Law Librarian Blog

Opening: Director of the Law Library and Information Technology, Univ of DC

The University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law is seeking candidates for the position of Director of the Law Library and Information Technology for the Charles N. and Hilda H.M. Mason Law Library. The Director reports to the Dean of the School of Law and is responsible for the operation of the Law Library and Information Technology Department including long-range planning, budget, procurement, and personnel management.  The Director oversees educational, informational, bibliographic, technology, and collection development.  The Director must have a demonstrated track record of good judgment, vision and leadership. 

Applicants must hold both J.D. and M.L.S. degrees from accredited institutions, be a member of the bar and have at least five years experience in Law Library administration. The successful candidate will demonstrate outstanding knowledge of the research, teaching, educational, and technological needs of the Law School faculty and its student body, and possess a strong service orientation and excellent organizational and interpersonal skills.  This position is a faculty appointment. The salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.

The Law Library has been renovated and enlarged recently, and is a welcoming place in which to study and research. Power and Internet Access via WIFI are available at every seat.  The Information Technology Department provides the technological and educational support for the School of Law.  Together the staffs of the Law Library and Information Technology Department total 12 FTE. The Law Library collection includes over 250,000 volumes and volume equivalents and is housed in a modern, state-of-the-art Law Library that occupies approximately 25,000 square feet. The Law Library also subscribes to a number of electronic services and databases.  The Library staff is service-oriented and vigorously participates in the educational life of the Law School. The law library works cooperatively with the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area University Libraries and other Law Libraries to provide information services in support of the curriculum of the Law School and faculty and student research needs.

The Law Library uses the Innovative Interfaces integrated library management system. The School of Law currently operates a full-time program with a total enrollment of 253 J.D. students.  Planning has begun to add part-time program and dual-degree programs.  The Director will be intimately involved in this planning. The Law School, which has 20 full-time faculty members, is located on the University of the District of Columbia=s main campus in beautiful upper N.W., Washington, D.C.  It is located on the Metro=s Red Line (Washington, DC's subway system) at the Van Ness/UDC Metro Stop, a short ride to the District=s many judicial, legislative, cultural and commercial centers. 

Please send a cover letter, resume, list of references, and a UDC Application (available at http://www.udc.edu/docs/employment/employmentapp.pdf) to:

Dean Shelley Broderick
The University of the District of Columbia
David A. Clarke School of Law
4200 Connecticut Avenue, N.W
Washington, D.C.  20008

Microsoft to Digitize British Library

TechWorld is reporting today that Microsoft has signed a deal with the British Library to scan 25 million pages from the library's collection. Around 100,000 books from the British Library's 13 million book collection will be digitized and will be made available on MSN Book Search site next year.

SCOTUS Grants Cert in Hamdan

The U.S. Supreme Court today granted cert in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, No. 05-184.

Questions presented:

Are the military commissions established by the president to try non-citizen detainees suspected of terrorism authorized by Congress's Authorization for the Use of Military Force, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, or the inherent powers of the president?

Can non-citizen detainees obtain judicial enforcement from Article III courts of rights protected under the 1949 Geneva Convention in a habeas corpus action challenging the legality of their detention by the executive branch?

Washington Post Editorial on Alito's Record on Abortion

In the first of several editorials that will focus of SCOTUS nominee Samuel Alito, the Washington Post examines Judge Alito's record on abortion. The editorial concludes:

How Judge Alito will eventually rule on abortion may be determined as much by his view of precedent as by his views on the underlying question. Concerning the latter, his record, while suggestive of attitudes with which we disagree, is not disqualifying and reveals significantly less than both sides publicly insist. We will consider his record on other issues in subsequent editorials.

Yale Law School to Host First Conference on Search Engine Law

The Yale Law School Information Society Project will host "Regulating Search?," the first academic conference devoted to the developing law of search engines, on December 3, 2005. This event will bring together representatives from the search industry, government, civil society, and academia to discuss the emerging intersection of search engines and various forms of regulation. "Regulating Search?" will include speakers from Google and the Authors Guild.

The way in which law treats search functionality is still up for grabs, and with it, the potential to wield enormous power in the developing knowledge economy. This symposium will focus on trends in the search engine market and in recent litigation, identify the interests that are implicated by the increasing legal control of search, and discuss appropriate policy responses.

Registration for the conference and further information are available on the ISP website at http://islandia.law.yale.edu/isp/regulatingsearch.html. Registration is free for Yale students and faculty, $35 for other students, $75 for academic and nonprofit participants, and $165 for corporate and law firm participants.

Undoing Kelo, HR 4128 Sent to the Senate

By a bipartisan vote of 376 to 38, the House passed H.R. 4128, the Private Property Rights Protection Act, last week. The Bill, perhaps the most far-reaching congressional response to Kelo, was sent to the Senate for consideration.

Highlights of H.R. 4128

• Enhances the penalty for states and localities that abuse their eminent domain power by denying them all federal economic development funds for a period of two years;

• Creates a clear connection between the federal funds that would be denied and the abuse Congress is seeking to prevent;

• Gives states and localities the clear opportunity to cure any violation before they lose federal economic development funds;

• Affords an express private right of action to make certain those suffering injuries from a violation of the bill will be allowed access to state or federal court to enforce its provisions.

Legislative Materials

HR 4128

H. Rept. 109-262
H. Rept. 109-262 Part II

Congressional Record citations

CBO Cost Estimate

New Product Line: Stand-alone Digital Law Study Guides

Law school students now have the option to use digital study guides. VitalSource Technologies Inc. and Thomson West, are offering the Concise Hornbook(R) Series study guides in VitalBook(TM) digital format at select college bookstores and online at the VitalSource Store.

"Many law students continue to value the portability and permanence of traditional print study guides," said Tim Blevins, vice president and general manager of West's Legal Education Group. "But new generations of law students are increasingly expecting greater compatibility of the study materials they depend on with the technologies they have grown up using. Our partnership with VitalSource extends the utility of West's premier law school study materials and gives law students more freedom to choose the materials that best support their work."

The digital Concise Hornbook Series enables law students to use study guides in ways they never have before. Students can do keyword and phrase searches, take notes and highlight electronically. Unlike other digital book options, books in the VitalBook format are not tied to a Web site, and students can access them whenever they turn on their computers. Students purchase the study guides and can use them as reference materials for years to come.

Students can purchase the study guides from the VitalSource Store online. The VitalSource store is accessible through the VitalSource Bookshelf(TM) application, available as a free download at www.vitalsource.com/betterbooks.

Source: VitalSource Press Release

The Battle of Alito Briefing Books

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the roughly 600 page  "Judge Samuel A. Alito Briefing Binder" which casts Allito as mainstream. See the Sunday Washington Post story for details. Meanwhile Moving Ideas has published Progressives' Guide to the Samuel Alito Nomination.

Opening: Reference Librarian, Stanford Law School

The Stanford Law Library is seeking a friendly, motivated, interested and hard-working (not only hard-working but someone who enjoys working hard) reference librarian.

Stanford Law School has approximately 550 JD students, 20 LL.M and JSM students, several JSD students, and a fabulous faculty of over forty permanent members plus many visitors and adjuncts.  The Robert Crown Law Library is one of the most complete legal research centers in the nation, containing computer-based legal information systems, facilities for online data retrieval, wireless Internet access, an online CourseWork database, and a very popular digital reserves collection.  As a member of the Research Libraries Group, the Robert Crown Library provides access to the holdings of other leading universities as well. The library holds almost  500,000 books, 408,000 microform and audiovisual items, and more than 8,000 current serial subscriptions. The Robert Crown Law Library has an annual budget of approximately $ 3.7 million, 8 professional library staff members, and 18 support staff members.

The reference librarians provide premier level reference desk service, and librarians receive a flood of requests for assistance from an accomplished faculty and student body.  Because our reference team is small and without subject specialists, a reference librarian will have the opportunity to answer a wide range of questions from across the disciplines.   

In addition, the reference team must have the good humor to deal with interrupted interruptions and to smile while solving problems as mundane as jammed printers.  The reference team collaborates on a wide range of academic projects and instructional resources.

The reference librarians are actively engaged in teaching and comprise the core of the legal research instruction to first year students.  The librarian instructions provide in-class lectures, library small group instruction, and create and develop legal research exercises.

Reference librarians at Stanford also may have an opportunity to formally teach advanced legal research and receive Lecturer in Law status and a generous teaching stipend.

Reference librarians are also involved with a wide variety of publication and on-line resource creation -- from traditional bibliographies and pathfinders to Web resources.  Our motto here is that we are a little library that does a lot.

Reference librarians are encouraged and supported to seek opportunities for professional growth and education evolvement, both here in the education-rich Bay Area and nationally.

Candidates must have a knowledge of basic legal research sources and be skilled at using print and electronic materials.  Qualified applicants should have a JD and MLS degree, or equivalent law and/or library degree or a related advanced degree.  The ideal candidate will have a very strong service ethic, and the ability to blend harmoniously with his or her colleagues and the law school and university communities.  A commitment to continuous service improvement and innovation is important -- we are always looking for ways to provide even better service than before.

This is a full time position.  Schedule and hours are somewhat negotiable.  Stanford University offers a competitive and comprehensive benefits package.  All librarians are eligible for continuing term academic staff appointments.

To apply, please send a resume and cover letter to:

Paul Lomio
Library Director
Stanford Law Library
559 Nathan Abbott Way
Stanford, CA  94305-8612

Or apply online at jobs.stanford.edu (Reference Librarian, Stanford Law School (#008433))

Poll Shows Alito Less Popular Confirmation Choice Than Miers or Roberts

The AP-Ipsos Poll's "should confirm" favorable responses was 38 percent for Alito compared to  41 percent for Miers and 47 percent for Roberts when the same question was asked during the confirmation process for the latter two nominees.

When asked if the respondent felt strongly or did not feel strongly about his/her response, the results were:

Feel strongly, Alito, 22 percent; Miers, 19 percent; Roberts, 36 percent

Do not feel strongly, Alito, 16 percent; Miers, 22 percent; Roberts 11 percent.

Results from  "should not confirm" respondents indicates that Alito's negatives are lower that either Miers or Roberts. Twenty-two (22) percent answered that Alito should not be confirmed, compared to 24 percent for Roberts and and 27 percent for Miers.

When asked if the respondent felt strongly or did not feel strongly about his/her response, the results were:

Feel strongly, Alito, 13 percent; Miers, 13 percent; Roberts, 16 percent

Do not feel strongly, Alito, 9 percent; Miers, 14 percent; Roberts, 8 percent

The results are taken from a poll of 1,006 adults taken Oct. 31-Nov. 2 and have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, larger for subgroups. For additional survey results, see How Different Groups Feel About Alito (Washington Post, November 5, 2005); see also,
Results of AP-Ipsos Poll About Alito  (Washington Post, November 5, 2005).

Relaunch of Austrian Law Website

The Portal Rechtsfreund has been relaunched. The website provides informations to all fields of austrian law. In addition, the sub-site www.rechtsfreund.at/law-austria.htm provides information on Austrian Law in English such as:

• The Austrian Legal System and Laws: a Brief Overview - by Johannes Oehlboeck and Immanuel Gerstner
• books on Austrian law in English
• Austrian Federal Laws in English
• Federal Constitutional Laws in English
• Austrian Supreme Courts – Information in English
• Legislation and legal data bases, Institutions and other websites – In English
• Legal Resources (online and offline) – in English