Law Librarian Blog

A Question from a Concerned Parent: Law Librarianship?

In a recent email some of us in the law library community received, a concern parent wrote and asked for advice as follows:

My son is thinking about becoming a law librarian. He has been out of law school for about 10 years, and employment opportunities have become harder to find. He has always been interested in librarianship, and is thinking about getting a masters degree in library science. Can you comment (or forward this email to someone who can share some thoughts) on whether this will be a viable endeavor in the years to come? I am really concerned because he carries a significant debt already and I am not sure what the prospects for employment will be in the future. Thanks so very much!

What do you think? If interested in responding, the comments to this post will be forwarded. [JH]

NEWS FLASH: Navy SEALs Preparing to Take Over Lexis

An unnamed source close to the SEAL community informed a very creditable legal publishing industry insider that the takeover plan was put in place after Lexis announced Lexis Advance for Solos. “They knew then it was time." Reportedly, the SEALs replicated LN's Dayton HQ offices to conduct practice runs for the mission. Where? In Banks-Baldwin's vacated building in Cleveland.

Folks in Dayton better hunker down. SEAL Team Six is planning to execute what's rumored to be codenamed "Operation Poseidon's Trident" soon. For more on this breaking story see Jason Wilson's post.

Mission Impossible? ST6 assault on West next? There are rumors that US special ops forces are training for something codenamed "Operation Heart of Darkness" at the site of the filming of Apocalypse Now in the Philippines and that TR Legal's Philippines office has been tasked for obtaining visas (the document and the credit card) for Montagnard warriors who will secure the bunker and sixth floor executive suites in Eagan. Talk about outsourcing! [JH]

The Joys of Indecision: To go or not to go, or thank god registration for "PLL-SIS Summit II: Change as Action, Change as Opportunity" is still open

Is it "just me" or have you also been putting off registering for Philly 2011: Cream Cheese, Cheesesteak or Karaoke? It's not that I care which hotel I stay at because AALL consistency demonstrates that our association doesn't know how to negotiate price discounts like, ah, AALS does, for example. As long as there is a bar and the bed isn't infested with bed bugs I just don't give a damn where I stay. My issue, always decided at the last possible moment, is how many days attending AALL can I put up without warning the hotel management that it better have a straitjacket on hand.

This year I was beginning to get concerned that if I didn't pull the trigger, bite the bullet, damn soon, my most interesting option would be closed. However, the folks who are responsible for that option have published another promo (republished below). It's the PLL-SIS Summit II:  Change as Action, Change as Opportunity. Don't know about you but it is the best meeting on the agenda -- of course, that means it is scheduled before our annual meeting's regular programming. The PLL-SIS Summit looks like the best return on investment for the expense of travel and lodging costs to Philly for "Cream Cheese, Cheesesteak or Karaoke." Of course that means payment of a separate registration fee is required. Like the Summit proceedings could not have been scheduled as a track during the regular programming (due not a summary of the Summit proceedings is scheduled somewhere on the regular meeting agenda).

I can attend the PLL-SIS Summit without fear of needing a straitjacket but only if I leave Philly soon  thereafter. If I stay much longer, very powerful prescription medication will be required to avoid the straitjacket. Got some to spare? But I digress... . Here's the announcement:

PLL-SIS Summit II:  Change as Action, Change as Opportunity
 
Need another reason to attend the AALL PLL Change as Action Summit?  Hear Esther Dyson, Internet legend and technology visionary, sponsored by Wolters Kluwer Law & Business!

Esther Dyson, named by Forbes as one of the most powerful women in American business, is the founder and chairman of EDventure. She is one of the most influential voices in the Internet industry and has been a board member and/or early investor in several companies that helped define tech startup success, among them Flickr, Meetup, del.icio.us, and Technorati.  She also recently finished six months of cosmonaut training in Russia and serves on the NASA Advisory Council. Have your CEO, CIO, COO or managing partner register to hear Esther Dyson speak -- her lively Q-&-A session will explore how to embrace and use change in business and technology.

Registration is now open for the Private Law Libraries Change as Action Summit held in conjunction with the 2011 AALL Annual Meeting on July 23, 2011, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.  The $145 registration fee includes all programming. 

Registration is open on the AALL website. Sign up now to take part in this exciting event!

The Podium People, the Great Unwashed Masses and the Theme for This Year's AALL Annual Meeting. You may recall that at last year's business meeting the Podium People demonstrated their collective failure of imagination by announcing that this year's annual meeting had no theme. Actually, I think the explanation went something like "It's Philly! It's Philly! No theme required." I had a Tattoo moment upon hearing this -- "Da Plane! Da Plane!" In fact that was the only new experience I've had in years, meaning whenever I've been so utterly bored I have gone to our business meetings to be in the presence of the Podium People and we the Great Unwashed Masses for the members "forum."

That uncomfortable squirming from the Podium People trying to figure out who will and how will that person use a lot of words to say nothing that somehow produces an acceptable answer (at least in their minds) to questions from the floor during the members forum is so tradition-bound that it isn't "fun" watching the bobblehead reactions from the Podium People after one of them responds to a question from the floor. It certainly isn't worth any active engagement with the Podium People from the floor.

Based on past meeting, it's clear that the Podium People are hoping to quickly exit the members forum for a resort island that fulfills their fantasies. Of course, the rules of engagement for the conduct of the members forum include that the Podium People are not required to answer questions from the masses; we are, after all, just the great unwashed dues paying members. But I digress... .

Granted annual AALL get-together themes are only tag lines but I guess the AALL meeting about "what do we call this 'thing'" produced the sort of results we institutional representatives have come to expect from our association -- nothing. Since advertising, like nature, abhors a vacuum,  "Cream Cheese, Cheesesteak or Karaoke" is a better-than-nothing theme. I'm thinking we will see cream cheese, cheesestake and a lot of official karaoke in Philly.

Hope to see you at this year's  PLL-SIS Summit II:  Change as Action, Change as Opportunity, assuming I finally stop procrastinating. [JH]

Friday Fun: Dishonorable Mention "Winners" in ATL's Third Annual Law Revue Video Contest

From ALT's post: "This year, 25 law schools submitted nearly 30 videos for the contest. Some of them were entertaining, others excruciating less so. We’ll start with the latter. If we may paraphrase The Simpsons: other legal blogs reward knowledge, Above the Law punishes ignorance." The five winning videos in this award category along with ATL's editioral staff commentary on each can be viewed here.

Voting for one of the eight finalists in ATL's law revue contest is open now. I really like UNC's Casebooks at a Party submission. To view the videos and to vote, go here. 

Lets see, that's a total of 13 video viewing opportunities today. I think that's a record for LLB's Friday Fun feature. [JH]

Gaming Scholarships in the Legal Academy: How Many 1Ls Lose Their Merit Scholarships Because They Don't Make the Grade?

And then end up paying full tuition in their second and third years? No one really knows writes David Segal in his buzz-creating recent New York Times article:

Nobody knows exactly how many law school students nationwide lose scholarships each year — no oversight body tallies that figure — but what’s clear is that American law schools have quietly gone on a giveaway binge in the last decade. In 2009, the most recent year for which the American Bar Association has data, 38,000 of 145,000 law school students — more than one in four — were on merit scholarships. The total tab for all schools in all three years: more than $500 million.

It’s a huge sum, particularly when you realize that merit scholarships were exceptionally rare at law schools a mere generation ago. But given that many students lose their grants after the first year, the question is this: What exactly are law schools buying with all of that money?

What's going on?

Why would a school offer more scholarships than it planned to renew?

The short answer is this: to build the best class that money can buy, and with it, prestige. But these grant programs often succeed at the expense of students, who in many cases figure out the perils of the merit scholarship game far too late.

In other words, law school students end up with huge debts just for the sake of law schools attempts to improve their US News rankings. For much more, see Segal's Law Students Lose the Grant Game as Schools Win.

US News Responds. Bob Morse, US News rankings guru, take on this issue:

Law schools need to take far more direct responsibility for their policies instead of citing the oft-repeated claims that they are forced into these actions solely because U.S. News exerts so much power over law school behavior.

OK Bob, just keep compiling your rankings without auditing the data supplied by the legal academy. [JH]

Opening: Librarian, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, Atlanta Office

Kilpatrick Townsend and Stockton LLP, an internationally renowned law firm, is seeking a highly motivated, service-oriented Librarian for our Atlanta Office. This position works with a national team of librarians to provide comprehensive legal, business and competitive intelligence, research to attorneys and staff firm wide.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Conducts in-depth research and preliminary analysis for the firm’s attorneys and staff on a wide range of legal and non-legal issues, including but not limited to legal, business/corporate, patent and IP, and public records.
• Assists with the training of attorneys and staff on the effective use of print and electronic legal, business and patent resources and participates in various in-house library orientation programs.
• Works with practice groups and the marketing department on competitive intelligence projects.
• Performs cite-checking services.
• Monitors news/trends and prepares current awareness publications for attorneys and practice groups on legal, business and industry developments.
• Participates in reviewing and evaluating new and existing electronic resources in order to improve service and research efficiencies.

Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Library Science and/or 3 years of experiences in a law firm library.
• Experience searching Lexis, Westlaw, Dialog, Courtlink, Patbase and other electronic resources.
• Demonstrated aptitude for performing legal and business research and analysis.
• Excellent communication, people and organizational skills and the ability to work under pressure.

Please send resumes to shwhite(at)kilpatricktownsend.com.

Will Washington State Effectively Close Its State Law Library?

Could the Washington State legislature be so short-minded to essentially de-fund the Washington State Law Library in the budget currently under consideration?  That seems to be the case if this article in the News Tribune out of Tacoma is true.  The current budget for the years 2009-2011 is $4,436,000, and that represents a reduction from previous budget years.  It's reported that the Washington House is considering further reductions to $3,260,000 and the Senate proposed appropriation for two years is a mere $1,000,000.

Considering the Law Library pays expenses such as rent, insurance, and utilities to the tune of $450,000 per year, the leftover amount would barely pay for anything of substance.  If this is how Washington State legislators think of having a state law library, then what is the point of having one at all?

I have to hope that a budget compromise will come about that adequately funds the Law Library.  I'd like to think that this is typical of how budget negotiations start, and with reasonable funding secured in the end.  However, these days of what passes for governing and politics, I'm not so sure.  I hope this works out for the best.  [MG]

Are Footnotes in Judicial Opinions an Abomination?

Ruthann Robson's month long Footnote of a Day series of Constititutional Law Prof Blog posts came to a fitting conclusion on April 30, 2011 with Are Footnotes Necessary?. Very interesting series. [JH]

It's Done Done: TRI CEO Tom Glocer on the Thomson Reuters Merger and Its Benefits

Has it really only been three years since the Thomson-Reuters merger was completed? TRI CEO Tom Glocer is interviewed by the Financial Times' Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson at Thomson Reuters chief looks to next phase (article and video of interview). Love TR's Legal Current comment about the article . "Please note: you’ll have to subscribe to The FT but it’s free and only takes a minute." Yes, "emphasis added."

In the video, note Glocer's response to the last question about the benefits of the merger, namely the internationalization of TR's professional services business. In a tweek, Greg Lambert writes "this video looks like a rip-off of Frost v. Nixon ;-)" See also Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson's Feb 11, 2011 FT article, Legal business weighs down Thomson Reuters. [JH]

Money Talks, Common Decency Walks: The Osama bin Laden "Photo Op"

President Obama has reportedly decided that the White House would not publish official photos of the US assault that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. According to this report, "after they shot and killed the al-Qaida leader. Administration officials discussed whether to release the images, but the president ultimately decided he did not want to make available graphic photos that could become a propaganda tool."

Propaganda Tool, My Ass. There is an international convention which prohibits the publication of such photos. Unlike the former occupant of the Oral Office who might have Flickr-ed every damn official and unofficial photo of the scene that White House could grab its propaganda-churning hands on (anyone besides me thinking at least one such image would have been Photoshop-ed with an arrow pointing to a briefcase that was captioned "See, WMD!"), at least the current administration has compiled with this international norm of nation-state behavior.

Of course, that hasn't stopped the folks whose corporate logo is the orange shower drain from publishing photos. According to Reuters' own story, Photos from the Bin Laden Compound:

The photos, taken by a Pakistani security official who entered the compound after the early morning raid on Monday, show two men dressed in traditional Pakistani garb and one in a t-shirt, with blood streaming from their ears, noses and mouths.

The official, who wished to remain anonymous, sold the pictures to Reuters.

Money Talks for Reuters. No one in the Reuters photos looks like bin Laden, probably because his lifeless body exited stage right before the Pakistani security official was allowed on the scene. But quoting from Reuters in Reuters Defends Decision To Publish Bin Laden Compound Photos;

"As this is a story of global importance, Reuters chose to share these photographs with its media clients and allow them to make editorial decisions on how they were used," a spokesperson said.

(Emphasis added.)

And Common Decency Walks. Do I have any problems with the death of bin Laden even if some reports indicate that he was unarmed at the time are true. Hell no. I certainly have no problems with the Obama Administration's decision to not release official photos even if it decided not to mention it was doing so to comply with international conventions.

In my little county law library, patrons were speculating about how long it would be before WikiLeaks disclosed photos. Well, Reuters beat WikiLeaks to the punch because it "chose to share these photographs with its media clients." Big surprise, Thomson Reuters has not progressed beyond the journalism norm that pandered to the crowd like the image, right.

If you are more interested in real journalism in the 21st century instead of commercialized pandering to prurient interests demonstrated by Reuters ("trusted news resources from Thomson Reuters"?) you might want to check out The Death of Osama Bin Laden on Global Voices.

Oh Well, What the Hell. According to this NPR report even the  Dalai Lama "hinted" that Bin Laden's killing was justified. While being a sinner who will burn in hell if Catholic dogma is "accurate," I still prefer the official Vatican statement reported by the National Catholic Register:

Faced with the death of a man, a Christian never rejoices, but reflects on the serious responsibility of everyone before God and man, and hopes and pledges that every event is not an opportunity for a further growth of hatred, but of peace.

[JH]

Some Thoughts on the Kindle Library Lending Announcement

The news that Amazon is partnering with OverDrive to bring library lending is being hailed as a positive move.  CrunchGear says, for example, "Who says Amazon is trying to kill the local library? The company’s latest venture brings the power of the Kindle to public and educational libraries through a partnership with OverDrive. That sounds like love, not hate."  The idea that libraries will be able to borrow books to a Kindle device or app (do I owe any money to Apple for using the term app?) is positive.  But love?  I don't think so.

Rather than love, I think, Amazon sees this as another method to market books using library clientele.  Kindle borrowers can take notes that will stay with the book and only reappear if the book is re-borrowed or ultimately purchased, from Amazon, of course.  Then again, if one has a Kindle, from where else is the book going to come?  I see the program more as a try before you buy approach to marketing that uses libraries as the middleman.  The best part is, for Amazon and the publishers at least, is that the libraries will have to pay for the product, excuse me, the license to loan.  OverDrive has noted that the company will enforce any publisher restrictions on a title, such as the 26 check-out limit HarperCollins imposed on eBook lending.

I understand the value of devices such as the Kindle, Nook, etc.  One can carry a whole bookshelf of titles on a device lighter than a paperback.  I think that's a great idea for disposable reading.  More permament access still requires a leap of faith that the terms of license will not change in the future, or that technology will not further fragment incompatible file formats and devices.  Take one look at the OverDrive Device Resource Center and look at the list of compatible and incompatible devices.  The later is simple.  These don't work.  The former, however, lists eight different popular file formats (audio and text) with or without varying degrees of Digital Rights Management against a host of devices from maufacturers.  Some stuff works and some stuff doesn't.  Be advised.

I appreciate the courtesy, especially because I would want to consult it before I bought a device if I wanted to ensure borrowing from an OverDrive powered library.  My point is not that the list is overly complex and hard to decipher.  Far from it.  Rather it is that the list reminds me of just where the control on my ereading is centered.  That would be with the publishers, the marketers, and device makers.  A recent article in by Margaret King called Closing the Book on Ownership quotes one industry professional who suggests that DRM is less concerned with protecting intellectual property than it is used for securing market share.  As one commenter to the Kindle story in Information Today notes, the Kindle Library Lending feature is very Kindle branded.  The appearing and disappearing annotations come to mind again.

I can appreciate the convenience of these reading devices.  I see people with them more and more.  I don't question their utility, but I do question what I'm getting for my money.  I want to see a track record on the part of marketers before I invest time and intellect (and money!) on limited use content.  Otherwise I'll pay extra and actually buy the book.  I guess I'm still in that mindset where I value my ability to control over convenience.  [MG]

Congratulation to the Winners of This Year's Day in the Life Photo Contest

Great fun. I would really like a poster size copy of Margaret Butler's "Evolution of Technology" for display in my little county law library. View all the winning photos here. [JH]

The World of Actionable Actions: Institutional Buyers, Individual Consumers and the Legal Publishing Industry

The ways and means to reforming the current and long-standing status quo in the buyer-legal publishing vendor relationship will not be quick or easy. But there are ways and means. Just like there is a "universe of thinkable thoughts" (Berring) in the context of legal research, there is a world of actionable actions in the context of conducting business with legal publishers. It is "doable."

However, many professional law librarians have simply given up all hope of accomplishing anything. Why? Could it be because their primary reference point is their own professional association and its dismal track record. Of course, AALL's track record has contributed to the long-standing and progressively worsening status quo in the vendor-institutional buyer relationship.

Let's add, it is also readily apparent that AALL just is not interested in taken a leadership role for the sake of the small public and private sector offices or individual consumers of very expensive print and online commercial legal resources. Is it because they have no professional law librarians on staff? Do we not, as a professional association, have a public responsibility that extends beyond due-paying members? Are we law librarians not in the best position to advocate for all legal consumers based on our collective expertise with the legal publishing industry?

Answering such (rhetorical) questions in the affirmative by deeds, not just words, assumes that AALL officialdom would dedicate time to monitor all developments in the vendor-buyer relationship and then to closely examine (as in read) and widely publicize its analysis beyond the wall garden of AALL listservs. It is not unlawful to evaluate and disseminate critiques of business policies, practices, editorial quality and product pricing schemes of specific vendors and the industry generally under the AALL banner to the public at large. Of course, ad-paying vendors may not be happy and may be sufficiently "displeased" to pull their ad sponsorships. But if we as an professional association do not call it like we see it, our spinelessness just adds fuel to member dissatisfaction with AALL.

Is "Plan B" a concerted boycott of AALL by not renewing memberships? There's plenty of ways to organize summits and continuing education and professional development programs in real time virtually or at a GPS-identifible spot on Plant Earth. Hell, did you, like me, receive an unsolicited invitation to join SLA recently? Did AALL sell its mailing list to SLA? If so, it just might be the best thing our association has done in decades. But I digress... .

Certainly let's acknowledge that there are certain legal restrictions that make it difficult but not impossible for AALL to be an advocate for institutional and individual buyers of products and services from our major legal vendors.  However, none of those restrictions stop AALL from issuing consumer informational alerts. Of course, this would require that AALL starts thinking "outside of the box" it has created for itself as an excuse for not doing anything.

What's the real result? The dissatisfaction with AALL's long and unproductive history has led to a pervasive defeatist attitude in the law library community when members think that AALL is the only way to address reforms in the buyer-vendor relationship. That's exactly what some of our major legal vendors want and expect us to believe because AALL's failure of imagination clearly demonstrates its inability to think outside the box.

The world of actionable actions extends well beyond the symbiotic relationship of the status quo created by our legal vendors and AALL's lap dog approach to addressing issues by way of an institutionalized inside-the-box mindset and agenda. But before we go there, the next installment in this series on "The World of Actionable Actions" shall examine AALL's latest inside-the-box effort. [JH]

Check out AALL's Website Makeover: Does It Reflect Our Profession's Access to All Principle?

I haven't gone very far beyond the front page of AALL's website makeover, meaning (1) I haven't checked out its search engine to see if is a substantial improvement and (2) I haven't check out to see if AALL's chronic tendency to upload poorly-formed, lame click-to-create PDF files that were never accessible to all and also tended to be buried deep within AALL's old site when documentation dealt with how AALL was conducting our business has improved. At least the site doesn't carry any banner ads from our legal professional services vendors on the front page -- at least not yet.

AALL's web site has desperately needed a style and functionality redo for quite awhile. For far too long so it have been an embarrassment for a profession which is expected to be "up to speed" in web communications. The site does not demonstrate that AALL is at the bleeding edge of webdev. It doesn't need to do that and not doing so isn't a bad thing. I just hope the site passes 508 compliance in all respects since we ought to be doing that now; the javascript driven navigation and the tree subject of the site map may or may not be. Note well, the front page does not link to a "text-only" version or 508 statement. Regarding the latter, it may not be a legal requirement that AALL must comply with but isn't accessibility to all something our professional association ought to support in deed, not just in talk, even for something so relatively insignificant as our website?

