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'»
by Philippe Cloutier 
The United States of America maintains the highest GDP at $15.09 trillion (and we’ve put people on the moon); yet the website for the hallowed United States Code still proclaims:
While every effort has been made to ensure that the Code database on the website is accurate, those using it for legal research should verify their results against the printed version of the United States Code available through the Government Printing Office.”
I am continually shocked by the USC’s refer to the print motto: first in library school, then in my first professional library job, and now in the present moment. While it is hard to imagine that any discrepancies exist betwixt the print and online editions, the caveat does not guarantee the online’s verisimilitude. The USC beta website details the issue further (averting liability): Continue reading 'Do Not Pass Go, Go to Print'»
by Kristine Lloyd
Turns out I’m an extrovert. I know you are as shocked as I am to find this out, but I love people. Not all people, mind you, but most people. I love talking to people, laughing with people, and showing people how to do cool things on the internet, which brings me around to the topic of this post: training. Yes, once again, I have something to say on the subject, but I am more than a little excited to see a vendor reiterating what I have been saying for a long time: it’s far better to have a librarian training patrons on how to use services, than a vendor. Continue reading 'Who Should Teach Your Patrons to Fish?'»
by Philippe Cloutier
A recent phenomenon, thanks in part to Apple’s meteoric riser, is the term jailbreaking that has seeped into news streams and daily conversations. It’s an odd term and Wikipedia offers a concise definition: “iOS jailbreaking, or simply jailbreaking, is the process of removing the limitations imposed by Apple on devices….jailbreaking is necessary if the user intends to run software not authorized by Apple.” As of late jailbreaking has expanded to include any video-game console, tablet, or mobile-phone regardless of operating system. Comparing electronics to automobiles, running unapproved manufacturer software is akin to swapping out an engine for an off-make/model one or sawing off the roof for a do-it-yourself convertible. Continue reading 'Get Out of Jail, Free Card'»
by Philippe Cloutier
Human civilization as we know it has been able to flourish and prosper thanks in large part to reading. The ability to relay experience and knowledge from one to another over generations has proved its worth from Babylonia to the Age of Reason and so on. Our development as a species paired with reading makes it come with little surprise that we demand the printed word (or digitally scribed text) in order to better our brains. As the United States’ global educational ratings tank, a dearth of reading is easiest to blame. Continue reading 'Resolve to Read'»
Welcome! The Website Redesign Committee is thrilled to launch the new llops.org. We hope you enjoy using the new site – please let us know if you find any dead links or need help locating a page. Many thanks to Kristine Lloyd, Tina Ching and Robyn Hagle for all their help in completing this long-awaited project! We look forward to adding new functionality to the site – next up on the to-do list is online registration and payment for the Professional Development Workshop.
-Kim Ositis, LLOPS webmaster
by Kerry Fitz-Gerald
Students often ask whether there’s any reason to use both Shepards and KeyCite or if it is ok use only one (and of course, they want to know which one). For years, I’ve played it safe with the bland answer that if it really matters, they should consider using both, but that usually one or the other would suffice. Recently, I read a terrific article by Susan Nevelow Mart, “The Relevance of Results Generated by Human Indexing and Computer Algorithms: A Study of West’s Headnotes and Key Numbers and LexisNexis’s Headnotes and Topics” 102 Law Library Journal 221 (2010), that provides a much more nuanced answer to the question.
To start, Nevelow Mart provides a detailed explanation of the way the two systems create headnotes and place them within hierarchical legal topic classification schemes. The main difference is that within the West system, human editors write the headnotes and choose where to place them within the Digest system, while on Lexis, headnotes are classified into topics based upon a sophisticated series of computer algorithms. Human editors monitor the process, but Nevelow Mart concludes that the “role of human editors in classifying individual headnotes for each new case seems to be limited in LexisNexis.” (Id, at 225). Continue reading 'Are All Citators Created Equal?'»
Think you are rusty now on regulatory research, well just wait until there are fewer regs to love. Gallagher Blogs recently posted a story about Governor Gregoire limiting rulemaking through the end of 2011, due to budget issues. Of course there are a lot of exceptions, so it may not make a huge difference, but what a way to save a buck!
by Amy Eaton
At the last LLOPS Happy Hour, I found myself on the receiving end of a Rock Bottom t-shirt. I received this shirt because I own the Rock Bottom Mug Club card and had completed 35 visits. I initially requested the Mug Club card because you get a large beer for the price of a regular, and I am always ready to be upsized. But here I am, 6 years later, with a Mug Club hat, logo pint glass and a t-shirt. What has possessed me to continue to eat at the same restaurant regularly when there are so many fabulous places to dine downtown? I don’t even drink that much beer. Continue reading 'I Can Be Bought'»
by Philippe Cloutier
Layoffs, budget cuts, closures, and furloughs are just a few of the dismal words facing today’s libraries. As no stranger to layoffs, I’ve relied on a slew of blogs/RSS feeds and twitter accounts to stay apprised of new openings, job hunting tips, résumé and interview recommendations, and all things encompassing the search for work. Here is my basic platform for job-hunting in the electronic age.
LibGIG
Outside of library associations and my personal network, LibGIG has proven to be the most valuable multi-faceted career assistant. Their services are well-rounded, offering regular updates on job opportunities, news, tips, blogs, etc. Staying on top of LibGIG is made easier thanks to twitter, @libgig_jobs, and their newsletter(presented by their parent company LAC Group). While other sites provide pieces to a puzzle; LibGIG presents a complete web package of job seeking aid. Continue reading 'Career Preparation on the Web'»
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