Free and Fee Based Appellate Court Briefs Online

LLRX has published a guide on free and fee based
appellate court briefs available online. Part one lists
sites where free copies of federal and state appellate
court briefs can be obtained. Part two lists sites where
briefs can be obtained for a price.

The guide was prepared by Michael Whiteman,
Associate Dean for Law Library Services & Information
Technology, Chase College of Law, Northern Kentucky
University.

Harvard to Allow Military Recruiters on Campus

Reversing a decision made last year, Harvard Law School will
allow military recruiters on campus while awaiting the U.S.
Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of the Solomon
Amendment.

You can read more about Harvard's decision here:

Harvard Law School web site: Letter from Dean Kagan
on Military Recruiting

MSNBC
Jurist Paper Chase
Baltimore Sun

Abolish the Third Year of Law School?

Laura I. Appleman (Visiting Professor at Hofstra
School of Law) and Daniel Solove (Associate Professor
at the George Washington University School of Law)
debate the value of the third year of law school in the
cover story of Legal Affairs (9/19/2005).

Cornell Files Brief Against the Solomon Amendment

The Cornell Daily Sun (9/26/2005) reports that
Cornell University has filed an amicus curiae brief
in support of law school professors and administrators
who are challenging the constitutionality of the
Solomon Amendment in an upcoming Supreme Court case.

The articles states that Cornell "joins Yale, Columbia,
Harvard, New York University, University of Pennsylvania,
and University of Chicago in signing the 30-page document,
which calls the amendment 'an unconstitutional condition on
federal funding.' "

The amicus brief aids The Forum for Academic and Institutional
Rights (FAIR), the coalition of law schools that will be contesting
the amendment in the upcoming Supreme Court case on Dec. 6.

LLRX Features "Burney's Gadgets for Legal Pros"

Craving some hot new technology?

Brett Burney's article on Gadget's for Legal Pros
on LLRX (September 18, 2005) features reviews
of the ultraportable HP Compaq nc4200 Laptop and
the Canary Wireless Digital Hotspotter.

The nc4200 laptop weighs less then four pounds,
offers three USB ports, and includes a special
"presentation button" that can be set to auto-
matically launch a pre-determined PowerPoint show.

The Canary Wireless Digital Hotspotter is a
WiFi detector (i.e., a device that detects wireless
hotspots for computer users on the go).
According to Burney, "it immediately searches
for and finds the first available wireless hotspot
and provides 1) the name of the wireless network
(the SSID), 2) the strength of the signal, 3) whether
the network is open or secured, and 4) what channel
the network is operating on."

Socratic Method a Recipe for Total Confusion

Richard Leiter (U. Texas) is at it again. In his
Leiter Report article of October 20, 2005, The "Socratic
Method": The Scandal of American Legal Education," he
claims that the traditional Socratic approach to law
teaching is a "recipe for confusion," and goes on
to offer "evidence" as to why the Socratic method is,
in his words, a disaster.

Searching for Blawgs or Blogs?

The Directory of Law Related Blogs (aka Blawgs)
is a current and comprehensive source for blogs
that address law or legal topics. It is searchable
and browsable by subject, and each entry is
annotated (but not evaluated for content or
quality).

If you want to search for blogs beyond the legal
sphere, try Google's new Blog Search. You can
run a simple search using keywords, or limit
your search results using an advanced search
template. According to Google, "the goal of Blog
Search is to include every blog that publishes a
site feed (either RSS or Atom)...this means that
Blog Search results for a given blog will update
with new content much faster than standard web
searches. Also, because of the structured data within
site feeds, it is possible to find precise posts and
date ranges with much greater accuracy."

Click here for more information about Google
Blog Search.

Yale Law's Panel Discussion of the Roberts Nomination Available Online

Joe Hodnicki from the Law Librarian Blog (9/18/2005),
brings our attention to a panel of Yale Law professors who
addressed four topics associated with the Roberts nomination.

The four topics of discussion are:

"The confirmation process and whether it is working;
second, the role of chief justice of the court relative to the
associate justices; third, the substantive directions that
Roberts could take the court; and fourth and finally, the
directions the court could take after Judge Roberts."

To hear the professors' discussion of the topics, you can
watch a video of the panel online.

Law of Africa Collection Online From the University of Pretoria

From the Foreign Collection Development Blog (FCIL-SIS),
9/15/2005:

Shirley Schroder of the University of Pretoria Academic
Information Service, Oliver R. Tambo Law Library,
has compiled a web list of African primary source materials.
While not comprehensive, the list should aid researchers
in identifying difficult to find sources of law for some African
countries.

STAT/USA

Thanks to the beSpacific blog (9/14/2005) for pointing
us to STAT-USA/Internet, a service of the U.S.
Department of Commerce. The site is a single point
of access to authoritative business, trade, and
economic information from across the Federal
Government.

Library of Congress Electronic Resources on Supreme Court Nominees

The Library of Congress has developed the following
electronic resources on U.S. Supreme Court nominees:

Supreme Court Nominees - Not Confirmed
(Bork, Carswell, Haynsworth, and Thornberry)

Supreme Court Nominees - Confirmed
(previously at http://www.loc.gov/rr/law/documents.html)

About "Podcasts"

After my post about CALI Radio podcasts, I
received a number of inquiries from my readers
who wanted to know more about podcasts.

What is a podcast? According to the Wikipedia,
"podcasting is a method of publishing audio broad-
casts via the Internet, allowing users to subscribe
to a feed of new files (usually MP3s). It became
popular in late 2004, largely due to automatic
downloading of audio onto portable players or
personal computers."

The number of podcasts is growing rapidly, but, so
far, only a handful cover law. In addition
to CALI Radio (CALI authors' podcasts on
tips and insights for mastering legal subjects),
CLE programs are now available for purchase
via podcast at LawCast, and popular law bloggers
like J. Craig Williams and Robert Ambrogi have
ventured into podcasting (see LegalTalk).

For a thorough discussion of law podcasts and a
list of podcast directories, see Robert Ambrogi's
Podcasting: CLE's New Wave? (Legal
Technology, February 24, 2005).

Live Blogging of Roberts Confirmation Hearings

Tom Goldstein at SCOTUSblog is offering live
blogging of the Roberts confirmation hearings.

Constitution Day at the National Archives

News Advisory from the National Archives,
9/12/2005:

This September, the National Archives continues its
popular tradition of celebrating Constitution Day.
For the first time, National Archives
programs in honor of Constitution Day, September 17,
will extend far beyond one day and far beyond the
Rotunda to reach thousands of citizens, teachers, and
students nationwide.

Programs this Thursday and Friday at the National
Archives which will be also be available as webcasts
include:

Checks and Balances in the Age of Instant Messaging
Constitutional Conversations with Supreme Court Justices
NPR's Justice Talking Debate on "Free Speech in the Digital Age"

Details about these and related programs may be found
on the NARA web site.

New Titles from Ashgate

The Law Librarian Blog has posted an
annotated list of new titles from Ashgate
publishing that might be of interest to you.

If you would like the library to consider
purchasing any of these titles, please
contact your liaison librarian.

Roberts Hearings Available Live on the Web

From Electronic Services Librarian,
Robert Weiner: Law Library News

On Monday, September 12, the Senate Judiciary
Commitee is scheduled to begin confirmation hearings
on John Roberts, President's Bush's nominee to become
the next chief justice of the United States Supreme
Court. Live coverage of the hearings are available on
the web through several sources, including C-Span3 at
http://www.c-span.org/. The hearings provide an
opportunity for the American public to consider Roberts'
views on the major issues shaping society today.
In the past half-century, only two other presidents have
named a chief justice.

WSJ Reviews Blog Search Engines

The Wall Street Journal (September 7, 2005)
reviews search engines that go beyond Google
and Yahoo to identify blog content in real
time.

The article reviews:

Technorati.com (http://www.technorati.com/)
IceRocket (http://www.icerocket.com/)
Feedster (http://www.feedster.com/)
DayPop (http://www.daypop.com/)
Bloglines (www.bloglines.com)

According to Joe Hodnicki (Law Librarian Blog),
"random searches on these sites give results that
have been posted with the last hour of the search. "

Law, Ethics and Katrina on MSNBC

MSNBC has announced that it plans to air a special
devoted to the legal and ethical issues arising from
the struggle for survival after Hurricane Katrina.

The segment is entitled "Ethical Edge," and will
air on MSNBC on Saturday, September 10,
at 9pm.

White Washing the Black Storm

Two Houston law professors, Tracy McGaugh and
Kathleen Bergin, have created a new blog, White Washing the
Black Storm: We are Watching, to share first hand
accounts about treatment of black Americans in the
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Survivor accounts and photos add to the impact and
poignancy of this new blog.

Hurricane Katrina Congressional Updates

The beSpacific blog (9/7/2005) brings our attention
to a new website launched by the Congressional Information
Services company Gallerywatch.com, called USCongress.com.

"The site, whose content and sources will expand in upcoming
weeks and months, is already a significant resource for
government documents on a wide range of issues associated
with Katrina, both before the disaster and its aftermath.

The site is focused on providing up-to-date access to essential
government documents, including otherwise hard to locate
CRS reports, federal agency and state press releases, the text
of legislation introduced in response to the disaster, letters to
the President from Senate and House leaders, as well as
commentary from Congress Daily, the Energy Daily, and
transcripts supplied by the Federal News Service.

All of this information is available free."

Podcast on Rehnquist, Roberts and the Supreme Court

The latest installment of Coast to Coast, a weekly legal
news podcast cohosted by J. Craig Williams and Robert
Ambrogi, is Roberts' Rocky Road, which brings together
the following panel of guests to discuss the Roberts
nomination and the future of the Supreme Court:

Joining Williams and Ambrogi are:

Craig Bradley, Indiana University School of Law professor
and former law clerk for Justice Rehnquist.

Elliot Mincberg, vice president, general counsel and
legal director, People for the American Way.

Lyle Denniston, veteran Supreme Court reporter for newspapers
including the Baltimore Sun and now a contributor to
SCOTUSblog.

Gail Heriot, University of San Diego School of Law
professor and contributor to the blawg, The Right Coast

You can find all the Coast to Coast programs on the
Legal Talk Network.

New Research Aids on LLRX

LLRX (Law Librarians' Research Exchange)
has published the following new titles on
its web site:

Copyright and Licensing Digital Materials - A Resource Guide

Researching Intellectual Property Law In The Russian Federation

Burney's Gadgets for Legal Pros: Travel in Wireless Style

HeinOnline Retrospective Conversion of Federal Register

HeinOnline has announced that it has completed
its retrospective conversion of the Federal Register
from volume 1 (1936) through volume 70 (June 2005).

The Law Librarian Blog (9/7/2005) quotes
Brian Jablonski, Director, Marketing & Publications at
Hein: "...in the near future, the Federal Register releases
on HeinOnline ill be within 30 days of the most-recently
published Federal Register content."

Access to HeinOnline is available from the Barclay Law Library's
web page .

LexisNexis Replaces ECLIPSE Feature with ALERT

LexisNexis has announced that, as of August 13, its ECLIPSE
electronic clipping service will automatically become
LexisNexis ALERT. You can find current ECLIPSE
searches by selecting the ALERT tab at the top of the
LexisNexis search screen.

As far as I can determine, the functionality of the
service has not changed, just the name! As with
ECLIPSE, the ALERT feature allows you to auto-
matically receive updates on new stories, cases
or legal topics delivered directly to your desktop.

If you would like to know more about electronic
clipping services through Westlaw and LexisNexis,
please contact your liaison librarian.

New! CALI Radio

Here's something to share with your students.
CALI Radio, brought to you by the same folks
that publish CALI lessons, offers weekly podcasts
by their law faculty authors on mastering legal
topics, using their CALI lessons, or under-
standing key cases.

Students can download the podcasts from the
CALI Radio web site, then listen while
they commute, work-out, or just a want
a break from their books.

Future Trends in State Courts

The National Center for State Courts has published
a number of articles on its web site from the Center's
forthcoming (October) print edition of the 2005 Future
Trends in State Courts.

Articles now on the web site include:

A Look at the Composition of State Court Disposition

Digitization of Library Collections

Elder Abuse and Neglect

Human Trafficking

Immigration and Its Impact on the State Courts

International Trends — International Family Law

Strengthening Judicial Independence and Accountability

Judicial Salaries

Public Access and the National Landscape of Data Regulation

Radio-Frequency Identification

The Future of Court Security and Judicial Safety

Trends in Appellate Court Technology

Trends in Identity Theft

Verification, Validation, and Authentication of Electronic
Documents in Courts: How Digital Rights Management
Technology Will Change the Way We Work

Webcasting: It's Not Just About Oral Arguments Anymore

Roberts Confirmation Hearings on GPOAccess

Thanks to the BeSpacific blog (9/1/2005) for pointing
out that the the Senate Committee on the Judiciary:
Supreme Court Nomination Hearings for Judge Roberts
will be available online from the U.S. Government Printing
Office.

Library's September 2005 New Materials List Available

The September 2005 New Materials List is now
available on the Law Library's web site. It contains
new book, journal, and audio-visual titles received
during August. The materials are now available for
use by patrons at the Law Library.

Each month, the Law Library publishes this list to alert
library patrons to new materials. A news item is posted
on the Law Library main web page when the list is
available. Current and previous lists can also be accessed
from the Publications and SUMMIT Catalog web pages.
Although the lists contain location information, please
check the SUMMIT Catalog to confirm location and item
availability.

Some new items may be temporarily found on the New
Book display or the Atrium Casual Reading display --
both located on Floor 3 of the Law Library.

ABA Creates Katrina Resources Site

From Robert Ambrogi's LawSites,
(Sept. 2, 2005):

"...the ABA has created a web site devoted to
Hurricane Katrina Disaster Recovery Resources.
The site provides information on relief efforts and
allows lawyers to volunteer legal assistance and office
space. The site has sections for lawyers needing disaster
help, for victims and their families, for lawyers wanting
to volunteer, and for military personnel needing legal
help. ..the site will continue to be updated on a regular
basis."

The BarclayBlog is Back!

I apologize to my regular readers for the long blog
hiatus. Now that I have returned to the library
after a long medical leave, you can anticipate
frequent posts about happenings in the law library,
new research resources, law-related technology
and more!

Thank you for your patience. I sincerely appreciate
the many kind notes and emails welcoming me back
to the fold.