Cost-Saving Tips For Lexis And Westlaw Research

The Cleveland-Marshall College of Law’s blog contains a brief but excellent article with tips on how to do research cost effectively using Lexis and Westlaw. Links to PDF files that contain further tips offered directly by Lexis and Westlaw are available, as well.

Your current and future employers will no doubt appreciate your using these money-saving tips during your research.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

The Oyez Project

The Oyez Project is a "multimedia archive devoted to the Supreme Court of the United States and its work. It aims to be a complete and authoritative source for all audio recorded in the Court since the installation of a recording system in October 1955. The Project also provides authoritative information on all justices and offers a virtual reality 'tour' of portions of the Supreme Court building, including the chambers of some of the justices."



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Titanic Case

The wreck of the Titanic was found in 1985 and started a legal tussle regarding ownership of the artifacts. A federal judge in Norfolk, VA is expected to rule soon that the items must remain together and accessible to the public. There is a sub-set of law devoted to shipwreck and salvage; and the Titanic is a prime example of some of the legal conflicts generated.



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The Human Trafficking Project

The Human Trafficking Project is a good place to keep track of issues surrounding human trafficking and related crimes. The blog features news, government reports and legislation about trafficking and also provides commentary and discussion about the problem. Recent posts have highlighted the UNODC Global Report on Human Trafficking and featured an exchange on feminism and trafficking.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Local Library Databases

Many people are unaware that they probably have access to a number of subscription databases through their local public library, many of them accessible from home.

For instance, databases available from the NYPL are here. Anyone who lives, works, attend school, or owns property in New York State is eligible for a free NYPL card. And databases available from Nassau County's public libraries are listed here.

Although many of these offerings will overlap with the online resources provided by the Deane Law Library, and Axinn Library, chances are that you will not be in school forever, and you probably still know people who are not law students.

(Databases provided by public libraries are usually accessible under licenses specifying that they cannot be used for commercial purposes.)



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Stem Cell Resources

When the topic is stem cell research, the place to start for background information, federal policy, bioethics and other topical papers, research programs, and related internet links is the Stem Cell Information web site, the official stem cell resource of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The site also provides links to key federal policy documents, such as President Obama's recent executive order changing the way the NIH can support and conduct stem cell research, and related speeches, guidelines, Congressional bills and testimony. This portal to key information may take a few minutes to load, but is worth the wait.



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Last chance to attend Top 10 Research Workshops

The Top 10 Research Skills Workshops will be repeated next week. The schedule is copied below. If you are unable to attend some of the workshops, they will be available as podcasts on the Law Library's web site. The handouts are available on TWEN. Sign up for the course - Top 10 Research Skills Library Workshops.

• Monday, March 23, 3:10-4pm in Room 243 Kevin Shelton will present "Civics 101: What Every New Lawyer Should Know, But Doesn't"

Learn the difference between statutes and regulations and get the basic background you will need for all legal research.

• Tuesday, March 24, 4:10-5pm in Room 243 Yasmin Alexander will present

"Location, Location, Location: Where to find Cases, Statutes and Regulations"

Learn the best way to research cases, and where to find statutes and regulations.

• Wednesday, March 25, 11:10am-noon in Room 205 Toni Aiello will present "Where do I start? Getting Background with Secondary Sources."

Learn how to find and effectively use Secondary Sources.

• Thursday, March 26, 11:10am-noon in Room 243 David Dames and Tricia Kasting will present "Putting it all Together"

Learn how to formulate a research strategy based on your assignment, your time limits, and the resources you have available--when to use what.

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The Ten Most Endangered Newspapers In The U.S.

Many of you may have heard already that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer daily newspaper has moved to online-only status. For an interesting overview of the state of print newspapers in the digital age, see this recent Time magazine article.

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Women's History Month at the Library of Congress

Learn more about Women's History Month at the Library of Congress. This year's theme is "Women Taking the Lead to Save Our Planet" and it honors the contributions of women in the "going green" movement. You can read about the 2009 Honorees here.



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Subject Compilations of State Laws

is now available on HeinOnline! accessed from the Law Library's homepage. The subject compilations reference articles, documents and other sources that compare state laws on hundreds of subjects. You can search the database or browse by subject. Links to the articles and documents that are available in other Hein libraries. It is updated.

This is a wonderful starting point when you are asked to conduct a 50 state survey. Check it out and discover you own uses for this resource.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat