Searching of Our Surroundings

SUMMARY

There is a proliferation of Internet sites covering environmental themes. Many of these sites provide reference information in varying degrees. This article highlights environmental Web sites that provide a wide range of pertinent reference sources to a diverse audience. More than 50 highly selective Web sites are included in this paper. Some of these Web sites provide access to library catalogs, full-text articles, and other online resources. The Web sites in this article are in five categories: portals, government sites, special issues, general sites, and databases.     

Applications of Computers in the Legal Profession A Selected Bibliography

No abstract available for this article.     

Taking Control

Abstract

Libraries are at a crossroad. Down one road are the traditions long accepted by libraries as the proper way to run a library. The other way leads the libraries into the challenges and chaos of the Internet. There are innovative attempts to use the potential of the Internet to redirect traditional patterns of access to information and services.     

Government Information on the Web

Summary

Government information is abundant on the World Wide Web, but finding that information is often difficult. The usual routine of utilizing search engines or directories does not work well, unless an individual is interested in a specific government agency. Instead, the savvy librarian will be well advised to check the prominent journals and newspapers for announcements of new sites and utilize the homepage of the Library of Congress. With some education and experience, a user can quickly find information using the Library of Congress' homepage, the Librarian's Index to the Internet, and Beaucoup.     

Finding and Evaluating Health Sources on the Internet

Summary

Librarians and patrons searching for reliable health information are fortunate in that this subject area is one for which many reliable, in-depth sites exist. Government, education, and organization sites are, in particular, good sources of information and provide links to other Web pages. It is important, however, for both librarians and their clients to know how to access this information and, especially, how to evaluate the worthiness and usefulness of the information contained therein.     

Internet Reference Sources in Education

Summary

With so many Internet sites devoted to education for educators, administrators, and librarians, it can be a daunting experience trying to find needed resources. There are special sites devoted to teachers, children, and parents. The government provides free access to database searching, statistics, and full-text publications. State and local levels of government also host valuable data and reports. More and more journals are appearing online in full-text format escalating user expectation to assume all journals will be available via the Internet. Tapping into higher education and academic library sites connects to content rich links. While this is not an exhaustive listing of educational Web sites, it leads to a myriad of valuable resources.     

Researching Russian Laws

Abstract

The article discusses online sources dealing with current Russian laws and regulations. Included are websites from branches of the federal government, commercial databases and commercial information systems.     

The Rise of the Small: The Effects of Industry Consolidation on Small Legal Publishers

Summary

The legal publishing industry has experienced waves of acquisition and consolidation, with almost all of the established players becoming affiliated with either Thomson or Reed Elsevier. A widespread assumption is that this consolidation is driving out the smaller participants in the market, especially in conjunction with the expansion of free Web sites for primary source material. It is presumed that the entrepreneurs who have smaller, profit-based companies are becoming less interested in the market due to financial pressures, increased difficulty of capturing market share, and threat of acquisition (friendly or hostile).

In order to confirm or refute this assumption, the author reviews the industry consolidations, describes the delineation of representative small legal publishers, and analyzes their responses to questions about how the recent industry changes have affected their strategies, markets and product lines. The resulting picture is of an environment much different than that painted by current media pundits. Contrary to the presumption of a disappearing landscape of small players, there is a positive perception of “ripe opportunity” pushing companies into this marketplace-companies armed with new technology tools and strong convictions that they can reach customers ready and willing to do old business in new ways. The small publishers seem to be weathering the climactic industry changes, and have expectations of growth and expansion.     

Web Mirror Sites

SUMMARY

Libraries can play a key role in ensuring permanent access to primary legal information, both domestic and international. Web mirror sites present a particularly efficient and cost-effective way to collect, disseminate, preserve, and ensure accessibility to information far into the future. Through partnerships with the issuing governments and organizations, databases of official information can be loaded on a local server, updated directly from the issuing site, and captured at regular intervals to get a snapshot of the status of legal instruments as of a certain date. The result is similar to adding the various editions of a print book. The Cornell Law Library has recently made freely available two Web mirror sites for researchers and the public. These are the ILO (International Labour Organization) and the ICJ (International Court of Justice) mirror sites. The Law Library is archiving these sites every six months, thereby providing access to previous versions of a treaty article, or other information that was superseded, or amended. The many additional advantages of creating these partnerships with domestic and international institutions are discussed, as well as the process used to create the mirror sites, and maintaining them. The article ends with a proposal for collaboration among libraries to create the research library of the future. The preservation of digital law is a critical issue because information is disappearing. Libraries have a role to play because it is part of their fundamental mission to preserve information for future researchers.