, you have that option. But you can still get free results of useful information.

It uses many public sites used regularly legal professionals. But if you are not someone who is already aware of where to find this information, this web site is for you. These folks have been on the Internet a long time. They are consistent and dependable.