Monday, December 21, 2009

Gifts for librarians...

Looking for gifts for your favorite librarian or book lover? Check out the Librarian in Black's recent post (December 14, 2009).

Friday, December 18, 2009

What's ALLUNY watching?


So, if one has time to catch a flick this season -- as I hope many of us do! -- what would you recommend, and why?

Thursday, December 10, 2009

The best book you've read this year?

The call for book reviews and papers got me wondering: what have ALLUNY members, friends, and fans been reading? Let's all share!  What's the best -- or in any way your favorite -- book you've read this year?


Please do share -- we're on blogger & Facebook & Twitter & in the News so any form will do.


I'll tell you mine if you'll tell me yours.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Book reviewers sought for LLJ Keeping Up with New Legal Titles column


Creighton Miller and Annmarie Zell, editors of the Law Library Journal column, "Keeping Up with New Legal Titles," are soliciting book reviewers for upcoming issues. Both new and experienced reviewers are welcome. The editors are hoping to find reviewers from a diverse range of experiences and settings.

If you are interested, please get in touch with Annmarie Zell (annmarie.zell@nyu.edu) and indicate whether you are interested in submitting a review within the next two months or would like to be considered for later issues.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Not that we're LOONatics, or anything...


Instructions for how to make an origami loon:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/josephwuorigami/sets/72157622398804160/

If you make one, let us know how it turns out!  Pictures, please :)

Thursday, October 29, 2009

AALL Lexis/Nexis Call for Papers

Jim Donovan, Chair of the AALL Lexis Nexis Call for Papers Committee, has announced the new Call. This is an excellent opportunity for an exciting publication opportunity for those both new and experienced in law librarianship. See Jim's email below, and please consider submitting your writing for the Call.

From James M. Donovan
Date Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 8:55 AM
Subject [LAW-LIB:60403] AALL Lexis/Nexis Call for Papers

Probably everyone out there has an idea or a point they'd love to communicate to their peers, and an excellent soapbox is the 2010 AALL LexisNexis Call for Papers competition.

Papers can be entered in one of three categories: OPEN (for active and retired AALL members and law librarians with five or more years of professional experience), NEW MEMBERS (AALL members who have become law librarians since July 1, 2005), and STUDENTS (enrolled in law school, or in a library school, information management, or an equivalent program, either in the Fall 2009 or Spring 2010 semester). The fundamental requirement is that the submission be scholarly; it need not have the look and feel of a law review-type article.

A $750 prize is awarded in each category, and the winning paper is considered for publication in Law Library Journal. Winning writers will also be invited to present at the 2010 Denver annual meeting.

Deadline for Open and New Members categories is March 2, 2010. Student papers are due April 15, 2010. Full details and application can be found at the committee website http://www.aallnet.org/about/award_call_for_papers.asp. As a new tool, we have posted recent winning papers on a Selected Works page donated by bepress, at http://works.bepress.com/aallcallforpapers. Perusing these shows the wide range of topics past winners have selected.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at jdonovan@uga.edu, or one of the other committee members, David Hollander (dholland@princeton.edu), and Connie Lenz (lenzx009@umn.edu).

Please forward to anyone you may know who may have an interest in submitting a paper.

Jim

James M. Donovan, J.D., Ph.D.
Chair, AALL Lexis Nexis Call for Papers Committee
Faculty and Access Services Librarian
School of Law Library
University of Georgia
Herty Drive
Athens, GA 30602-6018

Voice: (706)542-5077
Fax: (706)542-6800
Publications available at:
http://works.bepress.com/james_donovan/

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Invitation to AALL Strategic Directions blog

Jean M. Wenger, Chair of the Executive Board Strategic Directions Committee, extends the following invitation to all AALL members:

"On behalf of the Executive Board Strategic Directions Committee, I would like to personally welcome you to 'Strategically Thinking,' the AALL blog for all things futuristic. As the Association develops the new roadmap for the next three years, we need you - the members - to provide the directions, speed and forecast. Tell us what is going on in and around you. What you would like to see change and what things should we keep doing? Feel free to share, brainstorm and collaborate. Each week will feature a new thread mixed with 'open mike" sessions.'

"The blog is for everyone and it's open 24/7. Your input is a vital resource as we set the course for the next three years.

"Visit us at http://aallstrategize.wordpress.com ."

Thursday, September 3, 2009

At your back: the League of Librarians

It's Thursday and only a couple days until the unofficial beginning of our Fall labors. Take a break and look to those who can help - the League of Librarians...

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

MyCorporateResource - another gem from Bob Ambrogi

http://www.mycorporateresource.com


myCorporateResource.com is designed to empower corporate professionals with the latest in legal and commercial information from the world’s top law firms and industry insiders. Every year the top 100 American law firms produce more than 10,000 Client Alerts addressing the key commercial and legal issues faced by their clients. We aggregate, review, sort and summarize this content -for free- to give you a really useful corporate resource.








Thursday, August 6, 2009

Grants for ALLUNY Meeting


Grants Committee Chair Linda Dean reminds us that, "There is grant money available for attendance at the upcoming ALLUNY Annual Meeting to be held in Syracuse September 11-13. There are two grants available: the Ernest H. Breuer Memorial Grant which awards $250 to an ALLUNY member, and the Library Studies Student Grant which gives $150 to a Library Science/Studies student to attend the annual meeting. Please visit the ALLUNY website to access the application forms, and submit the forms to my attention by August 26. Annual Meeting registration materials will be emailed to you by August 10."
Full information, including Linda's contact info, is online at http://www.aallnet.org/chapter/alluny/grants.asp

Lawberry Camp

Organizers Sarah Glassmeyer and Jason Eiseman will be talking about the first AALL Lawberry Camp tomorrow on Blog Talk Radio.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thelawlibrarian/2009/08/07/Annual-Meeting-Review

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Loons in the (funny) news

Loon and ALLUNY lovers alike should appreciate this Mutts strip from 7/9:
http://muttscomics.com/art/images/daily/070709.gif
For the full archive of strips, visit The Official Mutts Comics site at http://www.muttscomics.com/strip.aspx

Friday, July 17, 2009

McKinney's we hardly knew ye....

Check out William Manz's article, "Researching Superseded New York Statutes" in the June 2009 issue of the New York State Bar Association Journal (81(5):46-49). Although the article is primarily about searching those elusive superseded statutes, the first half provides a brief history of the Edward Thompson Co. and the man for whom our statutes are named, William Mark McKinney.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Five Things Lawyers Should Know About Social Media

Nicole Black, ALLUNY Spring Institute and Annual Meeting speaker, has a recent article posted at LLRX, the Law Librarians Resource Exchange:


http://www.llrx.com/features/lawyersandsocialmedia.htm

Competitive Intelligence Using Twitter

If you're not already a reader of 3 Geeks and a Law Blog, do check them out. Here's a recent post about using Twitter to find company employees:

http://www.geeklawblog.com/2009/07/competitive-intelligence-in-web-20.html

Monday, June 22, 2009

60 Sites in Sixty Minutes

Check out the list and slides from the SLA presentation: http://drop.io/60sites

Friday, June 19, 2009

Seeking annual meeting program ideas

Members,
Please send me your ideas for annual meeting programs. All suggestions are welcome!

In what topics are you interested, personally and/or professionally? Is there a speaker that you'd like to recommend? Perhaps a colleague or local "expert" on a legal or library topic? What issues do you consider up and coming? I need to hear from you. Are there topics you are tired of hearing about? I want to know.

Thank you.

Laura Suttell
suttell@gmail.com
lsuttell@phillipslytle.com
(716) 847-5471

Thursday, June 18, 2009

ALLUNY Annual Meeting 2009

Save the dates. The annual meeting is Sept. 11-13 in Syracuse.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Library Haiku

Take time out of your busy day and relax for a moment by perusing Reference Librarian Haiku. Entertaining and perhaps provocative. Another way to market your library?
treaties, cases, laws
only ALLUNY can help
answer the question

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Happy Birthday to the Supreme Court Library at Binghamton

2009 is the 150th anniversary of the Supreme Court Library at Binghamton!

There will be a short program at 9:30 on Thursday, May 21, in the main courtroom of the Broome County Courthouse followed by light refreshments in the library.

All ALLUNY members are invited to stop by and join the celebration.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Accessing your online accounts after death?

We all take email for granted now. But what happens when we die? How do our loved ones or executors access our online accounts to halt banking transactions, take down Facebook pictures, etc.? Check out this timely article from NPR's All Things Considered (Monday, May 11, 2009) and a related spot from the All Tech Considered blog that offer some suggestions.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

New York Court of Appeals Arguments

Commencing May 5th, the New York Court of Appeals will broadcast oral arguments live via the web. The link is available on the Court's website: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/ctapps/. Scroll down to "Court Calendar and Case Summaries" and the link will be found to the right. The case summaries themselves are very useful - they are synopses of the facts and issues in each case.

At some later date, an archive of argued cases will be available on the website. Until then, the best source remains the Government Law Center at Albany Law School.

Much thanks to Frances Murray for sharing this news!

Friday, April 24, 2009

Law Day Ceremony at the New York Court of Appeals

Celebrate Law Day with the New York Court of Appeals!

The Court is hosting a Law Day ceremony on Friday, May 1, at 12 noon. Chief Judge Lippman will preside and the speakers will include the Governor, the A.G. and the President of the NYSBA. The ceremony will be broadcast on the Internet.

SIMULCAST: On Law Day, there will be a link on the Court of Appeals website that will go live shortly before noon. The Internet address for the Court of Appeals website is: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/ctapps/

PERMANENT WEBCAST: When the simulcast ends, the link will be converted into a permanent webcast at: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/ctapps/. The permanent link (works for last year's program as well) can be found by going to the "About the Court" link on the right-hand side of the page and then clicking on "Latest Court News". Then scroll down to the second-last category "Law Day" and choose the link for the year you want.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Murder and Mayhem!

For you history buffs and true crime enthusiasts, check out the New York State Historical Association's Murder Pamphlet Collection Exhibit on Tools of History, a collaborative digitization effort of South Central Regional Library Council.

Learn about the "complete history of the murder of Bertha May Johnson by her inhuman father" or read the execution sermon about John W. Webster, "a man of ungoverned passions".

Among the other collections on Tools of History are the Mark Twain archives from Elmira College and the Alfred University archive images.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

LexisNexis research grant

The AALL Research Committee is accepting applications for research grants from the AALL Research Fund: An Endowment Established by LexisNexis®. A single grant of up to $1,425, or multiple grants totaling $1,425, may be awarded. The committee will award one or more grants to library professionals who wish to conduct research that supports the research and scholarly agenda of the profession of law librarianship. The deadline for applications is Friday, March 27, 2009.

For more information, consult the Research and Publications Committee website at http://www.aallnet.org/committee/respub/ and the full announcement at http://www.aallnet.org/committee/respub/2009LexisAvailabilityAnnounce2.pdf

Friday, February 13, 2009

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

List of Law Library Blogs

http://library.law.wisc.edu/wisblawg/blogslistpublic.htm

Swapping Lexis for Loislaw for Non-Billable Research?

This post describes one firm's switch from Lexis to Loislaw for all non-billable online research. I'd wager many firms have similar policies, perhaps in existence for several years. I worked for a firm that required partner sign-off for all billable online legal research. Any one care to share his or her own experiences regarding this set-up? I know there have been many discussions on law-lib about using Lexis or Westlaw exclusively.


http://abovethelaw.com/2009/02/locke_lord_bissell_swapping_le.php

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Search engine tailored to human rights issues?

I have not used this site. Anyone care to give it a try and share your review here?

http://www.altsearchengines.com/2009/02/09/a-search-engine-for-human-rights-hurisearch/

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

From LegalTech New York (I'm Not There)

If you can stand another post about Twitter, read on.

Kevin, from Thomson Reuters, is at the conference and blogs about this session: What is Twitter and How Can I Use It?”

http://tnalcorpcomm.wordpress.com/2009/02/03/twitter-and-lawyers/

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Pew Internet report on Generational Use

The Pew Internet & American Life Project has just released its latest report which surveys generational use among internet users (Generations Online in 2009). Briefly:

Teens and Generation Y (internet users age 18-32) are the most likely groups
to use the internet for entertainment and for communicating with friends and
family. These younger generations are significantly more likely than their
older counterparts to seek entertainment through online videos, online games,
and virtual worlds, and they are also more likely to download music to listen
to later. Internet users ages 12-32 are more likely than older users to read
other people's blogs and to write their own; they are also considerably more
likely than older generations to use social networking sites and to create
profiles on those sites.

