Law Librarian Blog

Angelina Jolie Squats on 24 Domains for Her Daughter but not the One I Own

The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that Angelina Jolie has reserved 24 domain names featuring various versions of her daughter Shiloh Nouvel's name. Internet registration files show the Web addresses "shilohjolie", "shilohpitt", "shilohjoliepitt", "shilohnouveljolie", "shilohnouvelpitt" and "shilohnouveljoliepitt" - with the extensions ".com", ".org", ".net" and ".info" - were reserved as of May 27, the baby's birthday.

What, no .us domain? I'm pleased to announce that I am now the proud owner of shilohjolie.us! If you are ever in Ohio Ms Jolie... [JH]

A Quick Look at Cases and Materials on American Federalism

This site was developed for use in American Government and Public Policy courses taught at Purdue University Calumet. It provides primary documents on political theory and American history with sections on the founding fathers, three branches of government and civil rights issues. Texts include Magna Carta, Locke, Hobbes, Montesquieu, various drafts of the Constitution, excerpts from the Federalist, numerous court cases. Section on the Electoral College includes list of faithless electors, presidents who won by plurality rather than majority, and four cases where winners of the popular vote lost the election. [RJ]

Oxford Proposes Sweeping Changes in Governance

The Chronicle of Higher Education is reporting that the University of Oxford has outlined proposed changes that would transform how the 900-year-old institution is run and, for the first time, give outsiders a leading role in its governance. Here's the University's White Paper (pdf). [JH]

Competing Immigration Reform Packages

House and Senate negotiations on competing immigration reform packages could last all summer, perhaps even longer if our elected representatives do not want to reach a compromise before the November elections.

• Text of H.R. 4437 (Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, passed House 239 - 182 on Dec. 16, 2005)
• Text of  S. 2611 (Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, passed Senate 62-36 on May 25, 2006)

AP highlights of both bills | New York Time's comparison of HR 4437, S. 2611 and the President's View

Stay tuned to Law Professor Blogs Network coverage of immigration reform (Google search). [JH]

New Report On Legalized Gambling

From the Pew Research Center:

Gambling: As the Take Rises, So Does Public Concern

A modest backlash in attitudes towards legalized gambling has taken hold among an American public that spends more money on more forms of legal gambling now than at any time in the nation’s history.

• Seven-in-ten (70%) Americans say that legalized gambling encourages people to gamble more than they can afford
• 71% of the public today—down from 78% in 1989—approves of lotteries as a way for states to raise revenue.

[RJ]

How Does Google Work?

The secret is out. It's called ... [JH]

Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms

Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms 
by Will Richardson

List Price: $27.95 
Publisher: Corwin Press (March 6, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN: 1412927676

Publisher's Blurb: This book brings teachers a bold vision and on-the-ground Monday morning practicality. It will move educators to think differently about technology’s potential for strengthening students' critical thinking, writing, reflection, and interactive learning. Will Richardson demystifies words like "blog," "wiki," and "aggregator" making classroom technology an easily accessible component of classroom research, writing, and learning.

Solving Every Sudoku Puzzle (with only 100 lines of code!)

Peter Norvig has done it! Now, if only he would call my Sudoku-crazed wife ... Hi honey, here is the solution.

Opening: Legal Information and Educational Technology Librarian, Boston Univ. Law

Legal Information and Educational Technology Librarian or Senior Legal Information and Educational Technology Librarian

The Boston University Pappas Law Library is seeking candidates for the new position of Legal Information and Educational Technology Librarian. Candidates with appropriate experience will be considered at the Senior level. This position offers an exciting opportunity to work with librarian colleagues, faculty and computer systems to develop educational technology initiatives at the law school.

RESPONSIBILITIES: Under the direction of the Head of Reference Services, this position serves as the law library specialist in instructional and educational technologies. The position will have primary responsibility for identifying, evaluating, and recommending new educational and instructional technologies, products and services to administrators, and in marketing and assisting law library users in understanding and effectively using new resources. This librarian will help faculty incorporate technology in teaching and research by providing consultation, advice, training, and support of instructional and research technologies. This position will coordinate with law school computer systems and University information technology staff to deliver and support new technologies and services.

This position participates as a member of the reference department team of five professional librarians who each have specializations and liaison responsibilities to law school faculty and programs. All reference librarians provide extensive reference and research assistance to law students and faculty, develop and teach legal research instructional programs, and assist in the development, implementation and evaluation of reference and public services policies, procedures and publications. All librarians also participate in law library web site development and the Library Collection Development Committee to review and select print and electronic resources for the library.

REQUIREMENTS: M.L.S. or equivalent from an A.L.A. accredited library school required. J.D. from an A.B.A. accredited law school strongly preferred. One to three years of relevant experience required. Candidates with more than three years of professional legal reference experience and significant contributions to the profession may be considered at the Senior level. Substantial knowledge of electronic resources and educational technology preferred. Strong service orientation, organizational and interpersonal skills essential.

SALARY: Commensurate with experience. Excellent benefits. Professional development and research project funding available.

TO APPLY: Send a letter of application, a resume, and the names of three references to Joanne Letty, Office of Human Resources, Boston University, 25 Buick Street, Boston, MA 02215. Please reference position number 3030/E236 on your cover letter. Applications with the above information may be submitted electronically:
http://hostedjobs.openhire.com/onlinejobs/jobs/submit.cfm?fuseaction=dspjob&jobid=124149&company_id=15509&version=1&source=ONLINE&jobOwner=935861&aid=1

We would like to have initial meetings with interested candidates at the AALL Annual Meeting in St. Louis so please let us know if you will be attending.

Boston University is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer.

Tarlton Law Library (Texas) Wins Two AALL Awards

From the press release:

The first award is the AALL Law Library Publication Award. This award is given for the year’s outstanding print publication created by a law library. The Library won this award for Harry M. Reasoner: An Oral History Interview. Harry Reasoner, a member of the Law School class of 1962, is a partner (and former managing partner) at Vinson & Elkins in Houston, Texas. Reasoner has been a generous benefactor of the Law School, both in terms of financial support and professional work. In this interview, Reasoner gives details of his childhood, education and professional career as one of the most successful and prominent attorneys working in Texas today. This oral history is available for purchase through the Library, and is the third in a series of ongoing oral history interviews published by the Library.

The second award is the AALL/West Publishing Co. Excellence in Marketing award. This award recognizes outstanding achievement in public relations by way of a publication, service or program. The award was given for the Library’s series of public service brochures, which are designed to introduce the services of the Library to the different patron groups who use the Library and its collections and resources. The brochures — “Services to Law Faculty,” “Services to Law Students,” “Services to the Legal Community,” “Services to the UT-Austin Community,” and “Services to the Public” — emphasize the services and collections available to each group. Each brochure is available in print at the Library as well as being available through the Library website.

Is the Tenure Article Extinct?

Matt Bodie (PrawfsBlawg) offers several reasons for concluding that the "tenure article" is fading into history. [JH]

GPO request for legacy publications for digitization demonstration project

From the GPO announcement: The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) is pleased to announce a six-month digitization demonstration project, which will start on June 1, 2006. One of the goals of GPO's "Strategic Vision for the 21st Century" is to digitize a complete legacy collection of tangible U.S. Government publications to make sure that these materials are available, in the public domain, for permanent public access. During the demonstration project, GPO is focusing on digitizing legislative and regulatory material that expands the coverage of the most popular GPO Access databases.

GPO has acquired several publications in preparation for the project but are still seeking a complete set of the following publications in paper format:

• Code of Federal Regulations: 1990-1996 AE 2.106/3: AE 2.106/3-2:
• List of CFR Sections Affected: 1990-1996 AE 2.106/2-2:
• Congressional Record: daily edition 101st Congress, v. 135 (1989) - 103rd Congress, v. 140 (1994) X 1.1/A:
• Congressional Record Index: All years (101st Congress, v. 135 (1989) - present) X 1.1/A:
• Public and private laws, 101st Congress - 103rd Congress AE 2.110:

GPO prefers these publications come from regional-approved deaccessions or collections of duplicates no longer needed. While donations are preferable, loans of material will be considered as well when publications are not available for donation.

If you have questions or comments or wish to make a publication donation to GPO, please use the GPO online help service at: <http://gpo.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/gpo.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php>

To ensure that your submission is routed to the correct area, please choose the category "Federal Depository Libraries" and the appropriate subcategory "Digitization- "Publication Offers to GPO".

Publication donations may also be made through Library Services and Content Management, Collections Management and Preservation, Office of Archival Management (Archives). Please contact Kathy Brazee by phone at 202-512-1187 or by email at <kbrazee@gpo.gov>.

The legacy publications to be prioritized for digitization were previously announced in "Priorities for Digitization of Legacy Collection", online at <http://www.gpoaccess.gov/about/reports/prioritydigitization_plan.pdf>.  For this demonstration, we are starting with the titles in priority group one, with the exception of the U.S. Statutes at Large and possibly Congressional Bills.  These titles will be digitized, following GPO's digitization specification, through collaborations with other Federal agencies.  We are working with the Library of Congress to digitize the remaining U.S. Statutes at Large not yet converted.  We are also working with the Senate Library in an effort to digitize their print copies of Congressional bills from the 101st and 102nd Congress.

GPO is also planning to digitize publications in the regular publication distribution workflow that are not online.  These are publications that used to be distributed in microfiche in the past.

Additional information about GPO's digitization efforts, including the digitization specification to be employed, are located at GPO's Digitization and Preservation Initiatives Web page at <http://www.gpoaccess.gov/legacy/>.

Why People Obey the Law

Why People Obey the Law
by Tom R. Tyler

Price: $24.95
Publisher: Princeton University Press (March 2006)
Language: English
ISBN: 0691126739

Publisher's Blurb: People obey the law if they believe it's legitimate, not because they fear punishment--this is the startling conclusion of Tom Tyler's classic study. Tyler suggests that lawmakers and law enforcers would do much better to make legal systems worthy of respect than to try to instill fear of punishment. He finds that people obey law primarily because they believe in respecting legitimate authority.

In his fascinating new afterword, Tyler brings his book up to date by reporting on new research into the relative importance of legal legitimacy and deterrence, and reflects on changes in his own thinking since his book was first published.

-- Characteritized as "a contemporary classic" by Law Prof Lawrence Solum (Illinois), Legal Theory Blog. [JH]

Hello New Associates, Here's the Top 10 Things Law Librarians Want You to Know

It is unbelievably pathetic to see that the quality of research skills training has not improved much since I left law firm librarianship some 20 years ago. Bobbi Cross, the director of research and information resources with Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis, recently published the "Top 10 Things Law Librarians Want New Associates to Know." The list, summarized below, reminds me just how bad new associates were and apparently continue to be.

1. Know the basics. Civics 101.

2. Know that you should never, ever start your research with Lexis and Westlaw if you are clueless about the topic at hand.

3. Know that cite checkers such as Shepard's or Key Cite are much more than case validators.

4. Know that efficiency in searching Lexis and Westlaw is essential.

5. Know that Natural Language searching has not really arrived.

6. Know that everything does not have to come from the Internet.

7. Know when to stop when performing Web-based research, free or fee.

8. Know the limitations of both Web-based research services and print resources.

9. Know that asking the partner or senior associate for clarification is OK

10. Know that asking your firm law librarians for help is encouraged and expected.

Read Bobbi's entire article to grasp how little the situation has changed. Sorry Bobbi. As long as legal research is taught in the context of legal writing, this situation is not going to improve much.

Opening: Catalog Librarian, Chicago-Kent

Catalog Librarian (Position Number: 198-06)
Chicago-Kent College of Law & Stuart Graduate School of Business, Downtown Campus Library

The IIT Downtown Campus Library is seeking an energetic cataloger interested in serials cataloging and database management with strong analytical and problem-solving skills who has the capacity to thrive in an environment of change to become the newest member of its bibliographic services team.

Environment: Located in a state-of-the-art building in the heart of downtown Chicago, the Downtown Campus Library primarily serves the Chicago-Kent College of Law and the Stuart Graduate School of Business. The library’s primary patrons are the faculty of both the law and business schools and the 1,500 students who attend the downtown campus.  The library has an outstanding collection of materials relating to law, business, international relations, and the social sciences. Additional information about the library and IIT can be found at: library.kentlaw.edu and www.iit.edu

Responsibilities: Under the direction of the Director of Bibliographic Services, the Catalog Librarian is responsible for cataloging library materials, including continuing resources in both print and electronic formats. The Catalog Librarian also co-supervises two library specialists with the Government Documents Librarian.

Typical duties will include providing full (or other appropriate level) original cataloging and authority control for materials in print, non-print and digital formats in a variety of subject areas; supervising all serials-related projects; contributing to planning, policy and procedure development of department; performing other duties to enhance the collection and services of the library such as (but not limited to): assisting in the development, implementation, and evaluation of cataloging and bibliographic service policies, procedures, and publications based on current information and developments in the field/literature; individual and group training; and other duties as required. This position will also have some responsibility for managing electronic resources (e-journals and databases).

Requirements: The position requires a M.L.S. from an A.L.A.-accredited graduate program. A working knowledge of cataloging principles and procedures including AACR2R, LC Subject Headings and Classification, and MARC 21 formats is essential, as is a working knowledge of standard bibliographic and other reference tools. The successful candidate must also have familiarity with a range of automated processing activities.  In addition, the successful candidate will have some supervisory experience and a demonstrated commitment to customer service.  Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills are critical, including experience in procedure development and writing documentation. The successful candidate will be one who is customer service oriented, has a friendly and helpful manner, can work effectively with faculty and all levels of staff, possesses an aptitude for complex, analytical and detailed work, and can manage diverse assignments in a rapidly-changing and demanding environment.

Preferred: Substantial experience cataloging serials; previous library experience cataloging specialized business and/or legal materials; experience with Voyager, the library’s integrated library system; one year of cataloging experience; experience with OCLC; demonstrated interest in the issues and standards related to metadata; familiarity with initiatives to enhance access to electronic resources; teaching or training experience or teaching aptitude.

Salary: Salary is negotiable and competitive, commensurate with experience.

Position Available: Immediately; open until filled.

Reporting: The Catalog Librarian will report to the Director of Bibliographic Services, who is responsible for evaluating their performance with input from the Director of Public Services, the Library Director, faculty, and other clientele.

To apply: For immediate consideration, please e-mail a letter of interest, resume, and the names, addresses and phone numbers of three professional references to jhounshell@kentlaw.edu.  You may also mail the above materials to JoAnn Hounshell, Director of Bibliographic Services, 565 West Adams Street, Chicago, IL 60661.  Review of applications will begin immediately.

Questions? Contact: JoAnn Hounshell, Director of Bibliographic Services, 565 W. Adams St., Chicago, IL 60661; phone: 312-906-5675; jhounshell@kentlaw.edu

Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity in Employment Statement: It is the policy of the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) to provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants and employees regardless of race, religion, color, age, national origin, sex, marital status, disability, special disabled veteran or Vietnam-era veteran status.

The Best Law Schools for the "Best" Jobs in Teaching

Texas Law Prof Brian Leiter has published his 2006 study of law school grad placement in law teaching (May 30, 2006) at Leiter's Law School Rankings. [JH]

Order and Anarchy in the Stacks

From Sue Ann Campbell (Univ of Miami Law Library) TIM blog:

The library where I work owns a book titled Anarachy and Order : the interplay of politics and law in international relations by James C. Hsiung.

It is shelved on the 3rd floor on shelving right in front of the elevator.

Every day someone takes the book out of it's assigned slot, JX1391 .H78 1997, and gently lays it along side the books, putting it on its side so the call number can't be read.

Every day that I see it, I take the book and replace it in it's proper slot, upright along with the other books.

Order and Anarchy. Seems about right.

[JH]

The Case of Terri Schiavo: Ethics at the End of Life

The Case of Terri Schiavo: Ethics at the End of Life
List Proce: $21.00
Paperback: 377 pages
Publisher: Prometheus Books (March 2006)
ISBN: 159102398X

At first glance it would seem that The Case of Terri Schiavo: Ethics at the End of Life is another focus on her case alone - but actually its focus on end-of-life ethical questions holds far more meaning for the living than for the dead of the past. The ethical dilemmas surrounding end of life are many - and are surveyed in depth in a coverage which uses not just Terri's case but similar cases to expose issues, struggles and obstacles to quality of life and survival. Essays cover everything from legal issues and points to ethical concerns. Mark G. Kuczewski, Professor of Medical Ethics Director, Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics & Health Policy Stritch School of Medicine Loyola University, calls this work "the definitive resource on this landmark case for years to come."  [JH]

2005 Digest of Education Statistics Tables Now Available

From National Center for Education Statistics:

"New tables from Digest of Education Statistics, 2005 provide a wide array of data covering prekindergarten through graduate school. Topics include: numbers of institutions; teachers; enrollments; graduates; educational attainment; finances; federal funds for education; employment and income of graduates; libraries; and international comparisons."

[RJ]

Investigation of Gasoline Price Manipulation and Post-Katrina Gasoline Price Increases

From the press release:

"The Federal Trade Commission ... issued a report entitled “Investigation of Gasoline Price Manipulation and Post-Katrina Gasoline Price Increases.” The report details the results of an intensive, Congressionally-mandated Commission investigation into whether gasoline prices nationwide were “artificially manipulated by reducing refinery capacity or by any other form of market manipulation or price gouging practices” and into gasoline pricing by refiners, large wholesalers, and retailers in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina."

[RJ]