Exams, Papers, Perspective

It's the time of year when a virtual library cat senses that the stress of finishing papers and facing exams is taking its toll. Sometimes a shift of perspective can help. One of the best ways to get a different take on the importance of law school and lawyers is to spend less than six minutes watching this wonderful video with movie clips, Carl Sagan, and music--The Pale Blue Dot. Here is our planet and all that goes on here, viewed by the Voyager 1 astronauts from the edge of our solar system, nearly 4 billion miles away, juxtaposed with the world's momentous moments from our everyday point of view. A hat tip to Futurelawyer blog for pointing us in this direction.


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Extended Library Hours

Just a quick reminder - the Law Library is now open for extended hours. Our longer hours which started this past Wednesday and will continue through Wednesday, May 12 are:

Monday - Friday 7am - 2am

Saturday & Sunday 10am - 2am

Exception - On Wednesday, May 12, we will be open 7am - 10pm.

Remember, if you have any concerns, please let us know at the Reference or Circulation desks. You can also IM a reference librarian at IMERNSTER. If you are bothered by noise, you need to let us know. Even a virtual cat cannot be everywhere at once!!

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

FedFlix

FedFlix is a joint project of the National Technical Information Service and PublicResource.org. FedFlix falls within the Internet Archive’s U.S. Government Films collection, which, in turn, appears in the News and Public Affairs collection. The subjects of the films range from training, to history, to health, and much more. Note that these films are also available on YouTube.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Kindle or iPad?

Kindle or iPad? Or both?! Take a look at this article from the Houston Chronicle to find out the pros and cons of each device. The article considers the readability, ergonomics, convenience, and cost for each one.

Hap tip to The Faculty Lounge.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Justice Stevens retires

You should all know by know that Justice Stevens announced this past Friday that he will retire from the U.S. Supreme Court at the end of this term. For a good round-up of the coverage check out this SCOTUSblog article. And of course, SCOTUSblog is also a good source for coverage and analysis of possible appointees.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Bankruptcy Law Reporter

The Bankruptcy Law Reporter provides, in-depth coverage of developments in state and federal bankruptcy law.

Dates of coverage are from March 7, 1996 to present.

To access the Bankruptcy Law Reporter:

• Go to the Library's home page, click "Online Resources"
• Click the "Commercial and Corporate Law" link
• Scroll down to "Bankruptcy Law Reporter (BNA)"

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

The 'Library Voice'

A new post on the NY Times City Room blog complains about how libraries are becoming ever-noisier.

It is true that something like our library's "talking areas"--rooms where low talking about schoolwork is permissible--would have been unthinkable in a law library 20 or 30 years ago, and some of our library's patrons think that making phone calls where no one can see them also means that no one can hear their conversations (cell phone calls are not permitted inside the library). But, from some of the descriptions in this City Room post, our library is still much, much quieter than many public libraries have become.

With these thoughts in mind, please remember to be respectful to other library users during this finals season.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat