Cornell Law Library - InSITE: Archived Issues

InSITE
A Current Awareness Service of
Cornell Law Library

ISSN 1521-9046

Vol. 5, no. 12
February 7, 2000

InSITE highlights selected law-related World Wide Web sites in two ways: as an annotated publication issued electronically and in print; and as a keyword-searchable database.

The law librarians at Cornell evaluate potentially useful Web sites, select the most valuable ones, and provide commentary and subject access to them. These information can be accessed as following:

Current Issue
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In print format for the Cornell Law School community

Affirmative Action and Diversity Project: The “Affirmative Action and Diversity Project: A Web Page for Research” is designed to present a range of opinions on the issues surrounding affirmative action. Articles, policy papers, theoretical analyses, and an annotated bibliography of research and teaching materials are all provided on site by this academic resource. The site, hosted by the University of California at Santa Barbara, focuses strongly on California law and issues, including Proposition 209. Visitors may navigate the web site by using its descriptive site map, or by browsing through the table of contents located on the main page. While the articles and analyses are rich and multifarious, some of the pages, such as “Pending Legislation,” are years out of date. Otherwise, the site is rich and well laid-out.

APEC Competition Policy & Law Database: The APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Competition Policy & Law Database, sponsored by the Chinese Taipei Fair Trade Commission, attempts to present an overall picture of APEC member economies' competition policies and their laws. The site provides a database of information concerning each member nation, including competition law and policies, judicial cases, agency decisions, and bilateral agreements. The information may be browsed by country name or subject category, or accessed via the database's search engine. The search engine offers several types of search options and limiting parameters. Recent press releases, announcements, Individual Action Plans (IAPs), and Collective Action Plans (CAPs) are also included for each member. The APEC web site offers links to related organization homepages such as the United Nations, World Trade Organization, and European Commission.

Asian Human Rights Commission: According to the Introduction to the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) web site, “the AHRC is an independent non-governmental body which will seek to promote greater awareness and realization of human rights in the Asian region, and mobilize Asian and international public opinion to obtain relief and redress for the victims of human rights violations.” The site is very well laid out. The table of contents is framed by links to recent articles from the AHRC’s publication “Human Rights Solidarity” on the left and announcements of news and events on the right. Visitors may locate AHRC’s extensive publications, including papers, book annotations and articles. The Asian Human Rights Charter, in draft and final form, is available, as is a comprehensive list of programs and events sponsored and organized by the AHRC, arranged by year. In addition to a site-wide search engine, visitors can search for material country-by-country, and can sign up for e-mail notification of “Urgent Appeals” on behalf of persons or groups of persons whose human rights have been violated. This site is frequently updated, well-organized, and the abundant articles are printer-friendly.

Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions: Codes of Ethics Online Project: The Illinois Institute of Technology Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions (IITCSEP) web site was established in 1976 to promote education and scholarship through the collection of ethics codes of professional societies, corporations, government, and academic institutions. Currently, the IITCSEP site contains over 850 codes. This site also offers an alphabetical index of categories which link to specific codes of ethics. Codes are full-text and include a hyperlink to the homepage of the corresponding governing body. The site includes a bibliography of books, cases, and case scenarios concerning ethics in professions. Links to other collections of codes of ethics are provided. The IITCSEP web site includes a simple search engine for enhanced access. At the time this review was written, however, the "tips for searching" were not available.

E-Commerce Policy: The United State Government Electronic Policy Homepage (E-Commerce Policy homepage) is maintained by the Department of Commerce's Secretariat for Electronic Commerce. This web site conveys the position of the United States government concerning electronic commerce issues. Specifically, the E-Commerce Policy homepage includes the full text of executive reports, statements, and press releases. Other government documents as well as congressional testimonials concerning electronic commerce are available. Full-text documents are available in either html or pdf format. The E-Commerce Policy web site provides links to United States government and international web sites devoted to electronic commerce as well as to sites giving examples of how electronic commerce is being conducted. Hyperlinks also allow users to access the Department of Commerce, Federal Electronic Commerce Program Office, and Electronic Commerce Steering Group web sites.

The contents of this publication and any recommendations therein are the opinions of the authors and do not reflect the views of Cornell University.