Cornell Law Library's InSITE Website Reviews

Reviews published in the April 30, 2007 issue of InSITE:

• LibraryLaw Blog
• National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
• Scholars at Risk Network
• Sweatshop Watch
• Voices of Civil Rights

LibraryLaw Blog
LibraryLaw Blog is the blog companion to the website LibraryLaw.com  Created in 1997 by consultant Mary Minow, LibraryLaw.com focuses on legal issues of interest to libraries, such as copyright, privacy and the First Amendment.  LibraryLaw Blog discusses these and other issues, with contributions by fellow bloggers Peter Hirtle, Raizel Liebler, and Susan Nevelow Mart.  Powered by Bloglet, LibraryLaw.com is archived back to July 2006 and is syndicatable to your favorite news reader.  Blog entries are categorized by topic, and the site is searchable via Google.  The entries are nicely fleshed out and developed; posts consist of full paragraphs of original content, and aren’t just lists of links to other blogs.  LibraryLaw Blog’s contributors post daily, sometimes more often.  User comments are welcome. [BWK]

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
Based at the University of Nevada at Reno, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) is dedicated to improving courts and justice systems practices, as well as raising awareness of the core issues that impact many children and families in the United States.  The NCJFCJ focuses on issues such as "child abuse and neglect," "family violence," "juvenile delinquency," "domestic relations," and "substance abuse."  These issue sections contain links to the Council's current and past projects, topical news, and the NCJFCJ's related publications.  Legal researchers will appreciate the Council's publications, especially the Model Code on Domestic and Family Violence, and the Model Courts documentation.  Some of these documents are available for free, but most are not available online.  The NCJFCJ website is searchable. [BWK]

Scholars at Risk Network
The Scholars at Risk Network (SAR), housed at New York University, is a global network of colleges and universities that responds to attacks on scholars.  SAR gets involved because of “those seeking power” who want “to limit access to information and new ideas” and restrict academic freedom while “repressing research, publication, teaching and learning.”  SAR provides sanctuary to threatened scholars, advocates on their behalf, and seeks to educate the public.  The website is part of the education mission, providing information about SAR and its activities, which are detailed on the site.  These include working to match threatened scholars with safe host institutions, providing resources for displaced scholars, promoting speaking events, and conducting research.  Of note is a table of displaced and at risk scholars indicating their degree, field, and risk status.  For detailed scholar profiles, users must become members of the SAR network. [MM]

Sweatshop Watch
Founded in 1995, Sweatshop Watch is a coalition of over 30 labor, community, civil rights, immigrant rights, women's, religious, and student organizations, and many individuals, committed to eliminating the exploitation that occurs in sweatshops. An affiliate of the AFL-CIO, Sweatshop Watch serves low-wage workers nationally and globally, with a focus on garment workers in California.  Visitors to Sweatshop Watch can access the organization’s FAQ, read recent news concerning sweatshops, and access Sweatshop Watch’s newsletters back to 2000. They can also learn about the history of the garment industry and sweatshops, order Information and Action kits, and consult the site’s glossary of commonly used terms.  The site is searchable. [BWK]

Voices of Civil Rights
Sponsored by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) and the Library of Congress, the Voices of Civil Rights (VCR) project is dedicated to collecting and preserving thousands of personal stories, oral histories, and personal artifacts of the civil rights movement through a searchable online archive.  Visitors may search and browse the archive for submitted stories from those who witnessed, or were a part of, America's civil rights experience, or may submit their own, unpublished recollection.  The VCR staff also select certain accounts to highlight as a “Featured Story.”  Educators will appreciate the “History” section of the site, which features a civil rights timeline, a music video, a photo gallery, and an interactive quiz.  The “Civil Rights Today” section features advances in the contemporary civil rights movement.  While already a robust and fascinating web site, the Voices of Civil Rights project is due to be expanded extensively in the future. [BWK]

InSITE contributors: Julie Jones, Research Attorney, Brandy Kreisler, J.D., M.L.S., Matt Morrison, Research Attorney, Jean Pajerek (editor), Head of Technical Services & Information Management, all current or former members of the professional staff at Cornell Law Library.

About InSITE: InSITE highlights selected law-related Web sites in two ways: as an annotated publication issued electronically and in print; and, as a keyword-searchable database. The law librarians at Cornell evaluate potentially useful Web sites, select the most valuable ones, and provide commentary and subject access to them.

Digital versions of this information can be accessed via:

1. Searchable database or by browsing current and archived issues on the web: Click InSITE at www.lawschool.cornell.edu/library

2. E-mail subscription. Send the following request: SUBSCRIBE InSITE-L <YourFirstName> <YourLastName> to: listproc@cornell.edu

3. Readers can subscribe to the new InSITE RSS feed at http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/library/RESOURCES/insite.htm

The contents of InSITE and any recommendations therein are the opinions of the authors and do not reflect the views of Cornell University. InSITE is copyright protected by Cornell Law Library, © 2007 Cornell Law Library. Permission to republish InSITE issues on Law Librarian Blog has been granted. For permissions, contact Jean M. Pajerek [jmp8@cornell.edu].

Cornell Law Library URL: http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/library