Cornell Law Library's InSITE Website Reviews

Reviews published in the September 25, 2006 issue of InSITE:

• ASIL Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law
• Democracy21
• Disabled Peoples' International
• International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour: IPEC
• National Association of Drug Court Professionals/National Drug Court Institute

ASIL Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law 
The ASIL Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law, commonly called the ERG, is an extensive narrated web guide to understanding and locating international law.  Updated twice a year by co-editors Marci Hoffman and Jill McC. Watson, the ERG is an excellent tool for students, teachers, lawyers, and researchers looking both for primary and secondary sources of international law.  The guide is divided into eleven main sections: an introduction explaining the organization of the ERG, Human Rights, International Commercial Arbitration, International Criminal Law, International Economic Law, International Environmental Law, International Intellectual Property Law, International Organizations, Private International Law, Treaties, and United Nations.  Each section provides a descriptive overview of the area of law, best methods for researching, links to vetted websites, and helpful tips.  Also available in print, the ERG is an essential resource for any researcher delving into the complicated world of international law. [JJ]

Democracy21
Democracy 21 is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization founded in 1997 by Fred Wertheimer, a noted advocate for reducing the role of money in politics.  The organization seeks “to eliminate the undue influence of big money in American politics and to ensure the integrity and fairness of government decisions and elections.”  Democracy 21 focuses on campaign finance reform and ensuring that campaign finance laws are effectively implemented and enforced.  The website is organized into several sections providing news, updates, and documents.  The Issues section provides discussion of the group’s involvement in specific issues, including campaign finance laws, the Federal Election Commission (FEC), and lobbying.  Users will find numerous postings under each issue, with links to PDF copies of letters sent to members of Congress and Congressional committees urging various actions.  Researchers will want to pay particular attention to the Key Documents section.  This section includes reports, as well as explanation of cases and FEC filings.  Relevant documents are provided in PDF and include opinions, amicus briefs, complaints, comments, and FEC rules. [MM]

Disabled Peoples' International   
Disabled Peoples' International (DPI) is a network of national organizations and assemblies of disabled people which has been established to promote the human rights of disabled people through economic and social integration.  DPI's website offers visitors information about the organization, including the composition of the executive and world councils, DPI's constitution and by-laws, and the organization's strategic plan.  Interested visitors can determine the location of regional offices and national assemblies by location.  Researchers will be interested in Disabled Peoples' International's "Resources" section, which organizes articles, reports, news items, and press releases by topic and type of publication.  Topic concepts include "Aging and Disability," "Bioethics," "Community Based Rehabilitation," "Hearing and Deafness," and "Learning Disabilities," among others.  This site is available in English, French, and Spanish, and is searchable. [BWK]

International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour: IPEC The International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) works towards the progressive elimination of child labor by strengthening national capacities to address child labor problems, and by creating a worldwide movement to combat it.  IPEC also strives to contribute to national discussions on the implementation of International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions.  The IPEC website’s "Subject Areas" include topics such as "Child Domestic Labour," "Child Soldiers," "HIV AIDS," and "Hazardous Work."  Each subject area provides a summary of the issue and links to further reading materials.  Researchers will appreciate the ILO's Statistical Information and Monitoring Programme on Child Labour (SIMPOC), which assists countries in generating comprehensive data on child labor.  The "IPEC Information Resource Centre" contains publications, reports, working papers, guidelines, manuals, brochures and all other IPEC sources of information on child labor, dating back to 2004.  This site is available in French and Spanish as well as English. [BWK]

National Association of Drug Court Professionals/National Drug Court Institute 
The National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) was founded in 1994 by drug court Judge Jeffrey Tauber and other drug court professionals.  The group “seeks to reduce substance abuse, crime and recidivism by promoting and advocating for the establishment and funding of Drug Courts . . . .”  NADCP describes a drug court as one that has special responsibility for cases involving offenders that are substance abusers and provides supervision, drug testing, treatment, and sanctions and incentives to these offenders.  The website is a source of information and support for association members and other drug court professionals.  The site offers information on the NADCP annual conference and other events, as well as membership information and a job bank.  The Public Policy and Awareness section offers an interesting document from the Boston University School of Public Health on ten particularly effective drug and alcohol policies.  Also of note is a resource and funding guide that details the resources available to communities wanting to establish a drug court. [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.

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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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