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CORRECTION: We made a couple of clarifications to the "Pennsylvania Statutes From LexisNexis" that appeared in the previous LLRXBuzz. You can get the updated version at the top of last week's issue:
http://www.llrx.com/buzz/buzz124.htm, Pennsylvania Statutes From LexisNexis, August 28, 2002.

Building Code Library

There's more building code information than you can shake a stick at at http://www.cmdfirstsource.com/codes/index.asp. Not only does this site have building code information for all fifty states, but code information is also available for major cities around the United States.

You get to the building codes by using drop-down menus on the front page. You will not be able to access the information until you register with the site, however. (Registration is free.) Once you've registered, however, you'll get a list of information.

Lists for state information include whether the state has mandatory building codes statewide and to what buildings they apply. The state information also notes whether the state makes building code amendments available online and at what cost. There are also state contacts available for various codes (plumbing code, mechanical code, gas code, boiler code, etc.) and the authorities for each jurisdictional area.

City information is similar, with city contacts instead of state contacts, and information (company name and contact information) for the local utilities. Be sure to check out the FAQ  (http://www.cmdfirstsource.com/codes/codefaq.asp) for more information on this data collection.

Ethical Decisions

According to the site at http://ethics.berkeley.edu/, ethical decisions are capable of shaping community social structures, and that is why it is focusing on those decisions and the ones who make them. Current issues include the impact of corporate accounting scandals on prospective MBA students and the moral debate over Saddam Hussein and Iraq.

This site also features news from Berkeley about the Travers Ethics Conference; Col. Charles Traverse was the inspiration behind the creation of Ethics.Berkeley.edu. Find out who is doing what in ethics work at Berkeley and explore the list of ethics-related classes being offered.

inter alia the Weblog

inter alia, at http://www.inter-alia.net/, features legal research on the Internet in this web log created by Tom Mighell, publisher of Internet Legal Research Weekly.

The site's keyword search engine provides the title, author and date with the excerpt in which the keyword appears. Advanced searching narrows searching of any or all words within the title or report body.

You can also explore the list of subject categories which includes Internet Law, Business Research and fun stuff. Current postings discuss creating PDF Documents, E-mail hoaxes and an article pointing to the disadvantages of putting court records online.

You may wish to subscribe to the weekly newsletter, which is
available at http://www.inter-alia.net/ILRW/currentissue.php. Coverage there includes news relevant to all researchers, not just legal researchers, as well as a brief article (in the latest issue it was Part I of "Reclaiming Your InBox") and some cool legal research sites on the Internet. A nice read. Worth a look.

2002 Census of Governments

Title 13, Section 161 of the U.S. Code requires a Census of Governments covering government organization, public employment and government finance. A link to the preliminary report to the 2002 Census is online at
http://www.census.gov/govs/www/cog2002.html. The report, available as a PDF file, includes tables, charts and June preliminary counts within its ten pages. You will also find the volume titles of the up-coming reports along with expected dates of availability.

I clicked on the Site Map and found a link to the entire 1997 document and links to annual statistics on Public Employment and Finance for the last ten years. There are also additional stats on Federal Expenditures and Tax Collections. This one is definitely worth an exploration.

Michigan.Gov Revises CIS Site

The Michigan state government Web site has added a redesigned Department of Consumer & Industry Services (CIS) site to its page at http://www.michigan.gov/cis. The site's link to CIS Agencies provides information about all of the agencies and commissions within the department, along with a link to each group.

Click on Online Services to view CIS's current list of online services, ranging from Adult Foster Care to WCAC Decisions. The listing includes Commercial Services License Verification which opens to a database searchable by person or business name. Person searches can be narrowed with a drop-down list of
professions from Architect to Professional Surveyor. Should you decide to search instead for a business name, the drop-down list of professions changes to Accounting Firm through Ski Areas. Finally, you can search both person and business by license number.

Martindale-Hubbell Announces Switchboard Partnership

In a partnership expected to launch in the last quarter of 2002, Martindale-Hubbell's lawyer.com will provide Switchboard's yellow pages with biographic information on over 350,000 lawyers nationwide. Get more information from
the press release at
http://www.martindale.com/xp/Martindale/About_Us/Media/archive/020826.xml.