Law Librarian Blog

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:

• Libraries in the sample expected to renew over 77% of their current contracts.
• Well over 81% of the sample cataloged their e-book collection and listed it in their online library catalog.
• E-book spending by libraries is growing rapidly in 2008 but by significantly less than in 2007
• For the most part, librarians in the sample felt that their patrons were less skilled in using e-book collections than they were in using databases of magazine, newspaper and journal articles.
• The libraries in the sample had MARC records for a mean of approximately 74% of the e-books in their collections.
• Many libraries reported significant use of electronic directories. 12.5% reported extensive use and 30% said that use was significant. The larger libraries reported the heaviest use.
• Use of e-books in the hard sciences was particularly high. More than 30% of participants said that use of e-books in the hard sciences (defined as chemistry, physics and biology) was quite extensive and another 26% noted significant use.
• Libraries in the sample maintained a print version for a mean of 24% of the e-books in their e-book collections.
• Nearly 21% of the libraries in our sample have digitized out-of-copyright books in their collections in order to make their contents more available to their patrons.
• E-books account for only about 3.9% of the books on course reserve, with a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 30%.
• Nearly 70% of the sample total spending on e-books was with aggregators, while just over 24.6% of the total spending was spent with individual publishers.

Data are broken out by library budget size, for US and non-US libraries and for academic and non-academic libraries. The report presents more than 300 tables of data on e-book use by libraries, as well as analysis and commentary. [JH]

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 to exhaust all reasonable alternative sources before turning to the media;
• Contains exceptions to the privilege for those situations where information sharing is critical. For example, a reporter may not withhold source information where such information is needed to prevent a terrorist attack, significant harm to our national security, death, kidnapping, or substantial bodily harm. Journalists who witness crimes also cannot refuse to share their eyewitness observations;
• Defines “journalist” to include anyone who regularly engages in journalistic activities -- so that legitimate bloggers that disseminate information about matters of public interest are covered by the qualified privilege.

On March 6, 2008, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy and Ranking Member Arlen Specter urged party leaders to schedule floor consideration of S. 2035 [Text of Letter to Majority Leader, Senator Harry Reid (pdf)]. See also Media Coalition Letter to Senator Harry Reid Supporting the Free Flow of Information Act (March 11, 2008) (pdf).

On April 17, 2008, US Attorney General Michael Mukasey voiced his opposition to the bill in a USA Today opinion piece. Kathleen A. Bergin (South Texas) has taken on Attorney General in a series of posts on First Amendment Law Prof Blog. Check out Part I (April 29) and Part II (May 2). [JH] 

Professional Reading: Employing Interpretative Intention in Statutory Interpretation

Edward J. Imwinkelreid (UC-Davis) has posted A More Modest Proposal than 'A Common Law for the Age of Statutes': Greater Reliance in Statutory Interpretation on the Concept of Interpretative Intention (forthcoming in Albany Law Review) in SSRN. Here's the abstact:

In A Common Law for the Age of Statutes, Judge Calabresi observes that we are choking on obsolete statutes. Due largely to legislative inertia, these statutes have not been rewritten. To solve this problem, Judge Calabresi argues that we should grant courts a new power to update statutes. However, his proposal has been attacked on the ground that the proposal violates separation of powers; the proposal authorizes the courts to make the very type of policy judgment that the enacting legislature made in the first instance. At least in some cases, courts can solve the problem of obsolescent legislation without asserting the general updating power proposed by Judge Calabresi. The courts should rely more heavily on the concept of interpretative intention: the intention that a person would have had if he or she had anticipated a development. Part I describes the acceptance of the notion of interpretative intention in both philosophy and other legal contexts. Part II demonstrates the democratic legitimacy of employing the concept in statutory interpretation. Part III details the circumstances that should concur before a court invokes the concept of interpretative intention.

[JH]

Comprehensive Resource on Online and Distance Learning

Online and Distance Learning: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications is a significant resource on best practices in distance education edited by Dr. Lawrence A. Tomei that spans more than 4,000 pages with nearly 550 contributors.

Choice magazine highly recommends this resource.

This well-written book analyzes trends, presents implications, and addresses many of the key components of online learning design. It is a highly valuable resource for people in institutions contemplating an online learning program (K-12 or higher education) who want to avoid pitfalls that others have experienced. To find this much Web content on these issues one would have to link to nearly 50 online reference sites. This collection puts it all in one convenient set.

While not specific to legal education, this works deals extensively with higher education and has a host of international contributors who offer a broad perspective of what distance education can and should be.

The six volume anthology covers a wide range of topics including:

• Fundamental Concepts and Theories in Online and Distance Learning
• Learning Development and Design Methodologies
• Choosing among Learning Tools and Technologies
• Utilization and Application of Online and Distance Learning
• Organizational and Social Implications
• Managerial Implications and the Evaluation of Online Education
• Critical Issues including Ameliorating the Weaknesses of Online Education
• Emerging Trends such as the Application of Video Games to Learning

Additional information about the content of the work is available from the publisher,IGI Global. [Amazon link] [NA]

Slouching Toward a Study of Blogs by "Library People"

Walt Crawford, Director and Managing Editor of the PALINET Leadership Network, is considering the prospect of studying changes in blogging patterns by "library people" (not library blogs, not just professional librarians). See his Changes in Liblogs: Slouching Toward a Study. He is inviting comments to help him decide. Go to A really big look at liblogs: Good idea or waste of time? to post them. Comments will be more useful if posted before June 8, 2008. [JH]

Just Released, Zakaria's The Post-American World

The Post-American World
by Fareed Zakaria

List Price: $25.95
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton (May 5, 2008)
ISBN-10: 039306235X
ISBN-13: 978-0393062359

Book Description: One of our most distinguished thinkers argues that the "rise of the rest" is the great story of our time.

"This is not a book about the decline of America, but rather about the rise of everyone else." So begins Fareed Zakaria's important new work on the era we are now entering. Following on the success of his best-selling The Future of Freedom, Zakaria describes with equal prescience a world in which the United States will no longer dominate the global economy, orchestrate geopolitics, or overwhelm cultures. He sees the "rise of the rest"—the growth of countries like China, India, Brazil, Russia, and many others—as the great story of our time, and one that will reshape the world. The tallest buildings, biggest dams, largest-selling movies, and most advanced cell phones are all being built outside the United States. This economic growth is producing political confidence, national pride, and potentially international problems. How should the United States understand and thrive in this rapidly changing international climate? What does it mean to live in a truly global era? Zakaria answers these questions with his customary lucidity, insight, and imagination.

About the Author: Fareed Zakaria is the editor of Newsweek International and writes a weekly column on international affairs. His previous books include the New York Times bestseller The Future of Freedom and From Wealth to Power.