Vincent G. Rinn Law Library

Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibits at The Newberry Library

  In commemoration of  the 200th birthday of America’s sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln,the Newberry Library is hosting the exhibit,"Honest Abe of the West". The exhibit focuses on his career as an attorney in Springfield and as a dedicated leader of the Whig Party. "Honest Abe of the West" draws on the Newberry’s rich collections related to Lincoln’s assassination  and "...items from the Alfred Orendorff Collection, on generous loan to the Newberry.  These include a docket book Lincoln used in the late 1830s and 1840 to track his legal cases and fees; a list of his office expenses from 1846, and various legal documents in Lincoln's hand, among others." This exhibit is from Oct. 10, 2009 - Feb 15, 2010.

It accompanies the broader touring exhibition from the Library of Congress, "With Malice Toward None: The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition" which will run October 10, 2009 – December 19, 2009,at the Newberry Library.

60 W. Walton St. - Chicago, IL - 60610
Admission to all exhibits at the Newberry Library is free and open to the public.
Galleries are open Monday, Friday, Saturday from 8:15 am - 5:00 pm, and Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, from 8:15 am - 7:30 pm.

New Law Librarian of Congress Speaks on the Status of the Law Library

News of the introduction of the "William Orton Law Library Improvement and Modernization Act" (H.R. 2728),which in part calls for the designation of the Law Library of Congress, as the "National Law Library", has prompted speculation whether the law library may be headed for organizational independence from the Library of Congress.( See:House Votes Name Change: Law Library of Congress to Become the National Law Library )

The bill states that ,"The Librarian of Congress is directed to separate out the Law Libraries expenses and salaries as a line item in preparing budget requests." It also creates something called ‘William Orton Law Library Support Program’ which will have its own trust fund to carry out support activities exclusively for the law library.These provisions do seem to be meant to give the law library more control over its own budget and possible funding sources.

These measures, however, may be more like the "independence" that the ABA prescribes for law schools and their libraries which exist within the framework of a larger institution,like a university. The comments of Roberta I. Shaffer, who on Aug. 30  became the new law librarian at the Library of Congress, makes it fairly clear that an actual separation is probably not in the cards.

In an announcement of her appointment she states that, "Even if the Law Library became the National Law Library, as has been suggested by some legislators and lawyers, it could not be separated from the Library of Congress," in her view." “The Library of Congress is not a federation of unrelated parts. The Law Library is a part of the greater whole. The Law Library does not act alone,” “From government information to science to the arts and humanities, laws are informed by their context, made and applied. Laws are not created in a vacuum; they are a product of a culture, and that culture is represented by the universal collections of the Library of Congress."

“The credibility of a national law library depends on the credibility of the entire organization.”

"FDsys", the New GPO Online Public Information System Almost Out of Beta

In the early 1990s the Government Printing Office (GPO) implemented GPO ACCESS, a service that provides free electronic access to a wealth of important information products produced by the Federal Government. It has been a mainstay for providing digital government information into the present. But a new online system called FDsys is being deployed that will succeed GPO access and provide significant  additional functionality. Content is being migrated to the new system from GPO access. The process should be completed later this year when GPO access will be retired.

The three main functions of the new system are described as:

• FDsys is a Content Management System —  FDsys securely controls digital content throughout its lifecycle to ensure content integrity and authenticity

• FDsys is a Preservation Repository —  FDsys follows archival system standards to ensure long-term preservation and access of digital content

• FDsys is an Advanced Search Engine —  FDsys combines extensive metadata creation with modern search technology to ensure the highest quality search experience 

To prepare GPO Access users for using the new system, GPO staff have developed several introductory instructional videos about using FDsys:

FDsys Overview (Adobe Flash) - This video is a brief overview on the background of FDsys.

FDsys Simple Search (Adobe Flash) - This is a video tutorial on how to perform simple searches within the system and filter your results.

FDsys Advanced Search (Adobe Flash) - This is a video tutorial on how to perform advanced searches and citation searches within the system.

FDsys Browse (Adobe Flash) - This is a video tutorial on how to browse for government publications within FDsys.

Law Libraries to Have Role in New US Courts/GPO Pacer Pilot Study

A recent posting on this blog,"Law Librarians Initiate Petition On PACER Service", spoke to the issues surrounding access to the US Courts litigation documents database, PACER. Several user groups are working for greater no-fee access to it's records.

The posting did not mention that back in 2007, Government Printing Office (GPO) and the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AO) undertook a pilot to provide free public access to Federal court records at 17 Federal depository libraries. The study was abruptly suspended in late September of 2008 with the AO saying that there had been a security breach that resulted in the download a massive amount of documents ( See: "Free PACER - Balancing access and privacy").

The pilot was not restarted. Some observers had questioned how a study with only 17 libraries for the whole country, could yield valid information about the public demand for access to the documents on the PACER service.

Yesterday, the Federal Depository Library Program of the GPO, posted an announcement that  "...the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) has been contacted to discuss ways the pilot could be reinvented to make PACER part of a legal research and training program for librarians and the users." It goes on to say that, "The AALL strongly supports the GPO and the FDLP program, and is willing to assist with developing a proposal to move forward. Once a proposal is developed, it will be submitted to the Judiciary's advisory groups and the Judicial Conference Committee on Court Administration and Case Management for consideration."

This is a very hopeful sign that the AO may be seriously exploring the possibility of providing a no-fee, no-account option for public access to PACER documents.While it does not go as far as some of the user constituencies would like, it does show a proactive stance by the AO to broaden access to it's resources.

Rinn Law Library Director, Allen Moye, Publishes Legal Research Article

Associate Professor & Director of the  Rinn Law Library, Allen Moye, has recently had an article published in Legal Reference Services Quarterly entitled "Tubs, Buckets, and a Variety of Lumber: Developing a Strategic Approach to Legal Research". (Volume 28, Issue 3 & 4 July 2009, pages 181 - 199) ( Link should work for on-campus access or via proxy server)

From introduction to the article:

"Today's instructors of legal research face a number of challenges. With an increasing variety of formats and access points for obtaining information, the landscape of legal research material is fluid and evolving. Teaching students the value of some of the more traditional methods of research in a technology-saturated world focused on instant gratification requires some creativity and innovation. Using simple references and metaphors from everyday life, the author focuses on creative ways of helping students to develop a practical strategy for approaching any legal research problem."

LLMC-Digital On the Move - Partnering With Google, Fastcase & LA County Law Library

The non-profit corporation founded in 1976 by several U.S. law libraries and known by the not so exciting name of the Law Library Microform Consortium, is transforming itself into a significant provider of digital legal information with the involvement of some 21st Century players such as Google and Fastcase. The Consortium has a vast storehouse of legally related information from it's accumulation of print and microform for preservation purposes.

The project is similar to the development process undertaken by Hein to digitize the collection of microform titles it controlled and to make them accessible and searchable via the internet. LLMC-Digital has decide to accelerate their own efforts by enlisting some strategic partners.

The current LLMC-Digital newsletter reports that on the heels of it's ongoing massive scanning project of California Records & Briefs ( ca. 77,000 vols.) with the Los  Angeles County Law Library, LLMC-Digital is setting up a partnership with Google to scan the even larger (ca. 84,000 vols) collection of New York Records & Briefs.

The scanning partnership with Google may move into digitizing such main stream materials like the entire Congressional Record and archives of the Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations. These products would compete directly with HeinOnline which has mounted the same resources.

In a bid to better distribute it's existing digital content and generate revenue, LLMC-Digital, at the suggestion of the California State Bar, decided to partner with Fastcase Accelerated Legal Research, to make a joint bid for  providing services to the associations members.

“Law Lords" Turn Into Justices - Britain Gets A Supreme Court

While the American legal system owes much to the traditions of the British legal system, there has been a longstanding and significant difference regarding  the location of the final arbiter of legal questions. Under the doctrine of separation of powers, the founders made the the United States Supreme Court  an equal and separate branch of government. Although it took many years for the Court to develop its role and to  establish its power of judicial review of legislative & executive legal pronouncements.

However, for centuries , the British system has had the final appellate function located within the legislative House of Lords.  A committee of appointed “Law Lords” were the Court of Appeal  for the whole United Kingdom, except  for criminal appeals in Scotland. After a series of report and debates, the British government eventually decided that it was time to separate these basic governmental activities, through the Constitutional Reform Act of 2005. It establishes a separate Supreme Court made up 12 justices who will replace the House of Lords in its judicial capacity beginning Oct. 2009.

“Once sworn in, the 12 justices won't be allowed to return to the House of Lords until they have retired. Justices appointed in future will not be members of Parliament and will have no link to the House of Lords.” “In the future, newly appointed justices will be selected by the court's president, his deputy and representatives of the independent bodies that appoint judges to Britain's lower courts.”

The decisions made by the new Supreme Court will affect the cases brought in the lower courts across the UK. Unlike the US, the Court will not be able to strike down acts of Parliament.

Some observers point out that big changes should not be expected because initially,  the same people with the same jurisdiction, will be the judges in the new court. But over time with independent appointments and the ability to shape its own separate  role.  Might we see the British Supreme Court looking to the former colony’s legal traditions for guidance ?

