Directories Books

This wonderful, timely book consists of interviews with the country's top legal researchers. I can't think of a better way to learn about legal research than from experts like Sabrina Pacifici, Cindy Chick, Diana Botluk, Genie Tyburski, Leigh Webber and the others profiled.

If legal research is part of your professional life, do yourself a favor: Buy This Book.

Jerry Lawson, Author of The Complete Internet Handbook for Lawyers (ABA 1999).

This book should appeal to: 1) software developers and usability testers, to learn from experiences with well-established proprietary and newer web-based interfaces to highly structured databases (billions, literally, of pages in Lexis and WestLaw); 2) content developers, web trainers and educators in all fields who wrestle with quality issues of web content; 3) observers of how professional communities use the web, as organized associations and for bottom-up information sharing; 4) amateur and semi-pro searchers who want to get tips from real pros trained in library and information science, as well as specific legal contents and methods.

Warning to workplace cynics: this is a no-Dilbert zone.

Example interview topics include: (software/usability) how are browser bookmarks used? are any web utilities widely adopted? (content/training) when is the web a trustworthy source of information? which comes first, in what circumstances: the web or fee-based services?

(community organizers) how do websites evolve to so well serve diverse professionals using cooperative and volunteer labor? (amateurs/semi-pros) how do people who search for a living in a rapid turn-around environment organize their work? (cynics) are there really people who still have long-lasting careers and love their work? how do they survive the nutty managers, mindless meetings, and constant change of fads?

Expanding the series and theme of "super searcher" books, this set of interviews goes more deeply into the technical aspects of legal research without losing the non-legal reader in either the terms of the field or the names of the content providers. My only complaint was the frequent reference to "stock techniques taught in legal research" which might have been better defined or compared, but I loved the phrase "build a search".

The online secrets of top legal researchers are covered in an important guide which uses interviews with experts to focus on legal research topics. From web site listings and commercial services to databases and professional journals, this is packed with practical references to legal research processes.

In October of 1995, only 40% of the "National Law Journal" 250[1] law firms had registered domain names, and only 10%[2] of the NLJ 250 firms had Web sites. A little more than two years later, the prediction that "it will soon be the rule, rather than the exception, that a law-related organization is on the Internet" has come true.[3] Today all but one of the NLJ 250 firms has registered a domain name, and 60% have Web sites.

Why is this important? Because it means that the Internet is finally ready for prime time! And it means that there is no reasonable way to include "all" of the law-related organizations on the Net in this book. So what's a perfectionist to do? The only rational choice is to make editorial decisions about who gets included in this book and who does not. So while earlier efforts focused on cataloging "all" of the law-related resources into one book, this book focused on cataloging the best of all the law-related resources.

For example, in the companies chapter, we include major vendors, focusing on those that publish something of substance - preferably for free - on the Internet.[4] We also included smaller companies who are, for one reason or another, making a difference on the Internet. Companies whose content focus is limited to a particular state are briefly mentioned in the reviews of each particular state. In the law firm chapter, we've included NLJ 250 law firms as well as small law firms that have made great strides in Internet publishing. We're open to suggestions about how to improve future editions of this book.

Our goal was to create a reference book that would help novices and net.veterans get the most out of their Internet experiences. For example, a new Internet user looking for tax law resources would get a very good feel for the best of the Internet tax-related resources by looking in the index of this book under "tax" for organizations whose practice areas include tax. Similarly, net.veterans looking to maximize their online experience - both as consumers and publishers of information - would enjoy our spirited reviews of all of the NLJ 250 law firm Web sites to see what is working and what is not.

Much has changed over the last two years. BBSs, Gopher, WAIS, and even Usenet are dead or dying. E-mail is becoming a more popular way to get the word out, and e-mail users are struggling with how to filter out the unwanted e-mail from the mix. And the jury is still out on technologies such as PointCast, which delivers multimedia to users' desktops, but not by e-mail.[5] On the horizon are new developments like Internet-based telephone and fax service, unified messaging, and video.

We have also seen consolidation in the Internet marketspace and the legal Internet marketspace. WorldCom has purchased UUNet and MCI, and Microsoft has purchased everything but the Justice Department. In the legal market, Counsel Connect was sold, bought, and consolidated with its former competitor the New York Law Publishing Company (of Law Journal EXTRA! fame). Reed and Thomson continue to grow their two huge empires.

In the final analysis, we're hoping that the information overload that is the Internet will still require somebody to weed through the millions of Web sites (and other Internet resources) to find the most important, most reliable, and most influential ones. And who better to help than the American Bar Association, whose mission in life is member services. We're pleased to be able to play a small part in shaping the legal Internet community, and we hope to be able to continue to do so for years to come.

Thanks for reading!

[1] The "National Law Journal" 250 (NLJ 250) is an annual survey conducted by the New York Law Publishing Company. This is the 20th anniversary of the NLJ 250 survey, which is the legal community's equivalent of the "Fortune" 1000.

[2] According to "The Legal List, Law-Related Resources on the Internet and Elsewhere," seventh edition, October 1995, Lawyers Cooperative Publishing, by Erik J. Heels.

[3] Id. or ibid., we're not sure; or perhaps ego. The key to being a successful visionary is to make lots and lots of predictions in print and then reference only those that came true.

[4] Trust us, if you build it, they "will" come. Content is still king. And presentation is queen, experience - kind of like a knight. OK, so we're reaching here. Chess enthusiasts will appreciate the analogy. More on content, presentation, and experience in the section entitled "Three Elements of a Successful Web Site."

[5] And you never ever know what juries will do. Check out Matthew Bender's review to see what they're doing with PointCast.

The author is a wonderful writer and they new what they were talking about. it was a very interesting experience

Erik Heels, author of the first serious Internet legal research bibliography, and Rick Klau, another Net pioneer, are lawyers who are uniquely well qualified to understand the Internet and explain it to others.

This book has many useful points, not the least of which is that it serves as a field manual for lawyers interested in establishing or upgrading their own Internet sites.

The authors' reviews of law firm web sites, at their own web site, have been deservedly influential.

In general, I am not enthusiastic about paper books that are merely catalogs of web sites. This book is different because the authors add value through analysis and judgment.

Jerry Lawson

Compiled and written by Troy Corley, Let's Go Buggy!: The Ultimate Family Guide To Insect Zoos And Butterfly Houses is a straightforward vacation guide to over 100 insect-themed, family-friendly places in the United States. From acquiring pet bugs, to butterfly releases, to honey harvest celebrations, and more, Let's Go Buggy! is chock full of locations, descriptions, and solid information concerning hours, admission fees, web sites, and more. Let's Go Buggy! is very highly recommended for planning a unique, distinctive, memorable, educational, and thoroughly fun family trip.

If you want to walk among a thousand butterflies or hope to excite your child about the wonders of insects, this is the book for you. I recommend Let's Go Buggy to everyone I meet who wants to visit a butterfly atrium or insect zoo. Its many other resources - web sites, book recommendations, etc. -- are excellent for insect enthusiasts of all ages.

I remember holding one of those jumping beans in my hand and wondering if I should take one home, because you never could tell what might escape. This book explains how Mexican jumping beans jump and gives you information on bug zoos and butterfly houses. I prefer the butterfly idea, but there are many fascinating insects. After living in Africa, I think I have seen enough bugs to last a lifetime, but I am still curious about insects like butterflies because they seem friendly and if a butterfly lands on you, you tend to feel rather fortunate to be visited by such a beautiful creature. You can have the beetles, they kept me up at night knocking around the room until I could release them out into the night.

Contents:

Go Buggy - This section takes up over half of the book and is a guide to insect zoos and butterfly houses organized according to states. In Washington you can visit the Tropical Butterfly House and Insect Village at the Pacific Science Center or go to the Bug World and Butterflies & Blooms at Woodland Park Zoo.

Admission prices, hours and detailed information is given for each location.

At the Butterflies in Flight section you enter a kaleidoscope of blooms bursting in 3,900 square feet of an indoor landscape framed by two greenhouse structures. Fluttering around the vibrant plant blossoms are about 1,000 flying flowers representing at least 15 North American butterfly and moth species. ~ info on Woodland Park Zoo

Bugged out - A swarm of bug festivals organized by the months of the year. In November it would be fun to be in San Jose, CA where they release hundreds of Monarch butterflies.

Bug Bytes - A web of bug cams and insect sites where you can watch ants at work in ant farms or research the latest buggy recipes or send a buggy e-mail card. You can order silk worms and those are fun to watch. I had a box of them as a child and used to feed them mulberry leaves from a tree down the street. I seem to remember leaving them there, on the tree. I don't think the owners appreciated it, but as a child, I had no idea what would happen. I laugh now at my innocence. It was fun to watch the silkworms munch away at the leaves and then spin their cocoons. Some of the stores provide seeds for growing plants butterflies love. There is a list of recommended reading although I'll skip the cookbooks.

Bug Bites - A guide to state insects and pet bugs. It was interesting to find out that the Green Darner Dragonfly is the state insect because I rather like dragonflies.

Bug Buzzwords - A glossary of buggy terms.

The author definitely seems to love butterflies and if you are interested in finding a butterfly house near you, then this is a great guide. Troy Corley also provides interesting information about how butterflies smell with their feet or how fast a honey bee flies.

~The Rebecca Review

If you collect License Plates from the USA, you must have this book. This book would be my "bible" if it also contained the Canadian provinces, Canadian territories and US territories. I would move to supreme reverence of this book if this wonderful guide could be put on the net. The book sales from THAT site would pay for itself. Hey, I'm a dreamer.

Great book. Glad I bought mine a few years ago! Wow, the price is high now. Probably worth it though as this is the best guide. All color too. The only thing that would make it better was if it came with a Greatest Hits of the James Gang CD! :-)

Jim Fox is extremely precise with his information. Excellent guide for collectors, includes wonderful color pictures of actual plates for all U.S. states.

Wisdom is a product of a long years of experience. Quotation is wisdom in print. So what you are now doing is sharing this wisdom to your readers/customers who want to acquire the knowledge but probably are not yet ready to experience it. Quotations are intellectual property -- perhaps, they can be shared with others but not sold.

In this age of the dumbing down of everything, it's a delight to read very wise words from the great thinkers Dingle has chosen for her wonderful book. Impressive book!

As a teacher, I believe that this impressive book should be included in all high school and college libraries!

A complete and up to date guide to the Lifestyle. From the history of swinging to lists of clubs to worldwide conventions this directory has it all. An excellent resource for couples interested in the pursuit of sexual stimulation and satisfaction - from those just thinking about taking their first step to those with decades of experience.

Sexuality covers many variations, from celibate to celebatory (with more than one partner). For those couples for whom monogamy seems limiting to their relationship, the alternative is the swinging lifestyle. Where does one go for information concerning such intimacy? I always recommend the NASCA INTERNATIONAL'S DIRECTORY OF SWING CLUBS, PUBLICATIONS & EVENTS.

While neither graphic nor clinical, this latest directory contains a surprisingly comprehensive amount of information concerning the who, what, why and where's of this lifestyle. It certainly answers many questions of what swinging is, how it started, who swingers are and what they look like (like members of the gay lifestyle, many families also have swingers in them - they just look like regular people!).

The book provides sections on social etiquette, where to go and what to do. The largest section is devoted to a state-by-state listing of swinging clubs followed by an international club listing. Swinging magazine publishers have a listing along with many interesting swinging websites

Swinging conventions and resorts have sprouted up all over the country and the world and most of them are listed here.

I will say, as the editor in chief of one of the major swinging publications, Contact Publishing's Swingers Update, I find this directory an invaluable tool and source of information.

This is THE primary directory for any journalist or academic needing a starting point for a first hand examination of the grass roots sexual subculture known as "the lifestyle." For couples thinking about attending a lifestyle party, convention, or holiday, there is no better place to look for options than this volume. As for couples who are already in the swinging lifestyle and perhaps traveling across the continent or overseas, this book should be in your suitcase--right beside your Frommer's Guide. Hundreds of clubs in 47 states and 20 countries are listed, with detailed descriptions of each club, a contact phone number, and an Email address. In addition, there are separate sections on swing publications, events, and resorts, as well as a measured chapter that defines the subculture, gives its history, profiles its participants, and offers cautionary words about the necessity for strictly adhering to its etiquette. There are now millions of mainstream people who are "in the lifestyle," and most of them do follow that etiquette, believing they live in a certain STYLE that melds their conservative family values--matrimony, children, emotional monogamy--with the erotic cultivation of their marriages by attending the subculture's events. Nevertheless, roughly ten per cent of the couples in the lifestyle do not actually swing. They just like dressing for the beach or the harem and going to parties where Bacchic titillation is the norm. If you want to get a handle on how to meet some of the warm and walking people in the lifestyle--swinging or non-swinging--this is the book.

The book is easy to read and easy to understand. It should be in every library for those wanting to increase their knowledge about our Catholic faith.

The book came in great condition. It arrived earlier then stated and the book is very easy and fun to read

A term, concept, calling, and duty from the early days of Christianity, "catechesis" (related to catechism) is the part of Catholicism concerned with "education in the faith of children, young people, and adults which includes especially the teaching of Christian doctrine imparted...in an organic and systematic way, with a view to initiating the hearers into the fullness of Christian life." The Second Vatican Council called for a renewal of catechesis in 1971. The "Directory" provides guidance for this catechesis that is a central part of the Church's activity and aims at all times in all situations with all persons. Mostly for Catholic bishops and priests, the "Directory" nonetheless does have particular sections for lay persons; and its general material on Catholic ideals and theological principles, organizations and procedures, and texts and other resources apply to anyone interested in catechesis, the lifeblood of Catholicism.

This is book 2 in the Wagon's West series.

The wagon train is now heading into new territory for them. They are on the way to Oregon and are leaving Independence, MO behind. They are also now being led by Whip Holt. They are traveling through Nebraska and continuing westward.

This is the story of their struggles against the British & Russian forces trying to keep them for making the trip as well and the environment and Native Americans.

This book is one of the 6th printing from back in the late 70's. If you are interested in the settlement of the American West this is one series that you need to revisit.

This is a book I keep reading again and again. It just is a terrific read. If you're interested in the history of early America, then this is THE series for you!

"Nebraska" is Book 2 in Dana Fuller Ross' magnificent "Wagons West" series. In 1837 the United States was experiencing its first financial depression. Banks were failing, factories closing, and farms were being foreclosed. US citizens were increasingly hungry and dispossessed. Out of a population of 16 million, a quarter of a million were unemployed. People by the thousands were moving West to settle the wilderness and make a new start in life. Former US President Andrew Jackson, new President Martin Van Buren, and financier John Jacob Astor decided to assign mountainman and weathered veteran Sam Brentwood and his partner Michael "Whip" Holt to form the first wagon train of pioneers with the purpose of crossing the North American continent and settling the Oregon Territory. Imperial Russia and Great Britain were also determined to claim the Oregon Territory for themselves and planned to do everything in their countries' power to sabotage the United States' effort.

The caravan now included 500 people and their horses, oxen and prairie schooners. Having reached the frontier town of Independence, Missouri, Sam Brentwood and his new wife leave the group to open a trading depot to supply future pioneers and wagon trains. Wagon scout Whip Holt now takes over as wagonmaster and the legendary group begins to move across the Great Plains to the Rockie Mountains on the second stage of their journey. They are set upon by hostile Indians, British and Russian spies, accidents and illness, and the petty bickering that comes from interacting with the same people day after day, along with the monotony of the trail. Relationships and rivalries are formed which prove to be every bit as exciting as the journey itself.

The characters are outstanding and extremely realistic. The author vividly brings history to life in "Nebraska," as in the other books in the series. And the politics behind the settling of the West are fascinating. As one would expect, the novel is chock-full of adventure, hardship, courage, love, loss, tragedy and triumph. Many details have been taken from actual diaries and journals of early pioneers. Once you start this book you won't be able to stop until you have read all 24 novels. The next one is "Wyoming," and deals with the third leg of the trip -wintering in the Rocky Mountains and the move to Oregon. Very highly recommended!
JANA

This is the BEST all-grrl guide to the Net, written by the editor of cyberculture zine, bOING bOING. It's chock full of Web site reviews and interviews with women on the Internet today. (...)

carla has done a fantastic job on her book for the young, hip, savvy netchick. i loved it! YOU GO GIRL!!!! LOVE, TABBI

This book hits home for generation x gals cruising the net looking for information to expand their horizons. This guide gives a history of women who have helped shape the net and is a great resource to find what any net chick is looking for. The book is witty, funny, and charming. Carla Sinclair did a great job in acknowledging the continuing growth of the net chick population. Read a copy today

I really enjoyed the book, it gave precise information for the travel hungry who want to enjoy their vacation time instead of running around looking for accomadations.For years I have searched for a book like this one ,I am so glad to have it now!My hat is off to the author!

I love going to bed and breakfasts, but the guide books available either have hard to understand information, or very little information at all. This one is unique. There are no strange icons to decipher, the information is easy to follow, and there are photographs (not cheesy line drawings) for each inn. I was not only able to find a GREAT bed and breakfast at which to stay, but I knew the pertinent details going in. What I really appreciated was the ability to drive right to the correct property, recognizing it from the photograph. I'll use this guide from now on!

This guide helped me find a wonderful B & B for vacation. It's got a lot of valuable information in it. I gave it for a birthday gift, too.