For more structured searches it is often preferable to make use of legal indices. They arrange information by type of document (legislation,case law, directories, etc., by legal subject(e. g. international trade law, commercial law, intellectual property law)and/or source of information (government, law schools, legal organisations, law firms, etc).Most link collections concentrate on their home jurisdiction; others, however, also provide sections on foreign law. FindLaw(32) is one of the gateways for U.S. law, Mishpat-Net for Israel, Lexadin for the Netherlands and the Juristisches Internetproiekt of the University of Saarbruecken for German Multinational resource guides such as Hieros Gamos or Guide to Law Information Network (GLIN), contain links to many or virtually all sal Online, prepared by the U. S. Law Library of Congress for the Global Leg countries, but the depth and comprehensiveness of the link pages var often their emphasis is on U.S. material. Link pages that are geographically more limited but concentrate on certain law subjects can often be found at sites of institutes, legal associations, law firms or individual lawyers. Some of these collections of links are excellent, especially when they are provided by specialists working in that field who, therefore, make great efforts to create and maintain them 5. The virtuelle rechtsvergleicher 5. 1 Concept Against this background, the idea of the virtuelle rechtsvergleicher was born. It is designed to serve as a reliable and comprehensive research tool for daily work in comparative law. The focus is on private law, including commercial and consumer law, mainly in a European context. It gives access to already existing legal sites in the Internet in such a way that a lawyer working in the field of comparative private law as well as a law student can profit from its use In almost every country of the world, there are similar, and often much more ambitious, projects. In the United States of America there are,e.g The World Wide Web Virtual Library, run by the Indiana University School f Law, The Foreign and International Law Web) of Washburn Universit School of Law Library and the global legal material provided by the LegalFor more structured searches it is often preferable to make use of legal indices. They arrange information by type of document (legislation, case law, directories, etc.), by legal subject (e.g. international trade law, commercial law, intellectual property law) and/or source of information (government, law schools, legal organisations, law firms, etc.). Most link collections concentrate on their home jurisdiction; others, however, also provide sections on foreign law. FindLaw(32) is one of the gateways for U.S. law, Mishpat-Net(33) for Israel, Lexadin(34) for the Netherlands and the Juristisches Internetprojekt(35) of the University of Saarbruecken for Germany. Multinational resource guides such as Hieros Gamos(36) or Guide to Law Online(37), prepared by the U.S. Law Library of Congress for the Global Legal Information Network (GLIN), contain links to many or virtually all countries, but the depth and comprehensiveness of the link pages vary; often their emphasis is on U.S. material. Link pages that are geographically more limited but concentrate on certain law subjects can often be found at sites of university libraries or institutes, legal associations, law firms or individual lawyers. Some of these collections of links are excellent, especially when they are provided by specialists working in that field who, therefore, make great efforts to create and maintain them. 5. The 'virtuelle Rechtsvergleicher' 5.1 Concept Against this background, the idea of the 'virtuelle Rechtsvergleicher' was born. It is designed to serve as a reliable and comprehensive research tool for daily work in comparative law. The focus is on private law, including commercial and consumer law, mainly in a European context. It gives access to already existing legal sites in the Internet in such a way that a lawyer working in the field of comparative private law as well as a law student can profit from its use. In almost every country of the world, there are similar, and often much more ambitious, projects. In the United States of America there are, e.g., The World Wide Web Virtual Library(38), run by the Indiana University School of Law, The Foreign and International Law Web(39) of Washburn University School of Law Library and the global legal material provided by the Legal