Year: 2007
OPSI Legislation – heading towards the semantic web
The OPSI Report on Public Access Scheme Funding 2006/07 gives a good summary of recent and planned improvements in the OPSI legislation site. (See also my earlier post on improved access.) Here are some extracts from the (pdf) report: Over the last year and a half the Office of Public Sector Information has used funding […]
IHT – die happy
Time to mention the blogs IHT Solutions and Law and Death and Taxes who both post about the death of the nil-rate band discretionary trust. IHT Solutions: You could certainly call the government politically cynical but for once, one can be magnanimous and simply accept that the government have listened to the voices of “middle […]
Oh dear!
Ed at Blawg Review has pulled me up for supplying only 6 best blawgs: There is no rule that you are not to include a blog already named by another. In fact, it’s encouraged, as those most deserving of the acknowledgment will be given it from many other top bloggers who have been nominated. So, […]
Changing themes
As is apparent, I’ve implemented a new theme for this blog – Blue Zinfandel, a widget-ready theme from Brian Gardner. I’ll be playing with widgets and customising it over the next couple of weeks, so apologies in advance if you lose your way. Many thanks to Ulf Pettersen whose Modern theme has served me well […]
Have news? – blog it!
I said in my state of UK blawging post that blog-like functions will increasingly be incorporated into all websites. I should have added that the best way to do this is using blog software rather than your own CMS. Why? 1) Blog software provides you out of the box with all the functionality you need […]
Simply the best
I have been tagged by Charon QC to name 10 blawgs I consider the best, continuing the meme started by the editor of Blawg Review. As most involved have said, this is difficult. There are several blogs I do not follow closely, being outside my main sphere of interest, but which I recognise as top […]
UK blawgs – where are we now?
Although a handful of UK law bloggers were active before 2006, it was only then that the UK blawgosphere started to take off. Since then, new law blogs have continued to appear at the rate of about one a week. On infolaw I catalogue all known UK law blogs (plus a small number of notable […]
Effective blogging (for lawyers)
Adapted from an earlier article and published September 2007 in the Axxia Newsletter. In the last issue we looked at reasons why lawyers should blog. Here we consider the “how to” of effective blogging. Blogging services provide the forms and templates that enable you to publish a blog site with little or no expertise: you […]
A matter of style
There’s a discipline amongst publishers, adherence to which – in the eyes of traditional publishers at least – is one of the attributes that separates the professional from the amateur publisher. “Style” in publishing terms is a set of rules that a publisher adheres to in order to achieve accuracy and consistency in usage. It […]
It ain’t what you do, it’s where you do it
Chris Andersen – he of The Long Tail fame – echoes my feelings in Social Networking is a feature, not a destination. As I think about the current Facebook craze and the notion of it as an all-encompassing platform, sucking in functionality from other sites across the board, I find myself skeptical. With my Long […]
Adnonsense (3)
Google is in a bit of a bind. On the plus side it can be credited with: opening up access to the web with Google search, providing advertisers an effective channel for their web marketing through its AdWords scheme, and giving legitimate publishers, large and small, the opportunity to generate income from serving up those […]
Bobbies on the beta
I’ve suggested before that one day we might be able to roll our own government on wiki.gov.uk. The New Zealand Police are experimenting with just that concept with a Police Act Review Wiki. This joins other wikis launched to encourage New Zealanders to engage with public sector agencies. A good example is the Participation Wiki, […]
Be social – blog smart
Steve Matthews of Stem is one of the leading thinkers when it comes to web marketing for lawyers. He has this to say about how to “be social” with blogs: For me, the social side of blogging involves a number of tactics, things like: blogroll links to your peers; not just writing your own thoughts, […]
PSI4U
The Power of Information review (see previous post) looked at how non-personal public sector information can be re-used and reinvigorated outside of government to generate public and economic value. Responding to one of its recommendations, OPSI have set up a discussion forum to to gather and assess PSI re-use requests. At issue is not what […]
CPD without tears
Delia Venables and I have just produced and published another two online Legal Web e-books with 5 CPD each. Topics for Barristers covers Chambers Management and the Web; Virtual Chambers; Websites, Resources and Blogs; Electronic Resources in the Inns of Court Libraries; and Legal IT as a Commodity. Legal Information and Web 2.0 covers Free […]
