Training
The Interior Library offers regular training sessions to introduce DOI employees and others to its services and to the information sources it makes available, either on employees' desktops or in person. Please RSVP by e-mail at library@nbc.gov at least one week before the program if you are interested in attending the sessions listed below.
Additional training sessions will be posted as they are scheduled. Please check this page regularly for changes or updates.
Training on Electronic Resources
Every Third Thursday of the Month, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
(January 19, February 16, March 15, April 19, May 17, June 21, July 19, August 16, September 20, October 18, November 15, December 20, 2012)
Please join the Interior Library staff for a regular training series on the many electronic and online resources available through the Library's website. Every third Thursday of the month from 1 to 2 pm, the Library staff will review features of the website, including features and basic search techniques for online databases available to DOI employees at their desktops. Databases such as HeinOnline, Westlaw, JSTOR, ProQuest Congressional, and ProQuest National Newspapers will be covered at the request of attendees. The Reference Staff will also be available to answer other specific online research related questions you may have.
Schedule
Introduction to WestlawNext
Tuesday, September 25, 2012, 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm
Thomson Reuters new WestlawNext online legal research service permits users to search for legal, legislative, news, and business content without first selecting a database, allowing one to click checkboxes to select the jurisdiction and nature of material wanted. Its new search algorithm, referred to as WestSearch, is perhaps the world's most advanced legal research engine, executing a federated search across multiple content types. Users can enter descriptive terms or Boolean connectors and select a jurisdiction. Search results are ranked by relevance. WestlawNext also supports retrieving documents by citation, party name, or KeyCite reference. An overview page enables users to see the top results per content type, or to view all results for a particular content type. Filters can also be applied to refine the result list even further. On the results page, users can also see links to related secondary sources relevant to their research. WestlawNext also provides folders for storing and sharing portions of the research selected by the user. Attendees will be taught by a Thomson Reuters trainer how to maneuver through this new, user-friendly platform to find the search results they need.
Please Note: This class is also being offered to remote users as a simultaneous online webinar via Web Ex. Please contact the Interior Library by e-mail at library@nbc.gov for information on how to register for WebEx access to the class.
Advanced Legal Research on Lexis
Tuesday, October 9, 2012, 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm
This program builds on the techniques presented in the “LexisNexis: Introduction and New Features” class, emphasizing time-efficient and cost-effective searching. Legal researchers attending the class will be shown new methods that can be used to obtain supporting caselaw, statutes, law review and newspaper articles, as well as federal and state administrative materials. Participants will learn about advanced search techniques to make their research more efficient and hear about recently introduced services. The class will also cover choosing appropriate search types, Boolean operators and search syntax, and refining search results with limiters and search edit options. Instruction includes general search construction as well as techniques and options unique to the LexisNexis platform. Attendees will discover new tools to help them keep track of their research and monitor developing areas of law. This program will be conducted by a LexisNexis trainer.
Please Note: This class is also being offered to remote users as a simultaneous online webinar via WebEx. Please contact the Interior Library by e-mail at library@nbc.gov for information on how to register for WebEx access to the class.
HeinOnline: Introduction and New Features
October 16, 2012, 10:00 am-11:15 am
HeinOnline is the world's largest image-based collection of law and law-related material with more than 75 million pages of material stored digitally. HeinOnline is bringing previously unavailable content to the online research community in a fully-searchable, image-based format. In this session, you will learn how to use HeinOnline to search for materials in their Law Journal Library, Federal Register Library, U.S. Supreme Court Library, Statutes at Large Library, and the new American Indian Law Collection, just to name some of the sources available. Each library contains documents dating from the inception of publications contained in the library, many dating as far back as the mid-19th century, fully searchable and available in PDF format. This program will be taught by a William S. Hein Company trainer.
Please Note: This class is also being offered to remote users as a simultaneous online webinar via WebEx. Please contact the Interior Library by e-mail at library@nbc.gov for information on how to register for WebEx access to the class.
Compiling a Federal Legislative History: A Step-By-Step Example for Advanced Researchers
Wednesday, November 7, 2012, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
In order to find the legislative intent of a bill or public law, researchers need to compile reports, testimony, debate, and other materials related to that piece of legislation to find keys as to what Congress hoped to accomplish by passing the bill. The final compilation of all these materials provides the researcher with a "legislative history" of the bill or law in question and hopefully will answer the question of what Congress intended with this legislation. Those familiar with legislative history research who are interested in learning advanced processes used in compiling a federal legislative history will find this program invaluable. A specific Public Law will be the focus of a step-by-step piecing together of a legislative history, using print resources such as the U.S. Statutes at Large, Congressional Record, and U.S. Congressional Serial Set. Online sources of federal legislative history information will also be highlighted. This program will be conducted by DOI Law Librarian Maureen Booth and Reference Librarian Shyamalika Ghoshal.
Searching Through the Invisible Web: Finding Hidden Resources on the Internet
Wednesday, November 28, 2012, 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm
It has been said that searching on the Internet today can be compared to dragging a net across the surface of the ocean; a great deal may be caught in the net, but there is a wealth of information that is below the surface and therefore missed. Most of the Web's information is buried far down on dynamically generated sites, and standard search engines do not find it. Traditional search engines cannot "see" or retrieve content in the “Invisible” or “Deep” Web – those pages do not exist until they are created dynamically as the result of a specific search. The Invisible Web is several orders of magnitude larger than the surface Web. This class will examine the type of information available on the mysterious "Invisible Web," how to access it, and why it is important. Learn why some information is inaccessible to web search engines and what might be overlooked in researching the Internet. Search techniques and recommended sources will also be covered. This program will be conducted by Reference Librarian Jennifer Klang.
Legislative History Research on Westlaw
Wednesday, December 12, 2012, 10:00 am – 11:15 am
Westlaw is one of the primary online legal research services for lawyers and legal professionals in the United States. Information resources on Westlaw include more than 40,000 databases of case law, state and federal statutes, administrative codes, newspaper and magazine articles, public records, law journals, law reviews, treatises, legal forms and other information resources. Attendees to this training program will learn how to use the Westlaw legal and legislative databases to find materials needed to complete a legislative history. These include materials like Congressional debate in the Congressional Record, House and Senate Reports, Presidential Documents, and Congressional Hearings, all used to find the intent behind a piece of legislation. This class will be taught by a Westlaw representative.
Please Note: This class is also being offered to remote users as a simultaneous online webinar via Web Ex. Please contact the Interior Library by e-mail at library@nbc.gov for information on how to register for WebEx access to the class.