ABA Legal Technology Resource Center (LTRC)
Yes, that’s us. But how well do you really know us? Have you checked the FYI Sheets on records management, conflict of interest software, calendar/docket software, and scanning/OCR software? How about our timesaving software Comparison Charts, which include comparisons of case management software and time and billing software?

ABA Legal Technology Resource Center (LTRC)--LAWTECH Listserv
We all know that your best source of honest, straight-from-the-horse’s-mouth information about legal technology products isn’t going to be blasted from the cover of your favorite bar association journal. After all, most associations choose not to endorse products. So where do the pros get their inside information? From the LawTech listserv, an electronic discussion list that allows members to duke it out about what works and what doesn’t in a perfectly fun-filled atmosphere. There’s even an archive if you can’t remember who won the last battle of the technology wills. Be there or be square.

ABA Law Practice Management Section (LPM)--Publications
LPM’s Law Practice Management magazine includes a Product Watch section, but many of the feature articles are also concerned with specific software products. Its newsletter, Law Practice Quarterly, also contains an abundance of information. Sign up for LawPractice.news, its free monthly e-mail newsletter (formerly e-Turbo) full of practice management and marketing tips, the latest product information, 5 hot web sites in 5 seconds, and news on upcoming programs and events in the Law Practice Management section. You should be stopping by the LPM site regularly, anyway--aside from the ABA’s Legal Technology Resource Center (that’s us!) it’s one of the best places on the Web to shop around for free legal technology information.

ABA TechShow--Course Materials
The home page of the ABA TechShow (which is sponsored by the ABA’s Law Practice Management Section) contains information about past and upcoming technology shows. As a preview of coming attractions, a limited selection of articles from the most recent show is included. Since many of the papers and presentations discuss software applications and issues, you might want to attend the show--and if you can’t make it, order the course materials on audiotape or CD-ROM at the site.

ABA General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section--Publications
The Section’s GPSolo magazine is published six times per year, and frequently includes technology and software articles. Each year two issues of the magazine are designated as Technology and Practice Guides, and fully devoted to technology issues. Its quarterly newsletter, Solo, provides real-life solutions to the challenges facing solos and small practitioners--including technology--and many of the cost-saving measures are of equal relevance to legal services and nonprofit organizations.

Other ABA Publications
Various sections of the ABA publish books addressing technology and even specific software products. To locate ABA books on software, type the keyword "software" in the handy search engine. Most software titles published by the ABA are instructional in nature, such as Amicus Attorney in One Hour for Lawyers, The Lawyer’s Quick Guide to Microsoft Internet Explorer, and Time Matters in One Hour for Lawyers.

Other ABA Periodicals
Use the periodicals search engine as a passageway to ABA Section materials on specific topics. Search by keyword, subject and/or section.

Law Office Computing [subscription]
You’ll need a subscription to the print magazine, Law Office Computing, to get into the good stuff, but it may be well worth your while. Both the magazine and the web site offer one of the few venues for unbiased, independent software and hardware reviews targeted at the legal profession. For subscribers, the site features a database of product reviews that may be browsed by category or searched by keyword. With over 300 product reviews in over two dozen categories, there’s a good chance you’ll locate something that hits home in the legal technology arena.

Law.com--Automated Lawyer
While this online behemoth of all things legal offers plenty of distractions in the way of legal news and information, keep your attention focused on the Automated Lawyer area, which includes sections on Tech News, Reviews and Tips, and Product Info. Not a heavy-hitter in the software area, but the site is interlaced with enough helpful reviews to make it worth your while.

LawTechnology News--Semi-Annual Buyer’s Guide
Despite its commercial slant (vendors must pay to list themselves in the directory), this online version of LawTechnology News includes access to the Semi-Annual Buyer’s Guide, which is indexed by category and company and includes a brief product description and vendor web site link.

Lawyerware
Lawyerware, owned by Castellain Technologies, LLC, provides an extensive product directory of legal software packages submitted by vendors that can be browsed by topic or searched by keyword. Topics include bankruptcy, case management, computer file tools, corporate and business, electronic collaboration, employment and labor, estate planning, intellectual property, legal information, litigation, practice management, real estate, tax and word processing. Each software listing is accompanied by a brief description of the software, a link to the vendor’s web site, and often a link that allows you to download a demo version of the software from the Lawyerware site. There are no reviews or any claims of subjectivity about the merits of the software, but this is a good place to check and see what’s out there--and even try it out for free.

Legal Technology Online--LegalTechSource
Legal Technology Online provides an interactive directory of e-business providers designed to connect buyers and providers in the legal community. Service providers add their company profiles to the directory and buyers search the directory for the types of companies they’re looking for and submit RFPs to companies of their choice. Although billed as a "Comprehensive Directory of Legal Software Vendors," the emphasis is clearly on helping buyers locate professionals as opposed to helping them select software. On the other hand, TechBase, the site’s Legal Technology Articles Database, is useful in pinning down articles on legal software--even if you must hunt elsewhere to find them. This somewhat rough-around-the-edges database, which can be searched or browsed, is misleading--it provides highlights and abstracts on over 5000 articles from various technology publications, and includes product reviews.

Net-Lawyers [online discussion list]
This is the home page for Net-Lawyers, a mailing list comprised of lawyers, librarians, law students, judges, paralegals and others interested in sharing experiences about using the Net to research and practice law. Net-Lawyers is not intended to be a place for substantive discussions of legal topics.

TECHNOLAWYER [online discussion list]
Yes--sometimes you really do just have to join to get the inside scoop. And if you’re already a member of the ABA’s LAWTECH listserv, and just can’t get enough--join TECHNOLAWYER as well. Nothing beats the real thing, and this list is one of the more active and informative gathering places for legal professionals wishing to share information about legal technology issues, products and services.

Equal Justice Network--Directory of Legal Software Vendors for Legal Services Programs
This section of the Equal Justice Network’s site is appropriately titled "Legal Software Vendors on the Internet that May Be Relevant to the Needs of Legal Services Programs." [emphasis added] The list may be a tentative one, but it’s a welcome start for legal services organizations that have no where else to turn for a list of good-fitting software on the World Wide Web. And while it’s alphabetized, with links to vendor sites, it’s also pretty sparsely annotated. But who’s complaining?

Altrue
Altrue offers a comprehensive database of diverse products designed to help community service professionals. A rating and ranking system is in place, but appears to be seldom used.

American Society of Association Executives (ASAE)--Technology Solutions Directory
Fill in the online form to search the ASAE Solutions Directory for companies that serve the association community with technology-related products and services. Search by company name, contact name, location or category. Main categories include software products, with well over a dozen topics to choose from. More useful for locating vendors than for selecting software.

Chronicle of Philanthropy--Resources to Help Nonprofit Groups Choose Software
The Chronicle of Philanthropy provides a list of online resources for organizations engaged in the software selection process.

Chronicle of Philanthropy--Technology Guide
The Chronicle of Philanthropy provides this online guide to technology vendors and services, including computer consultants and Internet services. Software categories include direct marketing, event management, fund/accounting, fundraising, membership management, planned-giving, trust accounting and web-enabled. Comes complete with a short description of the product and a link to the vendor’s site.

Coyote Communications Technology--Tip Sheets on Databases, Software and Technology Use
These tip sheets by Coyote Communications Technology include software advice for nonprofits, as well as articles on supporting your computer system and choosing specialized software.

IT for Charities--Resource Guide for UK Charities and Nonprofit Organizations
UK-based IT for Charities claims it is the most comprehensive guide to IT information, products and services available in the UK for UK charities and non-profit organizations--and we concur. With almost thirty categories of software for nonprofits, it’s worth a close look, even though a good number of vendors are located in the UK. Provides an alphabetical listing by company or product name. Make sure to check out the newsletter archive at the site--or opt to receive the monthly newsletter via e-mail--there are plenty of software goodies inside.

Nonprofit Software Index
With over 130 software packages listed, the Nonprofit Software Index is one of the best places to start a search for nonprofit software. Categories include Administrative, Case Management, Childcare, Financial Management, Fundraising, Grants Management, Information and Referral, Matching Gifts, Membership Management, Outcomes Management, Planned Giving, Training Software and Volunteer Management. One of the best features is the descriptive text and factual information that accompanies each product. Join the mailing list to be notified of new software or updates as they are posted to the site.

Nonprofit TechWorld
Nonprofit TechWorld is a public BETA (test) site of a new technology site for nonprofits. TechWorld offers an easy-to-use directory of links to software applications and tools used by nonprofits. A software review and rating systems by viewers appears to be in place, but is not yet in use. One to watch, though not quite ready for prime time.

Accounting Software

Alliance for Nonprofit Management
The Alliance for Nonprofit Management presents a whole host of questions and answers about nonprofit financial issues, including: "What accounting software package should we buy?"

Case Management Software

Legal Hotline Quarterly [pdf file]
The Summer 1998 issue of Legal Hotline Quarterly, published by the Legal Hotline Technical Assistance Project, contains a review of four case management software packages for legal services organizations.

Databases

Coyote Communications--Database, Software and Technology Use
Check under the hood for some basic information about databases, including maintenance, importing information and how to find free help.

Donor Management Software

NPower--Consumer Guide to Online Donation Engines [pdf file]
NPower is a consulting firm for nonprofits which offers a full complement of free technology resources for nonprofits, including the "Consumer Guide to Web-Based Donor Relationships Management Tools," and "Consumer Guide to Online Donation Engines." Also available on the site is the Devolio Database--a free, downloadable database designed by NPower to help small and medium-sized nonprofits manage their relationships with donors and prospects.

Fundraising Software

Alliance for Nonprofit Management--Selecting Fundraising Software
Answers the question: "How do we select fundraising software?"

Campagne Associates--Guide to Choosing Fundraising Software
Campagne Associates, a provider of fundraising solutions to nonprofits, provides a number of useful fundraising articles on its web site, including a guide to choosing fundraising software (note that you must sign in to access the guide, however).

Lyric Systems--Table of Fundraising Software Vendors
Lyris Systems, LLC, a fundraising consulting firm, provides a table of links to fundraising software vendors compiled from the March 2000 issue of Currents magazine, Tom Froelich’s Fundraising 101 web site, and the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Miscellaneous

Coyote Communications Technology Tip Sheet--Choosing Specialized Software
This tip sheet provided by Coyote Communications discusses the options nonprofits have when considering the purchase of specialized software (i.e., label-making software, address book software, volunteer management software, project management software). It’s a bit more than meets the eye, as hyperlinks like "Shopping for Database Software" and "Consider Shareware" point to more and more goodies.