Facebook Ad Privacy and Blog "Readability"

The Wall Street Journal's Law Blog gives a synopsis of and links to recent commentary over whether Facebook's plan to link advertisements to user profiles violates a New York privacy law. If Andrew Cuomo actually starts litigation related to this and any Hofstra Law students become involved, I would be curious to learn whether the compensation sought is real or in the form of Facebook "gifts."

And there is a fun site here that judges a blog's "readability," telling you what level of education is necessary to read a particular blog. This blog rated right on target, at the graduate school level. But after the link to the "readability" site was added, it rated at "Genius."



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Pioneering Women Lawyers

Here's a great site for anyone interested in the history of women lawyers in the United States or women's legal history. The Women's Legal History Website, created by Stanford University Law School Professor Barbara Babcock and her students, incorporates the work of the Women's Legal History Biography Project. The site is divided into three sections: the Women Lawyers Index, with links to books, articles, speeches, and case law relating to each of the more than 700 lawyers listed; the Clara Shortridge Foltz pages, documenting the life and times of the first woman lawyer in California; and Research Resources, including a wealth of web sites, articles, documents and research guides.


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Congressional Documents

Are you an American History buff or current political junkie? Either way, HeinOnline's U.S. Congressional Library collection is for you. Check out the Journals of the Continental Congress for some Revolutionary War history accounts or the current Congressional Record Daily for what presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barak Obama have said on the Senate floor. These are in pdf format and are searchable.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Privacy News

According to its home page, Privacy.Org "is the site for daily news, information, and initiatives on privacy". The Web page is a joint project of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and Privacy International. It includes daily stories, recent stories, and a news archive pertaining to all facets of privacy in the law and in everyday life. There is even a link to click to suggest privacy-related news stories.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

LexisNexis Congressional: A 21st Century Library Workshop

Need to compile a legislative history? Find a U.S. bill? Or, locate a report on a legislative issue? Then Congressional Universe is the source for you. This database covers from 1789 to present; provides access to the primary Congressional materials of bills, hearings, and reports; and important informational material such as CRS Reports.

LexisNexis Congressional is an important resource for not only legal but inter-disciplinary research. Come and discover how, when and why you should use this service.

You can still make this workshop:

Thursday November 8th: 3:10 to 4:00 pm

Where: Lower Level Computer Lab

No sign up is necessary. Just show up!

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Syllabus Finder

While prowling the internet, I came across a really neat tool-- the syllabus finder! Simply type keywords, phrases, names, or titles into the syllabus finder search box, and it will search the internet and return a list of syllabi related to your topic. Care to brush up on American history? The syllabus finder will find syllabi from hundreds of American history courses taught in colleges and universities (thus giving you hundreds of reading lists to choose from). Curious about Russian literature? Use the syllabus finder to find guidance to this rich field of study. Have fun!



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

New York Supreme Court Decisions

Looking for an unpublished New York Supreme Court decision? Decisions for many counties from 2001-present are available online from the Unified Court System. Unfortunately, you may not have an easy time using this search if you don't already know the case you are looking for.


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

InteliHealth

Even a Virtual Library Cat knows it's getting colder. Stress and flu season for law students is almost here. This is a good time to bookmark Intelihealth, the ad-free quality website for health information. Aetna, in partnership with Harvard Medical School and the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, provides a great one-stop authoritative medical site with a full array of health topics, today's health news, commentaries by Harvard Medical School experts, a searchable drug resource center, a medical dictionary, and quick links to recalls, safety alerts, and consumer information from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Established for over ten years and better than ever, this site is a keeper.
Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Instant reference gratification

For the Hofstra Law community ONLY . . .

Did you know that I will connect you with a reference librarian via IM, when there is a reference librarian on duty? (For the Reference Librarians' hours, see the Links on this page.) You can ask your reference questions from anywhere on the planet (where you have internet access) and get an immediate response.

Contact your favorite reference librarian or send me your email via a comment for the IM name. This service is for the Hofstra Law community only, so we must authenticate you first.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

bepress Legal Repository

Looking for another resource to locate articles and papers? Try bepress Legal Repository . You can locate law-related materials using simple or advanced search options and download content. Not sure what you are looking for, or where to begin? You can also browse bepress by subject, recent publications, popular papers, or peer-reviewed articles.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat