Public & Private Companies - Oh My!
Pick a Browser, Any Browser
LTRC Web Site Updates
Don't Lose Your Place
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Public & Private Companies - Oh My!
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Hoover's Online
Need basic financial information on Meijer, Inc.? Who's the President of SBC Communications? What's the latest news on Motorola? For these questions and more, Hoover is your man. Hoover's Online, a public company headquartered in Austin, TX, bills itself as "the homepage of the corporate world". Hoover's gives some, but not all of its information away for free. Users will have to opt for a paid subscription for many features, which include in-depth analysis, SEC filings, and the advanced search feature. (Subscription prices vary.) "Free" Hoover's is still an excellent starting point for any business-related web search.
Hoover's design reflects the chaotic nature of the corporate world. There is no clear starting point. Users are greeted by the always-present Hoover's toolbar and search engine. Expect to see a fair share of advertising throughout the web site. The remaining home page content includes the latest company updates, new features or tools on the web site and recent business news. Users may find Hoover's compilation of major lists particularly interesting with U.S. and international market indices, plus regional, national, and international rankings included. Users can search by company name, by ticker, by keyword, among other options. The individual company pages boast a far simpler design than the main page. The "free" record provides contact information, the URL to the company's web site, a paragraph description of the company, a list of 3-4 of the company's competitors, a link to all companies Hoovers includes in its industry, and current news stories mentioning the company. If applicable, IPO and/or stock price information is included. However, users should not ignore the right hand column where key financial information and executive information is located. Smaller public and private companies do not receive the same treatment. Hoovers (via the Dun & Bradstreet database) simply provides the company's name and location.
Despite its design issues, Hoover's is an invaluable tool to the corporate community. It provides the most comprehensive free information on private companies, firms, and professional associations. Those needing public company information will appreciate the news article feature and industry information. It may not be the corporate world's home page, but it certainly warrants a bookmark.
Molly Kilmer
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Pick a Browser, Any Browser
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AnyBrowser.com
Browser compatibility is important when designing a Web site because we want our Web site to be seen in its proper format by many people. However, when we develop a Web site, we do not always consider the different browsers and browser versions users may have.
Anybrowser.com is a service that allows you to check the compatibility of your Web site with different screen sizes and browser types. Logically organized and easy to understand, the service uses the three-step approach of “Ready, Set, Go” to test your Web site’s browser compatibility.
The title of the first step is “Ready” and contains compatibility tools such as a screen size test and meta tag creator. Links to other Web design tools are also located in this section. The second step is called “Set.” Here you can view your site in a variety of browsers, validate your HTML, and check your links.
Site promotion or “Go” is the last step. In this third column you will find information on how to list your Web site in search engines and how a search engine listing works.
This service offers those that design and develop Web pages a quick way to confirm that their Web site is compatible and can be viewed from any browser.
Evie Kalnins
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LTRC Web Site Updates
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Lawtechnology.org
As always, the LTRC staff has added a trove of new technology gems
to the web site. Some highlights include:
- Pleasing the Court
The electronic
filing area of LTRC’s ever-expanding Court
Technology section has recently been updated, and
now includes links to court rules on e-filing in sixteen jurisdictions. Additionally, a
number of new articles
have been added, including "Emerging Electronic Filing Court Rules
and Standards," published in the February 2002 issue of E-Filing Report and written
by LTRC’s staff specialist on e-filing, Karen Evie Kalnins.
- Take a
"Sneak Peak" of the 2001 ABA Legal Technology Survey
If you overlooked the link in the Surveys and Statistics section of the web site
that invites you to "Join the ABA Tech Survey E-Mail Distribution List," it’s well
worth a return visit. Within the next few months LTRC will publish the results of
its first survey on technology use in the legal profession since 1999. The 2001
ABA Legal Technology Survey was designed to provide detailed information about
technology use by lawyers, and will publish its findings in a series of five
reports--each associated with a different technology area. The e-mail discussion list
provides list members with updates on the status of the survey, as well
as "Sneak Peaks" that preview statistical trends and highlights from the
yet-to-be-released survey results. You don’t even have to be an ABA member
to get on the list of VIPs, so go ahead
and sign on at
LTRC's online survey headquarters.
- But Can I Take
a "Sneak Peak" Now?
Sure. A copy of a former "Sneak Peak" is available for your immediate review.
- Visit Your Virtual Citation Station
It probably comes as no surprise that the ABA’s LTRC has been at the forefront of the
universal citation movement from the time legal materials first starting
appearing in Web and electronic form. But did you know that the universal
citation section of LTRC’s web site--recently featured in a resource guide published
by the Internet Law Researcher--makes its whole stockpile of information about
universal citation available to you free of charge, with no strings attached?
