Great Resource for Pre-Law Students

Most law professors who work with first-year law students have probably wished for a resource that would give incoming law students a head-start on their first semester of law school. But we never seem to find the time to do much about it.

CALI (the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction) is working on just such a resource, Learnthelaw.org. Parts of the new site are still under construction, but you can find information about CALI and CALI lessons, links to other online resources, and book recommendations. A pre-law-school set of CALI lessons will be offered for $50.

There is also a Pre-Law Blog on which CALI podcasts and other material relevant to incoming first-year students will be posted. The first set of podcasts gives incoming students insight on how law school exams work, how to prepare for and take a law school exam, and what professors expect from students on law school exams.

Westlaw's RegulationsPlus Offers Annotated CFR

Westlaw has just launched RegulationsPlus which, among other things, fills a longstanding gap in the legal researcher's arsenal of tools by providing what amounts to an annotated version of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). As described by the West product announcement, "More than 600,000 editorially created Notes of Decisions outline and summarize federal case law interpreting CFR sections. Each note includes links to the case itself, as well as to West’s Topic and Key Number System, to help you find related cases."

Other features of West's enhanced federal regulations database include an online CFR Index newly created by West editors ("more than 1.4 million references, arranged by topic and linked directly to CFR sections"), links to related to code sections ("CFR sections are linked to cited sections and sub-sections of the U.S. Code"), links to prior versions of current CFR sections ("know how a CFR section appeared at a specific point in time"), and access to administrative materials ("While viewing a regulation, link to relevant agency manuals, guidelines, bulletins and other agency content that help you interpret the regulation") and agency decisions ("While viewing a regulation, link to relevant administrative decisions. Covers decisions from more than 150 agencies.).

Guide to Finding Web Sites You Can Trust

The January 2006 issue of Google's Newsletter for Librarians contains a concise and helpful guide titled "Beyond Algorithms: A Librarian's Guide to Finding Web Sites You Can Trust " by Karen G. Schneider, the director of Librarians' Internet Index (LII). She describes a "a five-point system for separating the wheat from the chaff" that focuses on availability, credibility, authorship, external links, and legality. The guide briefly describes each of these "big five show-stoppers" and provides shortcuts for testing each area. For example, in considering external links, "[l]ook for evidence that the web site maintains its links, such as notes indicating when a page was last updated, and beware of student project web sites and personal web pages with many, many links!"

SOURCE: BarclayBlog

Website for Common Errors in English

English professor Paul Brians of Washington State University has a great website describing a large number of "Common Errors in English" in very readable (and frequently funny) prose. He describes his intention: "Here we’re concerned only with deviations from the standard use of English as judged by sophisticated users such as professional writers, editors, teachers, and literate executives and personnel officers. The aim of this site is to help you avoid low
grades, lost employment opportunities, lost business, and titters of amusement at the way you write or speak." He also notes that his site "is dedicated to errors in usage. This is not a site dealing with grammar in general."

There are literally hundreds of entries (e.g., reign/rein, if I was/if I were, premier/premiere), arranged alphabetically.

source: MoLIB

Law Dogs of the Week

This week's SIU Law Dogs are Stoli and Asti Tosti. They live with two SIU law students who choose to be unnamed.

Join us next week for another Law Dog of the Week. If you haven't already sent in your dog photo, there is still time. We will be post all photos received, featuring one each week.

Audio Introduction to Researching Administrative Law

Listen to Introduction to Researching Administrative Law. This summary does not include step-by-step instructions, which will be covered in later podcasts. Duration of audio: ~5.3 minutes. Transcript of the recording.

Appellate Practice Tips from the North Dakota Supreme Court

The North Dakota Supreme Court has had one of the best court websites for years. It includes the Court's opinions from the beginning of 1970 to the present, feeds for news and opinions, webcasts of live and recorded oral arguments of cases, and much more information for attorneys and the public.

You might be interested in the Court's compilation of Appellate Practice Tips. The tips include general advice, such as:

Summary judgment can't be reversed on appeal based on what you wish you had presented in the trial court, only on what was presented as competent evidence in the trial court.

There are also tips specific to the record, stays, briefs, the appendix, mootness, oral argument, petitions for rehearing, and the Administrative Agencies Practice Act.

My favorite five tips on briefs are:

• Don't make your brief a mystery. Tell the reader what the case is about right up front. ...
• The word "clearly" is no substitute for authority or logic.
• Never use many words when a few will do. A longer brief is not necessarily a better brief.
• Cite only cases you have actually read.
• Clear language—not pompous or ponderous language—is most effective.

I will highlight some of the tips about oral arguments closer to first-year oral arguments.

Thanks to Jim Calloway's Law Practice Tips Blog for his tip about these Appellate Practice Tips.

New Law Librarian Blog

The Moritz Law Library at the Ohio State University has unveiled its Moritz Legal Information Blog. Reference librarians Sara Sampson, Rachael Smith, and Matt Steinke will focus on legal research topics, general legal information, and Ohio specific legal issues. Check it out at http://moritzlegalinformation.blogspot.com/ and subscribe to their feed. Congratulations Sara, Rachael, and Matt!

Chipper Is Law Dog of the Week

This week's Law Dog is Chipper. He is shown here with his neighbor, Lilly. Chipper is the taller of the two.

Chipper is about 13 months old, and he lives with Nate and Sharon Bailey. Nate is a 2L.

Join us next week for another Law Dog of the Week. If you haven't already sent in your dog photo, there is still time. We will be featuring one each week all year.

Finding U.S. Congressional Committee Reports on Westlaw and LexisNexis

Westlaw and LexisNexis did not begin to put most full-text Congressional committee reports online until 1990. However, Westlaw does have selected reports for U.S. Public Laws beginning with 1948.

On Westlaw, select the LH database and search by public law number, e.g. to(90-351), or report number, e.g. ci(90-1097). West's U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News in print also has selected committee reports back to 1948, organized by public law number.

On LexisNexis, browse the Source directory to Legal > Federal Legal - U.S. > Legislative Histories & Materials and search by report number: rpt# (105-208)

There are other resources for U.S. legislative history that we will cover later in the semester, but no online resource has any more full-text committee reports. See United States Statutes and Other Legislative Resources.

If you need older Congressional committee reports, ask a reference librarian to help you find it on microfiche.

Archive of Research Tips.

Law Dog of the Week

This week's SIU Law Dog is Dakota. He lives with Diane Murley, reference/web services librarian. He is probably a flat-coated retriever.

Join us next week for another Law Dog of the Week. In the meantime, check out Google's special "Year of the Dog" logo.

Searching for U.S. Courts of Appeals Cases

One of the most important steps in efficient and economical research, especially on Westlaw and LexisNexis, is choosing the right database or source in which to search. Both services have thousands of options, and the best choice for your search may not be included in the handful of options listed on the first screen.

To limit your Westlaw search to cases from the U.S. Courts of Appeals, choose from Westlaw's many database choices for U.S. Courts of Appeals Cases, including All Circuits After 1944 (CTA), Before 1945 (CTA-OLD), Reported (CTAR) and Unreported (CTAU) cases, and databases of Courts of Appeals Cases by Circuit.

To see all your database options on Westlaw, follow the Directory link on the light blue bar near the top center.

To limit your LexisNexis search to cases from the U.S. Courts of Appeals, choose US Courts of Appeals Cases, Combined Source or one of the Circuit Court Cases - By Circuit Sources.

To see all of your LexisNexis Sources options for cases from the U.S. Courts of Appeals, click on the "View more sources" link at the bottom of the Federal Legal - U.S. list. Don't click on the links under Cases - U.S. unless you want both state and federal cases.

To find U.S. Courts of Appeals cases using a print digest, you will have to use the Federal Practice Digest, which includes all federal courts. However, like all West Digests, the Federal Practice Digest lists cases under each topic and key number by court and then by date. U.S. Courts of Appeals cases are listed after any U.S. Supreme Court cases and before cases from any other federal court.

If you want to find U.S. Courts of Appeals cases on the web, you should start at Villanova's Federal Court Locator or Emory's Federal Courts Finder. By going directly to the website of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Circuit for which you want to find cases, you will save time and increase your chances of finding the cases you need.

Archive of Research Tips.

Year of the Dog - Call for Photos

Next Sunday, January 29, 2006, is Chinese New Year and the beginning of the Year of the Dog. In celebration of the Year of the Dog (and because I love dogs) I will post a weekly dog picture from an SIU School of Law student, professor, staff member, or alumnus.

If you have any photos of your dogs or other dog photos you have taken (not photos you found on the web), send them by email or give them to me directly. I will also accept drawings or other pictures that we can digitize for the web.

Although I am willing to post your dog picture without identifying you or your dog by name, I will not accept anonymous submissions.

Click on the photo above for more information about salukis, the SIUC mascot.

Mind Mapping Legal Research

This semester I will be uploading our Lawyering Skills classroom presentations to the Lawyering Skills Legal Research blog in both MindMap and PowerPoint formats. The MindMaps are created with Mindjet MindManager software.

The image above is part of a screen shot of of the presentation on Primary Authority. I like presenting legal research with MindManager, because it makes easier for the students to see the big picture. See Dennis Kennedy's Introduction to Mind Mapping for more.

Update Oct. 11, 2006: I fixed the link to the Lawyering Skills Legal Research blog, and I will be linking to a page with all my legal research mind maps soon.

New Web-Based Research Guide for "Disasters and the Law"

In the wake of Katrina, the University of California-Berkeley Law Library has produced a web-based research guide titled "Disasters and the Law: Katrina and Beyond."

From the site's introduction: "The pages on this site contain information gathered from a variety of sources on a multitude of topics discussing the law's response to natural disasters. The navigation pane on the left displays subject headings. By clicking on a subject you will be taken to a page with links to relevant articles, responses from government and military officials, policy papers, opinion pieces, regulatory guidance, and statutory authority. By integrating knowledge and experience from fields as diverse as urban planning, bankruptcy law, and wetlands banking, the legal community may be able to provide advice and assistance to governments and individuals."

SOURCE: BarclayBlog

Word Limits for Top 25 Law Reviews

You'll find a helpful chart detailing "Current Law Review Article Length Limits & Preferences for the 25 Most-Cited General U.S. Legal Periodicals" on the Web site of the Emory University Macmillan Law Library. The chart provides the maximum limit as well as the preferred length (e.g., Harvard Law Review prefers under 25,000 words and 50 pages, but will accept up to 35,000 words and 70-75 pages).

SOURCE: ublaw phoenix

My First Podcast

I am participating in CALI's Legal Education Podcasting Project, and I just posted my first podcast today at my Lawyering Skills II Legal Research blog. To sample some of the other participating blogs, check out CALI Classcaster (legal education blogs and podcasts).

Free Solution to a Small Problem

I have been adding icons to the law library website, to make it easier to spot what you are trying to find. Unfortunately, with no artistic training or talent, I sometimes make icons that are difficult to interpret. But I don't want to violate copyright law, so I try to make my own.

Then I found famfamfam.com, where Mark James makes his free icons available under a Creative Commons attribution license. I have replaced a couple of the more ambiguous icons on our home page with famfamfam icons. Thanks, Mark.

More on THOMAS Website Changes

Peggy Garvin has a review of Another Redesign for THOMAS in her December "Government Domain" column. Ms. Garvin's column is a regular feature of LLRX, a free web journal that provides up-to-date information on law and technology resources for legal professionals. You can subscribe to LLRX's RSS feed or email list.

We reviewed the new design at THOMAS Website Improvements.

New Law Library Floor Maps

One of my projects over the break was to make our library floor maps more readable and to add some interactivity. The new maps are now available at http://www.law.siu.edu/lawlib/info/floormaps.htm, or go to the SIU Law Library home page and click on Library Floor Maps.

Please let me know if you notice any problems or have any suggestions.