Law Librarian Blog

(Trying) to go Green

At the Univeristy of Hawaii, being "green" is a very 'in' shade with the cool kids.  And the law school is no exception to the rule.  And I invite you and your institution to take up the cause - and we can start with AALS.  Below is a picture of half - yes, half - of the mail that the UH law faculty and staff has received from AALS during the past two weeks.  And remember, the Richardson School of Law is one of the smallest law schools in the country.  Incidentally, the Library has yet to add to the growing pile!  We are waiting for our dump truck to haul the stuff away.

For those academics out there, are you also getting snail spammed by AALS?

We are not sure what we can do about it.  Yes, they have been contacted.

The project was the idea of our Recycle Committee (I told you we were green.  How many schools have a recycle committee?).  The initiative follows a successful campaign to diminish junk mail at the law school more generally.  Now the Chair of the Committee is targeting AALS.

We may just decide to send all the stuff back to AALS and give them a taste of what it is like to get oodles of mail no one wants to read.  It would make a stronger signal if ALL law schools did the same.

If you have any ideas on how to help AALS go green, please leave them here in a comment or contact me individually. (VS)

Nixon Unplugged

Hat tip to WSJ Law Blog's Joe Palazzolo who wrote in his time-stamped Nov. 10, 2011, 12:05 PM ET post Law Blog Doc Dump: Nixon’s Grand Jury Records:

A heads up to our legal history buffs: The government’s Nixon Presidential Library just published online – as in five minutes ago – his 1975 grand jury testimony about Watergate.

“This is Nixon unplugged,” historian Stanley Kutler, a principal figure in the lawsuit that pried open the records, told the Associated Press.

"Five minutes ago" for "Nixon unplogged"! One can only imagine how the course of history might have been changed if Watergate took place in today's communications environment. Would the break-in even had been executed? 

If you want to imagine what might have happened during Watergate via Twitter, a 24-year-old Oxford history graduate is narrating World War II events on Twitter. See Real-Time World War II Is the Best Thing to Ever Come Out of Twitter on Gizmodo. [JH]

Opening: Editor for AALL's Price Index for Legal Publications

From the Nov. 9, 2011 announcement posted on AALL. The deadline for applying is Dec. 5, 2011.

Job Description: The American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) seeks an Editor for its annual publication, Price Index for Legal Publications (PILP). The editor will work with the PILP Committee to produce an annual Index. AALL publishes PILP as a service to its members and for other purposes. The Index measures the year-to-year changes in average prices for specific legal information products. The editor will work as a paid, part-time independent contractor.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Establishes, in consultation with the committee, the categories of material to be included in the Index.
• Applies price data definitions and categories to develop a meaningful presentation of legal materials pricing.
• Identifies and analyzes apparent irregularities in the data, and works to address the issue(s).
• Works with the committee to determine any necessary revisions to the lists and or categories of price data.
• Produces, summarizes and generates numerical reports regarding legal information prices and price trends.
• Communicates regularly with the committee regarding the production of the Index.
• Offers process improvement suggestions and other constructive feedback to the committee. Maintains records and documentation to facilitate the continuity of the Index.
• Participates in committee meetings, and other discussions related to the production of the Index.
• Produces each year’s PLIP by June 1, and is available to complete the bulk of the editorial duties during the months February through May.
• Notes: Telecommuting is allowed. 

Requirements:

• Five or more years of experience as a professional law librarian, including exposure to technical services, collection development, acquisitions, or legal information pricing conventions.
• Well-developed numerical data manipulation abilities, including experience applying intermediate to advanced skills in Microsoft Excel and Access.
• Working knowledge of price index concepts.
• Attention to detail.
• Member of AALL.

To be considered for this position, please submit a resume and cover letter, to Kate Hagan, Executive Director, American Association of Law Libraries, at khagan(at)aall.org or 105 W. Adams, Suite 3300, Chicago, IL 60603. To ensure full consideration of your application, it must be received no later than December 5, 2011. Contract period begins no later than February 1, 2012.

[JH]

Browsing On A Sunday: Borders Books, The Health Care Law, And The Search Market

Bloomberg Business Week has a lengthy analysis on the failure of Borders Books called The End of Borders and the Future of Books.  The pull quote is “Borders seems to have been in the business of making mistakes.”  The article documents many of them, from hiring Amazon to run all of Borders online business, to investing in physical media inventory at a time when media was rapidly growing online, to locating its stores in less than prime locations and signing long term leases on the stores.  It appears that Borders management kept making strategic mistakes and seemed to have lost focus as demonstrated by having six CEOs in that last 12 years.  It would seem that Borders going under could have been avoided if the company took measures early on.  But it didn’t, and the rest is history.

The future of books, or more specifically, the future of physical bookstores is more independent local stores coming back to fill the gap left by Borders.  The article points out that Amazon is not to blame for Borders’ demise as Barnes & Noble held strong, not needing to close any of its stores.  In fact, there are statements to the effect that half the stores were profitable at the time of the closure.  That’s business not necessarily heading to B&N or Amazon.

Another article from Bloomberg Business Week, Conservative Health-Care Split Offers Court a Path: Noah Feldman is an analysis of the possible options for the Supreme Court in considering the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).  The most recent decision upholding the law comes from the Court of Appeals from the District of Columbia.  Three of the four Circuits that have heard arguments have now upheld the law for various reasons.  Feldman, a Harvard Law professor, focuses not only on the various rationales advanced by the D.C. Circuit Judges, but also who they are.  Judge Laurence Silberman is a well-respected conservative jurist.  Judge Brett Kavanaugh is another conservative who has clerked for Justice Kennedy, identified as the likely swing vote in any Supreme Court decision.  It’s a fascinating look at the judicial politics underneath the decision.

Finally, a bit of technology.  Google increased its share of search in the United States by 0.3 percentage points, to a total of 65.6%.  Yahoo lost a comparable amount, now holding 15.2%.  Bing edged up 0.1 percentage points to 14.8%.  Ask.com lost 0.1% and AOL stayed unchanged at 1.5% of the market.  Microsoft has said it is in for the long haul on capturing search share.  It better be with those numbers.  More on this is in the Chicago Tribune.  [MG]

Round-Up of Law Practitioner Blogs

Maryland Injury Lawyers Blog
http://www.marylandinjurylawyersblog.com/
http://www.marylandinjurylawyersblog.com/index.xml
Examines personal injury cases, news, and opinions in Maryland. Published by Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester, LLC
 
Mesothelioma Lawyers Blog
http://www.mesotheliomalawyers-blog.com/
http://www.mesotheliomalawyers-blog.com/index.xml
Discusses Mesothelioma cases, news, and reports nationwide. Published by Law Offices of Jeffrey S. Glassman, LLC
 
Philadelphia Bankruptcy Lawyer Blog
http://www.philadelphiabankruptcylawyerblog.com/
http://www.philadelphiabankruptcylawyerblog.com/index.xml
Examines bankruptcy cases, news, and opinions in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Published by King Law Center
 
New York Business Litigation Lawyer Blog
http://www.thesilberlawfirm.com/
http://www.thesilberlawfirm.com/index.xml
Examines Business Litigation cases, news, and opinions in New York. Published by The Silber Law Firm LLC

Massachusetts Workers Compensation Lawyers Blog
http://www.massachusettsworkerscompensationlawyersblog.com/
http://www.massachusettsworkerscompensationlawyersblog.com/index.xml
Examines workers compensation cases, news, and opinions in Massachusetts. Published by the Law Offices of Jeffrey S. Glassman, LLC