by Grace Feldman
Public access to legal materials, digitization and authentication of legal materials, and budget cuts are frequent topics covered in conferences, literature and blogs like this one. These interrelated issues have been discussed and debated ad nauseum, so when Hollee Schwartz Temple’s Are Digitization and Budget Cuts Compromising History? was published in the ABA Journal, the article may have looked like one you already read several times. While some of the stories were familiar, Temple’s coverage of LLMC’s preserved print collection in salt mines 650 feet below ground gave a whole new meaning to the expression, “back to the salt mines.”
Recognizing debates over public access, digitization, authentication and budget cuts will continue indefinitely, for a moment let’s appreciate the ingenuity these problems have inspired: preservation in salt mines, UELMA, collaboration (like that between California and LLMC to digitize all of the state’s session laws), etc.
Okay, now back to the salt mines… really.
by Anna L. Endter
This post has been reposted on the Gallagher Law Library blog
Gary Somerset of the Government Printing Office reports that FDsys has achieved 500 million retrievals:
The U.S. Government Printing Office’s (GPO) Federal Digital System (FDsys) has achieved the milestone of 500 million document retrievals. FDsys is a one-stop site for authentic, published information on the three branches of the Federal Government. Retrievals are measured by the number of times content is viewed or downloaded from FDsys. GPO launched FDsys in January 2009 and since that time it has expanded to include 800 thousand searchable titles. Examples of content found on FDsys include: the post-President Kennedy’s assassination tape recordings, President Nixon’s Watergate grand jury testimony, the Budget of the U.S. Government, the Congressional Record, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, and congressional bills, hearings, and reports. GPO is continually adding content and working with agencies on new collection opportunities.
Don’t overlook FDsys when researching federal material. There are a few ways to search FDsys (search box, browsing, by citation, etc.) and the underlying documents are authentic and free.
by Tal Noznisky
Last March, Canadian libraries got caught in a quick swell of fear and worry over the freedom of expression. The Library and Archives Canada (“LAC”), employer of public service librarians, served their staff with a new set of professional guidelines. Many who commented on the new rules, entitled “Code of Conduct: Values and Ethics” reviled it. Boing Boing’s (and former Canadian library-worker) Cory Doctorow tagged it “censorship” and “surveillance.” Library Journal’s Annoyed Librarian called it totalitarian. What happened?
National Archives of Canada
Continue reading 'Library and Archives Canada vs. Librarians and Archivists in Canada'»
April LLOPS Program
Wednesday, April 24th 12-1pm
K & L Gates
925 4th Avenue
Suite 2900 * Conference Room 10
Seattle, WA 98104
Warner Miller, Firm-wide Manager of Reference and Research Services at K & L Gates, will present “How to Use Social Media to Attract Clients and Build a Rich Professional Network (While Staying Out of Trouble).”
This program should appeal to anyone providing reference, business development or marketing research support.
by Grace Feldman
This post has been adapted from a post on the Gallagher Law Library blog.
Do you remember the hilarious “Friends” episode where Joey wants to buy an encyclopedia set but can only afford to buy one volume, so he chooses the “V” volume and learns everything beginning with the letter “V”? With an encyclopedia, he became an unstoppable force of interesting facts, beginning with the letter “V”!
Continue reading 'The Wonderful World of Online Encyclopedias'»
Washington: 2010 Population and Housing Unit Counts
by Grace Feldman
Did you know that the first U.S. Census in 1790 counted a population of 3.9 million (including slaves but not Native Americans), and the recent 2010 census counted over 308 million people! The Decennial Census is a fantastic resource and there are probably about 308 millions reasons why.
Continue reading 'Washington: 2010 Population and Housing Unit Counts'»
by Tal Noznisky
Library-publisher relations reappeared slightly in the tech news circuit last week. The Journal of Library Administration’s editorial board resigned amid a stalemate with their publisher, Taylor and Francis, over licensing terms. Tech-happy blogs inferred hacktivist intent behind the board’s decision. They vilified T&F and praised JLA’s editors as open access heroes. A thin parallel to Aaron Schwartz was also drawn into the narrative.
Continue reading 'A Game of Terms'»
by Tal Noznisky
In her recent AALL Spectrum article “Cheaper Online? Our library’s gradual move to all electronic,” LaJean Humphries describes what looks like the road ahead for many libraries. Her library at Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt in downtown Portland had to drastically downsize their print collection and go online as much as possible. Deselection and divestment was easy. Relocating the remaining print resources was almost as easy. The difficulty is in the intangible stuff of the Internet. I went to Portland last week, where LaJean was nice enough to fill me on the web-ward transition’s outlook and prospects.
In her article, she concludes that the migration is incomplete. As she explained it to me, three issues stand in the way. The first is access. The library crew made early leeway there by updating their web catalog by spotlighting their digital resources and recasting ebooks’ URLs with plain, descriptive English. Every publisher, however, requires a more or less convoluted way of accessing their ebooks. LaJean expects to seal a deal with Lexis in the next few months that will provide streamlined access to a fairly consummate digital collection. But it won’t simplify resource delivery through OverDrive, or support maintenance of historical materials. Continue reading 'Printless in Portland?'»
by Philippe Cloutier
A great many things are bubbling for AALL. The PLL Summit’s registration is open: SOS: Shaping our Success as is the Conference of Newer Law Librarians (CONELL). I highly recommend CONELL not only for the peer-to-peer networking, mentoring, and scheduled touring; but also for the sheer fun!
Happy CONELL faces
Continue reading 'AALL Announcements'»
by Tal Noznisky
Happy Sunshine Week, everyone! And, if you’re reading this on March 16th, let’s hope you’re having a wonderful National Freedom of Information Day!
Every Sunshine Week, open government activists speak up about freedom of information, laud its preservation, and caution its diminishment. Sunshine Week was founded in 2002 by the Florida Society of News Editors founded Sunshine Week as an expansion of National Freedom of Information Day (which was itself founded years earlier to commemorate James Madison’s birthday). In 2005, the American Society of News Editors raised the idea to a national platform. The goal was, and remains, to amplify the dialogue about government information access issues across America for a solid seven days of news reporting, editorials, conferences, and more. The impact of social media, in particular, on Sunshine Week themes and reporting is worth watching.
A series of Sunshine Week posts on the White House Blog is a good place to start. Continue reading 'Sunshine and Washington'»
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