No Time for Wikipedia? Try QuickyWiki

Here's news to gladden the hearts of reference
librarians everywhere. QuickyWiki is a new wiki
that boasts the "depth of Wikipedia with the ease
and speed of Cliffs Notes." The search results
appear to consist of text culled from Wikipedia
along with links to related web and news sources.
A quick search under "Alaska," with a focus on
"permafrost," produced a paragraph extracted
from the Alaska article in Wikipedia (which didn't
explain what permafrost is) and links to such varied
sources as National Geographic Kids News and
Permafrost, an international journal for the arts.

You can find more information about QuickyWiki
at ResearchBuzz (11/28/2006).

"Quick Guide to New E-Discovery Rules"

Robert Ambrogi has prepared a guide for
the IMS-ExpertServices web site on the changes
in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that
will go into effect on December 1.

A New Search Tool for Legal Blogs: Justia Blawg Search

BlawgSearch from Justia.com is a search engine
that covers over 900 blawgs (i.e., legal blogs). You
can search for blawgs, browse for blawgs by subject
category, and browse recent keyword searches.
Search results can be sorted by popularity, blawg
name, and 'last post date.' The site also features
a page of resources for those of us who 'blawg.'

FLARE Project: Foreign Law Research

The FLARE website has been developed to help improve
access to research material in foreign, comparative and
international law. FLARE is an association of major UK
research libraries, including the Bodleian Law Library, the
British Library, the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Library,
the Squire Law Library , and the School of Oriental and
African Studies Library.

The website currently offers a Union list of foreign official
gazettes, research guides to the legal literature of a number of
jurisdictions, and links to a selection of other research guides
available on the Internet.

Top Judges Propose Comprehensive Reform of NY Town and Village Courts

In the newly released Action Plan for the Justice
Courts (PDF), Chief Judge Judith Kaye and Chief
Administrative Judge Jonathan Lippman propose
a comprehensive overhaul of New York town and
village courts.

The plan calls for: the appointment of supervising
judges for the state's local courts; improved training
for town and village judges; implementation of
upgrading technology in court office; recording devices
in every local court; improved oversight of revenue
collected by courts; and, better security for courtrooms.
The State Judiciary has asked for ten million dollars
in its 2007-2008 budget to fund the proposal.

According to today's Rochester Democrat and
Chronicle, the proposal is being applauded by
local judges, many of whom are eager for additional
training that will help them avoid censure or removal
by the Commission on Judicial Conduct. According to
the Democrat and Chronicle article, the commission has
moved to remove 151 judges, publicly censured 254 judges,
and admonished 210 judges since 1978.

Gates Nomination Resources

Georgetown University Law Library has prepared
a resource list on Robert M. Gates, nominated
to replace Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of
Defense.

Barclay Law Library Joins "Food for Fines" Program

The Barclay Law Library at the Syracuse University
College of Law will join the Syracuse University Libraries
and SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry
Moon Library in a food for fines program to help
reduce hunger in the Syracuse community.

On Thursday, November 30 (8am - 7pm) patrons
who bring non-perishable food items to one of the
libraries will receive a $1.00 reduction in overdue
fines for each item.

All food items will be donated to Cathedral Emergency
Services in downtown Syracuse.

Washington & Lee Law Library Updates Its Law Journal Rankings

Brian Leiter (on his Law School Reports of
11/16/2006) alerts us that Washington and
Lee Law Library has updated its law journal
rankings. The purpose of the Law Journals
webpage "is to allow authors to find law journals
by subject, country, or journal rank (where available),
to display journal editorial information, and to
facilitate an author's article submission to those journals."

A complete discussion of the data presented on the
site and guidelines for searching and author
submissions may be found on the Law Journal:
Submissions & Rankings web site.

"Social Explorer" Offers Visual Displays of Census Data

Robert Ambrogi at LawSites (11/16/2006) points us
to Social Explorer, a site developed at Queens College
of the City University of New York "to help visually
analyze and understand the demography of the U.S.
through the use of interactive maps and data reports."

The site includes interactive census maps from U.S.
census data dating back to 1940. Maps provide visual
displays of data for the entire country or for any
geographic location. You can also create slideshows
showing movement of data across locations or time periods
and create custom demographic reports drawing on a
wide range of historical and current data.

The site includes a nifty animated training guide and
an instruction sheet (in PDF or Word).

July 2006 NYS Bar Exam Results

The NYS Board of Law Examiners web site has
posted the July 2006 New York State Bar Exam
results. An interesting statistical summary of the results
appears in the Board's press release of November
15, 2006. (Thanks to Reference Librarian Greg Ewing for
bringing this to my attention) .

How to Deep Fry a Turkey

EatTurkey.com has some mouth-watering
recipes for preparing your holiday turkey,
including a page on how to deep fry your
gobbler. So whether you want to try Cajun,
Southern, Rosemary & Ginger, or Asian style
fried turkey, this is the place to learn how.

A wealth of general information about purchasing,
storing and preparing turkeys (roasting, poaching
grilling, etc.) can be found on the site under
Turkey Basics.

"The Nuremberg Trials and Their Legacy" Exhibit

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
online exhibit, "The Nuremberg Trials and Their
Legacy,"features photographs, trial artifacts, and
audio transcripts (clips) from the International
Military Tribunal war crime trials held in Nuremberg,
Germany after WWII.

In addition to the exhibit, the web site invites guests
to submit their thoughts on: What is justice? What kind
of justice is possible after genocide? Is it ever too late
to seek justice? Some of the most moving responses
are from school children. One middle-school girl
writes, " It is never to late to seek justice -it is never to
late to right the wrongs, but the longer we wait the
more it takes to make them right."

Hat tip to the Librarians' Internet Index.

New from GlobaLex

GlobaLex (Hauser Global Law School Program at NYU
School of Law) announces the following new legal research
guides:

The Swiss Legal System and Research (Gregory M. Bovey)

TRAC Releases New Findings on FBI Prosecutions

The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC)
at Syracuse University has released the new edition of
its FBI Web Site. According to the report's latest findings,
federal prosecutors have rejected 87% of the FBI's referrals
on international terrorism in the first nine months of FY 2006.
The report also concludes that FBI investigations of all kinds
have consistently resulted in fewer federal prosecutions.

The site includes detailed graphs and tables that reveal how
FBI staffing and enforcement priorities have been constantly
changing since 1986. District-by-district FBI enforcement
counts are updated through the end of FY 2005.

Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse

The Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse at Washington
University in St. Louis Law School is an online collection of
documents and information about civil rights cases that have
resulted in significant policy or operational change. The collection
is currently organized by the following categories: Child Welfare,
Election/Voting Rights, Immigration, Jail Conditions, Juvenile
Institution, Mental Health Facility, Mental Retardation Facility,
Nursing Home Conditions, Police Non-Profiling, Police Profiling,
Prison Conditions, Public Housing, and School Desegregation.

Documents for each case include the docket sheet, complaint
which initiated the litigation, any decrees issued by courts or agreed
to by parties, and any published opinions (or links, if cases are
available on Westlaw or Lexis).

The collection can be browsed by category, or searched by
case detail or person.

"How Well-Prepared Are Newly Minted Lawyers?"

Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society
(with support from LexisNexis) is planning to survey
recent law graduates to determine how well-
prepared they are for law practice. (The survey
is part of a larger project at the Berkman Center
that focuses on the impact of technology on
legal education and practice).

Gene Koo, Fellow at the Berkman Center and Director of
Online Education for Legal Aid University, is seeking
suggestions for the survey from faculty, librarians and
others. You can learn more and post your ideas and
comments to Gene at the Law School Innovation Blog.

Fight Against Michigan Proposal 2 Heats Up

According to the Michigan Daily (11/9/2006), University
of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman says that
the University will fight the implementation of Proposal
2, the state constitutional amendment that will ban
affirmative action programs in Michigan. Some
observers have expressed surprise that the University
has not yet initiated any legal action seeking to delay
implementation of the amendment (and, thereby, pre-
venting the need to change University admissions policies
in the middle of this year's admissions cycle). Coleman
says that University legal counsel is examining all of its
options before taking action.

Beating the University to court was pro-affirmative
action group, By Any Means Necessary (BAMN), which
has already filed two lawsuits in federal court in an
attempt to block implementation of the amendment.
(The complaints may be found at the BAMN web site).

How to Create a Timeline in Microsoft Excel

Graphical tools such as timelines are part of the
modern attorney's arsenal and can also be an effective
teaching device. An easy approach to creating
timelines with Microsoft Excel is demonstrated on
the MS Education web site.

Hat tip to InterAlia.

Copyright Information at Digital Law Online

Cornell Law Library's InSite current awareness service
(11/13/2006) points us to Digital Law Online, a web
site that offers free access to copyright treatises and
other documents. The site is the creation of Prof.
Lee A. Hollaar, a faculty member of the School of
Computing at the University of Utah, who teaches
computer networking, intellectual property, and
computer law.

The website currently offers:

*(L. Hollaar) Legal Protection of Digital Information
*(W. Patrys) Copyright Law and Practice
*National Commission on New Technological Uses of
Copyrighted Works (CONTU) Final Report

Hollaar's treatise is keyword searchable and provides links
to the cases and statutes cited in the text.

Federal Sentencing Guidelines Manual

The 2006 Federal Sentencing Guidelines Manual
(which went into effect on November 1, 2006)
is now available at the U.S. Sentencing Com-
mission web site.

Lawyer Advertising Rules & Lawyers' Right to Blog

An article in the Chicago Tribune (11/7/2006)
addresses lawyers' right to blog in the face of
increasing regulation of lawyer advertising. This
issue is especially relevant for lawyers in New York,
where proposed advertising rules include electronic
communications.

According to the article, lawyers who blog tend to
see their blogs as "forums [for] public service, not
huckster advertising."

The proposed changes to the New York rules, which
would place some lawyers' blogs firmly within the
category of advertising, have some bloggers hopping
mad, says article author Ameet Sachdev. Says one
New York lawyer quoted in the article,

"If I blog and I talk about the law, why should that
be treated any differently from a lawyer who goes
to a senior center and gives a free talk about elder care?"

The text of the proposed amendments to rules
governing lawyer advertising in New York may be
found on the New York Unified Court System
web site.

Hat tip to Robert Ambrogi for pointing us to the
article.

Trial Lawyer Resource Center

Do you know why you should use red tape around
only one foam core trial exhibit and use black for the rest?

The Trial Lawyer Resource Center, authored by
experienced trial lawyers, offers practical trial tips and
techniques on a variety of topics ranging from case selection to
openings, evidence and post settlement issues. Readers
may peruse the latest posts, or select material
by topic or author.

(Click here to read about Demonstrative Exhibits
and the use of red tape).

Library of Congress Launches Comprehensive "New Search"

The Library of Congress has launched a beta version of
its comprehensive search engine, New Search. Now users
can search across a number of LC websites at the same time.
Currently, the new search service covers a number of popular
Library of Congress sections, including the U.S. historical and
cultural collections (American Memory), the Library of Congress
Online Catalog, the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog, and
the main LC website.

The Library of Congress will provide access to the pilot search
engine for several months to gauge response. All previously
existing search services will continue to be available.

For more information, see the New Search FAQ.

Coast-to-Coast Legal Podcast: The New E-Discovery Rules

In this week's Coast-to-Coast legal podcast, Robert
Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams discuss the new e-
discovery rules going into effect on December 1, 2006.
Joining the co-hosts for the session are Michele C.S. Lange,
staff attorney in the Electronic Evidence Services group
at Kroll Ontrack Inc. and author of the ABA book,
Electronic Evidence and Discovery: What Every Lawyer
Should Know, and Dennis Kennedy, well-known lawyer
and legal technology consultant based in St. Louis, Mo.

Access and information may be found at the Legal Talk
Network web site.

New Research Guides from GlobaLex

The following new research guides are available on
GlobaLex (Hauser Global Law School Program, New York
University School of Law) :

Basic Info and Online Sources for NAFTA and CAFTA Research
(Francisco Avalos and Maureen Garmon)

Regional Trade Agreements in Africa: A Historical and Bibliographic
Account of ECOWAS and CEMAC (Victor Essien)

Guide to Research on Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
Notification Requirements (Barbara H. Bean)

Botswana’s Legal System and Legal Research (Lubabalo Booi)

Egyptian Legal System and Legal Research (Dr. Mohamed S. Abdel Wahab)

Laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan: A Guide to Web Based Resources
(Oleg Stalbovsky & Maria Stalbovskaya)

1938-1983 CFR Now on HeinOnline

The William S. Hein Company has announced that
the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is now available
on Hein OnLine. The collection includes all editions
and supplements of the CFR from its inception in 1938
through the 1983 edition. The CFR is located within
HeinOnline's Federal Register library collection; documents
are available in an image-based (PDF), searchable format.

According to the announcement, the 1938 through 1983
editions of the CFR in HeinOnline have been electronically
indexed to the Book level. Additionally, content from 1938
through 1949, as well as 1977 through 1983, has been
electronically indexed to the Part level. In future enhance-
ments, all content will be electronically indexed to the Part
level. The CFR content in HeinOnline consists of approximately
1250 books totaling nearly 780,000 pages.

Google Launches "Google Alerts"

Google Alerts (in Beta) is a new email notification
service for receiving updates on a topic or issue from
Internet news sites, blogs, and other web sites. Setting
up an alert is easy: enter your keywords, select which
source categories you want to search, chose a frequency,
and provide an email address. You must have
a Google account to manage your alerts (you can create an
account from the Alerts page). Check out the FAQ for
more information.

The service searches international news sources, web sites
and blogs that can provide information and perspectives not readily
available through the Westlaw and Lexis updating services.
Students who wish to establish alerts for their research should
be reminded to evaluate search results carefully.

AAUP Faculty Gender Equity Indicators 2006

The American Association of University Professors
has issued a new report, AAUP Press Release
of 10/26/2006, the report provides data on four specific
measures of gender equity for faculty at over 1,400
colleges and universities across the country; employment
status (full- and part-time); tenure status for
full-time faculty; promotion to full professor rank; and average
salary for full-time faculty.

The report consists of three sections: an article on
“Organizing Around Gender Equity,” authored jointly
by Professor Martha S. West of the University of California,
Davis and John W. Curtis, AAUP Director of Research and
Public Policy; aggregate national tables for each of the four
equity indicators by type of institution; and an appendix listing
the four indicators for each individual college and university.

Statistics for the report are drawn primarily from the AAUP
Faculty Compensation Survey, with additional data on part-time
faculty from the US Department of Education.