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    Wisconsin Lawyer
    May 01, 2004

    Technology

    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.

    Bev Butula

    Wisconsin Lawyer
    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.

    Sample Legal Weblogs

    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).


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