Law Librarian Blog

Beyond MySpace Complaints: An Updated Forecast of Worldwide Information Growth

The Diverse and Exploding Digital Universe, An Updated Forecast of Worldwide Information Growth Through 2011 (pdf) updates IDC’s inaugural forecast published in March 2007. Sponsored by storage giant EMC, key findings of this white paper indicate that it is time to upgrade the 1990's dot.com bubble's financed Internet infrastructure. Why? Well, it's not just because of MySpace users! [JH]

Key findings and recommendations from this EMC-sponsored IDC white paper include

• The digital universe in 2007 — at 2.25 x 1021 bits (281 exabytes or 281 billion gigabytes) — was 10% bigger than we thought. The resizing comes as a result of faster growth in cameras, digital TV shipments, and better understanding of information replication. By 2011, the digital universe will be 10 times the size it was in 2006.
• As forecast, the amount of information created, captured, or replicated exceeded available storage for the first time in 2007. Not all information created and transmitted gets stored, but by 2011, almost half of the digital universe will not have a permanent home.
• Fast-growing corners of the digital universe include those related to digital TV, surveillance cameras, Internet access in emerging countries, sensor-based applications, datacenters supporting “cloud computing,” and social networks.
• The diversity of the digital universe can be seen in the variability of file sizes, from 6 gigabyte movies on DVD to 128-bit signals from RFID tags. Because of the growth of VoIP, sensors, and RFID, the number of electronic information “containers” — files, images, packets, tag contents — is growing 50% faster than the number of gigabytes. The information created in 2011 will be contained in more than 20 quadrillion — 20 million billion — of such containers, a tremendous management challenge for both businesses and consumers.
• Of that portion of the digital universe created by individuals, less than half can be accounted for by user activities — pictures taken, phone calls made, emails sent — while the rest constitutes a digital “shadow” — surveillance photos, Web search histories, financial transaction journals, mailing lists, and so on.
• The enterprise share of the digital universe is widely skewed by industry, having little relationship to GDP or IT spending. The finance industry, for instance, accounts for almost 20% of worldwide IT spending but only 6% of the digital universe. Meanwhile, media, entertainment, and communications industries will account for 10 times their share of the digital universe in 2011 as their share of worldwide gross economic output.
• The picture related to the source and governance of digital information remains intact: Approximately 70% of the digital universe is created by individuals, but enterprises are responsible for the security, privacy, reliability, and compliance of 85%.

To deal with this explosion of the digital universe in size and complexity, IT organizations will face three main imperatives:

One. They will need to transform their existing relationships with the business units. It will take all competent hands in an organization to deal with information creation, storage, management, security, retention, and disposal in an enterprise. Dealing with the digital universe is not a technical problem alone.

Two. They will need to spearhead the development of organizationwide policies for information governance: information security, information retention, data access, and compliance.

Three. They will need to rush new tools and standards into the organization, from storage optimization, unstructured data search, and database analytics to resource pooling (virtualization) and management and security tools. All will be required to make the information infrastructure as flexible, adaptable, and scalable as possible.

Moving Toward a More Integrative Approach to Justice Reform

New report from the Open Society Institute: "In order to make real progress in breaking the cycle of incarceration, advocates need to develop collaborative approaches to abate the disproportionate numbers of the poor and people of color entering the criminal justice system, according to this OSI report."  [RJ]

New GlobaLex Articles (March 2008)

GlobaLex  March 2008  http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/index.html

International Human Rights Research Guide by Grace M. Mills  http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Human_Rights1.htm

Grace M. Mills is the Director of the Law Library at Hamline University.  She has previously been affiliated with the law schools of City University of New York, North Carolina Central University, University of California at Berkeley and Florida A&M University. 

Guinean Legal System and Research  by Ibrahima Sidibe http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Guinea.htm

Ibrahima Sidibe is Professeur de Droit at the Université General Lansana Conte de Sonfonia-Conakry,   Departement Droit Public Et d'Anglais, Centre Universitaire de Kindia,  Kindia, Republique de Guinee,   West Africa.

Essential Issues of the Chilean Legal System by Sergio Endress Gómez  http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Chile1.htm

Sergio Endress has a Masters in Law from the Universidad de Chile. He is a lawyer and has been a Professor of Taxation and Trial Taxation at the School of Law of the Universidad de Chile since 1994. He is also a partner of Endress, Israel, Olguín, Lawyers and Tax Advisors.  He has published “Las inversiones en materia Tributaria” (Investment from tax perspective), Editorial Conosur, 1994-1998; “Manual de Impuesto a la Renta” (Income Tax Handbook), by Patricio Figueroa V., Editorial Jurídica de Chile, 1997, reprinted in 2004, (in collaboration); “Tributación del Propietario de Empresa”, (Shareholders and Partners Taxation in Chile), Editorial Jurídica de Chile, 2005 and 2006; and several articles about taxation. Since 2007, he has been the Director of “Manual de Consultas Tributarias”, a montly tax review published by LexisNexis Chile.

A Description of the Structure of the Hellenic Republic, the Greek Legal System, and Legal Research by Maria Panezi http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Greece1.htm

Maria Panezi is a Ph.D. candidate and a Nathanson Fellow at Osgoode Hall Law School. She has obtained an LL.M. as a W. C. Langley Scholar of International Legal Studies at New York University, School of Law. She has published articles on issues related to Public International Law. Maria Panezi received her first law degree from Athens University, Greece. There, she worked as a research assistant for professors teaching Public and International Law. She has received an award from the Greek Chamber of Commerce for her paper on Greek exports and an honorary scholarship from Athens University. She has attended various international conferences and summer schools. She has also been a CLPE (Comparative Law and Political Economy) fellow at Osgoode Hall Law School and she has been called to the Athens Bar.

Researching Kenyan Law  by Tom Ojienda and Leonard Obura Aloo

http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Kenya1.htm

Tom Ojienda holds a Masters of Law degree (LLM) from King’s College London and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Nairobi. In addition, he holds a postgraduate diploma in Law from Kenya School of Law and a Diplome de langue from Alliance Francais de Paris. He is currently completing his (LLD) degree at the University of South Africa.

Leonard Obura Aloo LL.B. (Nairobi), LL.M. (Commercial Law, Cape Town), LL.M. (IT and Telecommunications Law, Strathclyde, Glasgow UK), Advocate of the High Court of Kenya.  He is an advocate practicing in Nairobi, Kenya and adjunct law Lecturer at the United States International University, Nairobi, Kenya. Previously, he worked as the head of Commercial Legal Services for Telkom Kenya Limited, the local fixed-line telecommunications provider.  His research interests are in the area of international trade law, regulatory law, alternative dispute resolution, information technology and telecommunications law.

Global Database on the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement

From the site:

"The Global Database on the Guiding Principles provides instant access to official documents about the rights of the internally displaced and the application of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. The database includes relevant:

• National laws and policies;
• Regional and international instruments;
• Observations and recommendations of UN treaty-monitoring bodies;
• Reports of UN charter bodies;
• Resolutions of the UN General Assembly; and
• Statements of national authorities.
• When available, documents are provided in English, French and Spanish.

The Database is (i) a practical tool to assist policymakers, legislators and their advisers develop laws, policies and other instruments on internal displacement and to monitor their implementation based on the standards recognized in the Guiding Principles; (ii) an advocacy tool for lawyers, jurists and human rights and humanitarian activists arguing for implementation of the rights set out in the Guiding Principles; and (iii) a research tool for academics and students interested in the documents that formed the basis for the Guiding Principles and the subsequent impact of the Principles in protecting the rights of internally displaced persons."  [RJ]

Gutenberg-e Offers Open Access

From the site: "Columbia University Press is pleased to announce that Gutenberg-e is now an open access site. These award winning monographs, coordinated with the American Historical Association, afford emerging scholars new possibilities for online publications, weaving traditional narrative with digitized primary sources, including maps, photographs, and oral histories."

