Law Librarian Blog

Reflections: Does it Take a Librarian to Lead a Library

Harvard Law School recently hired John Palfrey as the new Vice Dean of Library and Information Resources (LLB post).  Over at Madisonian.net, Mike Madison considers Palfrey's creds and their potential implications for the future:

Does it take a librarian to lead a library?

Harvard thinks not. I’m guessing that John Palfrey persuaded Elena Kagan, the HLS Dean, that the substantive and methodological challenges that librarians confront these days are not significantly different than the substantive and methodological challenges that any manager of a complex information environment confronts.  Not anyone can manage the Harvard Law Library, but there may no longer be anything distinctively “library-ish” about the position.

Is Harvard right?  And if it is, will other schools and universities agree?

Weighty questions providing much food for thought.  At first glance, it seems simplistic to so easily dismiss the "library-ish"-ness of a position charged with managing the largest law library in the US. [JJ]

Is HLS Really the First School?

As LLB posted previously, HLS recently announced:

In a move that will disseminate faculty research and scholarship as broadly as possible, the Harvard Law School faculty unanimously voted last week to make each faculty member's scholarly articles available online for free, making HLS the first law school to commit to open access [emphasis added].

A number of people have recently noted, including John Palfrey, that Duke Law School has made its journals available on the web since 1997 and has hosted an open access repository of its faculty's school since December 2005.  Dick Danner has an excellent paper on the issue, Applying the Access Principle in Law: The Responsibilities of the Legal Scholar, at http://eprints.law.duke.edu/1698/. 

Duke is not alone.  Other numerous other law schools are offering open access to their scholarhip, often with the help of their libraries, although this author is unaware whether these schools have an official open access policy.  Check out via BePress:

• University of Georgia Law School
• University of Maryland School of Law

Who else has an official law school policy to make all their scholarly articles freely available online? 

Hat tip to Melanie Dunshee. 

[JJ]

Congratulation to Simon Canick

Simon Canick, Associate Director for Library Services at the University of Connecticut School of Law Library, has been appointed Associate Dean for Information Resources and Assistant Professor of Law at William Mitchell College of Law. He will be joining the College this summer to direct knowledge management and information technology development. Read more about it: press release. [JH]

Friday Fun: Digitus Impudicus

Oh, the subtleties of road rage communication. In this video clip a lawyer tackles the complexities of "sign language" in court. [JH]

Meanwhile, check out Ira P. Robbins' (American University, Washington College of Law) Digitus Impudicus: The Middle Finger and the Law [SSRN] for an examination of the long arm of the law going way too far. Here's the abstract:

The middle finger is one of the most commonly used insulting gestures in the United States. The finger, which is used to convey a wide range of emotions, is visible on streets and highways, in schools, shopping malls, and sporting events, in courts and execution chambers, in advertisements and on magazine covers, and even on the hallowed floor of the United States Senate. Despite its ubiquity, however, as a number of recent cases demonstrate, those who use the middle finger in public run the risk of being stopped, arrested, prosecuted, fined, and even incarcerated under disorderly conduct or breach of peace statutes and ordinances.

This Article argues that, although most convictions are ultimately overturned on appeal, the pursuit of criminal sanctions for use of the middle finger infringes on First Amendment rights, violates fundamental principles of criminal justice, wastes valuable judicial resources, and defies good sense. Indeed, the Supreme Court has consistently held that speech may not be prohibited simply because some may find it offensive. Criminal law generally aims to protect persons, property, or the state from serious harm, but use of the middle finger simply does not raise these concerns.

1L Attrition Rates Range from 51 to 0 Percent

LawSchoolNumbers.com reports some shockingly high 1L attrition rates for individual law schools. Shocking to me because my gut-check says anything above 10% is way too high and 78 of the 195 listed law schools have attrition rates above 10%. Of course admissions professionals may view this threshold as being too low, but even if it is doubled to 20%, 24 law schools have a reported attrition rate of 20% or more. Click on the pie chart image (below) to view a distribution of law schools in 5 percentage point increments.

From the data provided, 5,005 out of 49,013 first-year students nationwide left law school. That's 10.2% so I don't think my gut-check threshold is unrealistic. Whittier ranked first on a percentage basis with a whooping 51.5% attrition rate (95 drop outs in an entering class of 184) while Thomas M Cooley Law School ranked first in number of students: 531 out of a 1L class 2,042 (26%).

Both schools are exceptional cases, not representative of the legal academy as a whole. Whitter Law School's very strict (dare one say "old school") grading scale and mandatory distribution curve are probably responsible for the law school's high 1L attrition rate. Whitter has been on probation since 2005 for failing to comply ABA Standard 301, the bar passage rule (Interpretation 301-6). It now looks like the Whitter will be removed from its probationary status. [Dean Cogan's Letter to the Whittier Law School Community]. Will Whitter's grading scale and distribution curve survive?

Cooley Law School's admissions policy is very liberal and can be characterized (fairly, I believe) as "give law school a shot here." Some might criticize Cooley (some have for grabbing tuition monies from students who might not be prepared for law school) but I think at least one law school in this country ought to give aspiring lawyers the opportunity they might not get anywhere else. I've met several Cooley students who have nothing but praise for the school's admission policy.

