Website Reviews Published in Cornell Law Library's InSITE

The June 5, 2006 issue of InSITE reviewed the following websites:

• Eldis
• Global Legal Monitor
• IRCT: International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims
• Justice and Reconciliation Project
• NASAA: North American Securities Administrators Association

Text of reviews

Eldis
Eldis is an information service of the Institute of Development Studies, a research and teaching organization devoted to international development.  Founded in 1966, the Institute offers research programs, postgraduate courses, and various web-based knowledge services, including Eldis.  Designed for researchers, development practitioners, and policy-makers, Eldis aims to “support the documentation, exchange and use of evidence-based development knowledge” and to communicate this knowledge via the Internet.  The Eldis database includes more than 18,000 documents, which are available for download without charge.  Documents cover a broad range of topics including biodiversity, health systems, and poverty.  The database is keyword searchable; as well, material may be accessed by topic or country.  The Eldis Resource Guides allow users to access documents by topic while cross-referencing to non-Eldis materials including journals, databases, and websites.  The Eldis Country Profiles arrange documents by country and provide links to relevant key web sources.  Users may subscribe to e-mail newsletters; in addition, an RSS feed is offered. [MM]

Global Legal Monitor
The Global Legal Monitor, launched in May 2006, is a PDF-based publication of the Law Library of Congress, intended for those who have an interest in maintaining awareness of global legal developments.  The Monitor pulls data from the Library of Congress' Global Legal Information Network database, as well as official national legal publications and reliable press sources.  Topics covered in this newsletter include, among others, "Election/Campaign Law," "Environmental Law," "Foreign Trade and Trade Regulation," "Health Law and Regulation," "Immigration and Nationality Law," and "Terrorism."  Over 60 countries and international organizations are represented in the Monitor.  The Table of Contents is easy to browse and navigate, and is arranged by topic then country(ies) of origin.  Each individual annotation and news item, which runs from one to three paragraphs, is credited with an original author and source. [BWK]

IRCT: International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims
The International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT), based in Denmark, “is an independent, international health professional organisation that promotes and supports the rehabilitation of torture victims and works for the prevention of torture worldwide.”  The website provides general information about their network of rehabilitation centers, projects, and events.  Of particular note to researchers is the RCT Documentation Centre (DC), a collection of over 40,000 items covering all aspects of torture, torture prevention, and rehabilitation of torture victims.  The DC is searchable online and the DC staff will freely assist anyone, including governments, lawyers, and students, in finding and obtaining desired material.  Also available from the IRCT website is the TORTURE Journal, a multidisciplinary forum discussing biomedical, psychological, and social aspects of torture.  Finally, a document of potential interest for attorneys representing torture victims is the “Legal Investigations of Torture Allegations: A Practical Guide to the Istanbul Protocol ­ For Lawyers,” available in both English and Spanish.  The entire site is keyword searchable. [JJ]

Justice and Reconciliation Project
Founded in California in 2001, the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring the lives of those harmed by crime by promoting forgiveness and reconciliation between crime victims and offenders, and by supporting restorative justice policies in the legal system.  The Project’s “Activities” section details the organization’s projects and campaigns, such as the “Victims' Voices Project,” “In-Prison Projects,” “Violence Prevention,” “Clergy Sexual Abuse Cases,” and “Rwanda 1994 Genocide.”  The organization also offers an online magazine, JRP Online Magazine, available in HTML.  Visitors to the site can also read about the organization’s media buzz in the “Media Coverage” section.  The site is searchable. [BWK]

NASAA: North American Securities Administrators Association
The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), founded in 1919, “is the oldest international organization devoted to investor protection.”  NASAA membership includes securities administrators from the 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Canada.  Member administrators are involved in licensing firms, investigating violations and enforcing state law, and educating the public about fraud.  Website content, much of which is devoted to investor education, is organized into several components.  The Issues & Answers section explains NASAA’s legislative, regulatory, and enforcement activity and includes links to letters, testimony, and full-text reports.  Of particular interest to legal researchers is the Industry & Regulatory Resources section.  Various sub-sections covering broker-dealers, corporation finance, and investment advisers include links to model rules.  There is a very helpful directory of securities laws and regulations organized by American state and Canadian province, which links to relevant state and provincial web pages.  For sample forms, users should consult the Uniform Forms section, which provides the Uniform Application to Register Securities and a Uniform Surety Bond, among others. [MM]

InSITE contributors: Julie Jones, Research Attorney, Brandy Kreisler, J.D., M.L.S., Matt Morrison, Research Attorney, Jean Pajerek (editor), Head of Technical Services & Information Management, all current or former members of the professional staff at Cornell Law Library.

About InSITE: InSITE highlights selected law-related 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.

Digital versions of this information can be accessed via:

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The contents of InSITE and any recommendations therein are the opinions of the authors and do not reflect the views of Cornell University. InSITE is copyright protected by Cornell Law Library, © 2006 Cornell Law Library. Permission to republish InSITE issues on Law Librarian Blog has been granted. For permissions, contact Jean M. Pajerek [jmp8@cornell.edu].

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