|
|
Title:
Law of the Super Searchers: The Online Secrets of Top Legal Researchers
Review:
The need for urgent, accurate, comprehensive and reliable information
is of utmost importance in the legal profession, probably more so
than in any other discipline. Law of the Supersearchers by
T.R. Halvorson, the most recent book in the Supersearcher series, is
about finding information for the legal profession. The author is a
practicing attorney and legal researcher. As with the other books in
the series, this one presents valuable insights through probing
interviews with expert researchers on their work, thought processes,
and search strategies. The Supersearcher series is
directed at professionals who have at least a fundamental grasp of the
principles of information organization and retrieval.
The interviewees are mostly American but diverse in their work situations. Sabrina Pacifici is the director of Library and Research Services at the Washington DC office of an international law firm. She is co-editor and publisher of a free webzine - Law Library Resource Xchange (LLRX), with Cindy Chick (another interviewee), Director of Library Services for the Los Angeles office of another international firm. Genie Tyburski is a research librarian for the Philadelphia office of a national firm, and manages The Virtual Chase: A Research site for legal professionals. Roberta Shaffer is a lawyer and librarian. She is currently dean of the Graduate School of Library & Information Science at the University of Texas at Austin, but was Director of Research Information Services at a Washington law firm at the the time of the interview. Catherine Best is Canadian - a research lawyer with a Vancouver firm, and author of the Best Guide to Canadian Legal Research. George Jackson, is a lawyer, reference librarian and professor of legal research at the Minnesota School of Law. Leigh Webber is a lawyer who presents continuing legal education seminars on Internet legal research in the United States and Canada.
Online searching is a complex art at best. Legal searchers must have
a wide knowledge base, be creative thinkers and work in fast-paced
and demanding environments. As intermediaries, professional
researchers have to be able to determine what their clients really
need (an art in itself, since requests are often not well
articulated) and to find effective and efficient strategies to
satisfy that need. Searching is an iterative process, strategies
differ widely by situation, cost, and researcher. One common
qualification all the expert researchers have is a thorough knowledge
of their reference sources, and commercial legal database content and
search syntax. Halvorson's exploration of each researcher's personal
strategies, sources, and methods is sensitively conducted and topics
are expanded to elicit interesting view points, knowledge,
or experiences.
Opinions about the Internet vary widely, from "it's making our lives
more complicated, but more fun too", to "I might use it (over
commercial sources) when I am concerned about cost, although it
actually takes longer to do things using the Internet", to "I'm not
in a mind set where I would begin on the Internet.." Although all
interviewees voiced concern about the quality, comprehensiveness,
reliability and searchability of information on the Internet, they
all use it. In fact, in certain cases, failure to use Internet
research could construe incompetence! Legal researchers extensively
use sites with established authority and often start their research
using Internet subject directories and catalogues. Generally, the
Internet is used to search for very current news, government
information - a lot of which is not available any other way, and for
casual information found on personal or company websites and
listserver discussions.
Legal research involves not just research of the law, but includes
nearly all other disciplines like medicine, science, technology,
public opinion, and business, for litigation support and transaction
law. A classified index to online resources is presented in an
appendix at the back of the book, which contains references to a
variety of resources and includes some international resources.
Legal terminology and jargon are scattered throughout the
conversations - quite a distraction to those not familiar with them.
However, a second appendix contains an excellent glossary of terms.
While all who engage in the intricacies of locating information
online would find this an interesting read, it would be most useful
for those specializing in American and Canadian legal research. The
book is especially recommended to lawyers to help define and satisfy
their research needs.
Free Pint Reviewer:
Crystal Sharp is co-director of CD Sharp Information Systems, a
business research and consulting company in London, Ontario, Canada.
She specializes in business research, especially Canadian business
research, and technology's influence on business and social practices.
She has three main research interests: social, business, and economic
issues concerning women, new models of operation and management of
libraries, and the effect of information technology on economic
development. She can be reached at crystal@cdsharp.com
Purchase options:
Readers Comments:
- Have you read this book?
- What did you think?
Let us know your thoughts and we'll post them above ...
|
