Law Librarian Blog

UN Convention on Disabilities Ratified

From the UN Pulse: "The Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities entered into force on 3 May 2008. The Convention was adopted by the General Assembly on 13 December 2006 (A/RES/61/106), and was opened for signature and ratification on 30 March 2007. The Convention had to be ratified by 20 states before it came into force – a process that can sometimes take several years. In this case, it took only a little over one year."  [RJ]

LII Launches RSS Feeds for US Code Updates

Check it out. [JH]

Directory of Online Canadian Federal Government Databases

The Directory of Online Canadian Federal Government Databases (2008) is the 4th edition of the bibliography of online Canadian federal government databases. This current edition lists 488 databases publicly accessible on Government of Canada Web sites. Some of these databases require user registration. This edition contains 334 entries from the 2005 edition that have been reviewed and verified as well as 154 databases that have appeared since the previous edition. [RJ]

New on LLRX.com for April 2008

From LLRX:

• The Personal Information Trainer, by Stuart Basefsky
• Criminal Law Resources: Fingerprint Evidence Challenges, by Ken Strutin
• The Social Networking Titans: Facebook and MySpace, by Deborah Ginsberg and Meg Kribble
• Update to Choosing Law Librarianship: Thoughts for People Contemplating a Career Move, by Mary Whisner
• Living With the Asus Eee PC, by Conrad J. Jacoby
• Competitive Intelligence - A Selective Resource Guide, by Sabrina I. Pacifici, completely revised and updated.
• Doing Legal Research in Canada - revised and updated, by Ted Tjaden
• The Tao of Law Librarianship: If the Books Go, Will They Still Want Us? by Connie Crosby
• E-Discovery Update: Minimizing E-Mail Archive Data Conversion Issues, by Conrad J. Jacoby
• Reference from Coast to Coast: Making A Federal Case Out of It, by Jan Bissett and Margi Heinen
• FOIA Facts: Increasing the Quality of FOIA Releases, by Scott A. Hodes
• The Government Domain: Rich Resources from the Librarians of the Fed, by Peggy Garvin
• LLRX Book Review by Heather A. Phillips - Jerome Neu’s Sticks and Stones: The Philosophy of Insults
• Commentary: Waterboarding, Congress and the President, by Beth Wellington

Violence Against Women, WHO and CRS Reports

From the UN Pulse: "The World Health Organization (WHO) has published Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women. This report presents initial results based on interviews with 24 000 women. The report concludes with 15 recommendations to strengthen national commitment and action on violence against women." 

See also International Violence Against Women: U.S. Response and Policy Issues (pdf) (CRS Report, March 31, 2008) which addresses causes, prevalence, and consequences of violence against women. It provides examples of U.S. activities that address VAW directly or include anti-VAW components. It also outlines possible policy considerations for the 110th Congress, including the scope and effectiveness of current U.S. programs; further integrating anti-VAW programs into U.S. assistance and foreign policy mechanisms; strengthening U.S. government coordination of international anti-VAW activities; and collaborating with international organizations such as the United Nations on anti-VAW efforts. [RJ & JH]

New GlobaLex Articles

April 2008 GlobaLex features include the following:

• Towards the Human Rights Protection of Minority Languages in Africa by Innocent Maja
• Guide to Estonian Legal System and Legal Research by Jannu Kuusik and Kart Miil
• Researching Ghanaian Law by Victor Essien by Vicotor Essien                                              
• A Basic Guide to International Environmental Legal Research by Heidi Frostestad Kuehl
• The Bulgarian Legal System and Legal Research by Angel Panayotov, Venelin Dimitrov, and Blagomir Minov
• A Research Guide to Ukrainian Law by Alexander Biryukov & Myroslava Kryvonos

Visit GlobaLex for additional articles and guides on international, comparative, and foreign law research. [RJ]

Asylum Law and Female Genital Mutilation: Recent Developments

New CRS report via Federation of American Scientists:

"Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a term encompassing a wide range of procedures that involve the removal or alteration of a woman’s genitalia. The federal courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) have classified FGM as a form of persecution, a showing of which can act as a basis for a successful asylum claim. However, recent developments in this area of law have created a split between the federal courts and the BIA over the treatment of applicants who have already been inflicted with FGM. The federal courts that have addressed this issue currently treat a past infliction of FGM as a basis for a well-founded fear of persecution. The BIA, on the other hand, has rejected this position, arguing that FGM is a one-time procedure, and that once inflicted, an applicant will not be persecuted with FGM again, and thus cannot act as a basis for an asylum application."  [RJ]

War Powers Resources from the Law Library of Congress

The Law Library of Congress is proud to present four constitutional law items focusing on War Powers. The three articles and one statement to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary are available in their entirety in PDF.

• Louis Fisher, "Thomas F. Eagleton: A Model of Integrity," 52 St. Louis U. L. J. 97 (2007). 
• Louis Fisher, "Domestic Commander in Chief: Early Checks by Other Branches," 29 Cardozo L. Rev. 961 (2008).
• Statement by Louis Fisher, appearing before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, "Exercising Congress's Constitutional Power to End a War," January 30, 2007.
• Louis Fisher, "Deciding on War Against Iraq: Institutional Failures," 118 Pol. Sci. Q. 389 (2003).

[RJ]

"The Science of Search"

That's the title of this Legal Technology News article comparing e-discovery keyword searches against legal research keyword searches. 

The notion that lawyers are unqualified per se to concoct keyword searches is likely to shake some sensibilities. Lawyers believe themselves adept at keyword search in e-discovery because they've mastered keyword search in online legal research. The correlation is superficial at best. Unlike the crazy quilt of ESI, the language of reported cases is precise, consistent and structured. Misspellings are rare. Legal research is Disneyland. E-discovery is Baghdad.

The author, Craig Ball, stresses the complexity of keyword searches, the science behind it, and the need for search science as part of CLE.  I couldn't agree more, even for the "Disneyland" of legal research, although I wonder about his blanket statement that all attorneys have mastered keyword searching.  Lawyers do it alot, but I think their strategies and effectiveness vary quite a bit depending on training and experience.

Law schools teach the science and art of legal research when modern methods have all but eliminated the need to navigate the reporter system. Instead, students and lawyers must be afforded the means to master the art and science of digital information. We must dare to tread in these areas, not as fools but as professionals skilled in eliciting, testing and marshaling evidence wherever it may be found.

I've blogged before on the possible affinity between e-discovery and librarians.  Should law librarians be teaching e-discovery search techniques as well to advanced students?   It's an interesting article.  Check it out!  [JJ]

New Free Business Search Engine from Northern Light

Northern Light Search provides access to "business and industry news from thousands of hand-selected business news sites, leading business publications, industry authority blogs, regional newspapers, and national news sources." Formerly fee-based, a retooled free SE will offically launch in mid-April. Check out the beta version. Details at Information Today. Hat tip to LISNews. [JH]

Torres and Guymon's Bar Exam/Bar Admission Annotated Bibliography

Arturo Torres, Associate Dean of Law Library and Computing, at Texas Tech School of Law and Texas Tech 2L Bryan J. Guymon have published an annotated bibliography of leading articles written about the bar examination and/or admission to the bar. The bibliography covers works published from 1998 to 2007 and appeared in the February 2008 issue of The Bar Examiner. The authors have graciously supplied a PDF that you can download here.

Hat tip to Amy Jarmon (Texas Tech), Law School Academic Support Blog. [JH]

Professional Reading: Turning Static Pathfinders Into Dynamic Online Resources

Demonstrating my utter lack of imagination, I led the charge for converting print-based subject guides and pathfinders into quasi-static web pages at the University of Cincinnati Law Library a couple of years ago. At the time I was thinking that it would be easier to update webpages and distribute download-able PDF files, while saving a few trees in the process. But someone still had to code the updates or create the PDF files, and that work couldn't be distributed to all pathfinder authors because many didn't know how to compose in HTLM, most we didn't want to have web server authorization for uploading purposes because we were fearful of the Oops factor, and, alas, we were too cash-strapped to hand out PDF-creator software to everyone. In other words, delays.

Plus the "ownership" aspect of our publications tended to reduce collaboration. That meant our pathfinders and subject guides revealed relative strength and weakness in covering both online and print resources. While that may be good for management purposes in terms of identifying competencies, it was bad for the users of our publications.

There's a number of better ways to create and update web-based pathfinders and subject guides. Edward M. Corrado and Kathryn A. Frederick review cost-effective options in their Free and Open Source Options for Creating Database-Driven Subject Guides (Code4Lib Issue 2, 2008-03-24). The article discusses both the functionality and the relative strengths and weaknesses of open source database-driven solutions (such as SubjectsPlus, LibData, Research Guide, and Library Course Builder), social bookmarking sites, blogs, wikis, and eCourse management systems. [JH]

The Religion Clauses in the 21st Century: Symposium Papers

From the press release:

"ACS and the West Virginia Law Review are pleased to announce that papers written for “The Religion Clauses in the 21st Century” symposium held at the West Virginia University College of Law are now available. Video excerpts of the panelists discussing symposium topics are also available.

Written by scholars in the law of church and state, the symposium papers reflect perspectives on issues organized according to these themes: The Religion Clauses in Institutional Contexts, Government Religious Expression, Accommodation of Religion, and Religion and Politics.”   [RJ]

Research Tips for Monitoring Litigation

Carol Bannen (Director of Information Resources, Reinhart, Boerner, Van Deuren, Milwaukee) identifies some free and fee-based services for monitoring litigation in the March 2008 issue of Wisconsin Lawyer. See also Bev Butula's (Rreference Librarian, Davis & Kuelthau, Milwaukee) Online Access to Circuit Court Dockets, Wisconsin Lawyer (October 2007). [JH]

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]

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]

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]

How to Do Russian Legal Research

The Law Library of Congress has prepared a Legal Research Guide for Russia. The Russian Guide includes an introduction to the legal system, official sources of law, print resources, and web resources. Check it out. [JH]

United Nations Data Access System (UNdata)

From the site:

"The new UN data access system (UNdata) will improve the dissemination of statistics by UNSD to the widest possible audience. An easy to use data access system was developed that meets UNSD’s vision of providing an integrated information resource with current, relevant and reliable statistics free of charge to the global community.

Subsequent stages of the development of the UN data access system will extend to UN system data as well as to data of national statistical offices - providing the user with a simple single-entry point to global statistics."  [RJ]

PACER Recycling Page

Check out Public.Resource.org's PACER recycling page.   There you can can provide free access to your old PACER court documents as well as access other PACER documents that have been uploaded.  Very nice.  [RJ] 

Gavel to Gavel on Judicial Recusal

Interesting article from Gavel to Gavel: "While every state judicial system has rules and canons with respect to judicial recusal, legislatures in the last several sessions also examined whether to impose by statute recusal requirements."

New StatPack, Including First Justice Agreement Stats

Another excellent resource from SCOTUSblog:

"A new StatPack is available for download here. It has three new inclusions from the last edition: Justice Agreement, Decisions by Final Vote, and a new chart we’re calling “Frequency in the Majority” (thanks go to Ben for this chart).

The first two additions are charts we’ve offered before (see here for last year’s End-of-Term stats) but were hesitant to include in previous StatPacks this Term because it’s so early. With the Term roughly 25% complete in terms of the issuing of decisions (there have been 17 substantive opinions so far out of an estimate of 70), we figured it’s worth releasing them, with the disclaimer that these charts ought to be taken with a large grain of salt: so much is still left outstanding this Term, and they could (and likely will) change drastically by the time the Court recesses for the summer.

The true “new” addition to the StatPack is a tally of how often each Justice votes with the majority - both overall and in divided cases only (you can download this chart individually here)."

Children’s Rights: International and National Laws and Practices

New resources from the Law Library of Congress:

"Children’s Rights examines sixteen nations, across five continents: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Nicaragua, Russia, and the United Kingdom (England and Wales). For each nation, the study focuses on the domestic laws and policies that affect child health and social welfare, education and special needs, child labor and exploitation, sale and trafficking of children, and juvenile justice. Children’s Rights also lists which pertinent international treaties the nation has ratified and implemented.

Children’s Rights will enable researchers, legislators, and academics to compare and contrast how children are treated among the different continents and which policies and laws have had the most profound impact on the younger generations."   [RJ]

INTELWIRE Releases FBI Documents Cited In 9/11 Commission Report

From INTELWIRE.com:

"INTELWIRE has obtained more than 1,700 pages of FBI documents cited in the end notes of the Final Report of the 9/11 Commission.

They reveal a wealth of new details about the hijacker's movements, possible links between the hijackers and the government of Saudi Arabia, and connections to extremist figures in the United States, including blind Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman.

The package covers a wide variety of topics, including the movements of the hijackers over more than 10 years, people who associated with the hijackers in the U.S., FBI interviews with the victims, transcripts of phone calls to the hijacked flights, intelligence obtained by overseas agencies and much, much more."   

Tarlton Law Library Launches Patent and Trademark Current Awareness Services

The Tarlton Law Library has launched two new current awareness services, Current Patent Literature and Current Trademark Literature. The new services complement Tarlton’s Current Copyright Literature [RSS feed] service. The goal is to create a suite of current awareness services covering the major areas of IP law.

Edited by Jane O’Connell, director of faculty and student services, the new patent and trademark services provide basic bibliographic data for recent articles appearing in U.S. legal journals and non-U.S. legal journals published in English. Additionally, the first page of each article is available for 60 days. Both services are RSS-enabled to allow users to receive automatic notices of updates. Here's the links for these very useful services:

• Current Patent Literature: web page | RSS feed
• Current Trademark Literature: web page |RSS feed

Well done! [JH]

C-SPAN Congressional Chronicle

The C-SPAN Congressional Chronicle is an index to the C-SPAN video recordings of the House and Senate floor proceedings. The video recordings are matched with the text of the Congressional Record as soon as the Congressional Record is available. It only includes members who appeared on the floor to deliver or insert their remarks. The text included here is what the member submitted. Each appearance has a video link where users can watch and listen to the actual remarks.

Hat tip to beSpacific. [JH]

Beta Research Tools

CollegeDegree.com, a very useful and comprehensive online education resource site [see their directories of online law school and paralegal programs and IT schools) has published 25 Awesome Beta Research Tools from Libraries Around the World. See also their 99 Mind Mapping Resources, Tools, and Tips. [JH]

New GlobaLex Articles

New legal research articles and guides from from GlobaLex:

• Legal Information Institutes and the Free Access to Law Movement by Graham Greenleaf
• Guide to Legal Research in Belarus By Nadia Shalygina 
• Legal Research in Germany between Print and Electronic Media: An Overview by Rita Exter and Martina Kammer
• The Law and Legal Research in Lesotho by Buhle Angelo Dube 
• An Overview of Malaysian Legal System and Research by Shaikh Mohamed Noordin and Lim Pui Keng

[RJ]

New on LLRX.com

From LLRX:

• Eight Legal Technology Trends for 2008 – Good Times, Bad Times or Hard Times in Legal Tech? by Dennis Kennedy
• E-Discovery Update: Resolving Client-Vendor Disputes, by Conrad Jacoby
• Happ-eee with my Eee PC, by Bette Dengel
• Knowledge Discovery Resources 2008, by Marcus P. Zillman
• The Government Domain: What's New in DotGov and Beyond, by Peggy Garvin
• FOIA Facts: The Congressional Role in FOIA Operations, by Scott A. Hodes
• Mexico and its Legal System, by Prof. Jorge A. Vargas
• CongressLine: The Budget, by Paul Jenks
• The Caribbean Court of Justice: A Research Guide, by Yasmin Morais
• Burney's Legal Tech Reviews, by Brett Burney
• More Recommendations from MacWorld 2008, by Nicholas Moline
• Commentary: The Theory of the Unitary Executive and the FY2009 Budget, by Beth Wellington

Impeachment of State Court Judges

Interesting article from Gavel to Gavel: "While threats to remove judges from office over their decisions are nothing new, the last two state legislative cycles have been unprecedented in the actual number of resolutions introduced. Beyond simple rhetorical jousting, the drafting and consideration of articles of impeachment (or in some states bills of address) for judicial decisions has become more widespread and are not necessarily only contending with highly charged political issues."  [RJ]

Law Library of Congress Current Awareness Resources

From the site:

Available RSS feeds:

• News & Events: http://www.loc.gov/rss/law/news.xml
• Research Reports: http://www.loc.gov/rss/law/reports.xml
• Webcasts: http://www.loc.gov/rss/law/webcasts.xml
• Global Legal Monitor: http://www.loc.gov/rss/law/globalmonitor.xml

Email updates:

• News & Events
• Research Reports
• Webcasts
• Global Legal Monitor

[RJ]

Earmarks, Analysis and Resources

Thanks to OpenCRS, the public now has access to the following recent CRS report:

Earmarks Executive Order: Legal Issues (February 13, 2008) by Thomas J. Nicola and T. J. Halstead, Legislative Attorneys. Here's the summary:

On January 29, 2008, President George W. Bush signed Executive Order 13,457, "Protecting American Taxpayers from Government Spending on Wasteful Earmarks." The order states that it is the policy of the federal government “to be judicious in the expenditure of taxpayer dollars.” In order "[t]o ensure the proper use of taxpayer funds," the order provides that the number and cost of earmarks should be reduced, that their origin and purposes should be transparent; and that they should be included in the text of bills voted upon by Congress and presented to the President. For appropriations laws and other legislation enacted after the date of the order, it directs executive agencies not to commit, obligate, or expend funds on the basis of earmarks included in any non-statutory source, including requests in reports of committees of Congress or other congressional documents or communications on behalf of Members of Congress, or any other non-statutory source, except when required by law or when an agency itself has determined that a project, program, grant, or other transaction has merit under statutory criteria or other merit-based decision-making.

In the context of the order, an "earmark" is defined as any

funds provided by Congress for projects, programs, or grants where the purported congressional direction (whether in statutory text, report language, or other communication) circumvents otherwise applicable merit-based or competitive allocation processes, or specifies the location or recipient, or otherwise curtails the ability of the executive branch to manage its statutory and constitutional responsibilities pertaining to the funds allocation process.

There is a long tradition of congressional inclusion of, and agency compliance with, spending directives that are delineated in committee report language or in joint explanatory statements issued by conference committees. If applied rigorously, the provisions of Executive Order 13,457 could significantly alter this traditional dynamic. Accordingly, this report provides an overview of the provisions of the order; addresses questions that have arisen regarding both the President’s authority to control executive branch activity in this context and the effect of non-statutory congressional spending directives; and considers and evaluates potential congressional responses to the executive order. The report will be updated as events warrant.

See also the following CRS Report, if you can locate a copy: The President's Authority to Issue an Executive Order Governing Executive Agency Responses to "Earmarks" Contained in Committee Reports (Dec. 18, 2007)

Our blog coverage of additional resources on earmarks:

• Investigate Earmarks with EarmarkWatch.org
• OMB Earmarks Database

[JH}

Legal Research and Legal Education in Africa

Vicki Lawal, University of Cape Town, Dept. of Library and Information Studies, has deposited Legal Research and Legal Education in Africa: the Challenge for Information Literacy in NELLCO. Presented at the Starr Foundation Workshop, which took place at Cornell Law School, October 7-11, 2007, this paper "analyses legal research within the context of legal education in Africa, it examines some of the challenges of electronic legal research in view of the influences of online legal electronic resources and Computer Assisted legal Research (CALR) and the importance of information literacy in addressing some of the issues raised especially with regards to undergraduate legal education." [JH]

Now Available The Bluebook Online

Recently launched, The Bluebook Online! At first glance it looks like a well-executed service. Please add your thoughts as comments to this post.

• Online Subscription for Individual and Multiple User Accounts
• Additional Subscription Information from the Help Section of the Site
• Video tours of The Bluebook Online

See also the Harvard Law Review's Press Release.

[JH]

IP Bibliography Published by Copyright Society

Bibliography of recent articles from law reviews and copyright periodicals at 55 J. Copyright Soc'y U.S.A. 111-123 (2007) [Westlaw] [JH]

Codes, Rules, and Regulations of the State of New York Now Online

From the press release:

"The New York State Department of State today announced that an unofficial compilation of all State codes, rules, and regulations, which runs more than 58,000 pages, is now available on the Department of State website in searchable format.

"We at the Department of State have been known as the 'Keeper of Records' for more than two centuries," Secretary of State Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez said.  "Today we build on that tradition by putting online all of the State's codes, rules and regulations in an easy to search format.  This will make it significantly easier to do business in New York, which should reduce costs, and we expect, raise compliance levels as well."

The codes, rules, and regulations, commonly known as the NYCRR, can now be accessed at the Department of State website at www.dos.state.ny.us/info/nycrr.htm.   The material can be searched with words and phrases.   A drill down table of contents will be added in several weeks.  The text is compliant with the American with Disabilities Act."  [RJ]

New: Public Library of Law

FastCase has just launched their Public Library of Law, a free resource (registration required for caselaw) that brings together all the available online caselaw, statutes, regulations, court rules and constitutions from the federal and state governments.  From the PLOL spiel:

Comprehensive: The Fastcase PLoL brings together all of the free legal resources that exist on the Internet and adds an additional 10 years of case law from all 50 states, eliminating the need to search hundreds of sites or pore through thousands of books to find answers to legal questions.  PLoL users have access to:

o   U.S. Reports: Vol. 1-546, inclusive (1757 to present)
o   F.2d Vol. 178-999, inclusive (1950 to 1995)
o   F.3d Vol. 1-491, inclusive (1995 to present)
o   State cases from 1997 to present
o   Statutes, regulations, court rules, and constitutions � federal and all 50 states
o   Commonly used legal forms

Easy to Use: The Fastcase PLoL features Fastcase�s patented search technology, an intuitive interface that works like popular Web search engines.  By sorting the most applicable cases first, PLoL puts the needles on top of the haystack, making even first-time legal research as easy as using Google.

Reliable: Fastcase updates the PLoL daily with new cases from court websites.  Additionally, when new law books are released, Fastcase keys them in and adds them to PLoL, adding cases that represent the final, official version of the law.  This makes the Fastcase PLoL more reliable than other destinations that simply aggregate draft decisions from different court Web sites. The library is also backstopped by the comprehensive Fastcase database; where cited cases don�t exist in PLoL, they link to those cases in Fastcase�s comprehensive subscription research service for lawyers.

A bit more competition for our two party system.  Check it out!  [JJ]

New Widgets Available for PreCYdent

PreCYdent's Tom Smith (San Diego) reports that his PreCYdent legal research service now provides two search engine widgets, one adding the service's search box to your FireFox or IE7 browser and another for adding it to your website or blog.

In addition, he forecasts that the service's database of primary US resources will include the last 10 years of all states cases in a week or two.

For more about PreCYdent, see our recent interview with Tom. [JH]

New GlobaLex Articles (February 2008)

New legal research articles available from GlobaLex:

• Legal Information Institutes and the Free Access to Law Movement by Graham Greenleaf
• Guide to Legal Research in Belarus By Nadia Shalygina 
• Legal Research in Germany between Print and Electronic Media: An Overview by Rita Exter and Martina Kammer 
• The Law and Legal Research in Lesotho by Buhle Angelo Dube 
• An Overview of Malaysian Legal System and Research by Shaikh Mohamed Noordin and Lim Pui Keng

[RJ]

New Empirical Legal Studies Bibliographic Database

Matt Morrison (Cornell Law Library) writes "Empirical legal studies are increasingly important in the legal academy as it evolves to become more interdisciplinary.  Moreover, empirical legal scholarship has direct relevance to the discussions of legal issues in today's public and political discourse. Through the collaborative efforts of Cornell and UCLA, there is now available a bibliographic database of empirical legal studies and scholarship: the ELS Bibliography. The database allows author, title, and subject searching, as well as limiting by year. For more information, see the database's About Page."

The database is a work-in-progress; suggestions are welcome. [JH]