Infolaw Lawfinder: Blogs

Today I learnt that Infolaw's Lawfinder maintains a list of  what it describes as "all UK law blogs with feeds".

Thank goodness the term "blawg" hasn't caught on here yet. This resource have been very useful for a presentation I gave last week about how to keep up-to-date with your legal research. Oh well, I'll make a note to include in next year...

Infolaw's Lawfinder:
http://www.infolaw.co.uk/lawfinder/

COPAC search alerts

Today I learned that you can set up search alerts on COPAC and get the results sent to you by RSS. 

Here's what you have to do:

1. Run your search on COPAC
2. On search screen click on the RSS icon
3. From the RSS page, copy and paste the URL into your RSS feeder

This could be a good way to be informed of new books in your field although, of course, it will alert you to "new to COPAC" books rather than solely recently published titles. Because you can filter your search by library, it could also be used to keep up-to-date with new items in libraries that don't offer their own RSS feeds, though the effectiveness of this depends on how often the library in question chooses to update its holdings information on COPAC.

COPAC:
www.copac.ac.uk

Wildy's new book RSS feeds

Today I learned you can keep up-to-date with new law books via Wildy's RSS feeds.

All you need to do is choose "browse by subject" on the Wildy & Sons home page and you are presented with a list of subjects to choose from. The list includes new and forthcoming titles. This can be a useful way of being updated with details of new books in your field, and a good alternative to subscribing to the feeds of individual publishers. Of course Wildy's won't have everything, but they will be pretty comprehensive for UK law.

Wildy & Sons Ltd website:
http://www.wildy.com

Union List of Official Gazettes in Europe

Today I learnt that the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies hosts a union list of Official Gazettes from European jurisdictions on its website as part of the FLARE project.

According to the website, the list “brings together the holdings of national official gazettes of the British Library and the Library of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London. It is hoped that the holdings of other UK institutions will be added in future with a view to providing a comprehensive union listing of these hard-to-find materials.”

Although is somewhat limited in terms of contributing libraries, I can definitely see how it could be useful for foreign law researchers.

http://ials.sas.ac.uk/flare/flare_fog_unionlist_europe.htm

European Documentation Centres (EDCs)

Today I learnt how to find my nearest European Documentation Centre 

European Documentation Centres (EDCs) are centres in the European Union member states where individuals can go to consult official EU publications and documents. As well as providing access to the collections, they also provide help with finding resources and provide training on EU-related research.

There’s a Europe-wide interactive map on the Europa website to help you find your nearest centre. So if you’ve exhausted your institution’s resources, this would be a good next step. 

http://europa.eu/europedirect/meet_us/index_en.htm#documentation_centres 

Oxford Reports on International Law

Today I learnt about the Oxford Reports on International Law, also known as ORIL. It is an Oxford University Press subscription database, which “brings together decisions on public international law from international law courts, domestic courts and ad-hoc tribunals”. New cases are added daily, and it claims to be the most up-to-date source of international case law available.

As well as providing the full-text decisions, each case report also includes expert analysis and a summary of the key facts. English translations of the key passages of non-English decisions are also provided.

ORIL consists of five modules:

• International Courts of General Jurisdiction
• International Criminal Law
• International Human Rights Law
• International Investment Claims
• International Law in Domestic Courts

You can browse or run a simple or advanced search. Subject headings and keywords are provided in the thesaurus. Entries are also linked directly to the Oxford Law Citator, allowing researchers to find other relevant cases and primary materials.

http://www.oxfordlawreports.com/ 

Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law

Today I learnt about the Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law. There's a definite foreign and international law slant to my posts since I started work at IALS Global Law Library...

Edited by Rüdiger Wolfrum, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, the encyclopaedia is an extremely comprehensive, peer-reviewed online encyclopaedia. You can browse by title, subject or author or run a search across the content.

 http://www.mpepil.com/home