A. SPECIFIC SEARCHES.

Search engines have a variety of ways for you to refine and control your searches. Some of them offer menu systems for this. Others require you to use special commands as part of your query.

It is a helpful reminder that the more specific your search is, the more likely you will find what you want. Don't be afraid to tell a search engine exactly what you are looking for. For example, if you want information about Windows 98 bugs, search for "Windows 98 bugs," not "Windows." Or even better, search for exactly what the problem is: "I can't install a USB device in Windows 98," for example. You'll be surprised at how often this works.

B. SEARCH ENGINE MATH COMMANDS

The easiest and most universally recognized search commands are listed in the following chart. The purpose of each command is discussed below.

1. Using The + Symbol to Add.

Sometimes, you want to make sure that a search engine finds pages that have all the words you enter, not just some of them. The + symbol lets you do this.

For example, imagine you want to find pages that have references to both President Clinton and Kenneth Starr on the same page. You could search this way: +clinton +starr

Only pages that contain both words would appear in your results.

The + symbol is especially helpful when you do a search and then find yourself overwhelmed with information. Imagine that you wanted to reserve a camping space in California's Yosemite National Park. You might start out simply searching like this:

yosemite

If so, chances are, you'll probably get too many off-target results. Instead, try searching for all the words you know must appear on the type of page you're looking for:

+yosemite +camping +reservations

2. Using The - Symbol to Subtract.

Sometimes, you want a search engine to find pages that have one word on them but not another word. The - symbol lets you do this.

For example, imagine you want information about President Clinton but don't want to be overwhelmed by pages relating to the Monica Lewinsky scandal. You could search this way: clinton -lewinsky

That tells the search engine to find pages that mention "clinton" and then to remove any of them that also mention "lewinsky."

In general, the - symbol is helpful for focusing results when you get too many that are unrelated to your topic. Simply begin subtracting terms you know are not of interest, and you should get better results.

3. Using Quotation Marks to Multiply

A "phrase search" can be a much better way to get the answers you are looking for.

For example, remember above when we wanted pages about reserving a campsite in Yosemite? We entered all the terms like this:

+yosemite +camping +reservations

That brings back pages that have all those words on them, but there's no guarantee that the words may necessarily be near each other. You could get a page that mentions Yosemite in the opening paragraph but then later talks about together would appear on this page, but it still might not be what you are looking for.

Doing a phrase search avoids this problem. This is where you tell a search engine to give you pages where the terms appear in exactly the order you specify. You do this by putting quotation marks around the phrase, like this:

"yosemite camping reservations"

Now, only pages that have all the words and in the exact order shown above will be listed. The answers should be much more on target than with simple addition.

4. Combining Symbols

Once you've mastered adding, subtracting and multiplying, you can combine symbols to easily create targeted searches.

For example, a person who wanted pages only about Star Trek's original series might search this way:

star trek -voyager -deep -space -nine -next -generation

A better search, however, might use subtraction and multiplication:

"star trek" -voyager -"deep space nine" -"next generation

The Internet is a powerful tool for finding people and businesses. A single computer terminal can replace numerous phone books and professional directories.

A. GENERAL

Most of the major search engines have a "people finder" link or a yellow pages link. In addition to these links,

• US West maintains an on line phone book at www.uswestdex.com
• GTE superpages, www.superpages.gte.net, can help you located URL's, businesses, and individuals.
• One of the easiest tools for finding an individual is people.yahoo.com

B. WASHINGTON ATTORNEYS

With the Washington State Bar Association charging for each copy of Resources, many offices have only one copy of the printed directory. This directory, like any directory that is printed once a year, is frequently outdated.

The Washington State Bar Association web page has an attorney find feature that reflects all address change notices received from the attorneys.

The Bar Association's home page is located at www.wsba.org

The lawyer database can either be accessed from the home page or can be located at www.wsba.org/adm/search/index.htm

C. PROSECUTORS

Locating a particular prosecuting attorney's office in another state can be difficult because phone directories are not arranged by county or judicial district. The Eaton County Prosecuting Attorney's Office maintains a page with links to 1000+ prosecuting attorneys, district attorneys, attorney general's and attorney organizations.

