Intelways--A Different Search Engine Concept

Although it is not a meta-search engine, Intelways is nevertheless an innovative one-stop search tool. Through its comprehensive set of search channels organized into different categories, Intelways offers a quick and convenient way to search for almost anything on the Web.

By using Intelways, you can easily find information and Web content in different formats, and on different topics and media types, by retrieving results from multiple search engines and online providers. To use Intelways, you need only type your search terms into the input box, and then click any search service from the buttons set provided for a given category.

One virtue of Intelways is that it demonstrates very simply and effectively how search results may differ among different search engines.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

New York's Legislative Website

Law students and practicing lawyers often need quick and reliable information about what's going on in the current session of the New York legislature. What bills have been introduced on a particular topic and what is their status? What is the text of a recently passed law? It's all there--and more--on the user friendly, official New York State Legislature public legislative information website. You can search by bill, chapter number, and other document number, or search all bills by keyword. You can also browse the current year's "chapter list" of all bills that passed into law, and link to each bill to see a summary and the text of the bill, how individual legislators voted, sponsors' memoranda, and the text of the resulting law as signed by the governor--all brought together in one convenient document.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Rosh Hashana

Deane Law Library will be open regular hours this week: Wednesday and Thursday, 8 am to 12 midnight; Friday, 8 am to 9 pm. Weekend hours are: Saturday, 10 am to 8 pm and Sunday, 10 am to 12 midnight.

Law School classes will not be held after 4 pm on Wednesday, September 12th. Law School classes resume on Monday, September 15th.




Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Today in Legal History

Looking for a daily dose of legal history?

National Public Radio’s Justice Talking Program and Findlaw have joined forces to create Today in Legal History.

Each day, this online feature highlights an historical event related to law or government. It also provides links to related resources. Enjoy!

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

New York Cases Online

The New York State Law Reporting Bureau and West make all decisions published in the New York Official Reports from 1997 to the present accessible at no cost here. As the site explains, "Opinions can be searched by word, official citation, official slip opinion number, docket number, case name, judge name, counsel name, opinion type (i.e., majority, concurring, dissenting) and decision date."



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Justia Regulation Tracker: Rules, Proposed Rules, & Notices

The Regulation Tracker is yet another product from Justia. Like the Justia site described in last Thursday's post, the Regulation Tracker remains in beta, but it is quite usable as is.

Regulation Tracker offers free access to Federal rules, proposed rules, notices, administrative orders, executive orders, and proclamations. Users may search by department or agency and by keywords, and users may also limit their searches by document type or by date.

Coverage begins from January 1, 2005, and includes links to full text in PDF format. The full text also provides links to related documents available from the GPOAccess Web site.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Legalese or Plain English?

From my cozy spot near the reference librarians, I've noticed many law students working hard at legal writing, business drafting, and other adventures in writing like a lawyer. This is a great time to become acquainted with Party of the First Part: Adventures in Legalese, a humorous and helpful legal web site. Adam Freedman, a former litigator who writes the "Legal Lingo" column for the New York Law Journal Magazine, created the site "for everyone befuddled, enraged, or intrigued by legalese--yes, even lawyers." Features, including "Legalese Hall of Shame,"make the site both fun and instructive. Freedman's new book, The Party of the First Part: The Curious World of Legalese (Henry Holt and Company, September 2007) should arrive in the Law Library soon.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Finding and Researching Experts

Finding experts is not only for trial lawyers. Experts in any field are good sources for substantive paper research and analysis, i.e. for those currently enrolled in a seminar with a writing requirement. Finding and Researching Experts: “The purpose of this article is to suggest various online resources that can be used to find experts, gather information about them (whether your own or the opposing party’s), and assess the admissibility of their testimony – as well as tips on how the information uncovered might be utilized. In addition, to assist in research efforts, some potentially-relevant web sites have been included.”



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Advice for 1L's from Lawyer/Authors

For first year law students who are making a hobby of collecting advice about law school, the Wall Street Journal's law blog has posted advice for 1L's from several lawyer/authors. The advice comes from Ron Liebman, Saira Rao, Jeffrey Toobin, Cameron Stracher, Jeremy Blachman, and Scott Turow. (Ernster does not necessarily endorse any of this advice, or the advice offered by the opinionated attorneys and students who have commented on these posts.)



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Help is on the way

Don't forget, if you need help from a Reference Librarian, you can contact the Reference librarian at the Reference desk via IM. There is a link to the Reference Librarian's hours just to the right of the latest posting, under Links. If you do not remember the IM contact name, visit the Reference desk in person. Or comment to this post with your email address and I will send it to you. I don't want to post it here, since this is an exclusive service for the Hofstra Law students.


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat