There are many good Web sites with accurate legal information. Also, when you search electronically on the Internet, the computer finds all of the cases or statutes at once instead of having to go through the books one at a time the way we humans do.
Doing legal research on the Internet has some disadvantages that have to do with searching the Internet. Here are four.
- Remember when you put words in a search engine, the search engine has its own way of using the words; make sure you know what that way is (by reading the help section). Remember that no matter how good your search is, the Internet is so vast that you will get many hits, some of them no good at all. Be prepared to be patient.
- The Internet is much newer than the law. Most sources of law on the Internet go back to the mid-‘90s; the printed sources go back to the 19th century. Sometimes you will need to go to a library and look at books.
- Doing legal research on the Internet has a disadvantage that has to do with publishing on the Internet. Just as there are many good Web sites with accurate legal information, there are bad Web sites with incorrect legal information. Try to see if you can find the same answer on more than one Web site before you use the information.
- There are also Web sites with information that is accurate but biased toward the point of view of the creator of the Web site. Before you use information, think about the reason the creator put the information there.
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