Legal Research

2009 Statistical Abstract of the United States

Posted on January 15, 2009
The 2009 version of the Statistical Abstract of the United States is now online.According to the United States Census Bureau?s Web page, which hosts the document, the Statistical Abstract of the United States ?is the authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States?...

New Library Fine and Borrowing Policy

Posted on January 15, 2009
To better serve the Hofstra Law School Community, there will be a change in the Library's fine and borrowing policies. Effective February 1, 2009, borrowing privileges may be revoked once a patron has accumulated at least $25 in unpaid fines. Remember to return borrowed materials in a timely manner to avoid the accumulation of fines and your ability to check out additional materials...

Word of the Year is "Bailout"

Posted on January 13, 2009
The American Dialect Society recently released the 19th annual words of the year vote. This year the word is "bailout". Word of the Year is interpreted in its broader sense as ?vocabulary item??not just words but phrases. The words or phrases do not have to be brand-new, but they have to be newly prominent or notable in the past year, in the manner of Time magazine?s Person of the Year...

Law School Summary -- Laptops in Class Helps

Posted on January 11, 2009
The National Law Journal has posted a summary of a national study of law students.  Among the findings highlighted is that laptops in class do have academic value.  That's because students can, for instance, instantly look up cases that are mentioned in class...

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Gallery of Juror Art

Posted on January 10, 2009
A snowy weekend before the start of a new semester is a great time to browse the American Gallery of Juror Art, an eclectic and eye-opening collection of drawings, sketches and photographs by "actual jurors on actual jury duty." The Gallery is a feature of trial lawyer Anne Reed's blog, Deliberations: Law, News, and Thoughts on Juries and Jury Trials...

I'm Back (almost)

Posted on January 09, 2009
Starting Monday, I'll be back to my normal prowling hours - and the Library will be back to regular schedule. As always, check the Library's web site for the Library's hours and the Reference Librarians' Hours link to the right of this post. REGULAR HOURS - Monday, January 12 - Tuesday, April 14Sunday 10:00 A...

Moon-Venus Conjunction Ends 2008

Posted on January 08, 2009
As a follow-up to our post of December 20, 2008, and in case you missed the occurrence during your New Year?s Eve revels, we present a link to a nice photo of the Moon-Venus conjunction that took place on December 31, 2008.Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Better With Age: the Computer Mouse Turns 40!

Posted on January 07, 2009
Happy birthday friend! I couldn't imagine purring through my computer files without . . . my mouse. It is pretty amazing that 30 years have passed since Douglas Engelbart and Bill English introduced and demonstrated the computer mouse. In their 90 minute demonstration at the Fall Joint Computer Conference, Englebart, English, and their team stationed 30 miles away also introduced hypertext, email, video conferencing, word processing, and cut-and-paste...

Top Ten Legal Issues of 2008

Posted on January 05, 2009
Findlaw has posted its 2008 Top Ten Legal Issues on Consumers Minds. The legal issues were chosen on the basis of popularity indicators, including "most searched" legal topics, most popular lawyer searches, and top legal questions. According to the list, the number one issue is "Home Foreclosure and Renter's Rights"--not a surprise!Hat tip to the Law Librarian blog for bringing my attention to this...

Where Your Money Goes

Posted on January 03, 2009
While prowling the internet this week, a new report made me stop purring and pay attention. The New York Attorney General's Charities Bureau, which supervises charitable organizations and maintains a registry of charities and fundraising professionals in the state, has just released "Pennies for Charity, Where Your Money Goes: Telemarketing by Professional Fund Raisers...

HeinOnline Tips

Posted on December 22, 2008
Thea href="http://heinonline.blogspot.com/" HeinOnline blog/a contains tips and tricks for navigating and searching the databases. The most recent post containsa href="http://heinonline.blogspot.com/2008/12/heinonlines-tip-of-week-recap-of-all.html" a recap of the tips and tricks of the year/a grouped by category...

Winter in Cosmic Perspective

Posted on December 20, 2008
Well, exams are finally over, and the snow is here. In other words, it's time to appreciate winter's beauty as only the web, a href="http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html"NASA/a and the astronomers can bring it to us. It's no coincidence that today's a href="http://antwrp...

OUTTA HERE!!!!!!

Posted on December 19, 2008
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!! You made it through exams! First years - it gets easier after this. Now that you have finished, I can take a much needed break. My reduced prowling hours (and the hours of the Library, coincidentally) will be as follows:Friday, December 19 ? Tuesday, December 23Friday 8:00 A...

Is Technology Rewiring Our Brains?

Posted on December 18, 2008
Some scientists are beginning to suspect that the ?wired world? may be changing the way that people read, learn, and interact with one another. Click a href="http://enews.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20081203/49361250_3421_1334520081203-2108060028"here/a to read why...

It's Almost Time To Curl Up With A Good Book

Posted on December 17, 2008
span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" Our holiday break is just around the corner and I?m sure you can?t wait to curl up with a good book.span style="" /spanTo help you, I'd like to share a few readers? advisory tolls.span style=""br /br //span/spanspan style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" First, check your local library for NoveList Plus...

2008 Comparison of Legislative Resources

Posted on December 16, 2008
A comparison of legislative resources available on GPO Access and other Government and non-Government Web sites was recently completed. Eight Web sites were selected for in-depth analysis including GPO Access, THOMAS, House.gov, Senate.gov, CQ.com, HeinOnline, Lexis-Nexis Congressional, and Westlaw...

Gifts for bookworms

Posted on December 15, 2008
Need a holiday gift for the legal history buff in your family? Shopping for a friend that can't get enough American law in society? You might one to check out this list-- the winners of the Littleton-Griswold prize for the best book on the history of American law in society...

10 Weirdest Legal Cases of 2008

Posted on December 13, 2008
At this point in the exam period, a little humor and perspective about the law might help. Take a quick break with this London Times article in which Professor Gary Slapper, Director of the Centre for Law at the Open University (UK), has distilled the "ten weirdest legal cases" of the past year from his regular Friday column on amusing and strange legal disputes from around the world...

More on Study Guides

Posted on December 12, 2008
For a quick reference to study guides we have available in the library, check out our Study Guide handout . This handout is also available in print in the handout rack near the Reference desk.Good luck on your remaining exams!!Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Stanford Intellectual Property Litigation Clearinghouse

Posted on December 11, 2008
The Law, Science & Technology Program at Stanford Law School recently launched the Stanford Intellectual Property Litigation Clearinghouse, an online database that offers comprehensive information about intellectual property disputes within the United States...

United Nations Audio/Visual Library

Posted on December 09, 2008
The United Nations Audio/Visual Library is not only an excellent collection of links and resources but the multimedia aspect provides additional depth to the collection.From the Introduction: The Audiovisual Library is a unique, multimedia resource which provides the United Nations with the unprecedented capacity to provide high quality international law training and research materials to an unlimited number of recipients on a global level...

Stretching

Posted on December 08, 2008
Exam time is certainly stressful! Do take a few moments to stretch out your shoulders and back--your body will love you for it. To help you out, the Mayo Clinic web site offers a video demonstrating a few shoulder and upper back stretches.Once you have a little more time, perhaps you can treat yourself to a yoga class and learn my favorite pose-- Marjariasana (cat pose)...

Blawg Tips

Posted on December 07, 2008
Law.com has a good article this week with tips for people with legal blogs. The tips are largely for attorneys with "blawgs" that are attached to their firm's websites, but most of them apply universally.Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

New exam study guides on CD

Posted on December 05, 2008
We have heard your requests and based on suggestions from you, we have added over a dozen new "Sum and Substance" exam study guides on CD. You can take these out for 3 days to listen to in your car, at home, or on your laptop in the library (with headphones, of course)...

Judicial Humor

Posted on December 04, 2008
Need a few law-related laughs during the stressful period of final examinations? Then have a look at Judicial Humor. This page from the Marian Gould Gallagher Law Library of the University of Washington School of Law ?identifies and describes humorous court opinions and related sources?...

Interview Suits

Posted on December 03, 2008
According to this New York Times article sales of conservative suits in navy or gray pinstripes (also known as "interview suits") are on the rise. If you are starting to think about what to wear for your next interview, the Career Services @ Virginia Tech web site has some advice on what to wear...

Night Owl Breakfast

Posted on December 02, 2008
The Night Owl Breakfast is today (Tuesday) starting at 7:30 PM. Not only is the food free this is an opportunity for a fun social event with your fellow law students, law faculty and law administrators. Talk with your professors outside the class room and get to know them as people...

State and Local Government Links

Posted on December 01, 2008
The Library of Congress? Newspaper & Current Periodical Research Center provides links to state and local government web sites.Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Law Student Risks His Life to Save His Outlines

Posted on November 30, 2008
This is a story that's showing up on a lot of legal blogs (or "blawgs," as they say). An ASU 1L recently beat up a baseball bat-wielding burglar to save his laptop and the notes it contained.Note to 1L's: One or more friends will probably give you their notes if yours are stolen...

India: Legal Research Guide

Posted on November 29, 2008
News this week about India's tragic terrorist attacks reminded us that India is increasingly important as an international business and financial center. India is also an important part of the global legal community with a system rooted in our own English common law tradition...

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