23-01-2013, 04:51 PM
Strategies for Finding Administrative Materials Online
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INTRODUCTION
Finding specific information online about a government
agency sometimes seems as difficult as finding one needle
among hundreds of bits of hardware hidden in thousands
of haystacks. This article discusses strategies and tools
that can make the search easier—the virtual equivalent of the
magnets, conveyor belts, rakes, and engineering expertise that
would make it possible to find that needle in just a few days.
Making the Most of Google
Some agency opinions and reports can be found online simply
by cutting and pasting (or typing) the title or case name and
citation into the basic Google search box1 and clicking the
“Google Search” button.This method likely will work if the document
is a recent publication and the search includes a very
specific title or a quote from the material that uses relatively
unusual terms.2 For example, the Colorado attorney general
opinion3 “Appropriation of Conservation Trust Fund Monies for
Auditing Fund Expenditures (March 2, 2004)” can be found by
entering that phrase in Google and performing a search. The
first two results lead to this document.
Exploring Agency Websites
If these search engines do not lead to the missing needle
within approximately ten minutes, it is time to try another
strategy: agency websites. These websites provide a sense of
context that is missing from aggregated legal databases. In other
words, searching for a regulation, opinion, or other document
in an agency website is like using trees and buildings for landmarks
and asking for hints from the person who hid the needle,
whereas searching for the same information in a big legal
database (such as Westlaw, Lexis, Casemaker,® or Loislaw®) is
like wading through an infinite field of hay.
For example, a search on the term “trichomoniasis” in the
Code of Colorado Regulations on either Westlaw or Lexis produces
only a list of the three Colorado regulations that include
this term—two from the Department of Agriculture and one
from the Department of Public Health and Environment. The
home page of the Livestock Disease Section of the Department
of Agriculture,26 on the other hand, provides not only a link to
the text of its trichomoniasis regulations, but also definitions
and explanations of the disease, guidelines for interpreting the
regulations, links to companies that test for the disease, and
telephone numbers and e-mail addresses for questions about
the regulations. Finding such a page is sometimes challenging—
in this case, the user must: (1) find the Colorado Department
of Agriculture home page;27 (2) select “Animal Industry”
from the “Program Areas” drop-down menu; and then (3) select
the “Livestock Disease” link, located on the right side of the
Web page. However, the process itself provides a sense of context,
and the extra effort often pays off with a rich collection of
on-point information.
Using Subscription Legal Databases
Starting a search for a regulation or agency opinion on Westlaw
or Lexis is a little like hopping onto a tractor to search for a
needle in a haystack simply because the tractor is powerful,
convenient, and familiar—never mind that a tractor alone is
worse than useless for finding a needle in a haystack! Documents
in large databases like these are stripped of the context
provided by the agency’s own website.Also, in the larger databases,
results lists often are cluttered with secondary materials,
court cases, and other sources that are not relevant. Thus,
documents found in subscription legal databases sometimes
are both more expensive and less valuable than the free agency
website versions. However, either Westlaw or Lexis eventually
will provide just about any relatively recent regulation or official
agency opinion published by a Colorado or federal agency.
Also,Westlaw and Lexis provide a familiar and powerful search
interface, a variety of choices to make the search for legal materials
as wide or as narrow as necessary, and editorial enhancements
that are not available from agency websites.Thus,
in some cases, subscription legal databases are the best tools
for finding administrative materials.
Conclusion
Finding one needle among hundreds of bits of hardware hidden
in thousands of haystacks is a difficult task, but it is not
impossible for a person with adequate resources and management
skills. Similarly, quickly finding accurate, current information
published by or about administrative agencies online
is difficult, but not impossible, for a person who knows when
and how to use Google, when to use other search engines and
Web-finding tools, how to get the most from agency websites,
when to turn to a legal database, and when to ask for help from
an expert—a librarian.