Cornell Library Goes Mobile

In a move designed to make online information more accessible to library patrons, Cornell University Library (CUL) recently launched CULite, a new mobile interface for the library’s website. The Law Library is grateful to the mobile team that designed this feature for the benefit of all libraries on the Cornell campus, including ours.

Two alternatives are available to users: a device independent mobile site (http://library.cornell.edu/m) or an iPhone/iPod Touch app (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cu-library/id354721654?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D6) available free from iTunes. Both options allow users to search the Classic Catalog, check individual Library hours, locate contact information for each Library, submit a question to an individual reference desk, and more. Check out the promotional video on YouTube. Your research just became a little easier.

Amy Emerson
Research Attorney and Lecturer in Law
aae25@cornell.edu

Digitizing the Laws of the World

At the recent International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) meeting in Gothenburg, Sweden, access to information was reaffirmed as a basic human right. Many countries now provide online access to legal information such as statutes, codes, regulations, court decisions, and international agreements.

The big question is whether the digital version of this information is official like the print version, and whether the digital version has been authenticated through a secure server or digital signature to ensure that the content has not been altered.
Another issue that has emerged is the fragility and obsolescence of the digital medium and the need for preservation and long-term access, particularly for born-digital legal information which has no paper equivalent.

Why does it matter? In an environment where online sources are replacing official print versions of legal information, citizens need to be able to trust the “official word of the law.” More information at http://www.ifla.org/files/hq/papers/ifla76/96-germain-en.pdf, and in French at http://ifla2010ulaval.wordpress.com/2010/08/12/seance-1-sur-les-bibliotheques-de-droit-et-les-publications-officielles-ou-gouvernementales/.

Claire M. Germain
Law Librarian and Professor of Law
cmg13@cornell.edu

Research Fellows

Research Fellows are second and third year law students who are trained in legal research by the law librarians to assist with your research projects.  They work for the library and provide you another option for your projects. 

You are encouraged to contact Jean Callihan, Head of Research Services, or your liaison about any research projects.  The Research Fellows can supplement your own Research Assistants or assist your liaison.

Let us know how we can help you.  Research Fellows are eager to get to work!

Pat Court

Associate Law Librarian

pgc1@cornell.edu

 

Olin Library Stacks Not All Open

If you, your Administrative Assistant, or your Research Assistants are headed up to Olin Library for library materials, the trip may not be instantly rewarding.  Olin is in the midst of a Fire Safety Improvements Project, which means various floors of the library and certain collections will not be accessible.

For specifics on the status of collections at Olin, check their schedule online, as well as the latest updates.

In the closed areas, the materials are still available but library staff will have to get them for you.  They will retrieve materials once a day, Mondays through Fridays, after 2:00 pm.  No weekend retrievals.

To avoid a wasted trip, remember that many books can be sent to you here at the Law Library from Olin (and other libraries on campus).  When you find the item in the online catalog, click “Requests” at the top of the screen and complete the information, selecting LAW as the library to which you want it sent.  And as always, you can request that the Law Library staff get the materials for you.

Pardon the dust while safety improvements are underway!

Pat Court

Associate Law Librarian

pgc1@cornell.edu

 

 

 

BNA Password & Alerts

If you access BNA materials from home or on the road, you’ll need to know that the password has changed.  And if you are not accessing BNA materials, consider this your personal invitation to sign up for the BNA Alerts that will let you know when the latest information in your field is added to the BNA web.

 

First, for the password:  I will send an e-mail to the faculty today with the new password.  Since this blog posting is up on the web where anyone could find it, we don’t want to give away the store by including it here.

 

You remember BNA, the Bureau of National Affairs publisher of U.S. Law Week that you used in paper way back when.  It’s all on the web now.  You can link from the Law Library home page or bookmark the entry page for Cornell Law School.  From your office, you do not need a password to get in.

 

Sign up for e-mail summaries of any BNA news service or any BNA reference library.  Choose from over 100 products, including  Labor Relations Reporter,  Corporate Law Daily, ABA/BNA Lawyers' Manual on Professional Conduct, Computer Technology Law Report, Criminal Law Reporter, Securities Regulation & Law Report, and International Trade Reporter.  Of course, you can read and research in all of these materials at any time.

 

Feel free to contact me or your librarian liaison to learn more about BNA resources and for assistance in setting up your Alerts.  It’s one of the best ways to stay up with the Supreme Court Today!

