October 2008 Archives

The RAND Institute for Civil Justice has released an annotated bibliography covering its analytical research. "The ICJ facilitates change in the civil justice system by analyzing trends and outcomes, identifying and evaluating policy options, and bringing together representatives of different interests to debate alternative solutions to policy problems."

Subjects include:

Alternative Dispute Resolution
Areas of Liability
Bankruptcy
The Business of Law\
Corporate Ethics and Governance
Employment Law
Entrepreneurship
Health and Safety in the Workplace
Insurance Law and Regulation
Litigation, Jury Verdicts, and Damages
Mass Torts and Class Actions
Terrorism Risk Management Policy
Tort Reform
Trends in the Tort Litigation System

Source: Law Librarian Blog

Image by Cavutto via Flickr

Don't forget, we will be serving Halloween cookies and treats tomorrow, October 31.

We’ll have coffee and muffins beginning at 9:00 and treats for the whole day.

For more Halloween fun, check out these links:

Halloween Hangman: http://www.dedge.com/flash/hangman/

Haunted Libraries: Series from the Britannica Blog

The American Association of Law Libraries announces the first annual Morris L. Cohen Student Essay Contest.

Currently enrolled students attending graduate programs in library science, law, history, or related subjects are eligible to enter the competition. Papers may be on any topic related to legal history, rare law books, or legal archives. Papers must be submitted by April 15, 2009.

Award is $500 cash & up to $1000 to attend the 2009 AALL conference in Washington DC

More info here (pdf):
http://www.aallnet.org/sis/lhrb/Cohenessayprocapp.pdf

Source: Beyond The Job blog via nextgenlib

Two new resources have been added to the Reserve Vertical File for Law Students: Student Guides and Laptop Power Cords/Adapters.

In the Reserve Vertical File (under G for Guides), we have placed copies of the Law Student Handbook ("Compass"), the Law Student Resource Guide ("Resources for Law Students") from the Dean of Students Office, and the Printing and Network Access Guide, featuring troubleshooting and set-up information, from the Law Student Computing Services (LSCS) office. Other guides will be added as collected. Each is a 2-hour loan.

Under A for Adapters, we have 15 power cords/adapters for student laptops: 5 each for Dell, IBM, and Lenovo machines. These are loaners only: 24-hour loan. If a student has lost an adapter, a replacement will need to be ordered through the LSCS Office (Room 260).

These additions to the Reserve collection are possible through collaboration of the LSCS and Dean of Students offices. Many thanks to them for providing the resources.

Recently added to the Law Library's website:
A summary of borrowing privileges that law students enjoy at Twin Cities law libraries. The document describes the limits on circulation, as well as the procedures for obtaining privileges, at area libraries. The document also links to the libraries' websites.

A direct link to the document: http://local.law.umn.edu/uploads/images/6788/StudentBorrowingPrivSummary.pdf

Today is LexLibris' birthday! We're two years old. This is the 405th post. To mark the day in a fun way, here are some upcoming Halloween events at campus libraries (and more).

Halloween Treats @ the Law Library
Join us Friday Oct 31 for muffins and beverages starting at 9 am, and cookies and candy starting at 11 am, in the Law Library Lobby.

Halloween Blood Drive @ Wilson Library
What: Blood Drive
Where: Wilson Library
When: Monday, October 27, 2008 • 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
To sign up, visit www.mbc.org and use code 3450.
For questions please call Lois at 612-625-8387.

Leslie S. Klinger, author of The New Annotated Dracula
What: Author appearance and book signing
Where: Elmer L. Andersen Library
When: Monday, October 27, 2008 • 7 p.m.
Free and open to the public.

A reception will follow with author signing; books available for sale courtesy of Once Upon a Crime Bookstore. Attendees in costume will be entered for a chance to win a free signed copy of The New Annotated Dracula.

Dracula has gripped readers since its first publication in 1897. While the book has been studied by scholars in virtually every academic discipline, none have accepted Bram Stoker's declaration that the work was based on historical fact. For the first time, Klinger examines all of the evidence, both internal and external, including contemporary travel books, scientific texts, Victorian encyclopedias, as well as Stoker's notes for the narrative and the original manuscript itself (privately owned by Paul Allen, Klinger is one of only two researchers to have seen it in recent years).

Klinger is the editor of the three-volume collection of the short stories and novels, The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes. He is the winner of the Edgar Award for Best Critical/Biographical Work and nominated for every other major award in the mystery genre.

One more, just for fun:
Great Scary Stories

Several new and updated resources regarding the United Nations have recently been announced. Here is a summary of three:

United Nations Yearbook
For anyone who has been in an United Nations Depository, you have probably seen the rows of red books, with UN Yearbook stamped on the spine. If you have been doing research on the actions of the members of the UN or particular resolutions it is probable that you have even used these books with their tiny type. Well, now you don't need to be in the library to use these wonderful resource, the United Nations has digitized them from 1946-2005. (Note: 2005 is the most recent edition; it takes 3-4 years to write one of these volumes.)

The United Nations Yearbook online lets you search across all the yearbooks or just one. You can also browse the volumes. You will find in here the work done by various countries to modify resolutions before the United Nations. Want to know who voted which way? You can find it here. When researching the UN and how it works this is one of the best source of information.

Source: GovPubs Library Blog at UC-Boulder

United Nations Television
Check out the UN on YouTube:
United Nations Television has launched a channel on YouTube. The channel broadcasts programmes from the 21st Century and UN in Action television series.

Source: Law Librarian Blog

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) is an agency of the United Nations established to assist Member States with issues concerning illicit drugs and international crime. UNODC’s online legislation legal library provides full text of drug control laws and regulations adopted by countries in support of international drug control treaties. It includes legislation adopted since 1948.

Source: Virtual Library Cat's Eye View blog

A quick update on Voter Registration at U of MN Campus Libraries:
The previously reported registration drive ended last Tuesday Oct 14, the deadline for sending completed registration forms to the MN Secretary of State office. 1086 forms were completed at campus libraries. That's 264 more than were received in 2004 -- a 32% increase!

FindLaw Special Edition: Elections 2008 is an election portal with resources that provide authoritative election information, specifically as it pertains to the legal world, including:

-Election commentary from FindLaw legal specialists
-Featured late-breaking Reuters politics videos.
-Extensive voting rights and voter information section, including:
-Introduction to Federal Voting Rights Laws
-Voting and Civil Rights: History and Law
-FAQ: Voting Rights and Discrimination
-State-by-State Voter Registration Information

The Law Library now provides access to more international law content online!

Two new modules available in the Oxford Reports on International Law Database:


Oxford Reports on International Criminal Law ('ICL')
ICL focuses on decisions from a range of international criminal courts and tribunals, and covers decisions from the four main international criminal tribunals: International Criminal Court; International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; and the Special Court for Sierra Leone. ICL also includes decisions from post-WWII military tribunals such as the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg and the follow-up trials held under Control Council Law No 10. In the future, Oxford anticipates the inclusion of decisions from the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia as they become available, and an increasing amount of case law from the International Criminal Court as more Situations and Cases come on stream.

Oxford Reports on International Human Rights Law ('IHRL')
IHRL covers international decisions on human rights from a variety of global and regional courts, including selected cases on the European Convention on Human Rights, and final decisions from the four UN Committees which are able to deliver views in individual cases (Committee Against Torture; Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women; Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination; and Human Rights Committee).Oxford anticipates that coverage within IHRL will extend shortly after launch to include decisions from the Inter-American system, and decisions under the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.

Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law
The Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law is a fully updated online edition of the Encyclopedia of Public International Law published in print between 1991 and 2001 under the general editorship of Rudolf Bernhardt. The online edition went live in August 2008 with over 450 articles. New material is added quarterly and the project is expected to reach completion in 2010. The online edition will include search functionality and click-through cross references to other Encyclopedia entries as well as related content in the online service Oxford Reports on International Law.

If you have any questions about these resources, feel free to contact the Reference Office at your convenience: Email law-ref@umn.edu or call 612-625-4309.

I am working with a project for the Blandin Foundation and I’m hoping that you might be able to help or if you’re a blogger that you might be interested in joining.

The Blandin Foundation (http://www.blandinfoundation.org) and E-Democracy (http://www.e-democracy.org/) have teamed to promote and support Online Citizen Engagement & Media Projects in rural Minnesota. To begin to promote these Minnesota Voices we are compiling a list of rural, citizen-led online projects including blogs, online discussions, YouTube channels, Flickr groups, wikis, and more. You can see a list of the MN Voices resources we have found here: http://delicious.com/tag/mnvoices

Our next step is to try to support the citizens maintaining these tools. To that end, we are creating a citizen media and online engagement community of practice online – in other words, an email-based discussion list where Minnesota Voices can meet and talk about issues that interest them – be it cross-promoting each other's work, technical assistance, opening the door to collaboration, or simply meeting people with a shared interest in Minnesota-based citizen engagement. You can learn more about the list here: http://e-democracy.org/citizenmedia

So why are we writing to you? First, if you know of any citizen-based resources we should add to our list, please let us know. Our goal is to be comprehensive and we are happy to hear of new additions. Also, if you maintain a site or know of someone who does and might like to join our Citizen Media Online Group, please feel free to join or invite others to join.

Every attempt will be made to invite owners of the sites we find to join the list – but your help in compiling the list and spreading the word is greatly appreciated.

Ann Treacy
Treacy Information Services
1841 Fairmount Ave
St Paul MN 55105
651-239-4581

http://www.treacyinfo.com
atreacy@treacyinfo.com

The College of William Mary Law Library was recently spotlighted on the I Love Libraries website.

An excerpt:
Nearly 30 years ago, in 1980, the College of William & Mary opened its original 36,500-squarefoot library. By the mid-1990s, shelf space, work space, and seating were in short supply. The library looked dated and offered little support for today’s technology—only a small portion of the library’s carrels and tables had access to power outlets, its computer lab was carved out of former stack space, and its tiny “typing rooms� had long outlived their usefulness. During the sabbatical inspections that took place in 1995 and 2002, the American Bar Association (ABA) and Association of American Law Schools (AALS) both pointed to the library’s physical facilities as a serious weakness for the school.

Using a combination of state funds, private donations, and student fees, the law school budgeted $16.8 million for an expansion and complete renovation of the library. The new library would not only be 60 percent larger than the old library, but would be much brighter and more inviting. Law Library Director Jim Heller worked on the plans with Shelley Dowling, who had recently joined William & Mary (W&M) as a part-time librarian. Heller had experience with two small renovation projects at the W&M Law Library; Dowling had been involved in renovations at the U.S. Supreme Court Library and Georgetown’s law library before coming to W&M.

Read more at: http://www.ilovelibraries.org/news/libraryshowcase/williamandmary.cfm

Source: American Libraries Direct, The e-newsletter of the American Library Association | October 15, 2008

International Monetary Fund has released a new database on the timing of systemic banking crises and policy responses to resolve them. The database covers the universe of systemic banking crises for the period 1970-2007, with detailed data on crisis containment and resolution policies for 42 crisis episodes, and also includes data on the timing of currency crises and sovereign debt crises.

Source: Law Librarian Blog

In this occasional feature, we highlight recently asked questions and brief answers from the Law Library reference desk.

Q: Why can’t I find this 1982 law review article on Westlaw or Lexis?
A: The law review databases on Westlaw and Lexis, with only a couple of exceptions, don’t go back to the early 1980s. Use HeinOnline for older law review articles.

Q: I need to find an old public law from 1940, but I can’t figure out what the public law number is.
A: Before 1956, new federal laws didn’t have a public law number—just a chapter number. If you have a Statutes at Large citation, it doesn’t matter whether you have a chapter or public law number anyway.

Q: I’m using KeyCite to look at citations to my case, and there are way too many of them for me to read. How can I limit my results to just one jurisdiction?
A: Click on the “Limit KeyCite History Display� button at the bottom of the screen—you’ll get several options for limiting your results, including choosing a jurisdiction.

Have your own reference question? Call or email the reference desk at 612-625-4309 or law-ref@umn.edu.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Take the time to increase your own awareness of domestic violence and its effect on millions of victims.

The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence provides resources and information about what you can do to help.

The Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), provides information and resources for victims. Includes a link to the Bureau of Justice Statistics report, Violence Against Women: Estimates from the Redesigned National Crime Victimization Survey.

Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women - A statewide membership organization working to end violence. The member programs of the coalition include local, regional, and statewide organizations advocating on behalf of battered women and their children.

Sources: Virtual Library Cat's Eye View blog, and MN Legislative Reference Library

In the Oct 12 issue of the St Paul Pioneer Press, retired immigration judge Joseph Dierkes is profiled. Here's a short excerpt:

Q What's the quality of legal representation in Minnesota compared to elsewhere?
A I saw a much, much lower level of attorney preparation out there (in other places). (Dierkes occasionally was sent to Los Angeles and other areas to help clear high volumes of cases.)
We have the group Advocates for Human Rights here. They have a clearinghouse of private attorneys to represent people. The first week I was here, I had an attorney from Pillsbury representing someone. There's nothing like that I have encountered in any other city.

Read the entire article at: http://www.twincities.com/ci_10696573?nclick_check=1

Barriers to Justice to be Explored at JPLP Spring Symposium
In commemoration of the centennial of Southern Minnesota Legal Services (SMRLS), The Journal of Public Law and Policy at Hamline University School of Law in Saint Paul, Minnesota, will host a symposium entitled "Barriers to Justice: Responding to the Needs of the Low-Income Population in America." The symposium will begin on Thursday, March 12 and will continue throughout the day on Friday, March 13, 2009. Read more at: http://law.hamline.edu/newsitems

St. Thomas School of Law establishes James L. Oberstar Professorship of Law and Public Policy
The St. Thomas School of Law has established the James L. Oberstar Professorship of Law and Public Policy to honor the Minnesota congressman and St. Thomas alumnus. The professorship was announced Tuesday, Oct. 7, at a private reception at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. Read more at: http://www.stthomas.edu/law/news/headlines/Fall2008/JamesLOberstarProfes.html

William Mitchell launches new Center for the Empirical Study of Legal Practice
William Mitchell has launched a new Center for the Empirical Study of Legal Practice which will research the daily realities of the work of a lawyer and the business of the legal profession. Led by Professor Herbert Kritzer, a political scientist, the Center will be officially launched with a reception and CLE program on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008, at 6 pm. in the Haynsworth Conservatory at William Mitchell. The program, “Changing Legal Practice in the Wake of Medical Malpractice Reform� begins at 7 pm. Read more at: http://www.wmitchell.edu/news/articles/default.asp?articleId=11730&from=RSS

Coen family intrigue might be worthy of a movie plot
The 222-page complaint, filed in March 2005, boils down to an accusation that Lou, who lives in France, cheated his brother when he bought Ed's shares of Compayne (Hempstead) Ltd., which appears to be a London real estate company. She argued that Ed didn't have the same information that Lou had when he sold his shares. Read the whole story, with a link to the complaint, at: http://www.minnpost.com/judithyatesborger/

Magazine Chooses “5 Sites That Will Boost Your Political Awareness�

PC World has named its “5 Sites That Will Boost Your Political Awareness.� Included on this list are some of my favorite Web sites that I bet are familiar to many of you, too. Here is their list:

FedSpending.org, a searchable database of federal government spending which uses information found in both the Federal Procurement Data System and the Federal Assistance Award Data System. FedSpending.org, created by AALL’s 2008 Public Access to Government Information (PAGI) Award winner OMB Watch, is the model for the Office of Management and Budget’s USAspending.gov.

OpenCongress, which allows you to track bills, votes, issues, and members of Congress and share information through StumbleUpon, Facebook, and e-mail a friend. OpenCongress is a joint project of the Participatory Politics Foundation and the Sunlight Foundation.

PolitiFact Truth-o-Meter, a collaborative project of the St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly. The Web site allows you to fact-check candidates’ speeches, TV ads, and interviews.

Project Vote Smart, which publishes the biographies, voting records, and other details about all presidential, congressional, gubernatorial, and state legislative candidates. It also provides information about the officials in all three branches of government and at the state and local levels.

OpenSecrets.org, which lets you follows the money in politics. The Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) launched the Web site following the 1996 elections. OpenSecrets.org was recently redesigned to allow easy searching of candidates, industries, PACs, news and analysis, and more.

This list is part of PC World’s “100 Incredibly Useful and Interesting Web Sites,� which includes other categories such as “9 Sites to Help You Survive the Recession� and “7 Great Sites About Music and Literature� (which includes Portland’s Powell’s Books). You might not agree with all of the picks, but it makes for a fun and interesting read!

Source: AALL Washington Blawg

O’Connor Conference: the connection between a strong court system and the economy

Tony Mauro of the New Times, wrote an article published October 3rd on Law.com, about a conference attended by retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, held at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC. The purpose of the conference was to promote the ideal of fair and independent courts.

Numerous dignitaries joined Justice O’Connor including Justice David Souter, and Justice Stephen Breyer. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan tipped his hat to the judiciary stating that it is the only branch of government “still functioning.� O’Connor herself emphasised the importance of having a dependable court sytem especially when the economy is in turmoil.

To read the full article, go to http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202425001778.

Source: Ross-Blakely Law Library Blog

A recent article, by Leah M. Christensen, Associate Professor of Law at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law, presents some intriguing results about a study which asked 157 law students to respond to a survey about their learning goals and motivations for learning in law school. An interesting finding from the study showed that the LSAT score was the weakest predictor of law school success. You may read the article by clicking on the link below.

Predicting Law School Success: A Study of Goal Orientations, Academic Achievement, and the Declining Self-Efficacy of Our Law Students

Source: Ross-Blakely Law Library Blog

The preregistration deadline for registering to vote in Minnesota is October 14. Stop by the Law Library today to complete and turn in your registration form!

For more info, see our earlier post at: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lawlib/lexlibris/2008/09/register_to_vote_your_library.html

Image part of the election poster gallery by U students: http://wilson.lib.umn.edu/reference/politics/posters.phtml

Hague Academy Collected Courses Online / Recueil des Cours en ligne
The Hague Academy is a prestigious international institution for the study and teaching of Public and Private International Law and related subjects. The work of the Hague Academy receives the support and recognition of the UN. Its purpose is to encourage a thorough and impartial examination of the problems arising from international relations in the field of law. The courses deal with the theoretical and practical aspects of the subject, including legislation and case law. All courses at the Academy are, in principle, published in the language in which they were delivered in the Collected Courses of the Hague Academy of International Law.

This resource is available to all University of Minnesota Twin Cities faculty, students, and staff, and to all patrons within the Law Library.

AILALink

AILALink Online, published by the American Immigration Lawyers Association, is a fully searchable, web-based immigration law library. The site includes a wealth of immigration resources including primary material; leading AILA publications, such as Kurzbans Immigration Law Sourcebook and AILA’s Asylum Primer; immigration forms; and links to hundreds of immigration-related websites. Boolean and citation search options are available.

This resource requires a password. Law School faculty, students, and staff, and patrons within the Law Library should contact the Law Library Reference Office (612-625-4309) for access information.

Here is the list of new titles the Law Library acquired in September 2008. The list is on the library's home page.

September Acquisitions

The National Organization of Bar Counsel is a good resource for finding information on legal ethics and professional conduct rules in the different states. The web site provides links to state disciplinary procedure rules, state ethics opinions, professional conduct rules, and state rules for admission. It is a great starting place for legal ethics research.

Source: Virtual Library Cat's Eye View Blog

On Sept. 19 the President signed into law S. 2450 creating FRE 502, a new rule of evidence entitled: “Attorney-client privilege and work-product doctrine; limitations on waiver.� It is intended to provide an consistent standard for the privilege for the application of the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine. For the text of the rule, discussion/analysis and important links such as the "Statement of Congressional Intent", check out the Federal Evidence Review.

Source: Virtual Library Cat's Eye View Blog

A study by the Center for Equal Opportunity has found discrimination in admissions at the Arizona State University and the University of Arizona law schools:

CEO chairman Linda Chavez said: “Racial discrimination in university admissions is always appalling. But the degree of discrimination we have found here, at both schools but especially at Arizona State, is off the charts.� She noted that the odds ratio favoring African Americans over whites was 250 to 1 at the University of Arizona and 1115 to 1 at Arizona State. “As a result, nearly a thousand white students during the years we studied were denied admission even though they had higher undergraduate GPAs and LSATs than the average African American student who was admitted--and over a hundred Asian and Latino students were in the same boat with them.�

CEO president Roger Clegg agreed, and stressed that, not only was race weighed, but it was weighed much more heavily that residency status. “For instance, a white Arizonan in 2007 was about eight times less likely to be admitted to the University of Arizona than a black out-of-state applicant, and at Arizona State he would be twelve times less likely to be admitted.�

Read the report press release at: http://www.ceousa.org/content/view/623/119/

Source: Execupundit.com