Why Are Americans With Disabilities Underrepresented in Law Librarianship? Hold on. If we advocate access to all, the accessibility of AALL's website is not insignificant. Better be or it is time to start working on redesign version X.1 because, once again, the site would be a professional embarrassment. To repeat again, I haven't gone very far beyond the site's new front page so I can't offer a possible answer to the question, does the madeover site reflect our profession's access to all principles? The question is not a nit-pick; it is important.

There may come a time when disabiled law librarians employed in the profession will approach a representative percentage of disabled Americans. We aren't even close to that day. Take for example the case of the seeing impaired. Some may ask "how can 'they' practice law librarianship?  Considering the current state of technology, my response to that question is another one question -- "why are 'they' still underrepresentated?" Blind law librarians? Where are "they?"

It has been some 20 years since the ADA passed and at least 10 years since "reasonable accomodations" for essential professional law librarian job responsiblities could be easily accomodated by IT solutions in many practice areas. But have you ever thought, "blind, no problem, law librarianship is a career path for you?" 

Endnote. I do not mean to ignore others with disabilities who may want to join our profession. I bring up the matter of the seeing impaired not because it may seem the most improbable but because of my personal and professional experience. {JH]

Opening: Reference/National Security & U.S. Foreign Relations Librarian, George Washington Univ. Law School

The George Washington University Law School Library seeks a reference librarian to specialize in national security law and U.S. foreign relations law.  Review of applications will begin June 1, 2011, and continue until the position is filled.  Additional information about the position, including details on the application procedure is available on the Law Library’s website. Only complete applications will be considered.

The George Washington University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer.

Sierra - and other thoughts about the ILS

Ironically, yesterday, while I was attending a users group meeting for Koha (open source ILS), I saw an article by Marshall Breeding pop up on my phone.  It was about iii's Sierra product - their newest platform which takes "advantage of technology components, architectures, and methods consistent with the times..."  And because I am thirsty for a 21st century ILS, I drank.

According to the article, and other posts I've read (see, for example, David Rapp's post at LJ), iii is going to use what seems to be a quasi open service oriented architecture.  "Quasi open" because they are building Sierra with some open source components and will be publishing a full set of published APIs and RESTful web services. Theoretically, this will allow creative librarians to build on the open source components and customize their environment if they so choose.  It is unclear what open source components iii is using, or, if they will require innovators to contribute their code to an open access iii repository - sort of like other open source projects.  Regardless, this move is a good thing.

Service oriented architure stands in contrast to object oriented architecture.  SOA is basically a more flexible system so that pieces of the puzzle can be used for multiple purposes.  For a better lay person's description, you can check out this short You Tube which gives you a nice analogy to music.  Anyway, its been around for years and years, so its sort of nice that iii has caught up to the times.

As I read through the article I actually thought that when the product became available later this year, iii was going to start migrating its clients to Sierra.  I am, for another couple of months, a iii client.  So, I should have known better.  There will be a fee for the migration.  And, I bet it will be pretty stiff if my own experiences with iii mean anything.  I feel bad for iii clients, including myself. 

Years ago our libraries paid for a state of the art system, we continued to pay dearly to maintain and enhance it, Encore adoptors had to pay even more for a faceted search result that was not even tied into their base packages, and now, Sierra adopters, in order to provide a 21st century search interface for their clientele, will have to pay again.  I was saddened, though it confirmed my desire to leave that business model behind.

I shut down my phone when I finished reading the article and paid attention to the conversation surrounding Koha.  In the room with me was my excellent support team (Bywater Solutions) who has already provided me with more customer service than I have received in years from iii.  I think many librarians do not realize that you do not have to go it alone if you go open source. Marshall Breeding also maintains a site that reviews different IL systems, open source and proprietary.  I recommend it if you are interested in the subject.

I hope our migration goes smoothly.  I'll be sure to report back and hopefully, like Peter Pan, I will be crowing about it. (VS)

Oh No, Clippy is Back!

CNN reports that "[a]fter killing off the cartoon paper clip, Microsoft decided to revive him (I guess it's a him?) in limited fashion as part of a learn-how-to-use-Office game called "Ribbon Hero 2: Clippy's Second Chance." See below video. [JH]

LexisNexis 2010 Connecticut General Statutes Back Online

As you may recall Chris Graesser (Legislative Librarian, Connecticut Legislative Library) reported to LexisNexis that portions of the 2010 Connecticut General Statutes were missing from the Company's online database.  On April 21, 2011, Chris alerted the law library community by way of AALL lists of the problem and urged users to use caution when using Connecticut statutes on lexis.com. She wrote, "just a good lesson to not take any source for granted." (Message republished April 27, 2011 on LLB.)