See also: Landmark Digital History Monograph Project Goes Open Access, The Chronicle. [JH]

Opening: Acquisitions and Serials Librarian, Gould Law Library

Reporting to the Head of Technical Services, the Acquisitions and Serials Librarian is responsible for acquiring all library materials in varying formats and ensuring the upkeep of serials titles. Acquisitions duties include purchasing, negotiating with electronic resource vendors, ensuring timely payment for purchases, and producing collection development related statistics and reports. Serials duties include ordering of new titles, updating of serials records, and supporting the work of our serials assistants. The librarian must have excellent written and oral communication skills and must be able to establish and maintain effective relationships with the library and Law Center staff and faculty as well as vendors. Other responsibilities include occasional cataloging of monographs and electronic resources, assisting in the training and supervision of Technical Services staff, and planning and participating in library projects. The Acquisitions and Serials Librarian is expected to participate in professional development opportunities, formal and informal, to keep current with developments in acquisitions, serials, technical services, library automation and law libraries, and legal research and legal systems of the world, by reading relevant professional literature and attending local and national meetings and continuing education programs.

Qualifications:
Required:  MLS from an ALA accredited program; experience with OCLC and integrated library systems; understanding of AACR2, LCSH, LC classification, and MARC, Proficiency in the use of standard PC applications; excellent communication and interpersonal skills; strong service orientation; and the ability to work well both with others and independently.

Preferred:  Experience with Innovative Interfaces; familiarity with legal materials.

Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center, founded in 1980 as a division of Touro College, is committed to providing a quality legal education that encourages students to examine the moral goals of the law while promoting social justice and community service.  The Law Center is adjacent to and working with a federal courthouse and a state courthouse. The new 185,000 square foot building is a state-of-the-art facility with enhanced technology, classrooms, study spaces and more.

The Gould Law Library is a principal resource of the Touro Law Center, encouraging and supporting teaching, study and scholarly research. The collection includes more than 475,000 law and law-related volumes and microform, with many databases that further strengthen the resources available. The four-story library also contains a Rare Books collection and a Judaica collection.

Review of applications will begin upon receipt and continue until the position is filled. To apply, submit resumes and a list of references to:
Beth Chamberlain
Head of Technical Services
Gould Law Library, Touro Law Center
255 Eastview Drive
Central Islip, NY 11722
or email them to bchamberlain@tourolaw.edu

Just Released, Legal Writing Citation in a Nutshell

Legal Writing Citation in a Nutshell
by Larry L. Teply

List Price: $28.00
West Law School, 2008
ISBN: 0314169385

Book Description: This book is designed to ease the process of learning legal citation, one of the difficult tasks that students new to the law face. It initially focuses on conventions that underlie all accepted forms and systems of legal citation. Building on that understanding and an explanation of the process of using citations in legal writing, the book then discusses and illustrates the particular rules of The Bluebook and the ALWD Citation Manual for citing cases, statutes, and all other major legal sources. Appendixes provide useful comparative information for these two systems of citation.

2008 National Legal Research Teach-In Kit Now Online

AALL's Research Instruction and Patron Services (RIPS) Special Interest Section has published the 2008 National Legal Research Teach-In Kit, the 16th annual edition! [Past Kits] Congratulations to the Teach-In Committee, led by Jennifer S. Murray (Assistant Director, Superior Court Law Library, Maricopa County) and Gail A. Partin (Associate Director & Law Librarian, Dickinson School of Law Library), and the kit's contributors on a job very well done. [JH]

Professional Reading: Information Ethics and the Law of Data Representations

Check out Dan L. Burk's (Minnesota) Information Ethics and the Law of Data Representations [SSRN]. Here's the abstract:

The theories of information ethics articulated by Luciano Floridi and his collaborators have clear implications for law. Information law, including the law of privacy and of intellectual property, is especially likely to benefit from a coherent and comprehensive theory of information ethics. This article illustrates how information ethics might apply to legal doctrine, by examining legal questions related to the ownership and control of the personal data representations, including photographs, game avatars, and consumer profiles, that have become ubiquitous with the proliferation of information and communication technologies. Recent controversy over the control of player performance statistics in "fantasy" sports leagues provides a limiting case for the analysis. Such data representations will in many instances constitute the kind of personal data that information ethics asserts constitutes an information entity. Legal doctrine in some instances proves sympathetic to such an assertion, but remains largely inchoate as to which data might constitute a given information entity in a given instance. Neither is information ethics, in its current state of development, entirely helpful in answering this critical question. While information ethics holds some promise to bring coherence to this area of the law, further work articulating a richer theory of information ethics will be necessary before it can do so.

Washington and Lee Reinvents 3L Curriculum

The third year at Washington & Lee will be all of professional development through simulated and actual practice experiences. "The demanding intellectual content of the third year will ... be presented in realistic settings that simulate actual client experiences, requiring students to exercise professional judgment, work in teams, solve problems, counsel clients, negotiate solutions, serve as advocates and counselors—the full complement of professional activity that engages practicing lawyers as they apply legal theory and legal doctrines to the real-world issues of serving clients ethically and honorably within the highest traditions of the profession. Practicum courses will span the array of traditional legal subject matter: antitrust, banking, corporate finance, securities law, tax, family law, environmental law, criminal law, employment law, intellectual property, estate planning, media law, civil rights and civil liberties practice—in short, anything and everything that might be offered in a traditional law school course." Details here and here.

Hat tip to Brian Leiter's Law School Reports. [JH]

Estimates of Summary Judgment Activity in Fiscal Year 2006

New report from the Federal Judicial Center: "The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules asked the Federal Judicial Center to examine summary judgment practice across federal district courts as a means of assessing the potential impact of the proposed amendments to Rule 56. This report examined summary judgment activity in 179,969 cases terminated in the 78 federal district courts that had fully implemented the CM/ECF reporting system in Fiscal Year 2006. This unpublished research document is not restricted and may be distributed outside the federal judiciary."  [RJ]

Editor's Note: But is summary judgment constitutional? According to Cincinnati Law Prof Suja Thomas, the answer is "no!" Check out her thought-provoking article. [JH]

Opening: Research Librarian, UVA Law Library

The University of Virginia Law Library is seeking two legal researchers to join a dynamic team of librarians who are assisting a prolific law faculty in their diverse research initiatives. The work of this team is central to the mission of the library and the law school. The researchers will work extensively with faculty on complex inquiries requiring legal analysis. They will also participate in teaching advanced legal research courses to law students.

Applicants must have a J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school, demonstrated communication skills, and a responsive customer service orientation. The ability to work independently and as a member of a team is essential. The M.L.S. degree is preferred. 

Salary commensurate with experience and qualifications.

Apply on-line at http://jobs.virginia.edu (under Administrative and Professional Faculty positions in the School of Law). Complete a Candidate Profile, and include a cover letter, resume, and the contact information for three references.

Review of applications by the committee will begin on April 3, 2008; however, the positions will remain open until filled.

Webcast of Tomorrow's CFR Symposium: Religion and the Open Society

Tomorrow, starting at 9:00 AM ET, you can view a live webcast of Religion and the Open Society, a CFR symposium that examine how the different forms of Christianity and Islam may have helped, and sometimes hindered, the development of free and open societies. Agenda | Registration for Webcast [JH]

Web Conferencing in Law Firm Libraries

How often is web conferencing used by law firm libraries for training purposes? LawLibTech wants to know. [JH]

New Orleans Public Library Master Plan to Cost $650 Million

In the wake of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina the City of New Orleans has offered its 25 year plan for a "new" library system. The cost of $650 million would cover the building of 12 new libraries, the renovation of 4 other sites and operating costs for the libraries. A big part of these libraries, like most public libraries, is the ability of these spaces as community centers. For more on this please see this New Orleans City Business article. [BB]

Epstein Revisits Property Rights in New Book

In 1985, Richard Epstein (Chicago) published Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain (1985). Regarded by many as the bible of the property rights movement, it was and still is a must-read. Now 23 years later Epstein have returned to the same topic in a new book, called Supreme Neglect: How to Revive the Constitutional Protection for Private Property. The author writes about his new work on PrawfsBlawg, Takings, a Second Time. Order multiple copies and if Takings is off the shelf, do the same. [JH]

Supreme Neglect: How to Revive Constitutional Protection For Private Property
by Richard A. Epstein

List Price: $19.95
Hardcover: 208 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (March 12, 2008)
ISBN-10: 0195304608
ISBN-13: 978-0195304602

Description: As far back as the Magna Carta in 1215, the right of private property was seen as a bulwark of the individual against the arbitrary power of the state. Indeed, common-law tradition holds that "property is the guardian of every other right." And yet, for most of the last seventy years, property rights had few staunch supporters in America.