The web page, which can be located at www.co.eaton.mi.us/ecpa/ProsList.htm, is extremely organized by state or country and is extremely user friendly.

I have found that if the particular office I am looking for is not listed, that a call to one of the other offices located in the same state will generally lead to the correct phone number.

D. LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES

The same problems associated with locating a particular prosecuting attorney's office's address and phone number exist ten fold with police agencies.

The Pima College Department of Public Safety hosts the Law Enforcement On Line site. This site contains links to over 3700 criminal justice agencies, civilian and military, federal and local, in the United States and Canada. This web page may be located at www.pima.edu/dps/police.htm

The National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center portion of this web page has links to 40+ state Departments of Correction.

E. COURT ADDRESSES

Need to send a letter to a court clerk in another state, but not sure of the court's address. The Nation's Courts Directory, located at www.courts.net can help. This site provides directory listings for courts across the United States.

F. EXPERT WITNESSES

One of the easiest ways to locate information about an expert witness is to conduct a search in one or more of the major search engines using the experts name.

Locating an expert in a particular field generally begins with a search using the specialty's name.

G. ZIP CODES

I cannot be the only person who receives mail from individuals who refuse to use a zip code. When trying to determine the proper address for your response, use the United States Postal Service's ZIP+4 Code Look-up located at:

www.usps.gov/ncsc/lookups/lookup_zip+4.html

IV. MAPS

Need a quick map of the area surrounding a particular address? Need directions to that conference center? Then the Internet can help.

Most of the search engines offer maps or directions. Since I am directionally challenged, I appreciate Excite's turn-by-turn maps. See maps.excite.com/address.

Befitting the state that Microsoft calls home, Washington state provides significant on-line services. Some offices that do not authorize general Internet access will provide access to the Washington State Intranet.

A directory of all Washington governmental web pages can be obtained at Access Washington, access.wa.gov. Pages of particular interest to lawyers are discussed below.

A. Washington Courts.

The Washington Courts web page located at www.courts.wa.gov is an outstanding resource. From this page you can find:

• The Washington Supreme Court docket and issue summary. www.courts.wa.gov/crtinfo/supreme/home.htm
• Information regarding the various divisions of the Courts of Appeals, with Division II's page including copies of the general orders, issue summaries of cases scheduled for argument before a panel, and the docket. www.courts.wa.gov/crtinfo/appeals/home.htm
• Links to superior courts in the following counties--Benton/Franklin, Clallam, Clark, Kitsap, King, Pierce, Snohomish, Spokane, Thurston, Whatcom and Yakima. At least two of these counties, Pierce and Yakima, provide access to their actual court dockets. www.courts.wa.gov/crtinfo/superior/home.htm
• Links to district courts in the following counties--Clallam, Clark, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Pierce, Snohomish, Spokane, Whatcom, and Yakima. www.courts.wa.gov/crtinfo/district/home.htm
• The Washington State Court Directory www.courts.wa.gov/directory . This directory includes a list of the proper venue for civil actions against a county.
• The most recent opinions issued by the Washington Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals are both available on line at www.courts.wa.gov/opinpage/home.htm. In addition, every Wednesday the Washington Supreme Court provides notice of the cases it intends to file the next day at www.courts.wa.gov/opinpage/notice.cfm
• The current text, including changes that occurred after the books were published, of all Washington court rules is available at www.courts.wa.gov/rules/home.htm
• Need a book from the State Law Library or a copy of a law review article? Assistance will be cheerfully provided at www.courts.wa.gov/lawlib/home.htm
• You are all familiar with the Harvard Blue Book method of citation. Are you aware that the Washington Reporter of Decisions deviates from the Blue Book in a number of ways. The most current Washington style sheet can be found at www.courts.wa.gov/reporter/style.htm
• Mandatory judgment and sentences, statements of defendant on plea of guilty, and other forms change at an alarming rate. The most current version of these forms and others are available in Word 6.0 and Word 8.0 format at www.courts.wa.gov/forms/home.htm