Check out LTRC’s citation resources and don’t forget to join the Citation
discussion list while you’re perusing our part of town.
- Shimmying Up to the Bar
In furtherance of its mission to provide technology information and guidance
to state, local and regional bar associations across the country, LTRC
frequently tailors materials to bar entities. But even if you’re not a
bar leader or even a participant, much of the information is equally
applicable to your law office, law library, or law-related organization.
And what’s more, it’s all free and yours for the taking. Check out LTRC’s
list of
presentations for a look at two recent technology presentations by LTRC staff at the
midyear meeting of the National Conference of Bar Presidents (NCBP).
"Bar the Digital Door: Securing Your Systems," walks you through securing
your network, and "Power Up Your Portal: Personalize, Plug and Play!"
addresses the use of open source software for building Web portals. And
don’t forget to grab some handouts on your way out; the security
presentation also provides a full-text article, while the portal
presentation offers an extensive bibliography of Web portal resources on
the Web.
- No Time for Sense and Sensibility?
Let’s face it. We don’t always have time to read a white paper on every
new technology or product that comes along. LTRC puts together a series of FYI
("for your information") documents for just those occasions.
The most recent additions include
a checklist
for purchasing software for the law office,
as well a select list of resources for
researching
law office technology. Save the novel for a rainy day, and catch up
on something short and sweet for the law office.
Kathryn Thompson
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Don't Lose Your Place: Web Access to Browser Favorites/Bookmarks
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Backflip
MyVMark
Ever been out of the office, searching the web, and wishing you had access to your extensive Bookmarks collection, the product of untold hours of web searching and subsequent organization? Enter the web-based bookmark managers - services that allow Internet searchers to store their browser's saved URLs on the web. These services make your favorites/bookmarks collections accessible anywhere there is an Internet connection. Some of these services have been around for quite some time, some are newcomers, many are free, and they range from feature-packed to plain vanilla. Since these services not only allow users to access to the browser favorites/bookmarks via any Internet connection, but also allow users to share access to specified folders, lawyers and legal professionals can share some of their favorite Websites with colleagues and friends.
I took an in-depth look at two of these services - one old-timer, Backflip, and a newcomer, MyVMark, to compare and contrast the functionality, ease of use, and features. Backflip has been in service since 1999. It almost suffered the same fate as many of the dotcoms, but a dedicated group of employees pitched in and kept the service alive. The site has some blinking advertisements, which is distracting to many users, but it is a small price to pay for a very useful, free service. MyVMark, a free service from Virtual Softworks, a design/development/hosting company, has a banner ad for the company which is displayed only when in the expanded view and blends into the background.
In order to access either of these services, the user has to register. Users can set up their profiles to go directly to their personalized pages from login. Both services work with either Netscape or Internet Explorer browsers, as long as they are version 4.0 or above. During set-up users can specify whether they want to make folders available to the public, specify the default folder for new sites, add a button to the browser links to "Vmark It" or "Backflipit", and download the browser's favorites/bookmarks (with the organizational arrangement intact). Once the user has set-up the services, bookmarks can be added easily, although I prefer the way Backflip adds pages. Public folders are a bit more public in Backflip than in MyVMark.
The major differences in the services are the look and feel of the saved pages. MyVMark saves the URLs in a branching structure, similar in look to the "Explore" function in a Windows machine, where the folders can be expanded or collapsed. This window can sit as a vertical column during an Internet session, or can be expanded to add notes, thumbnails, and even hidden notes! Backflip takes a totally different approach, categorizing the sites in a Yahoo!-like structure, taking up the whole browser page when opened. Both of these services have a search function to keyword search your saved pages. My main complaint with both of these sites is that after the initial download from your IE Favorites or Netscape Bookmarks any subsequent attempts at download do not write over the current set - they duplicate and create a big mess. Once you've begun to use these services, you might want to commit to just one and use it consistently, foregoing any previous method you might have used (or be forewarned and figure out a way to use your local browser's functionality in happy marriage with one of the services).
Both of these services have their pros and cons. The site help is very helpful for both services, and it may take a couple of hints to get everything set up the way you want it. Both services offer little extras ( e.g. add thumbnails of sites in MyVMark and Backflip offers a web-based calendar). Take a look at screen shots and tours that are available on the site's homepages to figure out which one might work best for your needs. You may decide that you only want to use the service to provide access to your colleagues or friends to some of your favorite pages, or you may never look back at the browser-tied URLs again. No matter what, don't lose your place!
Catherine Reach
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