This latest addition to Oxford's Inalienable Rights series provides a succinct, pointed look at property rights in America--how they came to be, how they have evolved, and why they should once again be a mainstay of the law. Richard A. Epstein, the nation's preeminent authority on the subject, examines all aspects of private property--from real estate to air rights to intellectual property. He takes the reader from the strongly protective property rights advocated by the framers of the Constitution through to the weak property rights supported by Progressive and liberal politicians of the twentieth century and finally to our own time, which has seen a renewed appreciation of property rights in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's landmark Kelo v. New London decision in 2005. The author's own powerful defense of property rights threads through the narrative. Using both political theory and economic analysis, Epstein argues that above all that private property is a sound social institution, and not just an excuse for selfishness and greed. Only a system of private property lets people form and raise families, organize religious and other charitable organizations, and earn a living through honest labor.

Supreme Neglect offers a compact, incisive look at this hotly contested constitutional right, championing property rights as an essential social institution.

About the Author: Richard A. Epstein is the James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law at the University of Chicago, where he has taught since 1972. He has also been the Peter and Kirstin Bedford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution since 2000.

Controversy Over GAO Legislative Histories on Westlaw Heating Up

BoingBoing reports:

"John Wonderlich of the Sunlight Foundation alerted me to a situation about a month ago that we've been pursuing (with EFF's help) at the Government Accountability Office, which is an arm of the U.S. Congress.

The law librarians at GAO have compiled complete federal legislative histories from 1915 on. These are the definitive dossiers that track a bill through the hearing process and into law. If you want to divine the intent of Congress, this is where you go.

GAO cut a contract with Thomson West to have these documents scanned. Thomson West claims they have exclusive access to these public documents and even go so far as to boast that you should purchase this exclusive "product" from West because the GAO law librarians (public employees!) have done all the work for you!" 

[RJ]

Professional Reading: Using Open Source Social Software as Digital Library Interface

Using Open Source Social Software as Digital Library Interface (D-Lib Magazine, March/April 2008)
by Erik Mitchell and Kevin Gilbertson

Abstract: This article investigates the use of social software applications in digital library environments. It examines the use of blogging software as an interface to digital library content stored in a separate repository. The article begins with a definition of digital library approaches and features, examines ways in which open source and social software applications can serve to fill digital library roles, and presents a case study of the use of blogging software as a public interface to a project called Digital Forsyth, a grant-funded project involving three institutions in Forsyth County, NC. The article concludes with a review of positive and negative outcomes from this approach and makes recommendations for further research.

Mark Your Calendars for AALL's Third Annual Bloggers Get Together!

Come share your ideas and meet the other law librarian bloggers! Open to all bloggers and potential bloggers.

Time: 5-6 p.m.
Date: Sunday, July 13th
Place: TBA
Guest Speaker: TBA (we are inviting bloggers from the Portland area)

RSVP: Last year we had over 35 participants so we are anticipating a good crowd this year. For a headcount, please RSVP Barbara Fullerton by Tuesday, July 1st to bfullerton@10kwizard.com.

Special thanks to Laura Orr, Law Librarian at Washington County Law Library, for helping in organizing this event! [JH]

English Medieval Legal Documents Wiki

Hazel Lord's (Senior Law Librarian, USC) bibliography of published sources of English medieval legal documents (covering the years 600-1535) has been converted into the English Medieval Legal Documents Wiki!

The goal of this project is to create a collaborative database on the published sources of English medieval legal documents, and to provide links to the growing number of online sources currently being developed for the use of scholars and students of English medieval law. Emphasis in this wiki has been placed on sources published since 1950.

The wiki has organized the material into broad categories, such as court records, statutory records, etc. Within these categories, wherever it seemed appropriate, the entries have been arranged first by material type, plea rolls, courts reports, calendars, etc., and then chronologically by regnal year. When the resource covers the reigns of several monarchs, or even the entire period, it is listed separately under each monarch. [JH]