"Web Roundup" of Advice for New Law Students

With First Year Orientation about to begin, Ernster has been busy prowling the Web for some online practical advice for new law students. 1L’s might want to check out a posting on CALI’s Pre-Law Blog--a “Web Roundup” of advice for new law students gathered from a variety of professor and law student blogs. Podcast interviews of law professors provide additional words of wisdom as you start out. CALI’s Pre-Law Blog is maintained by a law student who also works for CALI (the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction), a consortium of law schools that develops interactive computer-based lessons keyed to law school courses. For more about CALI lessons (and free access for Hofstra law students), see Ernster’s post for November 26, 2005, or ask at the Law Library Reference Desk.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Hooray for Pluto

Despite being an underDOG (pun somewhat intended), I am rooting for Pluto to keep its planetary status. Next week, the International Astronomical Union, which oversees astronomical rules and conventions, will vote on a proposed new definition of "planet." This proposed new definition would expand the number of planets from 9 to 12, allowing Pluto to keep its godly planetary status.

Check back here after next week's meeting to find out if you have to learn a new mnemonic to remember the planets. (My mnemonic is "Mary's Violet Eyes Make Jack Stay Up Nights Pining." What's yours?)

Register your vote by posting a comment. I'll report the results. For background on the controversy and proposed definition go to http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~mbrown/whatsaplanet/ .

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Irregular Webcomic

Not quite sure what to think about this site except that it is different. Irregular Webcomic is a web-only strip comic from Australia done entirely with photographs, usually of Legos figures or minatures. These are some of the early "strips", but in time the author, an engineer, attempts to explain conservative vector fields, trepanation, the Carnot heat engine, or in this case, the CIA World Factbook. Offbeat and geeky funny.


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

New Searchable Directory of LexisNexis Sources

LexisNexis has provided a new online tool to search its directory for a source before you even sign on to their service. "Source Locator" is a "powerful new tool for retrieving targeted information about the more than 36,000 LexisNexis sources". After your search you not only get a list of all sources that meet your criteria, but detailed information about each source.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Govt releases detailed 9/11 information

Almost five years after September 11th, 2001:

"The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) this week released full transcripts of the air traffic control recordings from the four flights hijacked on September 11, 2001, and meticulous Flight Path Studies for three of the flights, in response to a Freedom of Information request by the National Security Archive. The studies provide the most detailed technical information available to date related to the hijackings, and the transcripts of the aircraft-to-ground communications are the first complete government disclosure of each flight's air traffic control recordings".

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Security, Spies and MI5

In the digital age, even security and intelligence agencies legendary for secrecy have their own Web sites. The British Security Service, commonly known as MI5--and the subject of a popular BBC television drama broadcast as “MI-5” in the United States--is no exception. At the official Security Service site, visitors can learn more about MI5’s mission, history, and leaders (including current Director General Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller), explore common “Myths and Understandings” about the Security Service, and gain insight into MI5 operations within the context of British law. Visitors can also link to recently declassified materials at the British National Archives that highlight some of MI5’s espionage and counter-intelligence work over the years.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

gethuman

Avoid customer service phone tree purgatory. Go to gethuman.com for a list on how to find a live human when calling customer service.

And to getfeline, send a comment to your favorite Virtual Cat!

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Healthfinder: A Portal For Health Information

Developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Healthfinder is a free portal to a broad range of health information. Users can search with Google or visit the health library to use a searchable index of carefully reviewed health information from over 1,500 government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and universities. Some of the areas covered, among many others, are diseases and conditions and alternative medicine. Special resources include drug databases and a drug interaction checker.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

iLoveLanguages

iLoveLanguages is a website offering links to over 2400 language-related Internet resources. Each link has been hand reviewed for quality. The resources include schools, translation dictionaries, literature, software, and much, much more.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Wikipedia pushes for quality

This past weekend, the Berkman Center for Internet & Society co-sponsored Wikimania 2006, the International Wikimedia Conference at Harvard Law School. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales delivered the keynote address where he stated:

"Although we've always had this goal of Britannica quality or better, we're not there yet," ... "We can no longer feel satisfied and happy when we see these (article) numbers going up.... We should continue to turn our attention away from growth and towards quality."

Mr. Wales began his presentation with a clip of the Colbert Report, where Stephen Colbert does a piece on his love of Wikipedia and "wikiality". It is worth a moment of your time if you have never seen it.

All kidding aside, This three day conference included discussions on everything from validating information to how the Wikipedia fits into broader efforts in open-source, "free culture." Interesting stuff.


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat