Fact about Place

As attorneys, you must apply the law to the facts. At times, you first must uncover those facts. Legal issues frequently arise in a particular place and you frequently need facts about those places. One good resource for facts about places is Dataplace.org .

Dataplace.org provides access to data at geographic scales ranging from the neighborhood to the nation. The site currently contains data from the 1990 and 2000 Censuses (demographic, economic, housing, and social characteristics), Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (home mortgage applications and loans), Section 8 Expiring Use database (neighborhood- and property-level data on federally assisted housing at risk of loss), and Consolidated Plan special tabulations (data on housing needs by household income level).

Dataplace.org also provides mapping tools and area profiles .



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Thursday evening Reference

The Reference librarian scheduled to be at the Reference desk has been called away to care for an ailing parent. Consequently, there will not be a Reference librarian available tonight after 5pm for your questions. The Reference librarians will be back bright and early tomorrow morning.

I am sending a purr to speed the recovery of our librarian's parent. Cats are known to promote better health. See last month's article in U.S. News and World Report -

Cats Help Shield Owners From Heart Attack

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Slashdot

If you are interested in law and technology, take a look at Slashdot.org-- the leading place to find "news for nerds". Although much of Slashdot deals with highly technical and scientific issues, it often features legal news in its Your Rights Online section. Recent "Your Rights Online" posts have reported on the RIAA vs. the University of Maine law clinic, open source and patents, and subpoenas requesting text messages.




Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Strategic Searching: Legal Research as Process

A comment frequently heard from law firm librarians is that young associates just jump onto Lexis or Westlaw and run searches as if they were Google. Hmmm, they are not Google nor are Lexis/Westlaw necessarily the best places to start research. All depends on what one is doing and what one has available. So, what to do? For a start attend:

Strategic Search Process - Monday, April 7, 5:10-6pm in Room 206

Need help mapping out a research strategy? A few minutes advanced planning can save you hours of research. Find out some of the questions you should be thinking about before you sit down to research.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Evening Research workshops

At the request of some of the evening students, we had scheduled make-ups of two of the Top 10 Research Skills workshops - Getting Background on your Topic and Strategic Searching. Due to sudden illness of a family member, the Getting Background session, scheduled for tomorrow night has been canceled. Due to the newly scheduled Deans' Forum, Strategic Searching has been rescheduled to next Monday, April 7 at 5:10pm in Room 206.

We regret all the confusion with these sessions - we really are trying!!! We will try to reschedule the Getting Background session. Watch this space. Remember, the podcasts are available on the Library's website and the handouts are available on TWEN.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Helpful Policies During Exam Period

The Library has a new exam period schedule! Here is the new schedule:

New Exam Period Schedule - Wednesday, April 16 - May 14
Monday - Friday 7:00 A.M. - 2:00 A.M.
Saturday & Sunday 10:00 A.M. - 2:00 A.M.

Exception
Wednesday, May 14 7:00 A.M. - Midnight

Exam Archive

Knowing the archived exam and study room policies may prove helpful also. To access the Exam Archive:

• Go to Hofstra Law School Library Main Page http://law.hofstra.edu/Library
• Scroll down. In the lower, left-hand margin click “Exam Archive”
• In the Hofstra University Library Electronic Reserves (ERes) window logon with your Novell Username and Password (this is the same username and password used to logon to the portal)
  
• You will be prompted to enter the password (contact the reference or circulation desk for the password)
  
• Click on “Accept”
• Click the professor’s folder to access the exams.

Library Study Rooms

Click here to access the Library’s study room policy.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Superman

As reported in the Times, the suit on the termination of transfer of copyright for the Superman character (noted in our display case in January) has partially resolved with a grant of partial summary judgment--awarding the heirs of Jerome Siegel a share of the character (from the time the termination took effect, in 1999). William Patry has only good things to say about the opinon, which is also commented on and made available here.




Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat