Research the old-fashioned way: finding what's not online.

In the day's before there was computer-assisted law practice, lawyers spent long lonely hours searching for case precedents in thick, dusty digests and Shepardizing the cases in even thicker books. Then came LEXIS and WESTLAW, and research became a joy, or at least easier. Now, we have the Internet, and we're told that anything we need to find is "at our fingertips."

But don't throw away those dusty books yet. If librarians and paralegals had a penny for every time they heard the phrase "everything is online," they could all retire today. Some information is available only in print; some, only as an online or CD-ROM database; and quite a bit, in a combination of formats.

Online databases tend to have the most current information, print products have the least current, and CD-ROM products fall somewhere in between these two. Print products at times are the only source for old documents. If the document you need is more than five years old, do not go looking for it on the Internet.

Relying on information found on the Internet is quite chancy. Each site is constructed and operated by a different entity, according to its own internal rules. The source of the information found on a site may not be shown or you may not be able to tell how often the information is updated. A file on the Internet today may be moved to another site or even deleted tomorrow.

What is a person to do? Trial and error for a while will be the ticket for most any firm employees. Hiring a professional researcher may be required if time and money are important.

For instance, many products liability cases center on an alleged defect, which may be discussed in the patent that was issued for the product. Recently, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office opened a home page on the Internet's World Wide Web that includes patents issued over the last 20 years. (http://www.uspto.gov). The data from the first page on each patent in the Official Gazette of the Patent Office is available. The entire patent file, however, is not.

On the other hand, MicroPatent's new online PatentWeb (http://www.micropat.com) enables users to search through and read the full text of every patent issued in the United States over the past two weeks and also to view, buy, and receive copies of any patent issued since 1975 (complete with graphics). Older patents must be retrieved manually from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Crystal Park, Arlington, Virginia, or from federal depository libraries, such as the one in Philadelphia, which allow public access for research and document retrieval.

Occasionally, archived articles and documents older than five years are needed. Old law may not be found online. Check the directories or library contents manuals provided by LEXIS or WESTLAW before venturing online to retrieve something. The manual will give the year coverage began. If the item you need predates online coverage, go to the books to obtain the material.

For example, I was once asked to retrieve copies of ads for Bell helmets that appeared in cycle magazines for the last 10 years. The ads were not online. However, the magazines were located in the Library of Congress. A staff researcher who went to the library had to go through 10 years of magazines and photocopy the ads. This was a seven-hour process. Most large cities will have either a public library or a university library that will keep an extensive collection of popular periodicals.

State law is not all online yet. For example, WESTLAW begins coverage of decisions from the Supreme Court of Alabama with 1945 cases. Most states do not have an Internet presence yet, but some information is available. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System operates a gopher server (gopher:// gopher.acenet.auburn.edu ) containing state-related information, but there are no connections to legislative sources yet. Most of the gopher entries lead to agency information like Community Resource Development, Youth Programs, and Weather Information. The Indiana University School of Law's Web server (http://www.law.indiana.edu) provides an extensive list of links to native sources, like Indiana laws and the state constitution, as well as to leading law-related Web servers.

Companies

A wealth of information about public companies is available online, but information on private companies is less accessible. Public companies are required by law to file a variety of documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), documents that contain extensive data regarding the companies' financial health. This information can be found on LEXIS's COMPNY database or through the use of fee-based document delivery services. SEC filings can also be viewed for free at the SEC's Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C.

The Million Dollar Directory, published by Dun's Marketing Services, or Ward's Business Directory, published by Information Access Co., or Thomas Register of American Manufacturers and Thomas Register Catalog, published by Thomas Publishing Co., are annual multivolume directories of public and private companies. Typical corporate entries will include the company's name, address, officers and directors, Standard Industrial Classification (WIC) code, a description of the business, sales figures, and the number of employees.

Credit reports often supply the only extensive information on private companies. In addition to describing the company, credit reports reflect whether a company pays its bills. The leading vendors of credit reports are Dun & Bradstreet and TRW, which are both online through DIALOG and gateway services on WESTLAW. Dun & Bradstreet Credit Services can be reached at 3 Sylvan Way, Parsippany, NJ 07054, (800) 5260651. TRW Business Credit Services is at 500 City Parkway West, First Floor, Orange, CA 92668, [phone].

Another good source of information is each secretary of state's office. The information available varies from state to state, but the offices can usually tell you if a company is in good standing, if its name has changed recently, and if it paid its corporate taxes. You can also order documents, like a firm's certificate of incorporation.

Articles in journals, national and local newspapers, trade publications, and newswires are excellent sources of information. If a private company is a substantial employer in a geographical area, the local newspaper may cover it pretty thoroughly. If the paper is not online, try calling the paper directly. Papers may have clippings files they would be willing to send. Local public libraries, as well as trade associations, both geographic and industry related, may maintain clippings files as well as other helpful sources of information.

Information on expert witnesses is something lawyers always need. The indexes of leading journals in many fields are now accessible by computer, and you can search these to find out whether a witness has published an article.

Another valuable source of expert information is ATLA's ExchangePlus. A member-only exclusive service, ExchangePlus maintains a witness database that includes information on over 6,000 experts. ExchangePlus staffers can also search ATLA's Deposition and Document Banks to look for a particular expert's prior deposition or courtroom testimony. ExchangePlus can be reached by calling Carol Cho at [phone], ext. 275.

Products and Physicians

One of the main sources of product information for a lawyer is the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Although the CPSC's gopher (gopher://cpsc.gov/) is still being built and is not yet fully operational, it does include an archive of the agency's press releases from 1990 through 1996. Each year's releases are in their own file and include notices of product recalls and reports of unsafe products. Unfortunately, they are not text-searchable.

Valuable material that must be obtained in writing from the CPSC includes anything from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, which reports information about injuries associated with consumer products that are treated at 91 hospital emergency rooms; medical examiner reports; death certificates (where the death indicated a consumer product was involved); consumer complaints; trade complaints; and in-depth, on-site investigative reports by CPSC staff If the question does not refer to any specific manufacturer, call the commission's National Injury Information Clearinghouse at [phone], or write to the National Injury Information Clearinghouse, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, DC 20207.

Any question involving manufacturer-specific or brand-specific information must be made as a written request under provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. Address your request to Todd A. Stevenson, Freedom of Information Officer, Office of the Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, DC 20207.

For medical negligence attorneys, The Directory of Practice Parameters is an essential reference source. Published annually by the American Medical Association, the directory lists all practice parameters by title, subject, and sponsor.

A more expensive but far more comprehensive book is Health Care Standards, published by ECRI (Emergency Care Research Institute). It covers all the information in the Directory of Practice Parameters and also lists the standards of many health care organizations, including the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations, which sets and monitors national standards for hospitals. In addition, it provides a guide to state and federal codes and regulations covering health care. ECRI can be reached at 5200 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462, [phone].

Most medical associations have a resource center that keeps copies of current and, more importantly, old practice parameters, publications, and guidelines. This type of material can be obtained by phone call or by letter. Do not overlook the resources of your local medical library. Employees at these facilities will perform MEDLINE searches for you and allow you to access and sometimes borrow medical textbooks and journals.

Virtually every trade or occupation in the United States has an association looking out for its interests. These groups are gold mines of information, including legislation and case tracking, standards, educational materials, safety materials, journals, or magazines. Located through the Encyclopedia of Associations, published by Gale Research, Inc. (which is on DIALOG), these groups also have resource centers and government affairs, legal, and publication departments.

Best of the Rest

Two groups that have not yet placed anything online but have helpful staff are the Council of State Governments (in Lexington, Kentucky), which helps determine what other states are legislating in a certain area, and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (in Kansas City, Missouri), which publishes model insurance laws and tracks how and with what changes they have been adopted in the states.

An often overlooked source is congressional hearings. If a product or a safety situation has become serious, it is likely that some member of Congress looked into it. Congressional hearings can be found through the Congressional Information Service (CIS), which should be available in most law libraries. The service recently became available on LEXIS. DIALOG's and WESTLAW's coverage of CIS begins with materials dating from 1970. Federal News Service will retrieve any congressional hearing from any committee and subcommittee for $25. They can be reached at 800-FNS-4799.

Most safety standards and codes, safety manuals, and training films or literature will not be online. One of the best sources for detailed information is Harry Philo's Lawyers Desk Reference, published by Clark Boardman Callaghan. In fact, I recommend that every lawyer own this three-volume series because of the wealth of important material that is in it. It may soon be released on CD-ROM.

Not all resources offered by ATLA are online yet. Although TRIAL, the Law Reporter, and the ATLA Advocate are online with ATLA NET beginning with the June 1995 issues, any articles from prior issues must be obtained by calling the ATLA library at [phone], ext. 279--or ext. 225 for TRIAL and the ATLA Advocate and ext. 264 for the Law Reporter. Many requests come to ATLA for articles that appeared in issues of the NACCA Law Journal, the forerunner of the Law Reporter, or from early conventions and seminars. Requests for photocopies must be directed to the ATLA library.

Online services do not have everything. The books do not have everything either. It is always a good idea to strike up a friendship with the librarians in your local law, university, and medical libraries. They can sometimes be lifesavers, and all you have to do to access them is invoke the power of the four "F"s--phone, fax, photocopy, and FedEx.

The old-fashioned way of finding information has not gone out of style. It is just more complicated because of the many options for finding material. Lawyers and their staffs need to know when to select a particular problem-solving tool and how to use it.

Computers and CD-ROM products complement traditional book-based research, but the latter is not obsolete--at least not yet. One thing is certain: The law continues to evolve, and so, too, will methods of conducting effective legal research.

Charlotte W. Smith, former director of ExchangePlus, ATLA's research, writing and litigation support department, is a consultant and independent information specialist in Severna Park, Maryland.