Technology Tools for Legal Aid Gabrielle Hammond, NTAP January 31, 2007

1. Technology Tools for Legal Aid Gabrielle Hammond, NTAP January 31, 2007

2. I never… • Participated in a Legal Meetings (WebEx) call • Hosted a Legal Meetings call • Visited the new LSNTAP website (www.lsntap.org) • Completed an online survey using the Poverty Law Survey Tool • Used a wiki • Created a survey using the Poverty Law Survey Tool • Added content to the LSNTAP Website

3. Technology Tools for Legal Aid • LSNTAP.Org • Poverty Law Survey Tool • Wikis • LegalMeetings Coming soon…. • GIS Mapping Server

4. Other Tools • Meeting Scheduling Online • RSS Feeds and Readers • Open Source Apps

5. Why are you here… • Want to learn about all the tools available to my program. • Want to learn how the community is using these tools (generally) • Want to learn specifics (i.e. nuts and bolts) how to use tools- • Which tools? • Curious about what all those acronyms in the agenda meant: • LM, LAU, GIS….

6. LSNTAP.Org • Technology information for poverty law • Training for poverty law • Blogs and entry to national projects (national wikis, email lists) • It is not just for techies….Your role: Tell other staff about it in your program • Bookmark: www.lsntap.org/techlibrary

7. The LSNTAP.Org Tour • Tech Library: Name that Tech Topic! (or Search Game) • Portal for national email lists and wikis • News and Views (blogs available) • Training (Calendar, Lists, and Registration) • Posting Content and Logging In • Posting Jobs

8. Resources • www.legalmeetings.org (aka www.lsntap.org/aboutlegalmeetings) • Information on Sign Up • Information on Using LegalMeetings • Trainings: • Energizing Online Meetings, Oct 26 • First Tues of Every Month: LegalMeetings Roundtable). Starts February (For Existing Users)

9. Online Surveys • Client Satisfaction Surveys (from Hotline) • Staff Surveys on Management Issues • Retreat and Conference Planning • National Initiatives -- Getting Feedback • Technology or Other Project Evaluation

10. Online Survey Tools • Survey Monkey • Poverty Law Survey Tool • Zoomerang • Others…

11. Poverty Law Survey Tool • Free • Robust Features • Support is Available During Use

12. Important Features • Customize look & feel and include images • Question types and logic of questions • Share Your Surveys with Others in the Community (avoid recreating from scratch) • Send Surveys Out Anonymously, With Tokens, with Registration Options • Reporting and Statistics includes Charts and Graphs • Ability to copy questions between surveys or reuse yours or others’ shared surveys as a template

13. Before You Begin • A Survey Tool cannot write the survey for you… • Strength of your survey depends on preparation • Before you go online, know: • The Question Types • How you’ll distribute the survey • How it will be administered • Start and end date

14. What if….You Don’t Know • How would you know which one to use? • What are Tokens? • What do you mean by Question Types • What do you mean by Skip Logic and Branching? • We have resources: • http://lsntap.org/node/1706 (question types) • http://lsntap.org/surveyhowto (step-by-step) • http://lsntap.org/node/890 (administration options)

15. Basic Steps in Survey Creation • Login to your account and create a new survey • Fill out as much of the survey metadata as you can at this point • Create a group (to contain one or all questions) and name it with the knowledge that groups are arranged alphabetically • Create a question and choose an appropriate question type. Enter the possible answers to the question. (for certain question types) • Create new questions/groups as required • Test the survey and make any changes required • Activate the survey and send the link to your respondents

16. Resources • Sign up for an account at survey.lstech.org • Trainings and resources available in the lsntap.org resource library • Sign up for upcoming NTAP trainings on using the survey tool • February 15, 2007 • November 16, 2007 • ADVANCED training for current users only: TBA (likely March and December) • Email support: madhu@lsntap.org

17. Online Tool for Collaboration • What if there were an easy way to: • Share versions of your hotline or housing manual across multiple authors, without using email… • Store and update passwords that change quickly (like tech pwds) so you don’t have to wait to find your techie to log back in… • Save on the email bulk…

18. Wikis • An online space, like a website, where "anyone" can add, edit, or remove web pages without specific web tools or knowledge. • Preserves prior versions of pages and logs changes made to its pages. • A group of people can use it to create a collaborative work or reference environment.

19. Some uses in Legal Services • Personnel Manuals, Administrative & Litigation Manuals • Technology • State Task Force Projects & Conferences • National Projects • To support meeting planning • Examples

20. Wikis In Action… • Wikipedia • Fema Answers (http://femaanswers.org) • NTAP’s Wiki (password protected) • LSSCM’s Technology Wiki • Cyber Piracy Wiki

21. Starting a Wiki: Determine Platform • Just like with website platforms, there are many wiki “platforms” to choose from… • Decide whether you host it yourself or have it hosted. (Security versus ease of use and administration)** • We use MediaWiki -- not the prettiest, but “industry-standard.” • NTAP will be offering programs wiki hosting (we’ll give you space on a server to host your wiki) starting in March. • Other options: http://lsntap.org/node/1064****

22. Starting a Wiki • No one is that excited about a blank page • Change of Mindset (NTAP’s example) • Tips for Successful Wikis • Get someone who is willing to try • Put up content before you distribute • Share materials on how to edit (on the wiki itself)…make it easy

23. Basic Editing (Mediawiki) • Let’s see how to edit a Wiki: • http://lsntap.org/node/1062 • Other Resources: http://lsntap.org • Tutorial • All About Media Wiki • Lessons Learned • And more….

24. Resources • LSNTAP.Org resources on wikis • Mediawiki resources at http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents • Upcoming Trainings • March 2, 2007

25. Wiki Tools • Jotspot • Confluence (free for nonprofits) • MediaWiki • PBwiki

26. LegalMeetings Web Conferencing • How many use it? • Sign Up: www.legalmeetings.org • Use it: http://lm.webex.com • Prices range from $10 - 32 a month depending on program budget size…first three months for LSC funded programs free. • Non-LSC funded programs at $75 a month, first three months at $50.

27. Staff Meetings, Task Force Meetings, Staff Training, One-On-One Document Review and Edit, Advocacy Brainstorm Sessions, Substantive Law Review Sessions, Board Meetings, Management Meetings, and Remote Tech Support. Poverty Law & LegalMeetings

28. GLSP 157 Online Meetings 47 of these meetings were used to train on new CMS, LegalServer Average distance between offices is 175 miles (3.5 hours) Estimated $$ saved just in LegalServer trainings: $23,424.00 Community Legal Services - Mid Florida 26 meetings in last year (started in Sept) Used to train Helpline staff on areas of law Average distance is 59 miles Estimated $$ saved is $1076.00 A Look at Use

29. If 30 programs used it like GLSP, the national community would have saved an estimated: $820,704.00. If 30 programs used it like CLSMF, the national community would have saved an estimated: $68,194.24. What if we all…..

30. GIS Mapping National Server Project • Map Census Data by Legal Aid program • Map Case Management Data with Google Earth • www.lsntap.org/gisnationalserver • Coming Soon: April

31. Other Tools • Meeting Scheduling • www.meetomatic.com • www.meetingwizard.com • Upcoming: Phone Conferencing for Legal Aid Programs • 6 cents a minute for toll-free • Award winning phone service • RSS Feeds and Readers: www.lsntap.org/techlibrary

32. Other Tools • Open Source Software • Diagram Software: http://live.gnome.org/Dia • Open Source Suites: http://openoffice.org • More Tips • Training by NTAP on May 4 • http://lsntap.org/50techtips