Anglo-American Legal Traditions Project

O'Quinn Law Library at the University of Houston Law Center
has announced the launch of the Anglo-American Legal
Traditions ( AALT) Project web site. The Law Center has
licensed with the National Archives of the United Kingdom
to "permit the free, non-commercial, public display and use
of images" of court records over almost four centuries
(c.1272 – 1650). To date, 450,000 images have been acquired,
and there are plans to add more images from the Archives,
as well as collections of historical documents from other Anglo-
American court systems.

In addition to the images, guides to paleography and overviews
of English legal history, as well as links to other sites of interest
to legal historians, are included on the AALT web site.

"Courts Turn to Wikipedia" Says NY Times Article

An article in Monday's New York Times states that
"Wikipedia is frequently cited by judges around the
country." The article goes on to say that, beginning
in 2004, "more than 100 judicial rulings have relied
on Wikipedia, ...including 13 from circuit courts of
appeal." The remainder of the article explores how
and why judges are finding the popular online
reference source so appealing.

In an ironic side note, the online journal, Inside Higher Ed
(1/2006), reports that Middlebury College "voted
this month to bar students from citing [Wikipedia]
as a source in papers or other academic work."

"How Do Women and Minorities Fare in the Market for New Law Teachers?"

On his blog, Agoraphilia (1/20/2007), Thomas
Bell (Chapman) analyzes recent AALS data
(from Statistical Report on Law School Faculty and
Candidates for Law Faculty Positions 2005-06)
on law school hires of women and minorities.
Bell's review of the data leads him to conclude
that "[the] data suggests that, at least in terms
of hiring, women and minorities enjoy significant
advantages." The comments following the post
address Bell's methodology and assumptions;
Bell's replies follow the comments.

FY 2006 Federal Court Statistics Available

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts has
announced that the fiscal year 2006 statistics for
each of the 12 regional U.S. courts of appeals and
94 U.S. district courts – plus national totals for the
appellate and district courts – are now available.

"Equality from State to State: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Americans and State Legislation"

The Law Librarian Blog (1/30/2007) points us
to Equality from State to State: Gay, Lesbian,
Bisexual and Transgender Americans and State
Legislation, the Human Rights Campaign's annual
state legislative report covering state constitutional
amendments and bills affecting gay, lesbian, bisexual
and transgender people and their families nationwide.

The current report, as well as the 2004 and 2005
reports, are available in PDF on the Human Rights
Campaign web site.

Graphical Tool Lets You Analyze Word of the State of the Union Address

The New York Times today has a nifty tool that
lets you view, in graphical form, how many times
President Bush used a specific word in this and
past years' State of the Union Addresses. For example,
in 2005, the President used the word 'freedom' twenty-
one times in his State of the Union Address. In last night's
address, he used the word three times. In addition to the
word count, you are also given brief excerpts revealing
the context for how the term was used in each address.

State of the Union Address Resources

The Law Librarian Blog (1/24/2007) has compiled
a list of relevant resources relating to last evening's
State of the Union Address. The list comprises
a fact sheet, a full report, press briefing and the
Democrats' response to the speech.

New Research Guides GlobaLex

GlobaLex (NYU Hauser Global Law School) Program announces
that the following new research articles are available:

Guide to Latvian Law and Legal Resources
(Ilona Ceica, Baiba Bebre and Ligita Gjortlere)

An Overview of the Sudanese Legal System and Legal Research
(Sharanjeet Parmar)

Transnational & Comparative Family Law
(Marylin Raisch)

"Deans Say Electronic Content Raises Risks"

An article in the Copyright Clearance Center electronic
newsletter, Extra (Winter, 2007), states that "more than
60% of college deans and administrators see their campuses’
risk of copyright infringement rising as electronic course
materials grow in popularity." The article goes on to
say that about one third of senior administrators require
faculty and staff to secure copyright permissions on their own
and 59% of administrators do not include provisions for
copyright fees and licenses within departmental budgets.

The findings are based on the Academic Information Consumption
Study conducted by the CCC, which was based on a 2006 survey
conducted by TideWatch, an independent research company.
According to the article, participants included college and university
faculty, students, senior administrators, librarians, IT managers and
staff from campus copy shops and bookstores.

Additional details from the study are available for download
from the article web page.

Coast to Coast Podcast: Electronic Discovery

This week's Coast to Coast legal podcast with
Robert Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams addresses
the latest developments in electronic discovery.
Details and access may be found on the Ambrogi's blog,
LawSites (1/19/2007).

University of Buffalo Watergate Collection

The Buffalo Law Library has announced the availability
of its Watergate Collection. The collection was donated
by UB Law alumnus William Dixon, who served as counsel
to the House Judiciary Committee investigating Pres. Nixon's
impeachment.

The collection is housed in the Special Collections unit of the
Law Library. A finding aid is available in PDF on the library's
web site.

Virginia Law Review Launches Online Magazine

The Virginia Law Review Association has launched the
online magazine, In Brief. According to the web site,
the purpose of the new e-zine is to "increase the legal
academy's accessibility and responsiveness... [and]
accommodate multiple formats and the speed to address
timely debates."

Submissions are accepted from scholars, judges, and
practitioners, as well as current law students.