Category «Legal Research»

The risks if the DPLA wont create a full-strength national digital library system: Setbacks for K-12, family literacy, local libraries, preservation, digital divide efforts?

David H. Rothman maintains that the Harvard-originated national digital library initiative is an underachiever in K-12 matters and identifies other areas where the DPLA could better serve America’s libraries and their users. These areas range from family literacy to the content creation needs of local libraries, preservation and digital divide efforts. Rothman details specific remedies to these challenges consistent with his strong advocacy on behalf of strengthening national digital library systems.

Subjects: Digital Archives, Features, Libraries & Librarians, Virtual Library

New Economy Web Guide 2013 Under Obama

Internet research guru Marcus P. Zillman’s new guide is an essential resource for researchers in all sectors for whom identifying and leveraging economic data, news and scholarly publications is a requirement. It identifies comprehensive, accurate knowledge available through reliable and current sources from government, NGOs, advocacy groups and the private sector that is critical to effective and actionable work product.

Subjects: Blogs, Business Research, Features, Government Resources

Arson and the Science of Fire

Ken Strutin’s expert commentary focuses on the duality of fire as both a science and a set of actions and behaviors initiated by individuals and groups. Strutin documents how these factors relate to the complexities of criminal prosecutions in this arena, and how assumptions about the former have led to misjudgments about the latter. Further, he examines how progress in the understanding of how fires begin and spread has called into question the integrity of arson convictions. His guide is a collection of selected research publications, web resources and case studies as well as scholarly legal articles and scientific reports on arson investigation and fire science.

Subjects: Criminal Law, Features, Legal Research

Litigation, trial and pre-trail iPad apps for lawyers

One of the most popular and rapidly growing categories of apps for lawyers are those developed for litigation, during trials and during the pretrial discovery phase. In this article, attorney, legal blogger and legal tech expert Nicole Black recommends more than a dozen affordable, flexible and innovative iPad apps to assist attorneys in their work to develop, streamline, simplify and track critical litigation processes.

Subjects: Courts & Technology, Criminal Law, Legal Research, Legal Technology, Litigation Support, Mobile Tech, Mobile Technology, Technology Trends

Kirtsaeng v. Wiley

What if you had to ask permission before selling, lending, or even giving away your books? On October 29, 2012 the Supreme Court heard oral argument in the case of Kirtsaeng v. Wiley & Sons, a case that could change the way we own everything from books to watches. Brandon Butler and Jonathan Band discuss how libraries, who own books, movies and other copyrighted works on behalf of the public could be hit especially hard by this decision.

Subjects: Copyright, Features, Legal Research, Libraries & Librarians, Publishing & Publishers (Legal)

Reference apps for the mobile lawyer

For mobile lawyers, tech savvy attorney Nicole Black recommends a range of topical, go-to reference apps that will save you time and effort while providing reliable, high quality information. Most of the apps are free or very low cost, and include Wolfram Alpha Lawyer’s Professional Assistant, iThesaurus, Recalls app, and the Wikipanion app.

Subjects: Gadgets/Gizmos, Grammar, Internet Resources, Legal Research, Mobile Technology, Product Reviews, Reference Resources

Internet research tips and tricks for lawyers

This is attorney Nicole Black’s review of The Cybersleuth’s Guide to the Internet, 12th edition, a book that helps lawyers learn how to use the Internet to conduct effective and free investigative and legal research.

Subjects: Competitive Intelligence, Features, Legal Research, Public Records, Search Engines

Reliable Sites and Sources for Election Fact Checking

The event happens every four years in the U.S., but it consumes us for over 10 months, and takes perhaps 10 minutes to complete. The event is the U.S. Presidential Election. The action is voting. There are so many different points of view and so much news about the candidates and issues that is is often difficult to locate unbiased information and sort through the facts in the media. Barbara Fullerton highlights several sites to help voters review the issues and check the facts during this critical political process.

Subjects: Election Law, Features, News Resources, Search Engines, Search Strategies

Privacy Resources and Sites on the Internet

Marcus P. Zillman’s guide is a comprehensive listing of both free and low cost privacy resources currently available on the Internet. It includes associations, indexes and search engines, as well as websites and programs that provide the latest technology and information on Web privacy. This guide will help facilitate a safer interactive environment for your email, your internet browsing, your health records, your data storage and file sharing exchanges, and internet telephony.

Subjects: Computer Security, Email, Email Security, Internet Resources, Internet Resources - Web Links, Legal Research, Legal Technology, Mobile Tech, Privacy, Search Engines

Mass Incarceration and the “Degree of Civilization”

Ken Strutin – law librarian, criminal defense attorney, and well-known writer and speaker, documents the preeminence of the United States as the world leader in incarceration. He states that incarceration is when a person loses their freedom pending trial or by serving a sentence – and mass incarceration is when millions of people are imprisoned and kept there based on a generation of tough on crime policies. The number of persons behind bars, which is higher in the United States than anywhere in the world, creates a ripple effect throughout the criminal justice system and society at large. This fact has inspired intense study of this punishment by many academic disciplines, public interest institutions and government agencies. His article focuses on selected recent and notable publications from these sources along with a list of current awareness sites.

Subjects: Criminal Law, Ethics, Features, Legal Research