B. Statutes and Regulations

The Office of the Code Reviser (slc.leg.wa.gov) and the Legislature (www.leg.wa.gov/wsladm/default.htm) both offer access to the most recent versions of the RCW and the WAC. During the legislative session, copies of the proposed bills may be found at www.leg.wa.gov/wsladm/bills.htm

C. Attorney General Opinions

Since 1996, opinions of the Attorney General may be found at www.wa.gov/ago/opinions/opinion_index.html

In addition, the Attorney General's home page (www.wa.gov.ago) contains news about current litigation. Frequently, copies of the actual pleadings filed by both sides in a case are available in the issues section of the web page.

D. Victim Services

The Office of Crime Victims Advocacy web site contains information about local and national services for crime victims. This site is located at www.ocva.wa.gov .

Information regarding the State's Crime Victims Compensation Program can be obtained at www.wa.gov/lni/insurance/cvc.htm

E. Sentencing Guidelines Commission

I have discovered that my sentencing manual frequently grows legs and walks away just when I desperately need it. The adult sentencing guidelines manuals for 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999 are all available on line along with the 1999 Juvenile Disposition Manual. These documents can be found at www.sgc.wa.gov/publications.htm

A. United States Supreme Court

Opinions issued by the United States Supreme Court are generally available within hours of their issuance at supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/index.html

The official web page for the United States Supreme Court was launched just a few weeks ago at www.supremecourtus.gov. Portions of the web site are, therefore, still under construction. The information regarding the Court's rules, how petitions are processed, etc., that is currently available makes this site a "must visit" if you have a case pending in the United States Supreme Court.

Background information regarding cases that the United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear can be found at oyez.nwu.edu. The information is written by journalism students in a clear, understandable manner.

B. Ninth Circuit

The Ninth Circuit's official web page is located at www.ce9.uscourts.gov. Opinions are generally available by noon on the day they are issued. The Ninth Circuit web page also contains various publications. If you are involved in a capital case, you should take a look at the Ninth Circuit's Capital Punishment Handbook.

C. Local District and Bankruptcy Courts

1. The U.S. District Court Eastern District of Washington can be found at www.waed.uscourts.gov

2. The U.S. District Court Western District of Washington can be found at www.wawd.uscourts.gov. A new feature of this web site is access to the court's docket.

3. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court Eastern District of Washington can be found at www.waeb.uscourts.gov

4. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court Western District of Washington can be found at www.wawb.uscourts.gov

D. All Other Federal Courts

The Federal Judiciary Homepage includes a map with links to the federal courts located in each state. The map can be found at www.uscourts.gov/links.html

A. Legal Search Engines

There are numerous legal search engines that will provide you with access to court opinions issued by other states and the laws of other states. My favorite portal is the Law Engine. This site, which has a single page format, can be found at www.TheLawEngine.com

A comprehensive, multi-page, portal that is easy to use is that hosted by the Cornell Law School. The home page for this portal is www.law.cornell.edu. In addition to providing access to various official state legal web pages, the Cornell Law School also has directories arranged by practice area.

An extremely popular legal portal is FindLaw located at www.findlaw.com

The following web sites provide a wealth of information for legal professionals.

National District Attorney Association www.ndaa.org

American Prosecutors Research Institute www.ndaa.org/apri/Index.html

National Association of Attorneys General www.naag.org/index2.html

Thomas-- Federal Legislative Information on the Internet thomas.loc.gov

The Federal Information Center fic.info.gov

U.S. Federal Government Agencies Directory www.lib.lsu.edu/gov/fedgov.html

U.S. Department of Justice www.usdoj.gov

Justice Information Center ncjrs.aspensys.com

National Highway Traffic Safety Commission www.nhtsa.dot.gov

Dr. Frank Schmalleger's Cybary Top 100 Criminal Justice Sites on the web talkjustice.com/top100.asp

Web of Justice www.co.pinellas.fl.us/bcc/juscoord/fexplore.htm

The World Wide Web Virtual Law Library www.law.indiana.edu/v-lib