Students log on to the internet every day — to look at Facebook, if nothing else. Make the most of the resources available at the click of a button, whether it is to help your academic research and applications for training contracts or just a bit of fun

* Law students in their first year should visit www.venables.co.uk run by Delia Venables. This is an excellent online research tool giving an extensive list of links with a brief explanation of each, ranging from the complete “fully searchable” edition of Old Bailey proceedings 1674-1913 to competitions, discussion groups and careers advice.

* For in-depth research on the best firms for training contracts, visit www.chambersstudent.co.uk which lifts the lid on 150 firms, including small regional practices, reports on the latest news for trainees, such as retention rates, and explains the different practice areas. Don’t miss the highly readable articles, ranging from getting into the legal profession to explaining legal aid and pro-bono work and the benefits of vacation schemes.

* Similarly, www.lex100.co.uk lists its top 100 winners, ranking firms according to issues such as job satisfaction, work-life balance and social life. It also ranks firms according to “where you will get to deal with real walking, talking clients”. (“It’s often the larger City corporate practices that disappoint,” Lex says.) Thinking about going to a law fair? Read the useful guide to surviving fairs, which can be an overwhelming experience for new law students.

* If you have specific issues to resolve or questions to ask and you have exhausted other online resources, you may find interactive sites useful, such as the forum-based www.traineesolicitor.co.uk. “NickB” posted a query as to whether his criminal record will matter to potential employers while “traininglawyer” wants to know what hours her fellow first-year trainees are putting in. Legal news bulletins are posted and there is a market where you can buy and sell legal texts.

* An online forum can also be found at www.lawbore.net, City University’s legal portal and a particularly user-friendly website aimed at law students at all stages of study. The site offers a compilation of the best topic-themed guides online, including both core topics and elective subjects such as media law, maritime law and international criminal law, as well as links to useful research tools. A handful of articles are available only to City students, but there are plenty of others that are universally accessible.

* Through its sister site Learnmore (www.learnmore.lawbore.net) it offers tools such as Understand Legal Abbreviations and a Mooting Video Tutorial, which you can supplement by checking out the chat forum on mooting and downloading the mooting guide, which has details of mooting competitions.

* Need some light relief to get you through the long winter evenings? Go to www.rollonfriday.co.uk, a humorous look at the week’s legal news in Britain and abroad. Read about the barrister who is selling himself on eBay and how Eversheds partners are battling the economic crisis by cutting back on puddings. And if you can bear more excruciating stories, read about Clifford Chance’s Christmas party, which took place in an hotel in Canary Wharf. Held one week after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, the party featured a mock terrorist assault on a hotel. RollonFriday is always looking for freelance contributions, so now’s the chance to supplement your student loans by submitting stories. Winter vacation schemes, for example, provide amazing insights. Looking for a trainee contract? The site offers the chance to post your details to enable law firms to contact you directly.

* Finally, keep an eye out for www.elsalondon.org/pages/law_review later this year, a site that will be part of the English Law Students’ Association’s drive to celebrate excellence by publishing outstanding academic work by London’s best law students on the internet.

Times Recommends

• Legal school 'earned £1m by exploiting bar course'
• Axe may fall on 5,000 more City lawyers
• Prince Charles named in £81m court battle