Law Librarian Blog

LLB Poll: First Things First This Summer

Opinion Polls & Market Research

2008 Essential Reference Tools Surveys

Check out Diane Kovacs' on-going reference tool surveys, including surveys for Law and Government Documents, both hosted by SurveyMonkey. Kovacs is author of The Virtual Reference Handbook (2007)(Details below the fold). [JH]

The Virtual Reference Handbook
Interview and Information Delivery Techniques for the Chat and E-Mail Environment
by Diane K. Kovacs

List Price: $65.00
150 pp
Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2007
ISBN: 9781555705985

Book Description: IM, e-mail, and chat reference is already here, but have you adapted your traditional reference interview and information provision skills to these new formats? ACRL online trainer and popular Internet workshop leader Diane Kovacs has assembled this handbook to help reference librarians develop the communication skills and resources they need to work effectively in the virtual reference environment. The handbook shows how to adapt traditional face-to-face reference interview skills to the virtual interview—and how to interpret and use new cues (chat slang, IM shorthand, emoticons, etc.) to better serve your users. For both chat and e-mail transactions, Kovacs outlines strategies for analyzing the question, conducting the interview, developing a search strategy, and delivering sources. There is guidance for selecting the best information format for users and delivering content in a timely and valuable manner. This practical guide offers everything reference librarians need to move from the face-to-face to virtual transaction with ease.

LLB Poll: Extra Pair of Hands

Opinion Polls & Market Research

LLB Poll, Would You Sell Shares in the Future of Your Career?

Sports Illustrated is reporting a story about Randy Newsom, a minor-league pitcher for the Akron Aeros who is selling shares of stock in his baseball career. For $20, anyone can buy one share in the 25-year-old's career. That investment could net .0016 percent of Newsom's future major league earnings if the SEC and MLB don't put a stop to his Real Sports Investments company offering. Hopefully not, and if not, would you sell shares in the future of your career?

NB: the SEC would require a fairly detailed statement of the factors that could negatively impact the viability of your career prospects in any stock offering. What a list that could be! Check out the Securities Lawyer's Deskbook for regulatory requirements. [JH]

Opinion Polls & Market Research

A Little More Friday Fun Before Oscar Night

Oscar(R) night, February 24th, is coming fast. For a little workplace Friday Fun today, you can print out and circulate the Oscars ballot (pdf) from the official Oscar site [nominations page for details], play Predict the Winners on the offical site for a chance to "win an absolutely dazzling set of Kwiat diamond jewelry for yourself and a loved one" and take the below polls for your favorite films in the Best Picture and Documentary Feature categories. Sorry no prizes for taking our polls. [JH]

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Librarians, Who Would Make the Best President?

Opinion Polls & Market Research

News Stories This Week Poll

I thought I would test drive a possible new blog feature today. [JH]

How important were these stories to you?

• New self-destructing palm species discovered. A self-destructing palm tree that flowers once every 100 years and then dies has been discovered on the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, botanists said Thursday. CNN coverage.
• New ultra-thin MacBook Air notebook computer unveiled. Steve Jobs took the wraps off a super-slim new laptop at the Macworld trade show on Tuesday, unveiling a personal computer less than an inch thick. CNN coverage.

And the Oddest Law Book Title is...

The winner, garnering nearly 25% of the 226 votes cast, is "No justice, no piece!: a working girl's guide to labor organizing in the sex industry by the hell-raisin' hussies who organize... ." Why am I not surprised. My two favorite titles came in 5th and 10th.

Rank	Oddest Title	Vote	Percent
1	No Justice, No Piece!: a working girl's guide to labor organizing in the sex industry by the hell-raisin' hussies who organize...	56	25%
2	Deductibility of Legal and Accounting Fees, Bribes and Illegal Payments (BNA portfolio U.S. Income #523-2nd)	34	15%
3	Blacker the Talking Cat: And Other Favorite Judicial Opinions	27	12%
4	The Art of Writing Erotic and Pornographic Stories, Contracts and the Law	22	10%
5	Relationships Between Injunctions and Depression in Women by Dawn Yoko Huck	21	9%
6	A Treatise of the Law of Sewers, Including the Drainage Acts	18	8%
7	The Law of Cadavers, Second Edition (Prentice-Hall, 1950)	15	7%
8	Endowed: regulating the male-sexed body by Michael Thomson (Rutledge, 2007)	10	4%
9	Sexy Dressing, Etc. by Duncan Kennedy (Harvard, 1993)	9	4%
10	Jurismania:the madness of American law by Paul F. Campos (Oxford U. Press 2000)	7	3%
11	What Can Lawyers Learn From Actors? (NITA, 2005)	6	3%
12	Sexism and the Law: a study of male beliefs and legal bias in Britain and the United States by Albie Sachs & Joan Hoff Wilson	1	<1%

Thanks for participating! If you have a suggestion for another poll, please email me. [JH]

Vote for the Oddest Law Book Title

Being the 50-something slacker I am, I missed the April 2 deadline for creating this poll. And before being accussed of being obsessed with sex, I want to state for the record that many, if not most, of the sex-gender-whatever related titles were submitted by female librarians, who may or may not be obsessed with sex. At my age, the only thing I'm obsessed with is finding time to take a nap.

Unless I take one of my all day naps, results of this poll will be announced on Monday, April 23rd. Thanks for all the great nominations. [JH]