Google to become iTunes of books??

An article in the Sunday Times Online (UK) reports that:

"GOOGLE and some of the world’s top publishers are working on plans that they hope could do for books what Apple’s iPod has done for music"

Their vision is that instead of Google's book search merely offering samples of books and referring buyers to Amazon, surfers would be offered the option of downloading an entire book directly to their computer or blackberry type mobile device.

Interesting concept. Do you think it would catch on like iTunes??

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Law Student Debt

If you are worried about paying off your student loans after you graduate, you are not alone. Equal Justice Works released a report last month, Financing the Future: Responses to the Rising Debt of Law Students . The Chronicle of Higher Education briefly summarizes the report in its article "Debt Keeps Many Law Graduates From Taking Government Jobs " . Just one of the interesting facts from this report - the average law-school graduate owes between $50,000 and $80,000 in student loans.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Direct Marketing Association--Consumer Assistance

Mention of the Direct Marketing Association conjures groans of annoyance from many. The organization's Consumer Assistance Web site, however, is quite helpful. Not only does it offer information about removing oneself from those irritating mailing lists, and about the "do not call" registry, but it also contains useful FAQs and other information regarding identity theft and online privacy.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

In the First Person: Going Straight to the Source

Spring Semester has barely begun, but it's not too soon to be thinking about research and paper topics, especially for courses at the intersection of law, culture and history. A great online resource is In the First Person: An index to letters, diaries, oral histories and personal narratives. This fascinating site makes it easy to locate interviews and other personal accounts of individuals who witnessed significant people and events, social movements and eras, famous trials, and more. Best of all, many of the documents are freely available as full-text, audio, or video--either at the site or by direct links to the documents at other free sites. Searching by subject, place, person or historical event makes it easy to find original source material, from interviews with former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall to the first-hand account of an investigator at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Keeping up with Congress

There are several ways to research current Congressional legislation, but BillHop.com is a wiki for legislation and issues of the day. It is a "popular" not a legal site. Since it is a wiki contributors can comment on bills and issues. Not a place for scholarly postings, but maybe a place for the viewpoints of ordinary citizens.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Legal Research-THE MOVIE

Check out this short (3 minute) film produced by a group of Advanced Legal Research students at Stanford Law School and FEEL THE POWER!

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Long Weekend Library Hours

The schedule for the Library for this holiday weekend is:

Saturday, Jan. 13
10am - 6pm

Sunday, Jan. 14
12pm - 8pm

Monday, Jan. 15 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
LIBRARY CLOSED

Tuesday, Jan. 16, we resume our regular schedule.
Sunday 10am - midnight
Monday - Thursday 8am - midnight
Friday 8am - 9pm
Saturday 10am - 8pm



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

It's That Time Of Year

Recent unseasonably warm weather in the Northeast aside, the cold and influenza season is still very much upon us. Have a look at the Department of Health and Human Service's Web site for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is not merely a site for following trends in pandemics. The site offers practical advice for good health during the cold weather months, and more, as well.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

European Union--New Year, New Members

On January 1, 2007, the European Union added two new countries--Bulgaria and Romania--becoming a 27-member partnership with 490 million EU citizens extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Black Sea. For international law courses and research in your future, it's good to know that basic information, official web sites (in English), and up-to-date research guidance on both countries are readily available online. EUROPA, the portal site of the European Union, has added Bulgaria and Romania pages with useful links to official government sites. Authoritative legal research guides for Bulgaria and Romania are available from GlobaLex, an electronic publication of the Hauser Global Law School Program at New York University School of Law.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Is attorney X licensed to practice in state Y?

It is sometimes necessary to determine whether a lawyer is licensed to practice in New York or elsewhere. Today there are 41 lawyer licensing databases that provide this information. A guide - A Compilation of State Lawyer Licensing Databases by Trevor Rosen and Andrew Zimmerman - was recently published on the web. A google search of the attorney's name won't give you this information. These are part of the deep web wherein you need to go to the website to access the information in the database. Handy to have the compilation.

Please be aware that if you don't find the attorney's name in the database, a call to the state office should be made to confirm status of license. Some states permit attorneys to opt out of the online database listing for privacy.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat