With Mr. Blackman's permission, I am forwarding his comments to the list.
..........................................................................
. Jane Metz, Assistant Librarian jmetz@netcom.com .
. McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen 415-393-2198 .
. 3 Embarcadero Center 415-393-2286 fax .
. San Francisco, CA 94111 .
..........................................................................
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 4 May 1994 10:00:26 -0400 (EDT)
From: Josh Blackman <joshb@panix.com>
To: jmetz@netcom.com
Subject: Re: Summary: Blackman book
Greetings; I've been following the commentary on my book, and thought
this the right time to set the record straight on a few things, as
follow:
JANE METZ WROTE:
> Thank you to all who responded to my question about the Josh Blackman
> book _The Legal Researcher's Internet Directory_. Here is a summary of
> what I found out.
>
> The book is spiral bound, printed on "decent" paper, and costs $49.95.
> Since Mr. Blackman teaches workshops on the Internet, I assume he uses
> the book in his classes.
On this last point,
Not true; I have another book "The Legal Researcher's Introduction to
the Internet Training Booklet" which is accompanied by a disk filled
with additional resources which I use in the classes I teach (next
ones in DC);
> Thanks to Kathie Sullivan at McNamee, Lochner (who faxed me the table of
> contents), I can tell you that the book appears to be very well
> organized. For example, Section I, Substantive Legal Data, is broken
> down into chapters on Federal Data, State Data, and International Data,
> with further breakdowns by branches of govt, state, country, etc.
>
> Most respondants pointed out that the info in Mr. Blackman's book is
> available for free over the Internet in such sources as Erik Heel's
> _Legal List_ and Blake Gumprecht's _Internet Sources of Government
> Information_. Most say that the advantage of Mr. Blackman's book is
> having all of the information organized and indexed in one place. The
> disadvantages are the cost and the fact that Internet information goes
> out of date so quickly.
If I may differ on a point; what distinguishes my book from Heel's and
Gumprecht's lists is that for the most part neither of these lists
explain nor catalog nor index the breadth of substantive resources
which, for example reside in the Library of Congress' nested gopher
menus; Heel's does a fine job of telling you about a lot of
legally-related mailing lists and news groups, but he doesn't tell
you where to find the Uniform Code of Military Justice, for example.
> Along those lines, potential buyers should be aware that a new edition
> of the book is due out this summer.
No; it will be out in the Fall of 1994.
> The book was reviewed in the April 1994 issue of _Legal Information
> Alerte and will be reviewed in the next issue of AALL's Law Library Journal.
>
> It is available from Legal Research of New York, Inc. 36 Plaza Street
> Suite 10E, Brooklyn, NY 11238. 718-399-6136. The author's e-mail
> address is joshb@panix.com
> ============================
Here's the standard book flyer, fyi:
THE LEGAL RESEARCHER'S INTERNET DIRECTORY, by Josh Blackman, Esq.
catalogs all the documents, databases and communication resources
available on the Internet of interest to legal researchers. The
Directory is designed for attorneys, law librarians, law students,
law school faculty, and others who want immediate and (usually)
free access to government documents, laws, court opinions and other
legal materials. The book also describes all the mailing lists and
news groups relevant to practicing and researching law.
The Directory organizes material into categories familiar to
legal researchers. Substantive materials are divided into Federal,
State and International chapters. Within the Federal chapter,
material is further divided into the branches of government,
Executive, Judicial and Legislative. The International Chapter
arranges documents by Country, and subdivides United Nations and
Other World Documents (NATO documents, various treaties, etc.).
Similarly, Legal Internet Communication resources, such as
mailing lists and news groups are described and listed in
separate chapters. The Directory also features chapters on Legal
Gophers, Other Net-Accessible resources, and Internet Resource
Lists. Finally, the book includes an exhaustive Index.
The book will be updated annually. The current edition is
for the 1993/1994 period. It spans 150 pages, including detailed
Index and Introductory Chapter. The cost is US $49.95 (plus $3
shipping in the U.S., $5 to Canada or Mexico, and $10 to
other countries). It is available from: Legal Research of New
York, Inc., 36 Plaza Street, Suite 10E, Brooklyn, New York 11238,
Phone: 718.399.6136, Fax: 718.857.6072, Internet: joshb@panix.com
==========================
Josh Blackman The day will come when life will not be
INTERNET:joshb@panix.com a simple matter of bread and labor, nor
Phone: 212.463.6261 of idleness either, but a work of art.
Director, FIND/SVP Legal Research Group; 625 Ave of Americas, NY, NY 10011
Author of: THE LEGAL RESEARCHER'S INTERNET DIRECTORY
========================
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