Six Techniques to Get More from the Web than Google Will Tell You

An article from CIO.com provides some interesting techniques on using the web for research.

1. Use Search Engines and Wikipedia to Find Quality Research Sources
2. Search Blogs for Specialized Experts Who Sift Through the Web for You
3. Study Business School Websites
4. Find Statistical Data on Government Sources
5. Research Trade Groups and Online Publications for Current Topics, Best Practices
6. Visit the Library for More Research Sources and Online Data"

More information on how to use these techniques are in the article. Check it out.


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

The National Center for Animal Law

If you are interested in animal law, take a look at the National Center for Animal law's website.
The site offers an abundance of information about animals and the law, a career center, a list of animal law courses, and much, much more. Find out more about your feline (and canine, equine, etc.) friends!


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

IDRC and South Pacific Clerkships

The International Data Resource Center (IDRC) offers searching and browsing of 1,200 datasets from the University of Michigan's Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research. This database should definitely be considered when looking for foreign or international statistics.

Also, the National Law Journal has a short article on clerkships where attorneys where Hawaiian shirts to court, which is a nice thought in mid-January.




Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Enhanced InSITE for Spring Semester

Are you facing a new class where the subject is totally unfamiliar and maybe a bit daunting? Two of my favorite services (see posts of February 4 and 13, 2007) from Cornell University Law Library have just been enhanced to help you out. First, get acquainted fast with some of the best websites for an area of law by searching InSITE, the legal site current awareness service. InSITE's redesigned home page now features a quick search for relevant websites, along with a quick full-text search of all 1,000-plus law-related sites ever selected for the service, through the latest issue. Then try Cornell's Legal Research Engine to find authoritative research guides, academic legal blogs with faculty and expert commentary, or the best of the legal web for your subject or research topic--or now, all three at once! InSITE and Legal Research Engine are great places to find new and reliable resources for an unfamiliar legal area-- and both are now better than ever.
Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Regular Hours resume Monday

I hope you all had a great break - and come back relaxed and refreshed. I for one enjoyed many a long (and short) catnap.

On Monday, the Library will resume regular hours and I will return to my prowling schedule as set forth below. Check out the link on the side for the Reference Librarians' hours.

REGULAR HOURS - Monday, January 14 - Thursday, April 24
Sunday 10:00 A.M. - Midnight
Monday - Thursday 8:00 A.M. - Midnight
Friday 8:00 A.M. - 9:00 P.M.
Saturday 10:00 A.M. - 8:00 P.M.

EXCEPTIONS:
Monday, January 21 (MLK Day) 10:00 A.M. - 6:00 P.M.
Monday, February 18 (Presidents’ Day) 10:00 A.M. - 6:00 P.M.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Free Rice--Vocabulary Builder For World Hunger

Would you like to improve your general vocabulary and, at the same time, help to erode the problem of world hunger? Then play FreeRice. For each word you match with its correct synonym, Free Rice donates twenty grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program.

It works this way. The online game quickly assesses your vocabulary level, and then it offers words to be matched with their correct synonyms at that level. The more words you match correctly, the more rice grains you donate. Also, the more words you match correctly, the greater your increase in vocabulary level, and the more difficult and esoteric the word choices become. With fifty vocabulary levels to fathom, everyone should find FreeRice a fun and challenging way to increase his or her vocabulary, while simultaneously ameliorating of the problem of world hunger.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

1L Advice from Out of the Jungle

Your first semester in law school is over; here is some good advice for 1Ls from the Out of the Jungle blog: Spring Semester Blues — Treating 1-Ls right.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Young & Well Connected use Libraries More

A recent study by the Pew Center and UIUC (Univ. of IL at Urbana-Champaign) found that people 18 to 30 years old were the age group most likely to have recently used a library. From the site:

The survey results challenge the assumption that libraries are losing relevance in the internet age. Libraries drew visits by more than half of Americans (53%) in the past year for all kinds of purposes, not just the problems mentioned in this survey. And it was the young adults in tech-loving Generation Y (age 18-30) who led the pack. Compared to their elders, Gen Y members were the most likely to use libraries for problem-solving information and in general patronage for any purpose.

Seldom miss an opportunity to give a plug for library use :-) Check out the full report at the site.


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Legally Funny Videos

Now is the time when law students can enjoy a comic and satirical perspective on law school and the legal profession, before a new semester and more serious thoughts intrude. Have you seen "Law School Musical," a popular You Tube video created by University of Maryland law student Owen Jarvis that vividly captures the life and mind-changing experience of the new law student? If you enjoy viewing lawyers and the law as shown in a variety of media and the performing arts, check out The Video Venue (TVV), just launched by The Billable Hour and featuring "video clips by, for, and about lawyers, law students, and legal professionals." Have fun.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Legal Theme Crossword Puzzle

Happy New Year! Before classes begin, have a little fun with K. Hobb’s Legal Beagle crossword puzzle.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat