Free Court Dockets Web Site

Today, I took a look at the Free Court Dockets site. To retrieve docket information (with the exception of US Supreme Court information), you have to request an invitation code from the site. (Click here if you would like to go through the process).

I did not request an invitation code, so I looked at one of the "Hot Docket" cases, GERONIMO v. OBAMA - 09cv00303. The first page, the case summary, gives you the standard plantiff and defendant information, as well as info on their attorneys.

The second page gives you docket information along with the date each document was filed/action taken.

You can download/print/save this information. You can also view when the docket was last updated by the site, and also refresh the docket information.

However, if you want to get a motion, for example, the site redirects you to Pacer, at least it does for the case that I looked at. It also warns that you must have a Pacer account and fees may be assessed.

This site is good if you need basic information, or you want to see the docket, but it appears that you will still need to use Pacer (or Westlaw or Lexis if you want to retrieve docket documents through one of those services) if you need to see the actual motion/document.

Article on Clickers from RIPS

Yasmin Alexander wrote a Blog post about Audience Response Systems (clickers). To ready the post click here. To read the Perspectives article click here.

I haven't ever used clickers in the classroom, but I have used them during meetings with fellow librarians. Some people do not like having to use the clickers, but I found that it helps you get a sense of what everyone is thinking, whether or not they spoke on the topic.

Want to Improve Pacer? Sign the petition so your voice will be heard.

There is a petition going around that supports improvements to Pacer. For more information about the petiton and to sign it if you are interested, click here.

Guide to Better Google Searches

We may want to resist it, but our patrons love to research on Google. With that said, it doesn't mean we can't teach them to use Google more efficiently. Here is a Guide to Better Searches on Google created by Google. The guide provides and defines modifiers to help you make a stronger Google search.

Do you get what you pay for? Evaluation of Free Case Law Sites

A colleague sent me a link to an article that evaluates 10 free legal case law sites. The article appeared on the Law Technology News site and was written by Robert J. Ambrogi. This article is great for a quick description and comparison and can help you point your patrons in the direction best for them.

The following sites were evaluated:
AltLaw
Casemaker
Fastcase
FindACase
FindLaw
Justia
Legal Information Institute (LII)
LexisONE
PreCYdent
Public Library of Law (PLOL)
Public.Resource.Org

Will Bing Rule the World?

Currently, there is a LOT of fuss about Bing. At work, all of the homepages for the public computers have been set to Bing. Also, my home page for my cell phone was set to Bing (without my doing). It seems to be that Bing is taking over, so I wanted to experience Bing for myself.

I found some information on Law Librarian Blog that lead me here. PC World compared Bing, Google, and Yahoo. The comparison is complete with screen shots.

I decided to do my own comparison between Google, my preferred search engine, and Bing. I looked for my apartment complex. I have to say I like that Google gave me a map of the location, but other than that, the info was pretty much the same. Bing keeps the left side of the page clean where Google has ads. Bing also keeps track of your search history on the right side of the screen and has related search options. Google also does this if you click "Show Options".

I don't think that I am ready to switch to Bing full time as of yet, but I definitely think it is a viable search engine.

PowerPoint How Tos - Office 2007

I have to admit, I am not a huge fan of PowerPoint 2007, but I am warming up to it. I feel like some of the functionality that I had in the 2003 version is gone. However, all is not lost. I found a 'PowerPoint How Tos 2007" guide created by Microsoft. If you like to give your PowerPoint presentations that extra zing, this is the guide for you.

To access the 'PowerPoint How Tos 2007" guide click here.

SERU

As a member of the CRIV committee, I developed a proposal for the DC conference on Shared Electronic Resources Understanding (SERU). Unfortunately, the program was not accepted, but we were able to get a grant and turn the program into a webinar! You can find more information about the webinar below. The program is called The Shared Electornic Resource Understanding (SERU): Can it work in my Library? and will be held Tuesday June 9 from 1p-2p. The program is sponsored by NELLLCO and co-sponsored by CRIV. For more information, click here.

Web 3.0

I was reading an article by Michael Baumann in Information Today ("Web 3.0: The Next Step for the Internet, May 2009). The article discussed how Web 3.0 changes will be drastically different from the changes we saw with Web 2.0 technologies. Baumann suggested that Web 3.0 will be different because it will focus on changes with infrastructure, where as Web 2.0 focused on changes with technologies.

One *welcomed*change that we may experience with Web 3.0 is machines doing menial tasks such as deleting spam email and other types of data sorting. Furthermore, Web 3.0 is expected to make surfing the internet a lot easier for everyone.

With these expected changes, do you think librarians will be teaching (or re-teaching) patrons how to use the internet in addition to research skills?

Programs used to create online tutorials or teach online courses

I have to admit, I haven't had much experience with the products I'm about to mention, but I wonder how librarians are incorporating products such as Camtasia, Jing, WebEx, etc into their teaching. Some libraries have even downloaded library tours to iPod shuffles and allow users to check them out.

I have attended a few sessions via WebEx. I heard the speakers and saw the PowerPoint, but I was not successful at submitting questions through the chat function for whatever reason.

This is an area that many librarians would like to know more about, so please share your experiences with different products and how your library uses them.