European Union Research Guide

European Union law is increasingly prominent in commerce, technology, human rights, and other fields, but researching EU legal materials can be a challenge for the typical law student or for anyone unfamiliar with the resources. Globalex, New York University School of Law's foreign and international law research site, has just published the newly revised update of Duncan Alford's "European Union Legal Materials: An Infrequent User's Guide." For an overview of EU institutions and resources and where to find them, this is a great place to start. And don't forget the Justis database, described in an earlier post, for accessing European Union documents online.
Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Constitutions

After hearing the House of Representatives read our Constitution, I started thinking about other countries constitutions.

One great resource for exploring the world's constitutions in HeinOnline's new database World Constitutions Illustrated . It includes the current constitution for every country in its original language format and an English translation, as well as substantial constitutional histories for many countries. It also includes constitutional periodicals and books as well as links to scholarly articles and online resources, and bibliographic references.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Suffolk County Lawmaker Wants You To Clean The Snow From Your Car

Citing potential road hazards, Suffolk County Legislator Jon Cooper wants to enact a law that would result in fines for those who take to the road without cleaning the snow from their cars after a snowstorm. What do you think?

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Lexis and Westlaw Training for Appellate Advocacy

Appellate Advocacy students:

To register for Lexis and Westlaw training sessions, go to lexisnexis.com/lawschool and lawschool.westlaw.com.

For Westlaw, go to http://lawschool.westlaw.com, log in, click on “training,” then “on-campus trainings,” and then “in-person at my law school.”

For Lexis, go to http://www.lexisnexis.com/lawschool/, log in, and click on “access training calendar.”

Some Appellate Advocacy professors have made this training mandatory. If you are unsure whether this training is mandatory for you, check with your professor.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Copyright and Twitter

Does posting a picture to Twitter via TwitPic give all other Twitter users an implied license to use your picture, including for commercial gain?

You wouldn't think so, and the Southern District of New York did not think so in the recent decision Agence France Presse v. Morel, but copyright law as applied to the internet can be such a complicated mess that Agence France Presse was able to make that argument with a straight face and have it answered with a lengthy decision.

Stephen Kramarsky analyzes the case and its implications for Law Technology News here.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Pew Report: The Social Side of the Internet

"A new national survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project has found that 75% of all American adults are active in some kind of voluntary group or organization and internet users are more likely than others to be active: 80% of internet users participate in groups, compared with 56% of non-internet users. Moreover, social media users are even more likely to be active: 82% of social network users and 85% of Twitter users are group participants." Click here to read or download the full report.
Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, there are no classes but the law library is open from 10 AM to 6 PM.

In 2005, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute was created at Stanford University to provide an institutional home for a broad range of activities illuminating the Nobel Peace laureate’s life and the movements he inspired. The Institute’s endowment supports programs that serve as an enduring link between Stanford’s research resources and King’s dream of global peace with social justice.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Google Scholar Enhancements for Case Law Research

Google Scholar recently added a new enhancement for case law research allowing users to search for court opinions by jurisdiction. The option to search by jurisdiction is available on the advanced search page under “Collections-Legal Opinions and Journals” located at the bottom of the page. There are two drop down menus to search by either federal or state courts decisions. Additionally, Google Scholar provides an option for users to search multiple courts and jurisdictions simultaneously under the “Select specific courts to search." Learn more about these enhancements on the Google Scholar Blog.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat