Legal Research

Moving Beyond the Ubiquitous PDF for Durham Statement Compliance

Posted on May 05, 2010
As an aspirational goal. the Durham Statement on Open Access states: Repositories should rely upon open standards for the archiving of works, as well as on redundant formats, such as PDF copies. We also urge law schools and law libraries...

Curle's Worldwide Legal, Tax, and Regulatory Information Sector Market Share Analysis

Posted on May 05, 2010
Following up on Sarah Glassmeyer's and Greg Lambert's efforts to trace the shrinking legal publisher market by way of Thomson Reuters, Wolters Kluwer and Reed Elsevier acquisitions, [links provided here] David Curle writes "I thought I?d add a revenue perspective...

Even Pulitzer Prize winning journalists make legal research mistakes

Posted on May 05, 2010
It's easy to do - in fact we've all done it. Now you can take solace in the fact that Pulitzer Prize winning Supreme Court reporter Linda Greenhouse made a legal research error too - and in print. On Saturday...

The "Top 10" reasons why you should quit Facebook

Posted on May 05, 2010
Maybe all of us need to re-think this Facebook thing. I mean, how rational is it, really, to blast so much private information about ourselves to a worldwide audience without retaining any control over how that information may be taken...

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"We?ll be giving away an iPod touch each week for the next eight weeks for photos of the unique locations you use WestlawNext Mobile"

Posted on May 04, 2010
"We" meaning TR Legal not, for heaven's sake, LLB. Sweepstakes started May 1st and end June 30, 2010 at 11:59:59 PM (CDT). Details, including how to sign on to your WestlawNext account if you have just about any smartphone with...

Offshore "Information Factories" in Legal Publishing

Posted on May 04, 2010
In a recent 3 Geeks and a Law Blog post about TR Legal moving editorial work performed in the US overseas, Greg Lambert writes: It seems that legal editorial work has gone the way of manufacturing and is making its...

Richards' Selected Resources on Legal Problems Arising from Social Media

Posted on May 04, 2010
Check out Robert Richards' Legal Informatics Blog post, Legal Problems Arising from Social Media: Selected Resources. The listed resources "concern problems for law-related individuals or organizations ? such as lawyers, judges, jurors, legal witnesses, civil litigants, those accused of crimes,...

Opening: Assistant Director for Public and Faculty Services, Oklahoma City Univ. School of Law Library

Posted on May 04, 2010
Oklahoma City University School of Law Library is beginning the search for an Assistant Director for Public and Faculty Services. You can view the full job description and apply here. The Assistant Director for Public and Faculty Services has primary...

Google Enters The e-Book Sales Market

Posted on May 04, 2010
If it hadn't occurred to anyone that Google doesn't have to wait for a version of the Google Book Settlement to be approved before selling electronic books, then get ready for Google Editions. The new service will sell current titles...

Online Government Data Usage and Attitutes Toward Government Openness from New Pew Internet Survey

Posted on May 03, 2010
"Government agencies have begun to open up their data to the public, and a surprisingly large number of citizens are showing interest" according to Pew Internet's announcement of its recent Government Online survey. Key findings include: Data driven ? Efforts...

Thomson Reuters Pinches Pennies in Sponsoring AALL and CALL/ACBD Annual Meetings This Year

Posted on May 03, 2010
After a two-year ban from sponsoring AALL's Annual Meeting, Thomson Reuter returns this year but not as a top-ranked "Gold Sponsor." Apparently TR couldn't scrap up $75,000.01 for that status. Instead the Company is a "Bronze Sponsor" along with Innovative...

Opening: Public Services & Outreach Librarian, Maryland's Thurgood Marshall Law Library

Posted on May 03, 2010
The Thurgood Marshall Law Library at the University of Maryland School of Law seeks a Public Services & Outreach Librarian with responsibility for managing the library?s circulation services; assisting faculty with electronic and print course materials, including copyright clearance; and...

Cameras in the Courtroom: Recent Senate Judiciary Committee Developments

Posted on May 03, 2010
The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved several measures that could, if ever signed into law, provide greater transparency in the federal judical system by introducing televised court proceedings, including SCOTUS hearings. S.657: Sunshine in the Courtroom Act of 2009...

One Law School Says No To U.S. News

Posted on May 03, 2010
The National Law Journal is reporting that at least one law school is boycotting the U.S. News law school ranking survey. That would be St. Thomas University Law School in Miami Gardens, Florida. The article quotes Dean Al Garcia: "I...

Round-Up of Practitioner Law Blogs

Posted on May 02, 2010
Fort Lauderdale Injury Lawyer Blog http://www.fortlauderdaleinjurylawyerblawg.com http://www.fortlauderdaleinjurylawyerblawg.com/index.xml Analyzes injury law news, opinions and matters in Florida. Published by the Schulman Law Group. California Injury Attorney Blog http://www...

Tweet Your Way Into History Books: On Twitter Historiography

Posted on May 02, 2010
A couple of weeks ago the Library of Congress announced that it will store the complete archives of public tweets, all of them, every last one. From the Twitter Blog post: It is our pleasure to donate access to the...

Google CEO Eric Schmidt's Top 10 Reasons Why Mobile Is #1

Posted on May 01, 2010
InformationWeek's Bob Evans lists Google CEO Eric Schmidt's top 10 reasons why "the answer should always be mobile first." Schmidt's top two reasons given are personal carry-with-you connectivity and the information explosion. 1) The Fundamental Connection...

Friday Fun: It's That Time of the Academic Year, So How Do Law Profs Really Grade Exams?

Posted on April 30, 2010
A scene from LSU Law Assault and Flattery 2009. For crim law exams, here's a video to "help students and profs remember some essential concepts." Hat tip to Dan Markel on PrawfsBlawg. [JH]

Kudos to Hein's President, Kevin M. Marmion

Posted on April 30, 2010
Today marks the 40-year anniversary of President Kevin M. Marmion?s employment with William S. Hein & Co., Inc. Marmion literally worked his way up from the bottom of the Company beginning as a part-time warehouse employee in 1970 while attending...

Much Ado About (Almost) Nothing: Criticism of Findlaw Network Blogs

Posted on April 30, 2010
"When Findlaw.com launched 15 hyperlocal, news-based blogs last winter, the legal blogosphere took note?and aim?at the alleged ?spam blogs.'" writes Rachel M. Zahorsky for the ABA Journal in Bad Blogs? Lawyers blast FindLaw offerings as spam. Some snips: The blogs?which...

Historical U.S. Tax Statistics Now Available in Wolfram|Alpha

Posted on April 30, 2010
Hat tip to ResourceShelf for calling attention to the availability of IRS-sourced historical tax statistics in Wolfram|Alpha. About C. Allan Joyce's Wolfram|Alpha Blog annoucement, the ResourceShelf writes that "the blog post contains what appears to be all the data you...

PACER News: The Good and the Bad

Posted on April 30, 2010
Two items of note in the most recent PACER Center Newsletter. The first is this reminder that the courts are not keen to see PACER content out in the wild: PACER Policy Reminder Public Access to Court Electronic Records is...

Crowdsourcing the Obituaries of Independent Legal Publishers (Or How Long Will the Last Remaining Ones Survive in a Duopoly with Oligopolistic Characteristics That at Times Adopts Intensely Competitive Behavior?)

Posted on April 29, 2010
Prompted by reading about Thomson Reuters' decision to close the last brick-and-mortar remnant of what once was the oldest legal publishing house in the US, namely Banks-Baldwin, Sarah Glassmeyer decided to produce a graph showing the shrinking legal publisher market...

Delaware Administrative Code Now Published in Authenticated PDF Version

Posted on April 29, 2010
Hat tip to beSpacific for calling attention to the availability of an authenticated PDF version of the Delaware Administrative Code. [JH]

Is social media the new crack?

Posted on April 29, 2010
Not yet, but according to this University of Maryland study, students feel like their addicted to social media and report addict-like withdrawal symptoms when they can't use. The premise of the Maryland study was to observe how students reacted when....

Worthless Updates Produced by "Editorial Staff" and the Implied Contract Between Legal Researchers and Publishers

Posted on April 29, 2010
"[W]e are living in dangerous times right now. The ideas of ?print is dead? and ?algorithms are meaning? seem to be pushing us to accept secondary material as bits of networked content that are influenced by tags, not people. The...

Amazon Sues North Carolina Over Tax Collection

Posted on April 29, 2010
Amazon isn't giving up without a fight in handling North Carolina's attempts to get the company to collect sales tax. Amazon filed suit in the Western District of Washington when North Carolina allegedly asked Amazon for state resident information in...

Thinking Ahead to LAW.GOV: On the Current Status of FDsys

Posted on April 28, 2010
James Jacobs, Government Documents Librarian, Stanford has posted his letter to US Deputy Chief Technology Office for Open Government Beth Simone Noveck on Free Government Information. The letter explains the need for and outlines a distributed system for the storage...

Gavin on New and Free Federal Regulations Trackers

Posted on April 28, 2010
There's no need to try to keep track of on-going government domain developments when you can always rely on Peggy Garvin to do the work for you, accurately and in a timely manner. Her latest regular LRRX column reviews free,...

Opening: Reference Librarian/Legal Research Instructor, Villanova Univ. School of Law Library

Posted on April 28, 2010
To provide reference assistance to faculty, students and the University community, Villanova Law School is seeking a Reference Librarian with particular interest and expertise in electronic information resources and service delivery. This Reference Librarian will be responsible for supplying sophisticated...

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