Navigating the Internet: Legal Research on the World Wide Web

Rating:
Summary: Legal Research Actually Made EAsy!
Review: Navigating the Internet: Legal Research on the Web is a well written and organized research tool that provides uselful information for both the web expert and novice. The text, along with the well thought out illustrations, make this research guide to the internet the next staple for law students around the world.

Rating:
Summary: Legal Research Actually Made EAsy!
Review: The Internet has a myriad of cases, statutes, legislative materials, rules and regulations, which are free for the taking if one simply knows how to look. Navigating the Internet: Legal Research on the World Wide Web provides the answers. The authors succeed where most books on research fail: they make the subject matter interesting. Navigating the Internet is well written, provides a great explanation of legal research on the 'net, and serves as a very helpful map to sites of interest. Throughout each chapter, the authors provide illustrations of the actual screen the reader will see on the computer, and notations explaining each symbol on the screen. The authors never lose sight of the need for a researcher to be able to repeat the trail. An understanding of what various legal sites have to offer, and how research can be conducted efficiently, will be of immense benefit to attorneys who need to maintain low client fees and to law students and other people interested in legal investigation, who cannot afford access to more expensive research tools. The first three chapters provide a detailed explanation of the internet itself, and are quite useful for the beginner as well as for people who know how to "surf", but don't understand the underlying concepts and mechanics. These chapters address the "world wide web," links, URLs, use of the browser, creation and use of files, and use of search engines by both Boolean and topical methods. By the end of the third chapter, even the novice computer user will feel comfortable with the technology and terminology. More Internet savvy readers may want to skip straight to the substantive chapters. The authors tell the reader the most appropriate research site for finding case law, statutory authority, Constitutional provisions, and secondary authority, such as law review articles. Finding the appropriate research sites is "Step One" in each chapter. The reader is then taken through other phases of the research, such as: how to choose the correct link ("Step Two"), how to find material in the appropriate jurisdiction(s) ("Step Three"), how to find a the relevant authority if a name is known ("Step Four"), and how to search for relevant authority when the reader only knows the topic, but not a specific case or statutory title ("Step Five"). Every chapter provides exercises by which to reinforce the concepts. The appendices provide valuable information about getting online, the application of Boolean terms, and a list of relevant web sites. As an Instructor of Law, I highly recommend Navigating the Internet: Legal Research on the World Wide Web to practitioners as well as to students, as a mastery of this area of research allows the reader access to valuable information at little or no cost. (c)August 22, 2000. Philip C. Kaplan, Instructor, Suffolk University School of Law.* *This review is excerpted and modified from a review which will appear in the September issue of Suffolk University Law School's Bimonthly Review of Law Books, which is edited by Professors Michael Rustad and Edward Bander.

Rating:
Summary: Navigating the Internet
Review: The Internet has a myriad of cases, statutes, legislative materials, rules and regulations, which are free for the taking if one simply knows how to look. Navigating the Internet: Legal Research on the World Wide Web provides the answers. The authors succeed where most books on research fail: they make the subject matter interesting. Navigating the Internet is well written, provides a great explanation of legal research on the 'net, and serves as a very helpful map to sites of interest. Throughout each chapter, the authors provide illustrations of the actual screen the reader will see on the computer, and notations explaining each symbol on the screen. The authors never lose sight of the need for a researcher to be able to repeat the trail. An understanding of what various legal sites have to offer, and how research can be conducted efficiently, will be of immense benefit to attorneys who need to maintain low client fees and to law students and other people interested in legal investigation, who cannot afford access to more expensive research tools. The first three chapters provide a detailed explanation of the internet itself, and are quite useful for the beginner as well as for people who know how to "surf", but don't understand the underlying concepts and mechanics. These chapters address the "world wide web," links, URLs, use of the browser, creation and use of files, and use of search engines by both Boolean and topical methods. By the end of the third chapter, even the novice computer user will feel comfortable with the technology and terminology. More Internet savvy readers may want to skip straight to the substantive chapters. The authors tell the reader the most appropriate research site for finding case law, statutory authority, Constitutional provisions, and secondary authority, such as law review articles. Finding the appropriate research sites is "Step One" in each chapter. The reader is then taken through other phases of the research, such as: how to choose the correct link ("Step Two"), how to find material in the appropriate jurisdiction(s) ("Step Three"), how to find a the relevant authority if a name is known ("Step Four"), and how to search for relevant authority when the reader only knows the topic, but not a specific case or statutory title ("Step Five"). Every chapter provides exercises by which to reinforce the concepts. The appendices provide valuable information about getting online, the application of Boolean terms, and a list of relevant web sites. As an Instructor of Law, I highly recommend Navigating the Internet: Legal Research on the World Wide Web to practitioners as well as to students, as a mastery of this area of research allows the reader access to valuable information at little or no cost. (c)August 22, 2000. Philip C. Kaplan, Instructor, Suffolk University School of Law.* *This review is excerpted and modified from a review which will appear in the September issue of Suffolk University Law School's Bimonthly Review of Law Books, which is edited by Professors Michael Rustad and Edward Bander.