WLJ Bev Butula News

Gas Guide

Mon, 12 May 2008 09:22:43 CDT

While not exactly law related, I had to do some research on gas prices. I thought I would share some of the data I found.

Safer Cars

Mon, 12 May 2008 09:20:57 CDT

Consumer information on vehicle safety and recalls can be found at SaferCar.gov. The site is part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and offers several databases. Search for vehicle recalls/defects or child restraint recalls. A relatively new feature is the RSS option to receive notification of new recalls.

Google Government ? State Search

Mon, 05 May 2008 13:23:12 CDT

When searching for government related information, many people rely on Google Government to help narrow their results. This is a great method to eliminate commercial sites. However, a query from this search engine can produce both Federal and State sites. This can be frustrating, however, if the objective is to locate information from just one State.

Contracts and Federal Spending

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:22:12 CDT

When I am researching a company that does or could do business with the government, I often turn to FedSpending.org or USASpending.gov.

Another option for searching state case law

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:45:02 CDT

Washburn University School of Law Library offers a State Court Opinion Search. It is a very clean interface based on Google Custom Searches. Currently they list 24 states and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Tap the Power

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 11:26:28 CDT

The Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau’s Library offers a variety of services and resources to make a researcher’s job easier.

Library of Congress offers wonderful resources

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 09:23:39 CDT

It is National Library Week. It is a time to celebrate the library, the various resources, and the great people who make it all work.

Bio

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:07:08 CDT

Bev Butula is the Assistant Director of Library Services at Davis & Kuelthau in Milwaukee, and a past president of the Law Librarians Association of Wisconsin. Bev has worked in the legal field for over twenty years; prior to obtaining her Master's Degree in Library Science, she was a litigation paralegal.

The IRS on Tax Exempt Organizations

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:55:15 CDT

The IRS has great resources on tax-exempt organizations. Many researchers visit the site regularly for the searchable Publication 78, Cumulative List of Organizations.

Try another search engine

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 07:26:55 CDT

Most people I talk to utilize Google as their primary search engine, others use Live Search. I would like to suggest another search engine to include when online – Exalead.

Humor from the legal perspective

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:48:05 CDT

April Fool’s Day is always great for a joke or two and we have all heard our share of lawyer jokes. There is a Web site however, that provides some humor from the legal perspective. Stu’s Views offers fun legal cartoons by Stu Rees, an entertainment lawyer located in California. Need a little break - you can subscribe to have new cartoons sent to your email. Prior cartoons are well organized by topic. If you like a cartoon, the author clearly indicates usage charges...

Who acquired whom in the banking world?

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:43:12 CDT

The National Information Center “provides comprehensive information on banks and other institutions for which the Federal Reserve has a supervisory, regulatory, or research interest including both domestic and foreign banking organizations operating in the U.S.” This website contains a database to help locate general and historical information on financial institutions.

Statistical Resources

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:30:38 CDT

When searching for statistics, I often start with The University of Michigan Library’s “Statistical Resources on the Web.” This comprehensive list of online resources is well-organized and quite user friendly.

Site offers summaries of Internet law

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:35:13 CDT

The Internet Law Library is a Web site maintained by Attorney Martin Samson. This online database features summaries of hundreds of cases dealing with Internet law. The site allows the researcher to view cases by subject area, browse a listing of all cases, or conduct a general search.

Site offers timely updates of Code of Federal Regulations

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:12:19 CDT

I was surprised to find out that many people are not aware of the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (E-CFR). Most researchers use the general Government Printing Office’s GPO Access page to access regulations online. This is the perfect location for locating the official and historical versions of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Resources help identify legislative intent

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:11:57 CDT

Identifying legislative intent is often a challenge. Occasionally the courts will discuss what they believe the legislature was thinking when drafting a statute. Absent that discussion, Wisconsin researchers follow several steps hoping to understand the thought process behind the creation of a specific state statute section. Researchers sift through drafting records, LRB analysis, legislative council reports, fiscal reports and committee reports. Occasionally, proposed legislation will also generate significant news coverage. Some great resources to begin this quest include the Legislative Reference Bureau, the Wisconsin Legislature, UW Law Library (online access to recent drafting records), and Marquette Law Library (older drafting records on fiche).

Googles new look for Advanced Search

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 10:43:31 CDT

If you didn’t notice, Google has changed the look of their Advanced Search screen. I wrote a while back about the importance of utilizing an engine’s advanced search option.

MU Sports Law

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:56:49 CDT

With everyone paying attention to Wisconsin sports this week, I had to highlight the Sports Law Institute at Marquette Law School.

Efficiency through browser shortcuts

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:46:15 CST

I was giving a presentation the other day and wanted to get to my Favorites. Instead of using my mouse, I used the "Control-I" shortcut. A member of the audience asked what I did, and I explained the shortcut. No one in the audience was aware of it. I then asked who used the "Control-F" shortcut to find a word instead of scrolling through the pages of a website. I was happy to see that more than half the audience answered affirmatively.

Maritime at Milwaukee Public

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 09:42:16 CST

I was recently on the Milwaukee Public Library website and noticed something new. It is a database called Project Shipshape. I’ve known about the library’s great Maritime collection, but not familiar with this project. I spoke to a Humanities librarian at Milwaukee Public Library and found out that Project Shipshape went online in January.