 

Pat Court

Associate Law Librarian

pgc1@cornell.edu  

 

Using the New Books List

A list of new books at Cornell Law Library is posted on our web site twice a month.  I wanted to point out a few features of our New Books List, which is always linked from our home page, which will help you use the list to its fullest.

When looking at the web page with the New Books List, you can click on the book title in red, to go to the Cornell Library Catalog.  There you will see more information about the book, sometimes the Table of Contents or a Summary.  From there you can also request holds, recalls, and delivery from another library.

When you click on the image of the book cover, you go to its record on Amazon.com, where you can read reviews and purchase the book if you’d like.

Our list of new books also includes books about legal topics that are added at other libraries on campus, usually at Olin, Industrial and Labor Relations, Management, or Kroch Asia libraries.  The titles are found throughout the list, which is arranged by subject call number.

If you want to see what other new books have been added by libraries all across campus, you can click on Search and Browse New Books at Cornell University Library, a link found at the top left of each of our New Books List.  Select from broad topics such as political science, technology, history, and social sciences.

Feel free to contact your librarian liaison if you would like any of these books checked out and delivered to your office.   We love to get books into your hands!

Pat Court

Associate Law Librarian

pgc1@cornell.edu

 

Renewing Cornell Library Books

Welcome to the 2010-2011 academic year at Cornell Law School! This InfoBrief comes to you about once a week from the Law Library, with information on services and resources of particular use to you.

If you check out library books at Cornell, you will want to know there is a new campus policy that limits your check-out period to one year, instead of the indefinite ”forever” loans of the last several years. However, because the Law Library wants to be sure you have the materials you need, we will automatically renew your Cornell library books at the end of each summer for another year so you can keep them, as needed.

You are, of course, welcome to return any books as you finish using them. And, remember that you will receive computerized e-mails alerting you when you have overdue books, items recalled by another researcher, and similar messages. Be sure to follow up on those, and ask us if you need any assistance.

You can get further information on borrowing materials at Cornell libraries here. Or contact me or your librarian liaison with any questions about using the library.

Best wishes for a very successful year!

Pat Court
Associate Law Librarian
pgc1@cornell.edu

InfoBrief: Library Open House Thursday 11-1

You are invited to an Open House for the Rare Book Room hosted by the Cornell Law Library this Thursday, March 11 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

The Rare Book Room is located on the eastern end of the Reading Room (on the Law Library’s third floor). Please join us for an introduction to some of the most treasured items from our collection, including the Donovan Nuremberg Trials Collection, the Scottsboro Trials Collection, and our collection of Liberian Law.

Light refreshments will be served.

Amy Emerson

Research Attorney

aae25@cornell.edu

InfoBrief: WestlawNext lunch program on Monday

Please join us this Monday, March 1, at noon for a preview of WestlawNext.  Our Westlaw account manager, Mike Winn, will be here to show us what is coming with the new Westlaw.  You will also receive a password so you can work in the new system, months before law students will have it (next fall, at the earliest).  Lunch will be served, so please RSVP to me by this Thursday, February 25.

 

Many blog posts, articles, etc. have been written about WestlawNext.  Here are a few that can give you the latest:

 

Greg Lambert writes “WestlawNext - A Study in Applying Knowledge Management & Crowdsourcing” on 3 Geeks and a Law Blog

 

Bob Ambrogi’s LawSites gives “A First Look at WestlawNext”

 

Video Discussion of WestlawNext

 

What happens to Boolean searching?  Do you still have to select a database to search in?  Exactly what is the structure and nature of the new search engine?  Please join us and find out!

 

Pat Court

InfoBrief: TradeLawGuide for WTO law

 

To Cornell Law Faculty:

The World Trade Organization (WTO) regulates trade between 153 member nations and provides a framework for the settlement of trade disputes between nations. The Cornell Law Library has recently acquired a subscription to TradeLawGuide, providing students and faculty with enhanced access to WTO law.

Use TradeLawGuide to search WTO agreements, instruments, jurisprudence, and Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) minutes. TradeLawGuide includes article and jurisprudence citators that allow you to update WTO law, and a Subject Navigator tool that indexes materials by subject. Training videos are available here.

Access TradeLawGuide from either the Trade Law or the International Law subject pages of our Online Legal Resources list, or search the library’s catalog for “TradeLawGuide.”

For more information on WTO law, check out this research guide or these articles by Jack Barceló.

Iantha Haight

Research Attorney

imh24@cornell.edu