Vol. 77, No. 5, May
2004
BLOGS - Another Online Resource
Weblogs - or blogs - are Web pages that contain current, related
subject matter that may improve your research results and save you hours
of online time.
by Bev Butula
Exposure to information is constant in the legal field. Keeping
current on recent decisions, pending legislation, and trends is
imperative. A Weblog, the latest online phenomenon, may reduce the time
spent scouring the Internet,newspapers, and topical resources for the
current information you need. But, what is a Weblog? Why are they
created? And most importantly, can reading a Weblog benefit a legal
practice?
What is a Weblog?
Blogger.com, a site offering
individuals the ability to establish their own blog, provides this
simple definition: A Weblog (commonly called a blog) "is a Web page made
up of usually short, frequently updated posts that are arranged
chronologically - like a what's new page or a journal. The contents and
purposes of blogs vary greatly - from links and commentary about other
Web sites, to news about a company/person/idea."1
Posts to a blog commonly consist of a title; a brief commentary,
excerpt, or summary; and a link to the specific information discussed.
Entries can be instantaneous, allowing bloggers (owners of a blog) to
update their site as news breaks or as decisions become available. To
understand the format, read this actual post from beSpacific.com, a blog maintained
by Sabrina Pacifici that focuses on law and technology:
"January 06, 2004 - Web Resource Guide for
Researchers
"From blogger, author, speaker Marcus P. Zillman, this well-vetted subject oriented resource
guide to portals, Web sites and blogs on topics that include
economics and business, government and statistics, law, medicine, news,
and engineering."2
Why Create a Legal Weblog?
Authors usually create a legal blog (sometimes called a "blawg"): 1)
to provide a personal perspective on important current issues; 2) to
create a community of topical information, allowing news, decisions, and
so on, to be organized and accessed easily; 3) as a marketing tool to
introduce others to a firm; and 4) as a combination of the above.
Regardless of the reasoning, blogs get information out to the masses via
the Web.
Some bloggers start their page to voice opinions. These blogs may be
politically biased or solely an expression of the author's views and
interests. Blake Carver, a librarian and founder of LISNews, an information science blog,
explains that "blogs provide like-minded people with an endless stream
of timely stories and links."3
Many legal blogs serve as a central location for breaking issues in a
particular area of law. For example, there are blogs for real estate
attorneys, intellectual property specialists, federal litigators, and
family lawyers. Many blogs contain links to information that otherwise
may not be located easily. Researchers gather Web sites, evaluate them,
and post them on a blog, creating "one-stop shopping" for topical
resources.
A quality, easily read blog can be an inexpensive but highly
effective marketing tool for some bloggers. A superior blog can receive
thousands of hits, with the author being recognized as an authority in
the subject area.
Can Reading a Legal Weblog Benefit a Law Practice?
Blogs that are fashioned to report personal or political opinions can
benefit individuals with similar beliefs. The focus of this section,
however, is on topical Weblogs. As with all information from the Web,
authority is important - so check the author. Fortunately, legal
scholars, judges, law librarians, and lawyers with reputations as
experts maintain most of these specialty blogs.
A good blog can enhance professional development because keeping
informed translates into good business. Law journals, newsletters,
magazines, and newspapers can accumulate in an office, often read only
when a large block of time becomes available. Office routings can be
slow in arriving. On the other hand, reading a Weblog (and possibly
having it delivered to your email account) offers a concise, current,
and focused summary of relevant information. And, unlike office routings
or journals, a link (if included) supplements the Weblog piece by
leading the reader to a decision, opinion letter, or full text
article.
The structure of practice-oriented blogs allows the reader to skim
the summaries and quickly determine which entries to read and which to
skip. The author has done all the searching and weeded out the false
hits, saving the reader's valuable time. Topical blogs are a great
resource for immediate access to "hot topics" and research hints.
Reading a quality blog can translate into enormous time savings. It is
important, however, to evaluate it for currency, authority, and ease of
use. Look at a few legal Weblogs in the accompanying sidebar to
understand the structure and benefits.
The blog explosion does present some concern. Critics worry that
non-lawyers may interpret the blog analysis as legal advice. In
response, many bloggers have added disclaimers. Others worry that a
blogger's commentary may appear as part of an opposing counsel's
argument.4 Authors with topically based
sites typically circumvent this problem by eliminating personal
remarks.
Conclusion
Weblogs are a new trend in the online world. Legal bloggers produce a
compilation of facts and resources pertaining to a specific legal area.
They search the Web for current information and put it in a single
location. As an offshoot, many have found their blogs to be great
marketing tools. If keeping up- to-date is important to your
professional growth, check out a blog or, better yet, start one!
Bev Butula is a reference librarian at
Davis & Kuelthau in Milwaukee. She is a member of the Law Librarians
Association of Wisconsin, sponsor of a series of articles on conducting
efficient, effective research - of which this article is a part.
Endnotes
1Blogger.com (accessed Jan.
28, 2004) < >.
2Sabrina Pacifici. beSpacific.com
(accessed Jan. 13, 2004).
3Blake Carver, Is
It Time to Get Blogging? 128 Libr. J. 1 at 30 (Winter 2003,
NetConnect).
4Stephanie Francis Ward,
Bemused About Blogging, 29 A.B.A. J. E-Report 3 (July 25,
2003).
Wisconsin
Lawyer