13 schools reported no 1Ls leaving law school:

• Arizona
• Case Western Reserve
• Charleston School of Law
• Charlotte School of Law 
• Loyola University Chicago 
• Montana
• New Mexico
• Ohio State
• Oregon
• Pittsburgh   
• South Dakota
• Stanford University 
• Yale   

One problem with the report is that it is difficult to make much sense out of the data because the reasons why students left are not quantified. As noted by Michael Froomkin (Miami):

If I were trying to make sense of this number, I’d not only want to know why people left (especially flunking vs. transfers), and where they left to, but also how many transfers IN the school had. Although there too, the number would need to be treated with care. A school that loses large numbers to transfers out and gains few is a place people want not to be (or a great feeder school). A place that is more or less in balance seems to make the transfers figure something of a non-issue. A place that is a huge net gainer is probably a place people want to be — but it’s also a place that likely is gaming its US News stats, which a student might think reflects poorly on its general ethical climate, or at least suggests the number has even less meaning than usual.

[JH]

LLB Poll: First Things First This Summer

Opinion Polls & Market Research

The AAUP Reports on Faculty Salaries

From the press release: "After a short-lived recovery in 2006–07, faculty salaries are lagging behind inflation again this year. Yet the salaries paid to head football coaches, presidents, and other top administrators do not seem to reflect an economic downturn. Over the past three decades, the ranks of contingent faculty, nonfaculty professionals, and administrators have swelled while the number of tenured and tenure-track faculty stagnated. These are the central findings of Where Are the Priorities? The Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession, 2007–08."  [RJ]

CALI Conference Reminder

To take advantage of the CALI Conference group rate, you have to book your room at Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor at Camden Yards by May 21st. To make reservations online go to www.innerharbormarriott.com

More information about this year's CALI Conference - Transforming Legal Education: Conference Front Page | Preliminary Agenda | Conference Registration Page.

[JH]

Professional Reading: Teaching in Practice: Legal Writing Faculty as Expert Writing Consultants to Law Firms

Interesting article from the Boston College Law School Faculty Papers:

"As experts in the pedagogy and substance of legal writing, full-time legal writing faculty who serve as writing consultants to law firms help fill an increasing need for training and support of lawyers. In addition to providing a direct benefit to lawyers and their firms, this practice benefits the legal academy by providing fresh ideas for teaching and scholarship. This article discusses generally the practice of legal writing consulting in law firms by full-time legal writing faculty. The article provides background in theory and practice, addressing why law firms seek outside consultants for this type of training and support and why full time legal writing faculty are appropriate writing consultants. For this, the Article draws on, among other sources, the recently published Carnegie Study and Best Practices in Legal Education. The Article then describes the nuts and bolts of a consulting practice, including various ways services might be configured, and asks whether realis! tic goals can be set and met. Finally, the article addresses ethical and other challenging issues that may arise in this type of consulting practice."  [RJ]

Opening: Associate Director for Public Services, Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law

Southern Methodist University’s Underwood Law Library is seeking candidates for its Associate Director for Public Services position.

Responsibilities:  The Associate Director for Public Services will coordinate the Underwood Law Library’s public services operations, including reference and circulation services; provide research assistance to the law library’s patrons, including staffing the reference office 8-10 hours per week; serve as library liaison to approximately 8 members of the law school’s faculty; deliver lectures on legal research, possibly teach law school courses for credit; develop research guides and other instructional materials; and serve on university and professional organization committees.

Required qualifications:  Candidates must possess a graduate library degree and a J.D. (law) degree; a minimum of three years of professional experience as a law librarian, including at least one year in a leadership role; a strong commitment to supporting faculty and student research; strong legal research skills; substantial knowledge of an academic law library’s reference and circulation operations; a strong service orientation; an ability to develop and manage innovative services to library patrons; an understanding of technological trends affecting libraries and research; and publication-quality writing skills and excellent oral communication skills.

Environment:  The Underwood Law Library houses more than 620,000 volumes and is the largest private law library in the Southwest. Its collections rank in the top 18% of U.S. academic law libraries in volumes held and the top 16% in titles held. U.S. News & World Report ranks the SMU Dedman School of Law in the top 25%. SMU is located in the heart of Dallas, Texas, which offers a dynamic economy and reasonable cost of living. Texas has no state income tax.

Compensation:  Compensation will be competitive, based upon qualifications and experience, and will include a comprehensive benefits package.

Application:  Apply online at http://www.smu.edu/hr/recruit/. Submit a resume, cover letter, and names and contact information of at least two references. The application deadline is May 23, 2008. This position is available on or after June 1, 2008.

Harvard Law School Votes for Open Access

The Harvard Law School faculty  has unanimously voted to make each faculty member’s scholarly articles available online for free, making HLS the first law school to commit to open access. From the press release:

Under the new policy, HLS will make articles authored by faculty members available in an online repository, whose contents would be searchable and available to other services such as Google Scholar. Authors can also legally distribute the articles on their own websites, and educators here and elsewhere can freely provide the articles to students, so long as the materials are not used for profit.

See also the Law School Innovation Blog post.

Hat tip Michelle Pearse, Bibliographer for Anglo-American Law, Harvard Law School Library, who is joining LLB as a contributing editor. [JH]

UN Convention on Disabilities Ratified

From the UN Pulse: "The Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities entered into force on 3 May 2008. The Convention was adopted by the General Assembly on 13 December 2006 (A/RES/61/106), and was opened for signature and ratification on 30 March 2007. The Convention had to be ratified by 20 states before it came into force – a process that can sometimes take several years. In this case, it took only a little over one year."  [RJ]

Professional Reading: Bridging the Disabilities Accomodations Gap Between Classroom and Practice

Alexis Anderson and Norah Wylie (both Boston College Law School) have posted Beyond the ADA: How Clinics Can Assist Law Students with "Non-Visible" Disabilities to Bridge the Accommodations Gap Between Classroom and Practice (forthcoming in Clinical Law Review (Fall 2008)) in NELLCO. Here's the abstract:

This article examines how best to educate law students with disabilities so that they can successfully transition from classroom to practice. At the very time that the importance of experiential learning is being trumpeted as critical to the preparation of all law students for practice, all too little attention has been given to the role of clinical education in helping students with non-visible disabilities succeed in their chosen careers. Increasingly, law students are seeking accommodations for a range of mental health, cognitive, and learning disabilities. Law schools have become more adept at providing accommodations in academic classes to qualified students with documented disabilities. Note-takers, special testing and attendance rules, and access to academic support programs are common features of most law schools' disability law protocols. But, how best can we help prepare these students for the demands of practice?

Until now, law faculty have lacked guidance on this important topic. This article seeks to fill that gap by studying how law school clinics and accommodations officers can assist students as they begin practice. First we explore the limits of protections afforded by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), after acknowledging that its employment provisions apply to clinics. We then review two case studies built on our clinical experience in an effort to develop best practices for law faculty and administration in helping these students overcome the accommodations gap between classroom and practice.

[JH]

LII Launches RSS Feeds for US Code Updates

Check it out. [JH]

New and Forthcoming Law Titles from Elsevier

Details below the fold. [JH]

• The IT-Digital Legal Companion: A Comprehensive Business Guide to Software, IT, Internet, Media and IP Law, by Gene Landy with assistance from Amy Mastrobattista (forthcoming June 2008)
• A Litigator's Guide to DNA: From the Laboratory to the Courtroom, by Ron Michaelis, Robert Flanders and Paula Wulff
• E-Discovery: Creating and Managing an Enterprise-wide IT Program: A Technical Guide to Digital Investigation and Litigation Support, by Karen Schuler (forthcoming October 2008)
• Background Screening and Investigations: Managing Hiring Risk from the HR and Security Perspectives, by Kim M. Kerr and W. Barry Nixon
• Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis, (3d ed.), by Brent Turvey

Continue reading "New and Forthcoming Law Titles from Elsevier"

Bankruptcy Filings Rebound in Calendar Year 2007

New data from the U.S. Courts:

Bankruptcy filings in the federal courts rose 38 percent in calendar year 2007, according to data released today by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. The number of bankruptcies filed in the twelve-month period ending December 31, 2007, totaled 850,912, up from 617,660 bankruptcies filed in calendar year 2006. Filings rebounded from a 70 percent drop in calendar year 2006, which was the first full 12-month period after the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) took effect.

An historic high in the number of bankruptcies filings was seen in calendar year 2005, when over 2 million bankruptcies were filed, mainly because, in October of 2005, many of the provisions of BAPCPA were enacted. Filings fell through 2006, but started their gradual climb back up in 2007." 

Related Items

• Per Capita Filings 2007 (pdf) (excel)
• Table F-2 (filing by month) (pdf) (excel)
• Table F (12-month period) (pdf) (excel)
• Table F-2 (12-month period) (pdf) (excel)
• Table F-2 (3-month period) (pdf) (excel)

[RJ]

Opening: Legal Information Analyst, Law Library of Congress

Librarian (Law) (Vacancy #: 080060)
GS-1410-11 — Law Library — $58,206.00 - $75,669.00
Opening Date: Apr 28, 2008; Closing Date: May 29, 2008

The Law Library of Congress is recruiting for a Legal Information Analyst who has appropriate education and/or experience providing legal and legislative reference services to diverse and demanding clients in a law library or similar legal information organization AND preparing written legal analysis of court decisions, proposed legislation, regulatory schemes and/or government programs. The successful incumbent will demonstrate through progressively responsible work experience or a combination of education and work experience a proficiency in (1) providing concise and thorough oral and written guidance and/or substantive responses to requests for legal and legislative information; (2) applying creative legal and legislative research methodologies to respond to complex inquiries demonstrating a broad knowledge of the latest print materials and electronic databases including web-based resources; (3) applying a strong public service demeanor when providing legal and legislative information services to diverse and demanding clientele; (4) preparing reports, memos, correspondence and other documents analyzing legal issues and requiring interpretation and/or summaries of bills, committee reports, statutes, regulations, court decisions, background studies and policy reports; and (5) completing on time multiple time-sensitive assignments and projects requiring exceptionally developed time management skills.

Qualified candidates with both Juris Doctor and Masters in Library/Information Science degrees from accredited universities and law library reference and legal research/analysis training and/or experience are strongly encouraged to apply.

To view the entire announcement and for additional information, visit USAJOBS at:  http://www.usajobs.gov/ and conduct a search using the vacancy number, 080060.  Or, visit the Library of Congress's employment page, at:
http://www.loc.gov/hr/employment/index.php , click on "View Current Jobs,"
and scroll to "Librarian (Law) (Vacancy #: 080060)."

Questions should be addressed to the Library of Congress Employment Office
at:
Phone:          202-707-5627       
Fax: 202-707-1454
Email: JOBHELP@LOC.GOV

Librarian (Law) (Vacancy #: 080060)
GS-1410-11 — Law Library — $58,206.00 - $75,669.00 Opening Date: Apr 28, 2008 Closing Date: May 29, 2008

Roy M. Mersky, Dead at 82

Professor Roy M. Mersky died yesterday from complications of a recent fall. A member of the University of Texas-Austin School of Law faculty and the director of its law library since 1965, Mersky held the Harry M. Reasoner Regents Chair in Law. He was also a professor in the University's graduate School of Information.

Professor Mersky received his B.S. in 1948, J.D. in 1952, and Master's degree in Library Science in 1953 from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He was a member of the Bars of New York, Texas and Wisconsin. He served in the US Army during World War II and was awarded a Bronze Star.

Mersky's first law library position was at the University of Wisconsin Law Library, working as U.S. Government Documents Cataloger from May 1951 to June 1952. He served as Director of the Washington State Law Library, 1959–1963, and Professor of Law and Law Librarian at University of Colorado, 1963–1965, before his Texas appointment.

Mersky's many accreditation visits and law library consultancies are the stuff of legends as was his mentoring of Texas's professional library staff, many of whom became law library directors around the country. He was named a “Mover and Shaker 2003,” by the Library Journal, as one among the more than 50 of the most innovative librarians working today in libraries across the U.S. and Canada. Other honors include being inducted as a Life Member of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation in 2002, receiving AALL's 2005 Marian Gould Gallagher Distinguished Service Award in 2005, AALL's Presidential Certificate of Merit in 2006, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Library and Information Studies Alumni Association’s Centennial Celebration Alumnus of the Year Award in 2006.

2008 marks the 50th anniversary of his first professional publication: Bibliographic Organization in Law Libraries: A Panel, 51 Law Library Journal 338 (1958). Of course, everyone knows his Fundamentals of Legal Research, first published in 1975 (with J. Myron Jacobstein), Spirit of Librarianship (with Richard Leiter), and his many works on Supreme Court history. He was working on Unknown Justices with William Bader at the time of his death.

During his 40-plus years, Professor Mersky developed the University of Texas law library into one of the preeminent research facilities in the nation, a legacy few achieve.

Like many others, I thought Roy would outlast all of us. Our deepest sympathy and thoughts are with the family, friends and colleagues of Roy M. Mersky today. [JH]   

See also Brian Leiter's (Texas) post.

Updates: In Memoriam: Roy M. Mersky (University of Texas-Austin School of Law). A funeral service for Professor Mersky’s family and close friends will be held at 2:30 pm on Sunday, May 11, at the Weed-Corley Fish Funeral Home, followed by a reception at the Law School.

In lieu of flowers, gifts in Roy’s memory may be sent to:

The Roy M. Mersky Memorial Fund
University of Texas Law School Foundation
727 East Dean Keeton St.
Austin, TX 78705

Online Comments Page hosted by the School of Law: Roy Mersky Remembered: Friends and Colleagues Reflect

Memorial Service. The Law School would host a memorial service early in September, after classes have resumed.

See also: AALL Statement, and Austin Statesman article with the newspaper's guest book.

McCain Pledges More Conservative Judges Like Roberts and Alito

In a speech at Wake Forest University in North Carolina yesterday, Sen. John McCain pledged to nominate strict-constructionist judges to the federal bench. According to the McCain campaign website, "Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito will serve as the model for John McCain’s judicial nominees." Read McCain's speech and view the video here. Press Coverage: New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times.

Remember McCain's Gang of 14 participation? [JH]

Human Rights Watch Special Focus: Beijing 2008

Check out Human Rights Watch's Beijing 2008 website, including, for example, the Agenda for Reform page:  Human Rights Abuses Shadow Countdown to 2008 Beijing Games. According to Human Rights Watch, major areas for human rights reform in the Olympic run-up are:

Forced evictions and school closures. The construction of facilities for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing has involved forced evictions of thousands of citizens in and around Beijing, often without adequate compensation or access to new housing. The pre-Olympic “clean-up” of Beijing has resulted in the closure of dozens of officially unregistered schools for the children of migrant workers.

Labor rights abuses. Thousands of migrant workers employed on Olympic and other construction sites across Beijing do not receive legally mandated pay and benefits including labor insurance and days off, and are often compelled to do dangerous work without adequate safeguards.

Repression of ethnic minorities. China continues to use the “war on terrorism” to justify policies to eradicate the “three evil forces” – terrorism, separatism, and religious extremism – allegedly prevalent among Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim population in China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. Uighurs who express “separatist” tendencies are routinely sentenced to quick, secret and summary trials, sometimes accompanied by mass sentencing rallies. The death penalty is common. In Tibet, Chinese authorities still view the Dalai Lama, in exile in India since 1959, as central to the effort to separate Tibet from China and view Tibetan Buddhist belief as supportive of these efforts. Suspected “separatists,” many of whom come from monasteries and nunneries, are routinely imprisoned.

Controls on religious freedom. China does not recognize freedom of religion outside the state-controlled system in which all congregations, mosques, temples, churches and monasteries must register. The government also curtails religious freedom by designating and repressing some groups as “cults,” such as the Falungong.

The death penalty and executions. The government does not publicize figures for the death penalty, but it is mandated for no fewer than 68 crimes. Though the exact number is a state secret, it is estimated that as many as 10,000 executions are carried out each year.

HIV/AIDS rights advocacy obstruction. Measures to address China’s HIV/AIDS crisis are hampered as local officials and security forces continue to obstruct efforts by activists and grassroots organizations to contribute to prevention and education efforts and to organize care-giving.

Use of house arrest system. Numerous human rights defenders and government critics have been harassed, detained and subject to house arrest. If today’s pattern holds, a pre-Olympic clampdown in the weeks and months before the Games is likely.

Ties with rights violators. China’s close relations with countries linked to severe, ongoing human rights violations are also a serious source of concern. China maintains relations with and provides aid to regimes including Sudan, the site of egregious human rights violations in Darfur, and Burma, whose military junta violently suppresses civilians. China has also not ratified the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights, which it signed in 1998.

[JH]

Reminder: Take The Bluebook Survey

The editors of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation are about to embark on making revisions for the forthcoming Nineteenth Edition. Please take a few minutes to fill out their survey. Surveys must be received by June 30, 2008 in order to be considered for the Nineteenth Edition. Comments and suggestions are also welcome through email.

As an added incentive for the completion of the survey, The Bluebook editors will select 10 responses at random, and provide the winners or their organizations with a free copy of the Nineteenth Edition as well as a one-year subscription to The Bluebook Online. Winners will be notified by September 1, 2008. [JH]

Banning Laptops in the Classroom: Is it Worth the Hassles?

Law school laptop wars have been going on for a couple of years now but when Chicago Law School Dean Saul Levmore decided to cut off wireless and wired access to the Internet in April [U of C press release], the issue made a big splash in the media, ranging from the Above the Law tabloid to the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.

Ah, a tad draconian, don't you think? A bit extreme to be making access to the Internet in the classroom impossible.

As for laptop use, shouldn't this be a matter decided by law profs and their students on a class by class basis, even perhaps on a day by day basis? If so, law profs might want to read Kevin Yamamoto's (South Texas College of Law) article, Banning Laptops in the Classroom: Is it Worth the Hassles? [SSRN]. Yamamoto argues that laptops should be banned unless their use aids the learning process. Here's the abstract:

Over the last several years law school classrooms have seen an explosion of student laptop use. Law professors have allowed this by default, generally under the pretense that laptops make note-taking easier. However, many professors complain that students use their laptops to play games, watch movies, or if they have an Internet connection, to do web surfing and e-mailing during class. This paper presents my experience in banning laptops from my classroom in the Fall of 2006, the first time it was done at my institution. The article covers the reasons for and against allowing laptops in the classroom, my reasoning and procedure for banning them, perceived differences in the classroom experience and relevant student comments from my course evaluations, which were overwhelmingly positive to the laptop ban. Also covered are the cognitive psychological reasons in support of banning laptops. Studies show that lower grades were correlated with increased student web browsing during class (Grace-Martin & Gay, 2001; Hembrooke & Gay, 2003), and the amount of time which students used their laptops for tasks other than taking lecture notes (Fried, 2007). MRI studies of the brain indicate that the brain stores information differently when distracted, which occurs when students attempt to multi-task in class (Foerde, Knowlton, & Poldrack, 2006). The science of note-taking is also covered, which indicates verbatim typing may interfere with learning (e.g., Kiewra, 1991). The paper concludes by urging law school professors to review why laptops are allowed in their classrooms and, unless they feel that laptops increase student learning, to ban or heavily restrict their classroom use.

My Opinion. Allow laptop use in the classroom except for special occasions! Students come to law school prepared to use their laptops to take notes, integrate digital text provided by course ePackets into their outline programs, etc. Last time I looked, this was the 21st century. I'm not sure the digital natives know how to use pen and paper technology.

If law profs can't keep their students' attention during lectures, maybe they need to kick it up a notch. Maybe the students are bored because they actually prepared for class and are not hearing anything not already covered in their reading assignments. OK, that preparation thing might be a stretch.

