Category: Online Resources

Practice Tip: Federal Docket Searching

A regular feature of life for law librarians is docket searching. We all know the woes of using New Jersey’s state court public case access. While we have left behind the buzzing and beeping of our modems from the old dial-up ACMS access in favor of public access on the court website, there is still a lot of room for improvement on the state side. For federal courts, the old reliable PACER is of course still the least expensive option, if not the most graceful.

But could there be something a bit better that doesn’t break the bank? I have been playing around with PacerPro for my federal docket searching ever since I learned about them at AALL this summer. I pay just my regular Pacer charges, and get access to batch downloads of the documents (definitely a time saver), free bookmarking of cases I check on regularly (no more visiting several different court sites and logging in to each one to check on my cases), and also free docket tracking with alerts when there’s an update. PacerPro also has the ability to search within a docket using simple Boolean operators to quickly locate entries. There are online demos about PacerPro on their website and they also are actively setting up live online webinars, so feel free to contact them and check out their offerings to see what you think. Is anyone else using PacerPro, or have any tools or tricks that may make our lives a little easier that they’d like to share with the membership? We would love to set up a regular blog feature of practice tips on any topic written by our knowledgeable NJLLA librarians, so please leave a comment or contact us if you have ideas to share!

Cheers,
Carrie Hayter

STR Responsible Sourcing Launches Labor Law Library

STR Responsible Sourcing (STR RS), a leading provider of ethical sourcing consulting services for Fortune 500 companies, announced that it has launched the most comprehensive and up-to-date online reference tool for labor laws and employment standards.

For more information, click here.

Visit NJLLA’s web site at http://www.njlla.org.

Full Text Legal Opinions Available on Google Scholar

The Google Blog reports –

Starting today, we’re enabling people everywhere to find and read full text legal opinions from U.S. federal and state district, appellate and supreme courts using Google Scholar. You can find these opinions by searching for cases…or by topics…or other queries that you are interested in.

For the full story, click here.

Visit NJLLA’s web site at http://www.njlla.org.

Lincoln’s Legal Papers Now Online

The Dekalb Daily Chronicle reports that –

Internet users around the world now have access to the legal papers of Abraham Lincoln, according to a news release from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

“The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln” was first published in 2000 in a set of three DVDs, the release said. The online edition includes all of the documents and information from the DVDs, plus new information included in a 2008 print edition of the papers.

The documents are available online at www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org

Visit NJLLA’s web site at http://www.njlla.org.

Online Document Services Help Laypeople, But Not Without Risks

Simple legal actions like establishing a living will don’t necessarily require the direct involvement of a lawyer. Online document services can provide forms and give laypeople instructions on what to do with them. The advantages are cost and convenience; however, some worry the absence of a live professional can leave users shortchanged.

For the complete story from E-Commerce Times.com, complete with linked resources, click here.

Visit NJLLA’s web site at http://www.njlla.org.

In Digital Age, Federal Files Blip Into Oblivion

In today’s New York Times, Robert Pear writes –

Countless federal records are being lost to posterity because federal employees, grappling with a staggering growth in electronic records, do not regularly preserve the documents they create on government computers, send by e-mail and post on the Web.

To read the full article, click here.

Visit NJLLA’s web site at http://www.njlla.org.

The Virtual Chase Closing Up Shop: Thanks for the Memories…

From Genie Tyburski, Web Manager, Virtual Chase [dot] com:

Everything Has an End

To paraphrase Shakespeare, the inaudible and noiseless foot of time passes almost without notice. Indeed, the past 12 years, spent writing about research strategies and resources, flew by in no small part because of the fun I had doing it. Yet change is the essence of the times, making 12 years rather a long stretch.

Saying goodbye is never easy. I’ve enjoyed the generous support of Ballard Spahr for my creative endeavors. I’ve received much encouragement over the years from the legal community. My peers have kindly awarded my efforts.

But the demands of managing a Web site increasingly took me away from my first love – providing library and research services to lawyers. Now I have an opportunity to return to working closely with Ballard Spahr’s lawyers and library staff. Starting today, I will be library manager, overseeing all services and assisting the director of the library.

While the decision to close The Virtual Chase was not made lightly, I’m convinced it’s the best choice for both the firm and me. I will take down the site gradually over the next several months unless I find someone willing to archive it or continue its development. I anticipate that the site will be completely offline by no later than May 2009 (and quite possibly, sooner) except in the event of a new owner.Thank you for your patronage over the years. This chapter of my professional life was truly a most extraordinary and rewarding experience.

Genie Tyburski, Web Manager
tvceditor [at] virtualchase [dot] com

Visit NJLLA’s web site at http://www.njlla.org.