Compared with teens and Generation Y, older generations use the internet less
for socializing and entertainment and more as a tool for information searches,
emailing, and buying products. In particular, older internet users are
significantly more likely than younger generations to look online for health
information. Health questions drive internet users age 73 and older to the
internet just as frequently as they drive Generation Y users, outpacing teens
by a significant margin. Researching health information is the third most
popular online activity with the most senior age group, after email and online
search.
I would guess that not many librarians are part of the survey groups since we all know that librarians are usually on the cutting edge of many of the new technologies. As is evidenced by several of our recent programs at our Spring Institutes and Annual Meetings, ALLUNY certainly has quite a few members who are actively involved in the various forms of communication mentioned above. And I would hazard a guess that our average age is probably considered part of the Boomer generation.

Not only do we have a presence on MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and Second Life, some of us have the latest gadgets be they MP3 players, iPods, Blackberries, or iPhones (does anyone have a Kindle yet?). Still others follow many blogs and engage in podcasting.
Exciting times and we as a group - as well as individuals - are not only ahead of the curve but embracing the new technologies as fast as we can get them.

Good ideas for technology surveys

I'm scooping Laura, here, on her own recommendation, gleaned from one of her tweets. I'm finding the suggestions for technology surveys (for lawyers and clients) here: http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/a_powerful_little_tool_you_must_use/ very interesting. I'm thinking about how to adapt these ideas for students and faculty -- and also wondering about drafting such a survey for ALLUNY. Fun?

Friday, January 23, 2009

News from the Historical Society

In conjunction with the State's celebration of the Henry Hudson quadricentennial, the Historical Society of the Courts of the State of New York is running an essay competition for community college students. As a resource for that, the Historical Society has produced an article on the legal history of New Netherland which is available on their website: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/history/

I think ALLUNY members will very much enjoy this illustrated essay. (And please share the contest with any interested community college students!) Many, many thanks to Frances Murray for sharing the link.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

New Lexis Web beta

http://kmspace.blogspot.com/2009/01/lexis-web-search.html

Monday, January 12, 2009

Two neat web resources from Tom Mighell at Internet Legal Research Weekly

If you're not already a subscriber, here is the address for Tom's web site and blog: http://www.inter-alia.net/

Two good finds from his recent issue:

TradeAgreements.gov
http://www.tradeagreements.gov/

This site represents an interagency effort by the United States to provide
the public with the latest information on America's trade agreements.
You'll find links here to learn more about free trade agreements, including
news, speeches, press releases, and fact sheets. And of course the site has
information on pending and existing free trade agreements, which you can
browse by country.

Reprinted from LLRX:

Researching Medical Literature on the Internet
http://www.llrx.com/features/medical2008.htm

I haven't mentioned anything from the great legal research site LLRX in a
while, so I'm glad to talk about this article. It's published by Gloria
Miccioli, a law librarian for Manatt Phelps in Washington, D.C. She
provides a great listing of sites that will help you research medical
literature on the Internet. Much of the article is taken up talking about
the fantastic National Library of Medicine databases, but you'll also find
other U.S. government sites, medical metasites, medical libraries and
librarians, drug information, journals and textbooks, visual information,
medical search engines, and a lot more. This is a terrific resource

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

New Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys

I found out today there will be new rules governing attorney conduct in New York State. A New York Law Journal article dated Dec. 17, 2008, gives the details; the rules, effective April 1, 2009 (sigh - some breathing room) will replace the good ol' New York Lawyer's Code of Professional Responsibility. The state bar association's web site has no information about this change, but the state court's and the ABA's web site include this news, along with the text of the new rules.

I found out about the rules because one of this firm's attorneys is seeking a correlation table between the old and new rules, along with a 'black-lined" version of the to-be-replaced (to-be old?) rules. Good luck, I say. Perhaps a publisher will make this information available when the rules are published in print format. Any news - please send it my way, or better yet, share it here.