If students are driven to distraction because fellow students are surfing the web, emailing, playing poker online, etc., move to a different seat! Students need to learn how to concentrate because those classroom distractions are nothing compared to what they will experience once they leave law school.  That's no stretch. [JH]

ILTA White Paper on Unified Communications

The International Legal Technology Association has published a white paper on Unified Communications (April 2008)(pdf). Unified communications (UC) is defined as "the convergence of multiple communications technologies over an IP network.  It is based on open platforms that allow new methods for individuals, groups and organizations to communicate and collaborate.  [UC] condenses these technologies into a seamless experience with one login, one address book and one inbox." [JH]

CRS Report: Averting Financial Crisis

New CRS report via Open CRS:

"There is no precise definition of “financial crisis,” but a common view is that disruptions in financial markets rise to the level of a crisis when the flow of credit to households and businesses is constrained and the real economy of goods and services is adversely affected. Since mid-2007, central bankers — including the Federal Reserve — have labored to keep the downturn in U.S. subprime housing from developing into such a crisis.

While subprime problems were widely anticipated, the subsequent spread of turmoil into many seemingly unrelated parts of the global financial system was not. Many losses occurring in diverse firms and markets — often quite severe — have features in common: the use of complex, hard-to-value financial instruments; large speculative positions underwritten by borrowed funds, or leverage; and the use of off-the-books entities to remove risky trading activities from the balance sheets of major financial institutions."   

See also:  Government Interventions in Financial Markets: Economic and Historic Analysis of Subprime Mortgage Options (CRS Report) and LLB's earlier post, Soros on the Credit Crisis of 2008 and What It Means. [RJ]

Opening: Electronic Resources Librarian, Notre Dame Law Library

The Kresge Library of the Notre Dame Law School is seeking a talented librarian to help us establish a new position and then to be its founding occupant.  We are looking for someone who understands electronic resources and is adept at making them useful to library patrons.  We are looking for an independent thinker with a cooperative outlook, a flexible and creative person who will help the library establish goals, methods, and structures that will make our electronic resources available to our users in the most sensible fashion while helping to ensure that the library's investment in electronic resources is responsibly maintained.

The Kresge Library is an integral part of the Notre Dame Law School and offers exceptional opportunities for developing professional skills and contributing to the educational mission of the Law School.  The successful candidate will be a member of an experienced faculty of 10 librarians and part of the regular faculty of the Law School.

Qualifications:

The successful candidate for the Electronic Resources Library position will be an  intelligent, self-motivated, and detail-oriented individual with an M.L.S. or M.I.S. from an ALA-accredited school.  A demonstrated ability to work with online resources in a complex environment is a necessary attribute.  We also seek someone with the ability to supervise others with attention and compassion, and with the ability to communicate effectively with faculty, students and staff, individually and in group settings.  An understanding of the University's mission and a respectful appreciation of the Catholic character of the University is also necessary (see http://nd.edu/aboutnd/mission-statement/ )

Duties:

The Electronic Resources Librarian position is a work in progress, and one of the chief duties of the successful candidate will be to assist in the proper shaping of the position.  There are several areas of responsibility which are anticipated to be overseen by the position: the coordination of all activities associated with the management of electronic resources, including oversight of an Electronic Resource Management system, updating and maintaining links, coordination of content on an electronic resources web page, and work with the cataloging phase of electronic resources.  The Electronic Resources Librarian will supervise two staff members, one a newly defined position of Electronic Resources Assistant, and the other the Technology Support Assistant/Systems Coordinator, who in turn oversees our Innovative Interfaces Millennium ILS.  We anticipate that the ERL will coordinate technology issues with the law school's Technology Services (IT) Department, manage technical problems with electronic resources vendors, coordinate vendor relation issues, licensing, etc., with the Collection Development Librarian, and participate in the instruction of electronic resources users.  The Electronic Resources Librarian will share in the management of the Technical Services Department working in close collaboration with the Head of the Department, the Collection Development Librarian, and the Bibliographic Control/Database Maintenance Librarian.

Environment:

The Kresge Library supports a national law school serving approximately 580 students and 35 full-time faculty.  The experienced staff of 27 includes ten professionals.  As members of the Law School faculty, librarians are welcome participants on Law School and University committees.  Construction of a new Notre Dame Law School building began in the summer of 2007; a major renovation of the Kresge Library will follow in 2009.  For additional information about the Kresge Library, see http://www.nd.edu/~lawlib/.

Compensation:

The salary will be competitive and commensurate with qualifications and experience.  The University offers a generous benefits package, including medical and dental insurance, liberal vacations, retirement options, tuition benefits for dependents, and access to University events.  The Law Library underwrites individual membership in the American Association of Law Libraries and provides generous support for appropriate conferences and workshops.

Available: While the position will remain open until a successful candidate has been identified, applications received by June 15, 2008 will be assured consideration. 

To Apply: Email applications are encouraged.  Please send cover letter, resume and three references to Ed Edmonds, Director of the Library (eedmonds@nd.edu).

Notre Dame is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. 

2008 Webby Awards

And the winners are:

• Law:  OUT-LAW.COM
• Blog-Political: Huffington Post
• Blog-Cultural: PostSecret
• Magazine: National Geographic
• Newspaper: NYTimes.com
• Politics: FactCheck.org
• Community: Flickr
• Social Networking: Flock The Social Web Browser (Academy), Facebook (Popular Vote)
• Webby Person of the Year Award:  Stephen Colbert

Click here for the complete list.  [RJ]

AALL Spectrum Seeks Annual Meeting Reviewers

Publication opportunity posting from Mark Estes, AALL Spectrum Editorial Director:

AALL Spectrum seeks people to write reviews of selected educational sessions at the Annual Meeting in Portland for publication in the September/October issue of Spectrum. The copy deadline for the September/October issue is July 24 - a week after the meeting ends.  I am looking for authors to write reviews of the following sessions:

• Diversity symposium
• Plenary
• A2: The Evolving Role of Law Librarians with Self-represented Litigants*
• B3: Evolving Fair Use Policies in the Private Law Firm*
• C1: Conflict Resolution -- In Search of the Holy Grail: "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!"*
• D2: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly: Rethinking Bibliographic Services in the 21st Century
• E2: A Century in the Making: Researching Legal Ethics Today
• F1: Flashlights, FOIA and Advocacy: Tools for the Explorer in Search of Disappearing and Restricted Federal Documents
• G4: The Fourth E: The Environment and Law Libraries*
• H4: How to Produce a Legal Bibliography Play: An Actors' Workshop for Law Librarians
• I5: Battling Employee Burnout? Explore Tools and Techniques to Assess and Address Employee Burnout
• J4: The AALL Salary Survey: What It Can--and Cannot--Do For You
• K1: CRIV Tools: Useful Resources for Working with Information Vendors
  *Program will be video recorded.

In writing the review you can, and should, express your own opinion about the topic and about the quality of the presentation itself - including whether or not you recommend buying the recording of the program.

May 16, 2008 Deadline. If you are interested in writing about the Annual Meeting for Spectrum, please reply directly to me at mark.estes@hro.com  as soon as possible, but by May 16 at the latest. Please indicate which session(s) you are interested in reviewing. Also please tell me what type of law library you work in and what type of work you do. We will select authors and assign sessions to be reviewed by the end of May.

Survey of Library eBook Use

Primary Research Group has published Library Use of E-books, 2008-09 Edition, (ISBN 1-57440-101-7; $75.00). Data in the report are based on a survey of 75 academic, public and special libraries. Librarians detail their plans on how they plan to develop their e-book collections, what they think of e-book readers and software, and which e-book aggregators and publishers appeal to them most and why. Other issues covered include: library production of e-books and collection digitization, e-book collection information literacy efforts, use of e-books in course reserves and inter-library loan, e-book pricing and inflation issues, acquisition sources and strategies for e-books and other issues of concern to libraries and book publishers.

Some of the findings of the 110 page report are:

Continue reading "Survey of Library eBook Use"

PriceWaterHouseCoopers Releases It's 2007 Securities Litigation Study

From the report (pdf): 

After a two-year decline and a sluggish start to the year, total federal class actions filed in 2007 against foreign and domestic companies increased once more, reversing the previous downturn. Not surprisingly, much of the filing activity was due to subprime-related matters, which represented 30 of the 103 filings made in the second half of 2007 and 23% of the overall 2007 filings. Despite the increase, however, the total number of filings remains below the average of 180 that has been the norm since the enactment of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Hat tip to beSpacific. [JH]

CRS Report on Presidential Claims of Executive Privilege

The CRS Report Presidential Claims of Executive Privilege: History, Law, Practice and Recent Developments (pdf) has been updated (dated April 16, 2008). It includes an appendix listing presidential claims of executive priviledge from the Kennedy Administration through the George W. Bush Administration. [JH]

Nominations for LWI/ALWD Blackwell Legal Writing Award Due by May 23

Previous Blackwell Award Winners

2002 Richard K. Neumann (Hofstra) 2003 Pam Lysaght (Detroit Mercy) 2004 Ralph Brill (Chicago-Kent) 2005 Mary Beth Beazley (Ohio State) 2006 Lou Sirico (Villanova) 2007 Diana V. Pratt (Wayne State)

The Thomas F. Blackwell Memorial Award Committee is seeking nominations for the 2008 Thomas F. Blackwell Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Legal Writing that will be bestowed at the 2009 AALS conference. Nominations should be sent to Ruth Vance, the Chair of the Committee, by close of business (5:00 p.m. Central Daylight Savings Time) on Friday, May 23, 2008. Submit nominations to Ruth Vance at ruth.vance@valpo.edu

Honoring the life of Professor Thomas F. Blackwell, the Boards of the Legal Writing Institute (LWI) and the Association of Legal Writing Directors (ALWD) give this award to recognize a person who has made an outstanding contribution to improve the field of Legal Writing by demonstrating:

• An ability to nurture and motivate students to excellence;
• A willingness to help other Legal Writing educators improve their teaching skills or their Legal Writing Programs;
• An ability to create and integrate new ideas for teaching and motivating Legal Writing educators and students.

The Committee requests that the nomination materials support as fully as possible the above criteria as well as any other information the nominating person believes would help the Committee in its selection process.

The Thomas F. Blackwell Memorial Award Committee: Ruth C. Vance, Chair; Lisa Blackwell; Coleen M. Barger; Mary Beth Beazley; Lou Sirico; Susan H. Duncan; and Terrill Pollman.

Opening: Catalog & Bibliographic Control Librarian, Florida International University Law Library

The College of Law seeks a well-qualified law librarian to work under the direction of its Director of the Law Library to build a research-caliber law school library. This position seeks an experienced librarian to grow a young law collection of print and electronic resources, and the systems, procedures, and staff needed to support it.  Florida International University is a diverse, public research university serving 35,000 students. Its College of Law was unanimously established by the Florida Legislature in the Spring of 2000. The College of Law enrolled its inaugural class in the Fall of 2002 and offers full and part-time programs leading to the J.D. Degree. The College of Law is fully accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA).

Catalog & Bibliographic Control Librarian:
The Catalog & Bibliographic Control Librarian will be responsible for all aspects of the law library's technical services, except for acquisitions and serials, needed to support and provide access to the library's print and electronic information resources. This librarian will be working most closely with the Serials and Acquisitions Librarian in supervising the technical services department.  Responsibilities include original and copy cataloging, classification of information in all formats, authority work, cataloging and processing of new materials, review of departmental policies and procedures, use of the FlU University Libraries' integrated library system (ALEPH), and working with University Libraries and Information Technology personnel to coordinate law library operations and procedures with the University's operations. The Catalog and Bibliographic Control Librarian will supervise paraprofessional and student staff assistants working on technical services tasks. In addition, the Catalog and Bibliographic Control Librarian takes the lead role in the upkeep and maintenance of the Library’s archives. The state university libraries recently completed their migration to Ex-Libris’ ALEPH system including a recent upgrade to version 18. The Catalog and Bibliographic Control Librarian will play a major role in continued ALEPH upgrades, possible future migrations and in coordinating implementation or maintenance of future products.  The Catalog and Bibliographic Control Librarian has a central role in ensuring patron access to electronic information, including providing catalog and website links to web based information sources and remote access issues. This librarian will compile and maintain statistics, including the important statistical reports required for accreditation and state reporting purposes. The Catalog and Bibliographic Control Librarian may be asked to provide some reference duties when the library is open to patrons.

Required:
M.L.S., M.L.I.S., or equivalent from ALA-accredited school Knowledge of MARC format and records; AACR2 rules, LCSH/LC classification and cataloging, preferably with law resources At least five years of professional or technical services experience, preferably in a Law library High quality communication, interpersonal and organizational skills -Self-starter who is able to meet time deadlines.  Able to work well in team environment

Preferred:
Experience with the ALEPH system; NACO training; J.D.;  Supervisory experience; Foreign language skills, especially Spanish Knowledge/experience of web page design and text mark up languages.

Salary and benefits will be competitive and commensurate with experience.

FIU is a Member of the State University System of Florida  FIU is an Affirmative Action/Equal ccess/Equal Opportunity Employer

To apply, submit a cover letter, resume, and three references (by mail or e-mail) before June 15, 2008 to:
Professor Matthew P. Downs, Director of the Law Library Florida International University College of Law Library University Park – RDB 2073 Miami, FL 33199
Tel: 305-348-8018
Fax: 305-348-7017
E-mail: matthew.downs@fiu.edu

Books better than Movies, I Don't Think So

EW has produced yet another list for the modern generation of listers of 23 movie adaptations that fall short of their book origins. I dare say that most movies fall short of their book counterparts but as a librarian I am sure I am partial to the print. Notables making EW's list are: The Da Vinci Code, The Scarlet Letter and Planet of the Apes.

One movie I would go the opposite direction on this would be The Natural by Bernard Malamud. I love the movie and just didn't care for the book. If you feel like helping add to this list or name a couple of movie over book examples we welcome the comments.

Federal Media Shield Law Debate Heats Up

S. 2035, The Free Flow of Information Act of 2007 has languished since it was favorably reported to the Senate by the Senate Judiciary Committee on October 4, 2007 [Thomas Resources]. The House passed a related bill, H.R. 2102, with bipartisan support (398 - 21) on October 18, 2007 [Thomas Resources]. The Federal Media Shield legislation will:

• Establish a federal qualified reporters’ privilege to protect and encourage the free flow of information between journalists and confidential sources;
• Reconcile a reporter’s need to maintain confidentiality -- in order to ensure that sources will speak openly and freely -- with the public’s right to effective law enforcement and fair trials;
• Balances the public interest in combating crime and protecting national security and the public interest in ensuring a free and vibrant press by providing that a federal court can only force a journalist to reveal confidential source information when the information is truly crucial to a case or investigation;
• Requires the party seeking a reporter's confidential information