Presenters: Jootaek(Juice) Lee University of Miami Law Library Kumar Percy Jayasuriya Georgetown Law Library Introducing and Integrating Free Internet Legal Research Into Classroom

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing

Table of Contents I. Evaluating Websites II. Examples of Internet Legal Resources III. Considerations for Incorporating Free Research Tools into a Research Strategy

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing I. Evaluating Legal Research Tools Coverage Currency Accuracy Value Added Features Authority Appropriateness Cost Perspective Design- Usability

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing Coverage What is the depth and breath of coverage Does the source provide more than a few years of coverage? Can you search for older cases? In a caselaw database are there missing cases or missing courts? Are there statutes or regulations as well as cases?

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing Currency Is the information up to date? When was the code last updated? What is the most recent case loaded to the database? What is the revision cycle of the database?

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing Accuracy Can you identify any missing documents? Does the secondary source provide verifiable information with citations? Are there errors in the documents? Can you verify that the document has not been altered since publication? GPO authentication signature on FDsys.gov

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing Value Added Features Search Features Search for a known citation (find a document) Search multiple databases (multiple jurisdictions) Table of Contents / Index / Popular Names Table Citator (or a way to search for all cases that cited to a known case or statute or regulation). Sort Features Control how you review results Document Features Pinpoint Pagination Hyperlinks within document

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing Authority Can you identify: the author the qualifications of the author how to contact the publisher / producer verifiable citations to the documentation behind the statements

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing Other Ways to Evaluate a Source Appropriateness Is it clear who the intended audience is Is the language, illustrations, and format adequate for the audience Perspective What is the goal of the source Is there a bias or is it objective

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing Cost What is the overall cost How does the cost compare to other online How does it compare to print Consider speed as a cost

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing Presentation and Design Sources Jakob Nielsen, Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design U.S. Department of Heath and Human Services(HHS), Research-Based Web Design & Usability Guidelines Nielsen, F-Shaped Pattern for Reading Web Content

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing Usability Mistakes Lack of consistency Not behaving the same, not easy to become familiar, and lots of distractions Lack of scannability Not providing lists or headings Bad searching design: Not visible and not simple Not providing the search box, not showing the scope of search, and not showing results by importance Not changing color of visited links PDF files for online searching Opening new browser windows

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing

Summary Using the previous factors will lead to different answers for Recommend for purchase Recommend for use for a particular client

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing II. Examples of Internet Legal Resources Review a few specific free and low-cost sources of legal information Consider how to integrate them into a research strategy

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing Free Caselaw Resources Altlaw Findlaw Justia LexisOne PreCYdent Public Law Library Each fully evaluated through the Georgetown Research Guide of Low-Cost and Free Legal Research Tools.

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing Free Online Caselaw Sources Rich with recent caselaw No site is really comprehensive Limited search features Secondary sources are severely limited

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing PreCYdent Sample search: g/media/9697b52b-74f7-4fe8-8e d71a3ecb g/media/9697b52b-74f7-4fe8-8e d71a3ecb Sample results: /90f7b4d9-5e85-4d25-a7b1-72e c0

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing PreCYdent Search

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing Search Features

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing PreCYdent Result

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing PreCYdent Citator

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing PreCYdent Coverage, Great for federal cases, weak for state law and statutes Currency Good but hard to tell, especially for statutes Accuracy Hard to tell -- Cases look different from what we are used to Authority Pro: Some information about the source of cases Weakness: No authority for statutes

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing PreCYdent Value added features: Pro: West citations Pro: Pinpoint pagination pre 2004 fed cases Pro: Some advanced search features Pro: Find a citation feature Pro: Citator Weakness: cannot sort citator results by subject level of analysis

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing PreCYdent Appropriateness Useful for sophisticated researchers Cost Quick results Perspective Design Usability

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing Justia Pro: Great content Pro: Good Browse features Weakness: hard to identify search features Weakness: limited standardized or pinpoint citations Weakness: no easily identified citator Weakness: no federated searching Weakness: no way to sort results

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing Justia Circuit Searching

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing Statutes on Legal Information Institute

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing Low Cost Fastcase Loislaw lexisONE VersusLaw Casemaker

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing Low-Cost Services Currency Variable - Usually noted up front Accuracy Value Added Features Often better sorting features than Westlaw or Lexis Enhanced search features Some pretty good citators Authority Appropriateness Cost Perspective/Design- Usability

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing Fastcase Search Features

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing Fastcase Citator

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing

Google search

2009 CALI Conference for Law School Computing Combining Resources Use free and low-cost databases early on, along with print secondary sources To learn the basics of an area of law To try out search strings Supplement with Westlaw and Lexis Using advanced features such as annotated codes, headnote searches and citators