Monday, August 16, 2010

Laura K. Justiss - A Survey of Electronic Research Alternatives to Lexis and Westlaw in Law Firms

Laura K. Justiss - A Survey of Electronic Research Alternatives to Lexis and Westlaw in Law Firms is available on SSRN.

Academic librarians may find the following tables useful for teaching purposes:
Page 12 "Primary Source Alternatives to Lexis and Westlaw"
Page 15 "Court Docket and Case Information Services"
Page 18 "Secondary Sources for Topical Legal Research, Legal Periodicals, etc."


Honorable mentions
Page 20 "Financial, Business & News Information (including SEC Filings, Public and Private Company Information)"
Page 22 "Public Records"
Page 24 "Non-legal land Legal-Related: Patents and Trademarks, Science, Technology, Medicine, etc."

The article has other tables that in my view, are more firm specific information. It probably goes without saying, but I am sure that most of us think that it is important for academic librarians to know what other databases that the firms are using so that we can expose students to those sources as well.

Monday, August 9, 2010

LibGuides and Faculty Services

At my new job, I am the Faculty Services Librarian. I created a library handbook for faculty members using LibGuides. I used LibGuides at my previous job, too, but for some reason, I like it better now. It is a good way to have a uniform look to your guides. Also, it is easy to update. On the flip side, you have to remember to update it and update links as necessary. I am still partial to the PDF guide, but I am coming around! Here is a link to my Faculty Library Services Handbook.