SOURCES :

About the UK Supreme Court
United kingdom , Ministry of Justice

Britain prepares to open first Supreme Court
By LEFTERIS PITARAKIS (AP)  2009-07-15

Inside the UK Supreme Court
By Dominic Casciani  BBC News

Jenny Rowe: speech to the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians

Supreme Court Of The United Kingdom
The Supreme Court Rules 2009

DePaul Law Librarian Speaks At Wayne State Seminar

A previous posting on this blog reported that one of our reference Librarians and legal research instructors, Mark Giangrande, was invited to participate in a seminar at Wayne State University Law School, entitled “Getting Started – Switching Gears: Practical Advice for Attorneys in Transition.”

The seminar was well received and was a front page story In the Detroit Legal News,  "Switching gears - Seminar coaches lawyers on how to find jobs in tight economy"  by Cynthia Price . The focus of the program on providing advice for  finding employment in the very tough legal market , brought out over 50 attendees. In addition to the informative presentations by several speakers  and responses to questions,  each participant left with a CD with tips for establishing  an effective Web site quickly and a multi-page handout, “Career Transition Strategies and Resources,” which included 19 pages of internet resources.

Mark said he enjoyed being part of the seminar and would be willing to participate in future programs of this type. Given the depth of the economic crisis out there, they probably will be needed.

State Dept. IG Critical of Process To Publish Foreign Relations of the United States

The "Foreign Relations of the United States" (FRUS) series is a government publication that most of us have probably seen on library shelves or possibly used for a school paper. But since its inception in 1861 in the Lincoln administration, it has been  a vital source of access to information for both the general public and scholars around the world. It  constitutes the State Department’s official documentary historical record.

PL 102-138 mandates that the series provide "a thorough, accurate, and reliable record of U.S. foreign policy within 30 years of the events therein recorded". The process involves assembling mountains of both public and classified information and carefully analyzing and selecting what will be used to actually write the history that we  find in the books or online.

The schedule of publication found in the law has rarely been met. "In fact, in the years that the 1991 law has been in effect, no presidential administration has seen all relevant FRUS volumes published within the 30-year deadline." But more recently internal problems and mismanagement have created greater challenges to FRUS meeting its legal mandate and the expectations of scholars worldwide.

The May 2009 State Dept. Inspector General's recent  report on this situation, "Management Review of the Office of the Historian Bureau of Public Affairs U.S. Department of State", details the problems that have been affecting the production of FRUS and provides many recommendations to improve the process. The primary recommendation was reassignment of  the office’s director, Marc J. Susser after years of complaints from 75% of his employees. Recommendations for improved hiring practices, re-alignment of resources , along with several internal organizational changes were also made.

The seriousness of the challenges facing the timely production of the FRUS was underlined by the comment by the OIG that " It may be that the 30-year deadline is inherently unachievable and should be changed (necessitating a change in legislation, which would bring along with it another set of challenges)."

Yet the attention being paid to what for many of us is a rather obscure government document, is merited, for as as the Inspector General states in his report, "While other countries publish series similar in nature, the FRUS has been widely regarded as the “gold standard” of such efforts, a testament to the principle of transparency in government and a vehicle for easy public access to previously classified information about foreign policy."

Staff Member Mark Giangrande on Panel at Wayne State Law School

Mark Giangrande, one of our reference librarians and legal research instructors, has been invited to the Wayne State University Law School, to be part of a panel on "Practical Advice for Attorneys in Transition", on June 20, 2009.

The presenters will address such issues as the significant changes in the legal job market, needed skills in applying for jobs, using search engine marketing for one's legal practice, research at the Wayne State Law Library. Mark will be addressing the use of technology for firm management and litigation support. These are applications that usually do not get much attention in the law school curriculum where the emphasis is on Lexis & Westlaw  for legal research and writing.

The importance of trying to provide law students and graduates with an awareness of these non-academic technological applications, is addressed in a 2008 article from the Albany Law Review     ( 71 Alb. L. Rev. 201 ). It is entitled, "Teaching law office management: why law students need to know the business of being a lawyer", by Debra Moss Curtis, an Associate Professor of Law at Shepard Broad Law Center, Nova Southeastern University. Professor Curtis makes the point that the practice of law is a business and not just the application of academic skills learned in school. In the introduction to her article she says:

"The practice of law is a business. But while focusing on teaching law students to "think like a lawyer," law schools often omit to tell students about the economic realities of surviving in practice. Lawyers are not necessarily interested in or trained as business people and thus comes the harsh reality--if most lawyers had wanted to be business people, they might have gone to business school instead. So for many law students, the realization that to earn a living as a lawyer, they also have to learn a business, can be very challenging."

Given the difficult economic environment that new law school  graduates are encountering, familiarity with such technologies should provide a competetive advantage in this tough market.