K. Using Discussion Groups and Social Networks for Legal Research

AuthorTed Tjaden
ProfessionNational Director of Knowledge Management McMillan LLP
Pages129-130

Page 129

Online discussion groups - also known as listservs - have been formed on almost any conceivable topic, from jazz music to figure-skating.19There are a huge number of law-related discussion groups that allow one to subscribe (usually for free) to be added to the group. When one subscribes to a discussion group, any e-mails sent to the group are sent to all subscribers. In many cases, what then happens is a discussion, or at least responses to the initial e-mail, that are sent to that discussion group by the subscribers. Every legal researcher should be aware of several things about discussion groups:20· Some discussion groups are moderated, which means that questions to be posted to the group are first vetted by the moderator; most discussion groups are unmoderated, however, meaning that questions are not vetted in advance, which sometimes results in irrelevant or inappropriate questions being posted.

· The quality of the discussions or responses varies widely among different discussion groups. Fortunately, the quality of discussion for law-related discussion groups is generally quite good, but as can be imagined, it is prudent for subscribers to avoid giving legal advice (or even the appearance of giving legal advice).

· Some discussion groups provide archives of the entire history of all questions and responses for that particular group. Many of these archives are searchable and can sometimes provide valuable information. An example of a searchable archive is the discussion group of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (discussed below), the archive of which is available at http://listserv.unb.ca/archives/call-l.html.

One of the better sites in Canada for getting information on legal research or issues affecting the world of legal researchers is the discussion group of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL-L) - see: www.callacbd.ca. There are also a number of American-based law...

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