2013-04-06 Find It Fast and Free on the Net

Find It Free and Fast on the Net
Strategies for Legal Research on the Web

Frederick S. Lane

National Business Institute, South Burlington, VT
16 April 2013
www.FrederickLane.com www.CybertrapsfortheYoung.com

Background
• Attorney, Educational
Consultant & Lecturer
• Author of 7 Books
• Computer Forensics
Expert
• 10 Years -- Burlington
(VT) School Board
• Technology & Privacy
Specialist
• Student Safety Advocate

Discover the Invisible Web
• Information Not Collected
by Search Engines
• Useful Databases
• Wayback Machine
• Meta-Information About
Sites

Useful Databases
• Complete Planet:
– http://aip.completeplanet.com/
• InfoMine:
– http://infomine.ucr.edu/
• USA.gov
– http://www.usa.gov/
• WorldCat
– http://www.worldcat.org/

Wayback Machine
• Internet Archive:
– http://www.archive.org/
• Best Evidence and the Wayback
Machine:
– http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?
abstract_id=1459805


Meta-Information About Sites
• WhoIs
– http://www.networksolutions.com/whois
/index.jsp
• Alexa.com
– http://www.alexa.com
• Control-U
• Wayback Machine


Finding “Practice” Tools
• Educating Yourself on the Science
Behind Your Case
• Practical Advice for Using the Cloud
for Backup and Collaboration
• Syncing the Data Across All Devices
• Keeping Track of Legal News and
Updates
• Top Legal Research Time Wasters

Educating Yourself on Science
• Medical Databases:
– http://www.cdc.gov/
– http://www.nlm.nih.gov/
– http://www.healthfinder.gov
• General Science Databases:
– http://scirus.com/
– http://library.duke.edu/research/s
ubject/
• Wikipedia

Using the Cloud
• Collaboration Tool:
– http://docs.google.com
– http://www.skype.com/
• File-Sharing
– http://www.dropbox.com
– http://www.box.com/
• Backup
– http://www.carbonite.com

Syncing Data
• The Difference Between
Collaboration and Syncing
• The Advantages of Cloud
Storage over Sneakernet
• Syncing with Mobile
Devices

Legal News and Time Suckage
• Make Bookmarks
• Set Up Google News Alerts
• Set Up RSS Feeds
• Follow Legal Blogs
– http://www.volokh.com/
– http://www.scotusblog.com
– http://www.abovethelaw.com

Investigative Research
• Publicly Available Information
• Contact Information
• Employment
• Relatives and Associates
• Professional Directories and Licensing Boards
• Social Media Profiles and Behavior
• Geolocation Apps and Social Media
• Military Sites
• Voter Registration
• Foreign Sites

Investigative Research [1]
• Vital Records
– https://www.vitalchek.com
• Property Ownership
– http://www.realtor.com
– http://www.propertyshark.com
• Bankruptcies, Foreclosures, Defaults
– http://www.pacer.gov/
– http://publicrecords.onlinesearches.com/
• Civil and Criminal Records
– https://www.intelius.com
– http://www.records.com


• Contact Information
– http://www.whitepages.com
– http://www.peoplesmart.com
• Employment Information
– http://www.facebook.com
– http://www.linkedin.com
• Relatives and Associates
– Start with search engines
– Consider ethical boundaries

• Professional Directories and
Licensing Boards
– State-by-State Searches
• Social Media Profiles and Behavior
– Almost Unlimited Number of Networks
– Email addresses are the key
• Geolocation Apps and Social Media
– Information Not Generally Available
– Most Readily Available Information Is Photo
Locations


Investigative Research
• Military Sites
– http://www.defense.gov/registeredsites/regi
steredsites.aspx
• Voter Registration
– Limited Availability of Information
– http://www.longdistancevoter.org/
• Foreign Sites
– Search engines
– English versions are available for most
major sites
– Google Translate for the Rest


Slides and Contact Info
• Download a PDF of slides
from:
SlideShare.net/FSL3
• E-mail or Call Me:
FSLane3@gmail.com
802-318-4604

2013-04-06 Find It Fast and Free on the Net

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (8)

Similar to 2013-04-06 Find It Fast and Free on the Net

Similar to 2013-04-06 Find It Fast and Free on the Net (20)

More from Frederick Lane

More from Frederick Lane (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

2013-04-06 Find It Fast and Free on the Net