Legal Research

The Legal Workshop

Posted on April 26, 2009
The Legal Workshop is a new venture put together by several leading law reviews. It offers short versions of articles that appear in the print versions of those journals and some short responses to those articles that do not appear in the print versions...

Document Sharing

Posted on April 24, 2009
Working on outlines together to start to study for exams? Try Google Docs - a free document sharing service by our friends at Google. It is a basic, but quite decent word processor that allows you to share documents so that others you invite can add comments...

U.S. Department of State Background Notes

Posted on April 23, 2009
According to its Web page, the U.S. Department of State Background Notes include ?facts about the land, people, history, government, political conditions, economy, and foreign relations of independent states, some dependencies, and areas of special sovereignty...

Trans-Lex.org Law Research

Posted on April 21, 2009
Trans-Lex.org is a free research and codification platform for transnational commercial law that was recently launched by The Center for Transnational Law (CENTRAL) at Cologne University. From the site:Browsing TransLex TransLex-Principles The TransLex-Principles contain more than 120 principles and rules of transnational law, the New Lex Mercatoria...

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United Nations Launches its World Digital Library

Posted on April 21, 2009
The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization launched its World Digital Library. The Library makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world...

National Poetry Month

Posted on April 20, 2009
April is National Poetry Month, and to celebrate, poets.org is offering a poem-a-day. Take a break from your studies to read a poem (or two). Poets.org also offers poems for every occasion and recently added a new category to the list: poems for times of turmoil...

Lawsuit Over 'Sham' Supplement

Posted on April 19, 2009
Law Students, you know those supplements you purchase for $15 or $20 to go along with your $100 casebooks? Apparently casebook authors do, in fact, take these supplements seriously. The authors of a casebook are seeking an injunction against West for publishing a supplement that its purported authors are calling a "sham...

Climate Change Central

Posted on April 18, 2009
For the latest U.S. government policy initiatives relating to climate change, as well as background science summaries, press releases, and information about hearings and other public involvement, check out the Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Change page...

New Search Tool

Posted on April 17, 2009
Wednesday was so taxing, I just had to take yesterday off. (Sorry, couldn't resist.) I did accomplish something though, and that is to post a new search tool called "USS Search" on the Library homepage. USS Search will enable you to search the Library's catalog, HeinOnline and Wilson's Index to Legal Periodicals with a single search...

Tax.com

Posted on April 15, 2009
While prowling the Law Professors Blog Network, I came across Tax.com. Launched by Tax Analysis, "Tax.com brings you relevant and provocative opinions on today's tax issues and creates a forum to discuss the practical impact of tax policy decisions. You will also find useful information on the tax implications of life events and on how to minimize your tax burden--all in a way that keeps you entertained as well as educated...

FDA Notices of Judgment Collection, 1906-1963

Posted on April 14, 2009
From the announcement: The FDA Notices of Judgment Collection is a digital archive of the published notices judgment for products seized under authority of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act. The NJs are resources in themselves but also lead users to the over 2,000 linear foot collection of evidence files used to prosecute each case...

Watch that Page

Posted on April 13, 2009
What do you do when your favorite web site does not have an RSS feed? How do you keep track of changes? You might want to try Watch that Page-- a service that monitors the web sites of your choosing and sends the new information to you in an e-mail...

Consumer Action Web Site

Posted on April 09, 2009
The Federal Citizen Information Center maintains the Consumer Action Web site. Here, you will find valuable information about such consumer-oriented topics as how and where to file a complaint about a purchase, how to find consumer resources for specialized audiences, the latest consumer news, and much more...

Helpful Policies During Exam Period

Posted on April 08, 2009
We start extended Library exam hours on April 15. Our extended schedule is:EXAM PERIOD SCHEDULE - Wednesday, April 15 - Wednesday, May 13Monday - Friday 7:00 A.M. - 2:00 A.M.Saturday & Sunday 10:00 A.M. - 2:00 A.M.EXCEPTIONS:Wednesday, May 13 7:00 A...

Vermont Legislature Makes Same-Sex Marriage Legal

Posted on April 07, 2009
Today the Vermont state legislature overrode the governor's veto to approve a bill that allows same-sex couples to marry. This makes Vermont the first state to permit same-sex marriage through legislative action rather than through the court system. The bill is called an "Act Relating to Civil Marriage" and the stated purpose is to recognize legal equality in the civil marriage laws and to protect the religious freedom of clergy and religious societies authorized to solemnize civil marriages...

Privacy and Social Networking

Posted on April 06, 2009
Think your MySpace or Facebook musings are private? A California court disagrees. Take a look at this post from the Wall Street Journal law blog about a "private" MySpace post that was reprinted in a local newspaper.Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

EFF FOIA database

Posted on April 05, 2009
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has put all of the documents it has obtained through FOIA into a searchable database here. The EFF mostly advocates in matters related to electronic privacy and intellectual property, so this database could be useful for people studying related subjects...

NATO Online

Posted on April 04, 2009
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed sixty years ago, on April 4, 1949, when twelve countries signed the North Atlantic Treaty as a defensive alliance after World War II and in light of the growing power of the Communist countries to their east...

Government Printing Office (GPO)

Posted on April 02, 2009
You?ve often seen references to GPO Access in this blog, but have you ever wondered about the GPO, or Government Printing Office, itself? This GPO fact sheet will likely tell you all you want to know about this most venerable of U.S. government institutions...

April Fool?s Day Database

Posted on April 01, 2009
Enjoy the April Fool?s Database, a catalog of April Fool's Day hoaxes, pranks, and related events throughout history, categorized by year and theme. The theme of this particular page is law. Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

New Attorney Ethics Standards to Take Effect in New York

Posted on March 31, 2009
A new New York Code of Conduct goes into effect tomorrow. About three quarters of the rules are from the current state code and the remainder are lifted from or modified ABA Model Rules. The new code adopted the format and numbering of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct...

Women in the Profession

Posted on March 30, 2009
The ABA Commission on Women in the Profession provides some good resources for both attorneys and law students. It offers a list of upcoming events and provides links to news articles on women in the law. Its publications page is filled with many reports (some of them free, even) and is a great place to start when doing research in women in the legal profession...

Storing With Paper

Posted on March 29, 2009
This week, David Pogue posted an interview about "data rot" with the curator of the Computer History Museum. The crux of the interview is that electronic methods of storing information don't last very long at all and constantly need to be backed up. And it includes this quote:consider paper as an archival medium...

YouTube EDU

Posted on March 28, 2009
Have you discovered YouTube EDU, launched earlier this week? By bringing together into one collection only material submitted to YouTube by colleges and universities, YouTube EDU makes it quick and easy to find university and law school class lectures, 200 full courses (including one in Environmental Law and Policy), and guest lectures and presentations on law and related topics given at some of the world's most prestigious universities...

Keeping up on the legal profession

Posted on March 27, 2009
Did you know that you can subscribe to the ABA daily or weekly email newsletter for free? You can set up an RSS feed, if you prefer as well. It helps me keep up with what is going on in the profession as well as legal education. For instance in this week's edition, there is an article about the tough market for Law grads...

Cost-Saving Tips For Lexis And Westlaw Research

Posted on March 26, 2009
The Cleveland-Marshall College of Law?s blog contains a brief but excellent article with tips on how to do research cost effectively using Lexis and Westlaw. Links to PDF files that contain further tips offered directly by Lexis and Westlaw are available, as well...

The Oyez Project

Posted on March 25, 2009
The Oyez Project is a "multimedia archive devoted to the Supreme Court of the United States and its work. It aims to be a complete and authoritative source for all audio recorded in the Court since the installation of a recording system in October 1955...

Titanic Case

Posted on March 24, 2009
The wreck of the Titanic was found in 1985 and started a legal tussle regarding ownership of the artifacts. A federal judge in Norfolk, VA is expected to rule soon that the items must remain together and accessible to the public. There is a sub-set of law devoted to shipwreck and salvage; and the Titanic is a prime example of some of the legal conflicts generated...

The Human Trafficking Project

Posted on March 23, 2009
The Human Trafficking Project is a good place to keep track of issues surrounding human trafficking and related crimes. The blog features news, government reports and legislation about trafficking and also provides commentary and discussion about the problem...

Local Library Databases

Posted on March 22, 2009
Many people are unaware that they probably have access to a number of subscription databases through their local public library, many of them accessible from home.For instance, databases available from the NYPL are here. Anyone who lives, works, attend school, or owns property in New York State is eligible for a free NYPL card...

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