Jurist - Legal News and Research

Jurist is an excellent site for law students and professors to keep up with all the up-to-the minute legal news, including a separate page for law school news. In addition, Jurist provides documents and video of judicial decisions, legislation, testimony, reports and releases that are occurring now. You can find commentary on current legal events written by law professors and you can research cases and statutes.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

If it's Tuesday, this must be... Nice, France!

Next stop is France for a whirlwind tour of French legal materials available on the web. Don't worry I will not subject you to my French as my accent, c'est horrible! The resources and documents reviewed are in English :-) This tour also has some comparative law aspects as we explore how the French Civil Law differs from the U.S. common law approach.

Tour takes off next Tuesday (March 1st) at 5:10 PM in the lower level computer lab.

Laizzez les bons temps rouler!

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Napping area (for your favorite Virtual Library Cat)???

Some very considerate student concerned with my getting my requisite 18 hours of napping has placed a suggestion in the Suggestion Box that we designate a room where quiet prevails. This would mean no talking AND NO LAPTOPS. The only feasible place for this in the Library would be in the side room - off of the Periodicals area (where Profs Silverman, Galler, Bush and Lane have offices). Unfortunately, this arrangement would mean that the outlets in that area could not be utilized for laptops.

In truth, I can nap just about anywhere, so I have no opinion on the matter. Let me know what you think by posting a comment to this posting. The prevailing comments will make the decision. Opportunity to comment will last until next Monday evening (Feb. 28).

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

From Brussels to Paris, France

We will have another tour of Brussels, then it is off to Paris, France for our next two workshops in international and foreign legal research this Tuesday, Feb. 22. It has been requested that last Tuesday's workshop (European Union) be repeated for students who were unable to attend the evening session. Therefore, I have started the Tuesday Daily Double. On Tuesdays at 4:10 PM I will repeat the workshop from the prior week's evening workshop and hold a new workshop at 5:10 PM. OK, not much difference in time, but scheduling is difficult! May play around with the day and time of the repeat workshop. Sorry, it will be like a TV show that the networks keep moving to a new time slot :-)

What does this mean? For now:

Coming Tuesday, Feb. 22:
4:10 PM European Union workshop
5:10 PM U.S. Treaty Research workshop

Tuesday, March 1:
4:10 PM U.S. Treaty Research workshop
5:10 PM French/Comparative law research workshop

Come join us in our whirlwind travel!

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Smoking Gun

Want to take a break which entertains, while still exploring our legal system? Check out the Smoking Gun website. Over the last eight years, this celebrity driven website has found and posted original documents about the missteps of the rich and famous. One standing feature, "Mug Shot Mania," is a gallery featuring stars at their lowest moments. Another feature "Backstage" reproduces the legal contracts showing the peculiar demands of musical and stage acts. You can search the site, or just browse the archive!

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Shelving Construction Update

Those worker humans have been busy lately. Almost like bees. Two of the three areas of compact shelving (in the lower lever rear of the Library) are mostly done, with only minor work still to occur. The shelving unit in the State Room is the one still under construction and looks to be around half finished to my eyes.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Interlibrary Loan

If you need a book or article that is not owned by Hofstra's libraries, there is an easy alternative for you to obtain what you need. Libraries, in their never-ending quest to help people, have developed interlibrary loan as a way of helping each others patrons out. Therefore, if you need a book and we don't have it, another library will mail it to us to lend you.

All you need do if you need a book or article is go to the Deane Law Library web page and click the link for Interlibrary Loan. The first time you enter you must set up an account. Then each time you request a book or an article you just go online, fill in the required information such as title, author, etc. and a week or two later when we receive your materials we will email you to come pick them up from the library. Its as easy as that.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Tour the world!

We started our in Brussels, Belgium for a whirlwind overview of European Union research, and next Tuesday we are in Washington, D.C. for a workshop on U.S. Treaties. Is the treaty in force? Is the treaty signed, but not ratified? How do we find out? All workshops will be held on Tuesday evenings in the lower level computer lab from 5:10 PM to no later than 6 PM.

Attendees were taking notes which is usually a sign that the workshop is helpful. Each workshop stands alone so it is not necessary to attend one in order to understand another.

It has come to our attention that there is interest in international legal research, but students are unable to attend the workshops. Please see Tricia in the Government Documents (lower level) of the Library, or give her a call at x35905. She likes this stuff and is glad to help.


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

A9 search engine

Check out A9 a relatively new search engine from Amazon.com. One of the features that sets A9 apart from all the rest is the inclusion of "Search Inside the Book" results from Amazon.com - the program that allows you to search the full text of over 100,000 current books.

One of the most obvious distinctions of A9 is that search results are displayed in five columns: Web Results, Book Results, Image Results, Movie Results, and Reference Results (links to ready-reference results from guruNet, including several dictionaries, a thesaurus, lexicon and translations of the search term into 14 languages).

A9 is really a hybrid: part general-purpose search engine, part specialized search tool, part web resource management tool. Note that many of the features of A9 are only available if you sign in, using your Amazon.com log in. Click here for more about these special features. You will be glad you did!

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

More Power to You

You asked for more power outlets only a few weeks ago and through hours of dedicated napping, I (o.k., the Library folks) have delivered. You will now find outlets for your laptops under each of the tables in the Reading Room. It would definitely be in your interest to use the new outlets rather than the old ones in the walls or pillars. We felines are graceful enough not to trip over wires, but I have heard that some humans do, with the results being lost data, not to mention twisted ankles and knees.

Happy laptop computing!!
Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat