Month: September 2010

Starting in 2010, the OLRC began a pilot project, called the USCprelim, to update certain titles of the U.S. Code on the website throughout the year as laws affecting those titles are enacted, rather than waiting until the end of the congressional session. Although these titles are also prepared from the same database used to prepare all other versions of the Code, they are posted to the website as a preliminary release, before all editorial notes have been added and before all work has been thoroughly reviewed. Thus, it should be expected that the preliminary release will be subject to further revision before it is released again as a final version. Nevertheless, the preliminary release should be useful to those seeking a more current version of the law. As with other online versions of the Code, the U.S. Code classification tables should be consulted for the latest laws affecting the Code.

Yes, today is National Punctuation Day!!! Actually it is the seventh annual event designed to promote the proper use of punctuation marks.

View a webcast or read the testimony at the hearing on Nine Years After 9/11: Confronting the Terrorist Threat to the Homeland.

On September 7, 2010, the Data Inspection Board (Datainspektionen, DIB) of Sweden published a new, four-page set of social media guidelines, entitled PERSONAL INFORMATION IN SOCIAL MEDIA. The guidelines address how organizations that publish blogs and use online social networks should handle personal data, by clarifying the country’s Personal Data Act requirements on the subject. Read more
at Social Media

Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900) is a collection of key primary documents from five countries—the United States, Britain, France, Germany, and Italy—that trace the development of copyright from the invention of the printing press through the dawn of the 20th century. The documents were selected for inclusion by a scholar from each represented country with the assistance of an editorial board. The collection is a powerful research tool, organizing primary documents into a timeline conducive to browsing. Visitors to the site have many options for browsing the documents: by place, language, institution, legislation, case law, and keyword. The website also provides a simple keyword search. Each document is accompanied by extensive descriptive metadata providing context. One of the greatest strengths of this collection is the commentary written by the documents’ selectors that accompanies many of the documents. Translations are available for documents in languages other than English. The image viewer offers three levels of zooming and the ability to download a PDF version. Unfortunately only one page can be downloaded at a time. Images of the original documents may be viewed alongside transcriptions or translations of the text. This website offers a stellar collection of materials for students and scholars of copyrigh

Levitt, Carole A. & Rosch, Mark E., Google for Lawyers: Essential Research Tips and Productivity Tools(ABA 2010) in the library stacks at K87 .L48 2010.

Today Sir Kenneth James Keith, ONZ, KBE, QC, a judge of the International Court of Justice launched the most comprehensive free-access International Law Library on the Internet, at AustLII’s(Australasian Legal Information Institute) offices. The International Law Library contains over 80,000 searchable documents for free access. This includes over 25,000 decisions of International Courts and Tribunals, over 30,000 treaties and international agreements (including the League of Nations and UN Treaty Series), international law journals and law reform materials. These materials cannot be jointly searched elsewhere on the Internet. AustLII’s LawCite citator tracks where international cases, treaties and law journal articles have been cited.

The Guide to Law Online, prepared by the Law Library of Congress Public Services Division, is an annotated guide to sources of information on government and law available online. It includes selected links to useful and reliable sites for legal information. For more information on the Guide, click on GUIDE.

A link to State Legislature Websites has been added to the THOMAS homepage. This new page displays a map with links to the legislative bodies for all fifty states, Washington, DC, and U.S. territories. It provides quick access to state legislative websites that are similar to what THOMAS provides on a federal level.

The DSpace-based TTU School of Law Digital Repository created by the Law Library “currently has over 900 records including the faculty scholarship collection. This is a comprehensive compilation of our faculty scholarship record. It includes a complete collection of our publications faculty produced while at Texas Tech. The collection contains almost 600 full text articles and links to individual articles on widely used legal databases such as Westlaw, LexisNexis, and HeinOnline. Social Science Research Network (SSRN) links also have been added.” Check it out here.