Web 2.0 for Lawyers (SL CLE 11/22/2008)

Web 2.0 for Lawyers Kate Fitz (Cat Galileo) Nov. 22, 2008

Today's Agenda

What is Web 2.0?

Blogs and RSS feeds

Social bookmarking (del.icio.us)

Collaborative applications and wikis (Wikipedia)

Social Networking (Facebook)

Next steps

http://flickr.com/photos/9119028@N05/591163479/ What is Web 2.0?

http://flickr.com/photos/9119028@N05/591163479/

Amorphous buzzword attached to any new Internet phenomenon

Core concept: Interactive Web software and services that enable easy publishing, reader/user participation, and the re-use of data in many formats

“ Participatory Internet” or the “Read/Write Web”

What is Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 tools …and how you might use them Blogs, Twitter, podcasts

Keeping current

Researching law, facts, background

Wikis, concept maps, collaborative editing Collaborating with distant colleagues Social networks – Facebook, LinkedIn Networking (rainmaking!) Blogs, Twitter, podcasts

Marketing and promotion

Building professional reputation

Keeping current – Law Blogs

Written by practitioners or scholars

Regularly updated news, case reports, and commentary on specialized topics

RSS feeds can deliver the news to you

Finding blawgs – Justia search http://blawgsearch.justia.com/

Law Professor Blogs http://www.lawprofessorblogs.com/

Finding blawgs

ABA’s top 100 blawgs: http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/aba_journal_blawg_100

There are also lists of blogs by category by

The ABA: http:// www.abajournal.com/blawgs /

Blawg: http:// www.blawg.com /

Law X.0 Taxonomy of Legal Blogs: http://3lepiphany.typepad.com/3l_epiphany/2006/03/a_taxonomy_of_l.html

Evaluating blogs

Consider update frequency – too often may indicate shallow coverage, too infrequently may indicate lack of commitment

Check “about this blog” for info on author(s)

Do they archive, tag, and/or categorize posts to make it easy to find past info?

Subscribing to blogs

First you need a “feed reader” – software that collects the headlines and summaries from blogs you subscribe to, so you can scan them and choose which to read in depth

Popular examples: Bloglines, Google Reader

Outlook and other email programs have feed readers built in

Subscribing to blogs

Somewhere on the blog will be a link to subscribe

Look for text “Subscribe to this blog” or a button:

RSS and Atom are two “languages” that enable subscriptions. Either will work in most readers

Click the button. The next steps vary slightly from feed reader to feed reader

Getting your RSS updates - Google List of new items – view by headline or brief summary List of subscribed blogs Click either arrow to visit original blog

Getting your RSS updates - Bloglines List of new items for this feed only (GigaLaw.com) List of subscribed blogs (# of unread posts in parentheses) Click headline to visit original blog post

It's not just blogs! RSS feeds can bring you news, case and legislation updates, and more

Justia Federal docket search

Subscribe to a Justia docket search Automatically learn when a person or company is sued in Federal court

Social Bookmarking

Commoncraft video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x66lV7GOcNU

Best known: del.icio.us (featured in video)

I use furl.net – many others available

Insert a “widget” in your blog or website to feature your picks for your readers

Find the del.icio.us collection of someone with your own interests and subscribe (RSS again!) to see what they are tagging

0

Archived bookmarks - searchable Search by keyword Filter by topic, if desired Find the user's picks useful? Consider subscribing (RSS again!)

Archived bookmarks - searchable Wasn't there an article about Coke advertising in SL?

Use bookmarks as content elsewhere Latest news – automatically updated whenever I bookmark a site in furl.net Combining content from different Web 2.0 sources is sometimes called a “mash-up”

Use bookmarks as content elsewhere Same info “recycled” on the SL BA network – double duty! Info can be automatically reformatted to fit in with new page

Wikis and collaborative projects

Wikis: not just Wikipedia!

Create your own (public or private) and invite editors to collaborate with you.

Use for collecting case info among several people; easily-updated procedures manual; project planning; more

Collaborative documents

Writeboard, Google Docs, mind or concept mapping, more

This is a wiki

And so is this Wetpaint wiki – free, hosted at wetpaint.com

And this pbwiki wiki – “easy as a pb&j sandwich”

Writeboard and other document editors Google Docs is common – you may have used a Google Docs spreadsheet to sign up for today's class!

Collaborative concept mapping Use to brainstorm components of a project, topics for strategic plan, evidence for elements of a cause of action....

Social Networks

Examples:

MySpace – high school

Facebook – college, young adults

LinkedIn – professional networking

Ning – private networks anyone can create

Martindale – new networking site aimed just at lawyers

LinkedIn: Connections, groups, more I can't ever remember to visit and check my updates. Solution: RSS feed!

Making connections

Social Networks for investigation

“ firm partner Joan Malbrough said she helped secure shared custody for a client after finding his wife had posted sexually explicit comments on her boyfriend's MySpace page.” “Finding Treasures for Cases on Facebook” The National Law Journal, 10-15-07

Resources