LexLibris

Need reference help? Try our new Live Chat service: Ask Us!
Access it here: http://local.law.umn.edu/library/referenceaskus.html

Live Chat Reference Hours of Operation
Chat Reference Summer Hours:
Mon. - Fri. 9am - noon & 1pm - 4pm

From the page:

To chat live with a reference librarian type your question in the lower box on the right and hit enter. A reference librarian will reply to you shortly. Please be patient as the librarian may be assisting others at the moment.
If the librarian is offline you can leave a message, just be sure to include an email address or phone number we can reach you at.

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 9:19 AM | Permalink

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

Q: Where could I find information on the history of medical malpractice in the US?
A: The Making of American Law, Trials contains one report of a medical malpractice trial. The Making of American Law: Legal Treatises 1800 - 1926 has several treatises that address the law of medical malpractice.

Q: I need articles about Hernandez v. Texas for an undergrad paper. How do I find them?
A: LexisNexis Academic has eleven articles with Hernandez v. Texas in the title.

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

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 9:43 AM | Permalink

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

Q: What is legislative history and why is it used?

A: Legislative history consists of the records generated by a legislature as it develops legislation. It exists for any bill that is introduced, regardless of whether that bill is finally enacted. Legislative history serves two purposes. First, it is used as evidence of the intent of the legislature in enacting a law. This evidence can support an interpretation of an existing law that is ambiguous, especially when there are no court rulings interpreting the law. Second, legislative history is used to track the progress of bills while they are under consideration in the legislature. Special tools help record the progress of a bill through each step in the prescribed lawmaking process. When you conduct legislative history research, you should focus on finding bill texts (all versions, if possible), floor proceedings (debates, votes), and committee proceedings (e.g., minutes, testimony, exhibits). We recommend the following guides for help in finding legislative history.

Finding Federal Legislative History at http://local.law.umn.edu/library/pathfinders/federallegislativehistory.html

United States Laws and Legislation Guide at http://govpubs.lib.umn.edu/guides/leg.phtml (lists materials produced at each step in the legislative process)

Minnesota Legislative History Step by Step at http://www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/leghist/histstep.asp

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

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 10:08 AM | Permalink

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

Q: Why can’t I find the full text of this complaint on PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records, the federal court system’s electronic document system)?
A: Not all federal court pleadings are available on PACER. For example, if a complaint was filed using paper rather than electronically, some of the federal courts will not make it available (other courts will eventually scan the document and put it on PACER).

Q: How do I find a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report?
A: The LexisNexis Congressional database contains CRS reports back to 1916. Using that database’s “Advanced Search� option, you can limit your search to just the CRS reports. Usually, reports can be retrieved by title; a date is also helpful.

Q: Is the Reference Office open during finals and break?
A: Yes! The Reference Office is staffed regular hours during exams (M-Th 9 am to 8 pm; F 9 am to 5 pm; Sat 11 am to 5 pm; Sun 1 to 5 pm) and when the Library moves to Winter Break hours (M-F 8-4:30), the Reference Office is open 9 am to 4:30 pm.

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

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 8:22 AM | Permalink

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.

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 9:35 AM | Permalink

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

Q: I need to research the legislative history of an old Minnesota statute. Are there records of debates and committee meetings available?
A: No, the earliest records (audio tapes) of Minnesota legislative sessions and committee meetings start in 1991.

Q: I need a form for incorporating a non-profit corporation in Minnesota. Do you have one?
A: Yes--we recommend the Annotated document series of the Minnesota State Bar Association, Continuing Legal Education. Annotated form of mission statement, articles of incorporation and bylaws for a nonprofit corporation / prepared by J. Patrick Plunkett. TC Law Library KF209 .M54x 2000 no.1625 One Week Loan

Q: I know I need my parents' permission to get a tattoo in Minnesota (I'm 15), but how about Wisconsin?
A: In Wisconsin, you must be 18 to get a permanent tattoo, even with parental consent. See especially WI Administrative Code section HFS 173.05(1)(b).

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

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 12:31 PM | Permalink

To utilize the full features of Google, take a look at the Google Guide. In it, you'll find shortcuts for specific searches and tools for better using the full spectrum of search capabilities.

A cheat sheet of some of these shortcuts is included in the article "Who's Afraid of Google?" by Traci Avet, published in the June 2006 issue of Library Journal.

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 2:53 PM | Permalink

Trouble Connecting to a Library Database?

If you experience problems connecting to a database that our library subscribes to please contact the Library Reference Office (email: law-ref@umn.edu , phone: 612-624-2597). Include as much of the following information as possible:

-Name of the resource/database.
-Date and time of day you tried to connect.
-Location/method of access (workstation in Mondale Hall, wireless network, remote access via the law school Intranet).
-IP address you were attempting to contact from (if known).

This information will help us in resolving the problem.

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 1:27 PM | Permalink

There are several U of MN Law School students and faculty in the blogosphere. Here are the ones we know about. If you are affiliated with the U of MN Law School and want to add your blog to our directory, just drop us a line at lawlib@umn.edu.

http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/infolaw/ Prof. William McGeveran (and colleagues) blog on Information Law

http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lawcso/vocare/ Vocare: Law School Career and Professional Development Center (CPDC)

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/contractsprof_blog/ Official Blog of the AALS Section on Contracts (Prof. Carol Chomsky is one of the editors)

http://volokh.com/ The Volokh Conspiracy (Prof Dale Carpenter and colleagues)

http://fritzfeds.blogspot.com/ Student members of the Federalist Society (they also list several other MN blogs on their page)

http://heretic.squarespace.com/journal Generic Heretic, law student Nicholas Rogers

http://jointstrikeweasel.blogspot.com/ Joint Strike Weasel, law students Sal Bezos, Jeffrey Bergman, Ivan Ludmer, and Jeff Bartlett

http://theunreasonableman.blogspot.com/ The Unreasonable Man, an anonymous law student

http://steve-says.blogspot.com/ Blog of Steven Marchese, from the Career & Professional Development Center

http://susan-cooks.blogspot.com/ A fun blog from Susan Gainen of the Career & Professional Development Center

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 10:06 AM | Permalink

The Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center holds the "crown jewels" of the library collection that are available for inspection and research. In addition to the print materials housed in the center on the sub-plaza level of the building, the Arthur C Pulling Rare Books Collection is selectively showcased in the online exhibits through the Digital Legacies project.

In addition to our own collection riches, the Archives and Special Collections (ASC) and the Digital Library Development Lab have announced the release of the Online Finding Aids system. This system unifies for searching and browsing over 3,300 Encoded Archival Descriptions (EAD). This makes it among the largest collections of finding aids by a single institution in the country, and will significantly enhance the potential for researchers to discover specific materials held deep in our archival collections.

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 9:49 AM | Permalink

From the lawlib listserv comes news that the law journal rankings of 1,345 journals have been updated on the Washington and Lee Law School website.

From the website:
"The purpose of the Law Journals webpage is to allow authors to find law journals by subject, country, or journal rank (where available), to display journal editorial information, and to facilitate an author's article submission to those journals."

Curious to find out the rankings of some MN law journals? You can search the list to have the rankings displayed for the last five years. You'll need to read about the methodology to find out exactly what the rankings mean.

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 9:34 AM | Permalink

The Appellate Advocate, a publication of the Texas State Bar Appellate Division, has a humorous article by Roger W. Hughes in its Summer 2006 issue about instant messaging.

Here is an excerpt:
"Our teenage children have developed a literary style of IM’s or text messages over cell phones and WiFi’d laptops. Here are some ingenious acronyms commonly used:
FWIW = for what it’s worth
LOL = laughing out loud (or lots of love)
TTYL = talk to you later
RUUP4IT = are you up for it
AFAIC = as far as I’m concerned
CUL8R = see you later
...

There is every reason to think that today’s law students and young attorneys are communicating in the same
way. Soon a whole generation of lawyers will communicate in the acronyms spawned by cramped fingers
on the tiny keypads of cell phones and laptops. Twenty-first Century briefs and opinions in the 21st Century
will soon be written in “IM.�

Because appellate lawyers are desperate to write the short brief that still “says it all,� here are some
proposed IM acronyms for the brief of tomorrow:
ASSA = assuming arguendo
WADR = with all due respect
MIPC = May it please the Court
THJTC = The Honorable Justices of This Court..."
You can read the entire article at this link.

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 3:37 PM | Permalink

New to the U? Need to know how to cast your ballot in Tuesday's election? Here are some resources to help you find your way to the poll!

MN Polling Place Finder: http://pollfinder.sos.state.mn.us/

FAQ on voting at the U, including who is eligible: http://www1.umn.edu/groots/vote/faq.php

Voting Guides at Vote for the U of M: http://www1.umn.edu/groots/vote/

Election Results from MN Public Radio: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/2006/campaign/?refid=election

Posted by University of Minnesota Law Library at 4:54 PM | Permalink