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