 Using the Net to
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With a vast number of new web pages being created each day, and untold number of messages being posted to Usenet Newsgroups every hour, how can you monitor mention of your clients products or services? If you have a specialty that your firm is noted for, how can you track discussions online that could be relevant without spending a huge amount of time combing newsgroups and web search engines?
Two web sites have been designed to help you do exactly that. And they are both free.
The Informant (http://informant.dartmouth.edu/) is a free web based service that will save your favorite search engine queries and web sites, check them periodically, and send you e-mail whenever there are new or updated web pages. The Informant uses an intelligent web monitoring to enable users to keep track of keyword searches and individual web pages on the Internet. Any changes or additions to Lycos, AltaVista, Excite, or Infoseek, which meet your query criteria, are noted and sent to you automatically.
For example, suppose your client is involved in ??? You could assign an associate to review the top search engines each day to see if mention of ??? was made on any pages. Or you could just submit the queries to The Informant, and be notified automatically when pages are added that contain the keywords you are interested in.
One of the phenomena's to arise on the Internet is the development of the attack page, in which a group or individual disparages a product, service or person. (For a relatively mild example check out the IHateBillGates.com site). The line between free speech and libel will be easier to monitor if you use The Informants URL monitor. Once you put a site's URL in, you will be notified whenever modifications or updates of that page are made.
Another web based tool, TracerLock (http://www.peacefire.org/tracerlock/) can monitor newsgroups as well as search engines and notify you by e-mail when a new instance of a search term is found. For example, if you tell TracerLock to monitor the nearly 30,000 newsgroups for the phrase "Stephen Maher," TracerLock will e-mail you when new messages appear on any newsgroup containing the phrase "Stephen Maher".
TracerLock can also monitor web pages posted on the AltaVista search engine, using full Boolean search syntax.
If events on the World Wide Web are important to you or your clients, these tools can make your life much easier.
About the Author
Stephen T. Maher is a Miami lawyer and legal educator who has practiced and taught law
for more than twenty years. He regularly writes and speaks on issues of law and
technology. After serving as a member of the full-time faculty at the University of Miami
School of Law for many years, he returned to private practice with Stephen T. Maher, P.A.
He also serves as the Director of Attorney Training at Shutts & Bowen, the oldest law
firm in Miami, and trains lawyers in law firms throughout the United States through his
consulting company, The Practical Professor Incorporated. He maintains an award winning
site on the Internet at
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