 The
best thing about the web is its widespread use. If something exists, it probably has a web
site. Here are some resources that caught my attention recently.Finding
quotations
Have you ever struggled to find just the right quotation for a speech or document?
Sure, there are quotation dictionaries.
But The Quotations Page (www.starlingtech.com/quotes/) offers a constantly updated
collection of motivational quotations, reviews of quotation books, keyword searches and
more.
A search for "law" produced a long-forgotten (by me) excerpt from a Ronald
Reagan radio microphone test in 1984: "My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you
I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing begins in five
minutes."
Translating text
Always interested in visiting Paris, I recently sent a French intellectual property
lawyer an e-mail message asking whether there are any law office technology consultants in
that city. Sending the message in French was not much of a problem.
But what if I had not been reasonably fluent in that language?
Could Digital Equipment Corporation's on-line translation service
(babelfish.altavista.digital.com/cgibin/translate?) have helped?
As a test, I submitted the following:
"I am a law office technology consultant in the United States. Is there anyone in
Paris whose profession is similar to mine? If so, I would appreciate receiving his contact
information so we may compare developments in France and the U.S."
I had the text translated into French and then back into English, again. This is what I
received:
"I am consulting as regards technology of law firm in the United States. Is there
no matter whom in Paris whose profession is similar to the mien?
"If so, I would appreciate to receive his information from contact thus we can
compare developments in France and in the United States."
You wouldn't want this in a formal document, but in a pinch, it might do.
Choosing services
Need a consultant to help solve a thorny management problem? Members of the Institute
of Management Consultants (www.imcusa.org) cover every conceivable discipline. The
Institute has chapters in northern (www.imcnorcal.org) and southern California (no web
site).
Perhaps you want a dynamic presentation at your next firm meeting or retreat. Members
of the National Speakers Association (www.nsaspeaker.org) can speak on any topic ranging
from advertising and public relations to writing.
Doing research
One of the fiercest competitions on the Internet is that among search services that
want to be everyone's front-end to the web. eBLAST (www.eBLAST.com/) - Encyclopae-dia
Britannica's Internet Guide - is the venerable publisher's entry in this contest.
Rather than indexing everything, eBLAST identifies the best sites in hundreds of
subject areas.
But a caveat is in order: As with any other search service, out-of-date web addresses
can be a problem. Nevertheless, Britannica's careful assessments make this a worthwhile
site.
For sheer volume, the University of California's MELVYL Homepage (www.melvyl.ucop.edu/)
must be a contender for some sort of award.
The online catalog contains records for more than 10 million holdings in libraries
throughout the UC system.
So if you have trouble finding something on the web, just keep looking. Borrowing from
Pacific Bell's motto for its SMART Yellow Pages, "If you can't find it on the web, it
probably doesn't exist."
 Dana H. Shultz is an Oakland-based lawyer,
certified management consultant and speaker specializing in office technology and online
marketing. He may be reached by e-mail at dhshultz@ds-a.com
and on the World Wide Web at www.ds-a.com.
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