After conducting a review of the data, Lexis determined that a significant data conversion error had occurred and decided to remove the 2010 version of the Connecticut General Statutes from the lexis.com databases.  The Company re-loaded its 2009 version of the statutes and users had access to that version of the statutes along with legislative alert links that continued to alert researchers to affected code sections. While some Lexis users may have caught the legislative alert links, my past experience is many researchers probably did not.

When the Company decided to remove the 2010 version of the Connecticut General Statutes to fix the data conversion error, some sort of statement warning and instructing researchers on the issue, the availability of the legislative alert links, and the expected re-upload date should have been prominently displayed on the database menu and on each and every affected page. I think I still remember how to grep that. I think researchers would have understood that the Company was addressing the issue and would have appreciated the heads-up because I believe we all know that glitches happen. 

Over the past week, LN has completely re-converted the 2010 Connecticut General Statutes and has finished a quality review of the content set.  As of yesterday afternoon, I am told that the Connecticut statutes available on lexis.com are fully updated with 2010 legislation. Users can see that statute text has been updated by reviewing the LexisNexis' currentness line that appears on each code section: “This document is current through the 2010 legislation".

A senior LN executive put it this way to me: "To be clear, our updating of the Connecticut General Statutes this year did not meet LexisNexis standards and we are working with our production teams to ensure that this does not happen again.  In the meantime, LexisNexis has had teams working around the clock to get the corrected Connecticut statutes data on lexis.com as quickly as possible.  LexisNexis appreciates the feedback from Christine Graesser of the Connecticut General Assembly and from other customers who brought the issue to our attention."

To which I will add, if users of the 2010 Connecticut General Statutes spot any errors, do what Chris did -- contact the Company and give the law library community a heads-up.

To its credit LN has taken the necessary action to promptly fix the problem Chis identified. Thanks Chris. [JH]

Nolo Acquired by Internet Brands

On eLawyering Blog, Richard Granat reports that Nolo has been acquired by Internet Brands, an advertising driven Internet company. For some 40 years now, Nolo has been helping make the legal system accessible to all by way of its self-help books and advocating for reforms to:

• write laws, regulations, and court forms in plain English
• require courts to provide in-person help to people without lawyers
• simplify courtroom procedures to give people without lawyers a fair shake
• simplify probate, and eliminate it entirely for uncontested bequests to family members
• remove many simple uncontested matters from court entirely
• redesign public law libraries to make legal information accessible to all
• substantially raise small claims court dollar limits to create a true people’s court
• let lawyers coach the self-represented without taking over the whole case (lawyers call this “unbundling” legal services)
• promote mediation to settle disputes out of court
• abolish unauthorized practice of law statutes that threaten online access to do-it-yourself legal materials and tools, and
• let trained nonlawyers help consumers accomplish basic legal tasks such as uncontested divorces, adoptions, guardianships, and stepparent adoptions.

Quoting from Nolo's About Page (linked above), which adds:

Nolo still strives to give consumers information they can trust and put to use: the highest quality, most up-to-date legal information, access to statutes and court decisions, and detailed information about lawyers who can provide personalized expert help. Even after 40 years, no other organization does what we do.

About the acquisition, Granat writes:

The challenge for Internet Brands will be to figure out how to unlock the assets buried within Nolo's vast collection of self-help law books and turn these assets into web-based applications that can be distributed over the Internet. It remains to be seen whether the quality of Nolo's self-help legal content will deteriorate under the management of an advertising-driven company that measures results in page views and unique visitors.

[JH]

Still Time for Private Law Libraries to Contribute to Collection Rebalancing Survey for a New Resource Guide

It appears that private law librarians (one per instiutional buyer) still has time to respond to the survey on collection rebalancing for a new AALL resource guide. Check this link to the survey. All things considered, I think this is a very important survey, the findings of which hopefully will be widely available to all law librarians. The results could make for very interesting conversations at Philly 2011: Cream Cheese, Cheesesteak or Karaoke. [JH]