FindLaw...New Look For a Favorite Site

I’ve heard that FindLaw, the popular web site relied upon by lawyers and the general public as a portal for legal information, changed its look this week. The old FindLaw front page, crowded with too much information, has become two pages: one for legal professionals (including law students) and one for consumers. At www.findlaw.com, tabs at the top of the page allow users to toggle between “For the Public” and “For Legal Professionals”. The consumer page features searching for a lawyer, along with basic information and sample forms in areas of law such as real estate, wills, divorce and employment, with links to state laws and courts. The “professionals” page is clearly divided into five sections: search; legal research (cases and codes and a law student page with U.S. law school links, study materials and career resources); legal products and services; practice tools such as reference sources and CLE information; and "In the News"--with links to news articles and “hot topic” court documents.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

We've heard a lot about the Supreme Court this week. Did you know you can also hear from the Supreme Court online? To hear Supreme Court arguments, go to Oyez where you can get streaming audio (using Real Player) of Hamdi, Padilla, Roe and many other cases on "hot topics" heard by the Supreme Court. If you want to go mobile with the Supreme Court, Oyez now has podcast capabilities where you can hear some of Chief Justice Robert's arguments before the Supreme Court before he joined the bench.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

St. Crispin's Day

If you had eyes like me, you may notice something slightly amiss. Reason is, St. Crispin's Day was actually yesterday. Anywho, St. Crispin lived in the 3rd century A.D. and most people will recognize the name because of the St. Crispin's Day speech in Shakespeare's Henry V. For a very interesting rendition of the speech, try to hunt up William Shatner's version of it.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

American Memory: Update

American Memory is a site hosted by the Library of Congress that offers a wealth of historical documents. They have recently added "Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774-1789".

The Continental Congress Broadside Collection (253 titles) and the Constitutional Convention Broadside Collection (21 titles) contain 274 documents relating to the work of Congress and the drafting and ratification of the Constitution. Items include extracts of the journals of Congress, resolutions, proclamations, committee reports, treaties, and early printed versions of the United States Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Most broadsides are one page in length; others range from 1 to 28 pages. A number of these items contain manuscript
annotations not recorded elsewhere that offer insight into the delicate process of creating consensus. In many cases, multiple copies bearing manuscript annotations are available to compare and contrast.


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

U.S. Supreme Court Center

Wouldn't it be easy if there was one web site that you could go to where you could find cases, forms, briefs, news and blogs for the Supreme Court. Sort of a one stop shopping to research on the Supreme Court. A new web site has recently been created to answer those needs. The U.S. Supreme Court Center, which is still in Beta, allows you to search by citation, party name or keyword or browse by volume or year for any Supreme Court case. It also provides links to numerous blogs, news sites and various other research sites that contain oral arguments, briefs, issues, etc. By starting with this site and using its links, you should be able to find all the Supreme Court information that the web has to offer.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Canine Legislation Information

As much as it pains this cat to admit it, dogs have rights, too. Those with an interest in animal law may find the American Kennel Club's ("AKC") Canine Legislation Web page worthwhile. The AKC's Canine Legislation Department monitors and provides input on federal, state, and local legislation governing responsible dog ownership. This site provides dog-related legislation, as well as position statements on laws that affect dogs and dog ownership. Various position statements cover such issues as the use of dogs in research, homeowners' insurance and dangerous dogs, breeding restrictions, ear cropping, and the like.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Memeorandum

Memeorandum is the "newspaper" for keeping up with what is happening RIGHT NOW in politics or technology. Memeorandum is more then just another news or blog aggregator. It goes beyond say, a Google News for in addition to automatically tracking the top stories of the day, it also highlights and connects the conversations between bloggers and mainstream media about each topic. It creates a hybrid between mainstream news sources and the blogosphere, treating them equally. Interesting concept. Take a look & let me know what you think...

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Law, Society and Lawyers...the American Bar Foundation

The intersection of the law, the legal profession, and society—that’s the focus of the cutting edge research going on every day at the American Bar Foundation.
For over 50 years, this independent nonprofit research institute has gathered some of the finest scholars in law, psychology, economics, sociology, history, political science and anthropology to conduct research and publish leading studies about lawyers (their demographics and careers), and the impact of the law and legal institutions on national and international cultures. The ABF is a great resource for law students. If you are wondering about life after law school and where you will fit in, take a look at After the JD: The First Results of a National Study of Legal Careers. This downloadable study tracked law school graduates nationwide from the class of 2000, and reports on their job satisfaction and turnover, salaries, mentors, debts, family life, and demographics. And for research papers or personal interest, the ABF web site features recent and forthcoming publications by the ABF research faculty: journal articles, statistical studies and books on a variety of topical issues.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Einstein's Wisdom

And on the lighter side for a Friday. . .

I am certainly no Einstein, but I recognize smarts when I read it. At http://rescomp.stanford.edu/~cheshire/EinsteinQuotes.html there are many pithy thoughts worth contemplating believed to have originated with Albert Einstein. Some examples:

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school."

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."

And being virtual, one of my favorites . . .
"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."

For those with a more serious interest in physics or Einstein's "annus mirabilis" (miracle year of 1905), try the website of the 2002 Einstein exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History . It gives an explanation even a virtual cat can understand of the theories of Special and General Relativity and, of course, the famous e=mc².


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

SuDoc Classification System Explained

Have you ever wondered how to decipher the Federal government's Superintendent of Documents classification system for government documents? Courtesy of GPO Access, a lucid explanation awaits you here.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat