LLOPSCited

by Kristine Lloyd

Walking through Nordstrom is a heavenly experience. Gliding from architecturally aligned rack to rack, you feel as though you are in a museum. There are items that you should not touch. Items that famous people wear. You may be accosted by security for touching these items without permission if you are not carrying a Birkin bag. Sweaters are folded as soon as they’re touched and hangars are realigned after being pulled out, examined and rehung asymmetrically. A tour through Macy’s (at least some of the stores) is like walking down an alleyway. Clothes often litter the floor, hangars jut out like elbows, the mannequins look like they’ve had a rough night, and everything is 25% off. Macy’s carries many of the same designers as Nordstrom, that is, if you can find them.

What exactly am I getting at here? Well, such is the difference between two court docket alert services: Westlaw’s CourtWire and Courthouse News Service. CourtWire is, as my grandma would say, real purdy, but it does a lot of the same things that Courthouse News does, which is basically to give you access to complaints before anyone else can, by what I imagine are people who wait like the post-Thanksgiving sales shoppers to get into the courts first thing in the morning. Continue reading »

by Philippe Cloutier

The Federal Register’s enhanced online presence is up and running. It is certainly dazzling, and in comparison to the black and white, impersonal, and sometimes too technical print document, the new web 2.0 version proves engaging. FR 2.0 adds photos, sections/categories, friendly navigation and interface, and digital bookmarks (see photo-click to enlarge).

It definitely feels like a web newspaper and represents itself as such, displaying the current date, latest issue, and a focus on browsing. The little things within each document make the experience better: font size and color control, easy access to PDF and XML versions, shortened links, and citation information. Also welcomed are RSS feeds by section, allowing us to stay on top of healthcare and banking systems in flux. Continue reading »

by Erin Hoffrance

During my time working in the law firm library arena, I have also been enrolled in the University of Washington Information School’s online MLIS program. Working full-time and going to school can be quite an overwhelming experience, so in order to make sense of it all, I would try to find overlap in both areas as often as possible . I experimented with tools I learned about in school to see how they would translate into the work world. There is one tool that kept coming up in my mind as a great way to bridge this gap – and that tool is Jing!

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by Kristine Lloyd

It’s been a long time coming, renovations to the look and feel of PACER. Didn’t we all love the pastel color schemes, like an Easter egg surprise every time you clicked on a court’s homepage? Well, thankfully, all the spirit and personality of the individual court homepages are still there, but the PACER landing page and the US Party / Case Index, now called the PACER Case Locator, have been updated to a chicer, more mod look. Even the url is now pacer.gov: simple as a little black dress.

The PACER Case Locator:

No one besides a librarian gets too excited about an Index, so the name change was a good decision. The tabs across the top are handy and alleviate clicking through multiple screens to get to a page where you can actually do something. Get out your “Marion the Librarian” reading glasses though, because the font has gone from Large Print Books to micro-fiche sized. Here are a few pros and cons about the new PACER Case Locator:

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by Philippe Cloutier

It all started with the Kindle and Amazon, now the flames are fanning with Apple and the iPad, and this summer an enveloping cloud of smoke and fire will take shape with Google’s e-book endeavor. A significant difference between these competitors is apparent, Amazon and Apple sell hardware and content, where Google looks to sell only content. Google tried their hands in the physical realm of cell-phone devices with the Nexus One and in short: flopped. Their business model rests in the clouds of data they control on the Internet (thanks in part to libraries around the world who offered their collections for scanning). With a hardware lesson and a digital book archive like no other in hand, Google will become a powerhouse in the e-book era.

While a new age of e-books is beginning, we must remain aware of existing privacy issues with Google in general, and specifically, with Google Books. The policies surrounding their upcoming foray are unknown. However, we do know Google’s privacy/copyright history leaves room for improvement. We’ll find out this summer, as Google rolls out their book market, if the right privacy pieces and policies are in place. Yet, no matter how the legal battles take shape or are resolved, e-books are shifting out of niche markets and towards more accessible and easier to use forms. More importantly, consumer options are abounding from proven tech companies with billions to spend. E-books may not affect us today but tomorrow will be a different story.

by Holly Gale

Have you seen it? Have you heard the Buzz? Yes, it’s true. Google is one step closer to world domination with its release of the new social media tool, Google Buzz. When I was invited to try out Google Buzz, I was in the middle of juggling my inactive Twitter account, a Facebook page with ancient photos, an old Picasa album for family, a blog for my neighborhood friends, and my LinkedInnetwork. Did I not have enough channels of information to manage and update? Is Buzz really the new Facebook? And I was just getting back into Twitter!

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by Erin Hoffrance

When I’m in a crunch and need an article fast, I turn to document delivery services. I have had great success with Research Solutions, but there is a new kid on the document delivery block, Reprints Desk. Below is a head-to-head comparison of these two document delivery vendors.  

 History:Based in California, both Research Solutions and Reprints Desk are fairly new companies, founded in 2002 and 2006 respectively; however, the ability to retrieve and send electronic documents quickly and efficiently is also a relatively new phenomenon.

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by Kate Stockert

Five years ago my company, Knowledge Mosaic, reviewed and purchased our first web conferencing product. Since that time GoToMeeting has served our training and sales needs well. However, a recent renewal notice prompted me to reconsider the options. Boy, was I surprised to find the significant price drops since our initial purchase. Suddenly WebEx Meeting Center and Microsoft Live Meeting’s sexy features and high screen resolution were within reach!

One thing has not changed: there are still numerous factors to consider when purchasing a web conferencing product, and none of the products match up feature-for-feature. Below I highlight my findings, including this Feature Comparison Chart. My review covers GoToMeeting, WebEx Meeting Center, Microsoft Live Meeting, and Fuze. Other players my research did not cover include DimDim, ooVoo and  Eye Network. My findings are by no means exhaustive, but will hopefully offer a starting point for your next review process. I invite you to share your own suggestions, ideas, or findings.

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by Kristine Lloyd

Have you noticed the subtle nips and tucks updating both Lexis and Westlaw over the past few years? First, they freed us from the shackles of six measly tabs. No more redecorating your 6-tab limit to fit your current research need. Now you can have loads of tabs, and you can even customize your very own tab. You can select multiple databases and search across them. No need to walk into each room to see if what you’re looking for is there. No, now it’s like one big, beautiful, high-ceilinged loft where you can take it all in at once. The question is: will you still be able to find your slippers?

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by Kristine Lloyd

Let’s face it. “Free” usually means you don’t want it—like the abandoned curbside couch with stuffing spewing out the armrests. I’ve reached the point where I rarely bother to look at “free” legal websites anymore. They’re clunky, or the coverage is spotty, or you can’t find anything unless you decode their bizarre search syntax. But yesterday, Google announced a new feature on Google Scholar, the ability to search legal opinions. And not just federal opinions—state appellate and district court opinions too. Naturally, Google being just below air, water and food on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, I had to check it out.

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