A Visual Guide to the Federal Budget

Death and Taxes is a website that looks at the Federal Budget. It does so mainly through a visual map designed by freelance designer Jesse Bachman to make people more aware of how our taxes are spent and try to create more accountability in Congress. The charts are divided into military and non-military spending. It is a fascinating website.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Eating in the Library?

Continuing on with our discussion of the survey results, today's topic is eating in the library. There were a number of comments about eating in the library (both asking if we could permit it, and others complaining that the "no eating" policy was not being enforced), so below are some common questions and answers.

Q: Why won't you allow food in the library?

A: There are many reasons, but the main ones are these: (1) we have had several insect invasions, directly caused by food in the library, (2) other students complain about the smell and noise of food, and (3) cleanliness.

Q: What is the food policy of the library?

A: No eating is permitted by students in the library. If a student is caught eating, two options are available: (1) leave the library, taking the food with him/her, or (2) allowing the food to be confiscated by library or law school staff. Multiple violations may lead to a loss in library privileges.

Q: Why won't you let students just put away their food if they're caught eating?

A: We tried this for many years and found that what usually happens is that the food is put away until after the staff member leaves, and then it comes right back out again.

Q: Will the library ever allow students to eat in the library?

A: Hopefully, yes. If we are able to find ways to address the concerns under the first question above, we would like to change the policy, at least long enough to see if we can find one that works well both for students and for the library's facilities/collection. In fact, recommendations have already been sent to various law school committees in an attempt to address these concerns.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

How Stuff Works

Whether you think asking a colleague how something works might expose a lack of knowledge, or you are starting a research project and are looking for ideas about alternate or additional search terms, the website howstuffworks is a real find!

Search this site by keyword, or browse by subject category. You will find concise articles that clearly explains how things like computers, cloning, botox, your cell phone, fiber optics, or a manual transmission work.

An easy place to do some quick pre-game before a meeting etc.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Earplugs

As many of you may have noticed, in response to the recent library survey, we were providing complimentary earplugs for those students who might want additional barriers between them and noise. The good news is that the experiment was a smashing success. Unfortunately, though, it was such a success that we have gone through over 600 sets of earplugs in a week's time. The library cannot continue to provide the earplugs at such a rapid use rate, but we will reintroduce them around exam time when we know that noise becomes particularly troublesome.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Fantasy Congress

Now that most of the results of the mid-term Congressional elections are in, you can "play politics" by picking your "dream-team" Congress from the newly elected Congress and watch how they perform. At Fantasy Congress, you get to draft your team of legislators and then earn points by tracking the progress of actual legislation. Your team members earn you points when bills they introduce progress through the steps of the legislative process. And, just as with other fantasy leagues, you can trade players (i.e. members of Congress). Even if you do not want to "play", check out the site to see how productive individual members of Congress have been.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Introductions To The Canadian and Mexican Legal Systems

Have you ever needed a concise, but sophisticated, introduction to the legal systems of our neighbors to the north and south, or are you simply curious about their similarities to and differences from our own? If so, then the following introductions to the legal systems of Canada and Mexico may be just what you seek. While they are part of an online guide to the environmental laws of these two countries, the introductions stand apart at the beginning of the guides, which is where the links offered here lead you.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

HeinOnline Adds Code of Federal Regulations

Now for some news totally unrelated to voting and elections...I’ve discovered a great new source for students trying to find federal agency regulations in PDF format. The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is now available on HeinOnline, one of the Law Library’s most popular research databases. CFR coverage on HeinOnline is from the first edition (1938) through the 1983 edition, containing about 1250 books of the historical CFR from this time period to browse and search. For access to the CFR from 1997 to the present (some titles from 1996) in PDF format, try GPO Access, the U.S. government internet site for documents.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

21st Century Library: Customizing Firefox - Next Week

Customizing Firefox: Why use Firefox, the Internet browser from Mozilla? There are many reasons, some of which are tabbed browsing, built in searching and enhanced security. However, one of its nicest features is that you can customize Firefox’s appearance and enhance its capabilities to suit your needs. This library workshop will cover how to get the most out of Firefox from using its built-in features to finding and installing the best enhancements.

When: Monday, Nov. 13 – 5:10 to 6 p.m.; and
Tuesday, Nov. 14 – 11:10 to 12 noon.

All 21^st Century Library workshops are held in the lower level computer lab.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Random Thoughts on Election Eve

Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.
-Franklin D. Roosevelt

The right of voting for representatives is the primary right by which other rights are protected.
-Thomas Paine

Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.
-Reinhold Niebuhr

Bad politicians are sent to Washington by good people who don’t vote.
-William E Simon, former US Secretary of the Treasury

An election is a bet on the future, not a popularity test of the past.
-James Reston

It’s not the voting that’s democracy, it’s the counting
-Tom Stoppard

PLEASE get out & vote!!


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Election day tomorrow

If you want more information on the 2006 elections, Yahoo news has made a site where they compiled all of this news. Full Coverage: Midterm Elections 2006 contains links to articles, a map in which you can click any state for full coverage of all elections within the state, videos, audios, directories and more.

This site will not only help you find any more information you might need in making your voting decisions but will also keep you informed of the candidates and issues everywhere else in the country.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat