LexLibris

From the Virtual Library Cat's Eye View blog, comes news of a newly improved Int'l Law resource:

"Here's some good news for students working with international law topics, research papers and sources. Last week, at the close of its 60th anniversary year, the International Court of Justice launched a new, greatly expanded user-friendly web site. Found at the usual address, but with five times more information than the old site, the ICJ site now makes available in full-text all of its jurisprudence since 1946, plus that of its predecessor, the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ).

All decisions and advisory opinions in English and French (some in PDF) , a clear and helpful site map and FAQ page, basic documents of the United Nations and the court, a powerful search engine and navigation tools, plus a photo gallery--these features make the new site of this United Nations world court both easy to navigate and a great online resource. Take a look."

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 10:39 AM | Permalink

Untold Stories Features Two Programs on Ford Plant

Many people, particularly in the metro area, are very much aware of the far-reaching economic loss of the Ford plant jobs, Mayor Coleman's Ford Site Planning Task Force, involvement of the State's Dislocated Worker Program--and library outreach. Untold Stories will feature two programs on Ford:

7 p.m., Tuesday, April 24--Visit the Training Center at the Ford Assembly Plant for "On the Line: The Ford Plant in Oral History and Verse," 966 Mississippi River Blvd. S., Saint Paul. In the late 1990s, UAW Local 879 and the Minnesota Labor Interpretive Center interviewed twenty-five retired auto workers as part of an oral history program documenting the experiences of working at the Ford Assembly Plant. Listen to excerpts from these interviews in a dramatic retelling, read by recently retired auto workers. In the second half of the program, Ford workers Denny Dickhausen and Joe Callahan, members of a writer's workshop created by poet Mark Nowak (Shut Up, Shut Down), share poems inspired by life and labor at Ford. Also, a poetic exchange with Ford workers in South Africa, who share their own stories.

7 p.m., Monday, April 30--Continue the conversation about the Ford Assembly Plant at the Merriam Park Branch Library, 1831 Marshall Ave., Saint Paul. Join a panel of historians, labor activists, and auto workers to discuss the history of labor at the Ford Assembly Plant and look to the future. Panelists: Brian McMahon, a historian completing a book on the history of the Ford Motor Company in Minnesota; Dave Beal, co-author of Manufacturing Works; and Rickey Brown, retired Ford worker.

Untold Stories labor-history series is sponsored by the Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library. Untold Stories events are free and open to the public. For more info, visit www.thefriends.org or call 651/222-3242.

Source: MLA Update Blog

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 02:01 PM | Permalink

During April 25 to May 11, part of the first floor of the Law Library is designated as a QUIET ZONE.

We have posted signs near the area and would appreciate your cooperation in keeping this part of the library as quiet as possible.

When studying in this area please be sure to:
• turn-off the sound on your laptop,
• turn-off or silence your cell phone,
• and refrain from talking.

Please avoid walking through this area, unless you plan to study there, and please keep your voices low in nearby areas as well.

If you are looking for a place to study in a group, please check at the circulation desk for an available study room.

Thank you.

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 08:11 AM | Permalink

"The St. Croix River is a natural treasure that must be protected from "nicks and cuts" caused by development pressure, former Vice President Walter Mondale said in an interview with the Pioneer Press.

"Bit by bit, through nicks and cuts, they destroy it," said Mondale, who Thursday was named an honorary National Park Service ranger for his role in protecting the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway. ..."

Read the full story at the Pioneer Press website: http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_5708789

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 08:55 AM | Permalink

UPDATE:
This service center has now moved to Coffman Memorial Union, ground level, and is open Mondays and Wednesdays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. The center provides a range of services, from vehicle registration to hunting, fishing, and marriage licenses, to birth and death certificates. For more information, call 612-348-8240.
6-4-08
**********************

Look at these great new services offered to U employees:

The Office of Human Resources would like to announce a new service for University Employees. We have partnered with Hennepin County to provide our employees an on site (East Bank) access to the Hennepin County Service Centers, where employees can purchase motor vehicle tabs, license plates, hunting and fishing licenses, and more.

Because this is a satellite operation, the service center does not accept cash. Fees must be paid by check or credit card.

Please see the announcement below which lists the current hours of 11 am to 1:30 pm on Mondays at the ground floor reception area of Morrill Hall. We will monitor the volume of customers and interest in this new service to determine if additional times to access the Service Centers would be desirable.
- Passports*
- Driver's license duplicates**
- Minnesota state ID duplicates**
- Motor vehicle tabs, plates, titles and registration
- Birth and death certificates
- Marriage licenses and certificates
- Watercraft, snowmobile and ATV registrations
- Hunting and fishing licenses
- Notary commission filings

* Bring your own Passport photos
** We are unable to renew DL or ID cards at this location

Location: Morrill Hall, Rm 3
100 Church St. SE
Hours: Mondays, 11 a.m - 1:30 p.m.

Contact us: 612-348-8240
www.hennepin.us

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 08:52 AM | Permalink

You are invited to enjoy Sundaes on Monday in the Law Library!

From 11:45 am to 1:15 pm on Monday April 23, ice cream will be served in the law library lobby on 1st floor (Plaza level). Make your own ice cream sundae with strawberry, chocolate or vanilla ice cream and a variety of toppings!

Presented by the Law Library

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 09:21 AM | Permalink

Update: Here is a link to the MN Daily's coverage of the Governor's talk at the Law School. http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2007/04/17/71580

NEWS RELEASE:
Gov. Tim Pawlenty to speak at the University of Minnesota Law School Monday

Contact: Cynthia Huff, Law School, (612) 625-6691, huffx-070@umn.edu
Patty Mattern, University News Service, (612) 624-2801

(4/13/2007) -- Gov. Tim Pawlenty will speak at an event hosted by the University of Minnesota Law School Chapter of the Federalist Society at 12:20 p.m. Monday, April 16, in Room 25 of Walter Mondale Hall, 229 19th Ave. S., Minneapolis.

The governor will reflect on his time as a student at the Law School and speak about current legal issues. The Federalist Society hosts a variety of lectures and debates throughout the school year.

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 12:48 PM | Permalink

Due to popular demand, the Law Library announces a new one-hour training session:

How to Research Legislative History

DATE: Tuesday April 17, 3:35 p.m.
LOCATION: Classroom 153 in the Law Library
INSTRUCTOR: Suzanne Thorpe

View Poster

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 11:06 AM | Permalink

Law.com Launches Legal Web Search Engine

There's a new search engine called Law.com Quest that queries legal Web sites. It features two tabs - one for searching the Law.com network of sites and the other for querying Web sites with legal information. After conducting a search, you may narrow the results by selecting from the options on the left-hand side of the page. These include information types (e.g., articles, blogs) and sources.

SEE: Law.com Quest
Source: TVC Alert

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 08:36 AM | Permalink

The Tarlton Law Library has compiled an Actual Innocence awareness database which contains citations (and links, where possible) to current articles, scholarship, legislation and other materials in the dynamic world of wrongful convictions.

The materials are classified into what are considered the primary causes of wrongful conviction: forensics/DNA; eyewitness identification; false confessions; jailhouse informants; police and/or prosecutorial misconduct; and ineffective representation. There is also a “general” category for those items which defy further categorization. The website will be updated as new resources become available.

Source: Melissa Bernstein (mbernstein@law.utexas.edu).

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 03:10 PM | Permalink

Here is the list of new titles the law library acquired in March 2007. The list is also on the library's home page.

March Acquisitions

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 02:18 PM | Permalink

"Scribd is YouTube for documents," says Neil Squillante of TechnoLawyer. This free online library where anyone can upload supports .doc, .pdf, .txt, .ppt, .xls, .mp3, and more.

What's in it for legal practitioners? According to Technolawyer:

-- You can use Scribd as a free document conversion tool, albeit with a limited number of file formats right now.

-- You can use Scribd to convert documents into MP3 files that you can listen to while commuting, which means you can drive and bill. Ka-ching!

-- You can use Scribd as a quick and dirty extranet for clients.

-- Someday, I suspect Scribd will also perform free OCR.

That's all great and yes you can keep your documents private, thus using Scribd solely as a technology tool.

But I think Scribd might even have greater utility as a marketing tool -- both for you personally and your firm.

Read more at WisBlawg.

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 09:55 AM | Permalink

"Study: New Lawyer Skills Are Lacking"
A study by Berkman Fellow (Harvard Law School), Gene Koo, in partnership with LexisNexis, finds that most new lawyers lack critical practice skills, including adequate legal research skills. The study targeted a broad range of necessary skills. This summary, however, focuses on shortcomings in research skills.

New lawyers lack critical evaluation skills. "One law firm partner, for example, complained that his newer associates regularly grab data from the Web without checking their provenance and accuracy." While this short-coming is cited in the context of online legal research, one wonders if it is then possible to possess the skill when reading print materials.

RELATED: Law Librarians Debate Student Research Skills
CCH Law Student eMonthly, October 2006
("As a law student, you may not be aware you and your classmates are the subject of an on-going debate between Canadian law firm and law school librarians. Many librarians in firms assert that the law schools are not doing enough to give all students a solid grounding in legal research. Students who come out of law school with excellent research skills have more often than not honed these skills either while taking elective advanced legal research courses, or through practical experience outside the classroom. We see that some students are missing this component, however, whether it is inadvertent or by choice. Law school librarians sympathize and try to do more, but often feel the problem is too large to be resolved without significant changes to the law program itself. While both sides have thus far remained amicable, a solution has yet to be found.")

RELATED: Quality Legal Writing Instruction and ABA Accreditation Standard 405
Association of Legal Writing Directors and the Legal Writing Institute, 21 January 2000
("Studies that explore outcomes assessment show that legal education is failing in the field of Legal Writing. As an academic discipline, Legal Writing has developed the ability to teach students how to express themselves well in writing and how to use the writing process as a tool for thinking. But many law schools treat this field and the faculty who specialize in it in ways that damage teaching and learning." This report also discusses inadequacies in legal research training.)"

Source: TVC Alert Research News, 30 March 2007, Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP, http://www.virtualchase.com/tvcalert/transfer.asp?xmlFile=mar07/30mar07.xml

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 10:48 AM | Permalink

Litilaw is a new, free online collection of CLE materials and other articles of interest to litigators and other legal professionals. Articles are organized categories including Appellate Practice, Antitrust, e-Discovery, Expert Witnesses, Health Care, Product Liability, and more.

The collection is keyword search-able and all articles are available full-text in PDF format. Search results includes a brief summary of each article, the year presented, author and number of pages.

Source: WisBlawg

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 08:05 AM | Permalink

In order to better facilitate security and safety, two new features have been created for the law school community and law library users. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the location of these features so you can use them in the future if you wish. Thanks go to Tim Fay and Greg Carr for their assistance creating these features.

"Safety & Security in the Law School" video presentation
A video covering law school safety and security tips is now available on the Intranet for the law school community. This video is meant to supplement new student, staff, or faculty orientations and features emergency and safety information. The video runs just under an hour and features Building & Events Manager Linda Lokensgard, Circulation Librarian Paula Seeger, Officer Jim Nystrom from UMPD, and Security Monitor Program Asst. Manager Daniel Farrar. There is also a link for assistance if you require help viewing the video with RealPlayer. Here is a link to the video (on the Intranet under "Building & Events," log-in required): https://intranet.law.umn.edu/departments/building/

Law Library Security & Facility Incident Form
A new incident form is now located on the law library website for library users to submit non-emergency security incidents or to request facility service. Facility requests and security reports can also be submitted in person to the circ desk for immediate response during library hours. Here is a direct link to the form (otherwise found under "Library & Technology Services" on the library home page): http://www.law.umn.edu/library/incident_report.html

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 03:07 PM | Permalink

As we near the end of the semester, it will soon be a good time to start your spring cleaning in your office or carrel. Perhaps there are some books or other library materials that are ready to come back to the library circ desk? Students, all study carrel keys are due May 11.

If you are planning on discarding personal or sensitive documents, there are bins in the law school designated for secure paper disposal (shredding). In the "public" areas, a large bin is at the law library circ desk and another is on the 4th floor in the hallway past the HR office.

Here is a link to the UMN retention policies for certain records: http://recmgmt.finop.umn.edu/retention.htm

Happy cleaning!
FYI: Beautiful U Day 2007 is April 19: http://www.buday.umn.edu/

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 08:24 AM | Permalink