Monthly Archives: September 2008

History of censorship in the English theatre

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The Times of London has an interesting article on censorship of the performance of plays in England, including historical discussions. 

A disgusting feast of filth?  by Anthony Burton. The Times. September18, 2008.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article4775754.ece?&EMC-Bltn=B9QEK9

Excerpts from the article:

It was the Licensing Act of 1737 that gave the Lord Chamberlain the role of arbiter of theatrical taste. The role, held until 1968, was introduced by the Prime Minister Robert Walpole to gag his theatrical critics, in particular Henry Fielding, by banning any offensive reference to a living person. So from the 18th century every British playwright had to obtain a licence for the public performance of a play … By September 1968 the Theatres Act was in force and the censor banished.

Public.Resource.Org meets GPO.Gov — Cool and Free!

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This new resource from our good friends at Public.Resource.Org:

Those of you interested in federal materials such as the Code of
Federal Regulations, the Federal Register, the U.S. Code, and other
core legal materials may be interested in a recent initiative intended
to produce timely bulk feeds of key databases:

http://public.resource.org/gpo.gov/

Thank you Carl Malamud!

Why is Carl doing this?

Here is a bit of explanation from Carl in a letter to The Honorable Robert C. Tapella, Public Printer of the United States :

Our intent in purchasing this product is to make it available in raw format on the Internet for access by anonymous FTP. We will not charge for access, nor will we restrict usage by the imposition of any license agreements. Since public documents are defined as “public property” in 44 USC 1119, this deployment of the raw feed of the Code will make it available for all to use without restriction and will allow for-profit and non-profit entities to construct alternative versions of the CFR. .  .  .

While a rudimentary version of these “products” are available on the GPO Access web site, they are built upon a very old technology known as WAIS, a database that allows keyword searches and browsing, but does so with unstructured text and a very primitive user interface. The more definitive bulk products that you sell are used by commercial services to build value-added systems. As evident from the broad interest in the CFR product and by the proliferation of “Web 2.0” sites that build more advanced public interfaces to public information, there is a great demand for the raw data in the public, academic, and nonprofit sectors.

All of these databases are core to our system of government, a collection of rules, laws, and reports we call America’s Operating System. Creation of these products is integral to the operation of the legal machinery in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of our government. Even if no commercial firms were to purchase these products, the Government Printing Office would create them as required in Chapter 44 of the United States Code and as part of your annual appropriations for congressional printing and the operation of the Federal Repository Library Program.

Public dissemination is at the heart of the Government Printing Office: “GPO’s main mission is to ensure the American public has access to Government information.” For electronic products, 44 USC 4102 is very specific that “fees charged under this section shall be set so as to recover the incremental cost of dissemination of the information involved.”

*PS – some very interesting factoids at the bottom of the public.resource.org/gpo.gov  page that will really give you something to think about….

New South African Law Journal – Constitutional Court Review

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The South African Institute for Advanced Constitutional, Public, Human Rights and International Law (SAIFAC) and the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria will release the inaugural issue of “Constitutional Court Review” later in September of 2008. This will be an annual, peer-reviewed publication.

Constitutional Court Review 

http://www.saifac.org.za/programmes/concourt_review.htm

Journal description from the SAIFAC Web site:

The journal contains lead essays, responses, short articles and case comments devoted to the jurisprudence of the South African Constitutional Court in the previous year. The journal has a 20-person editorial board, including 10 international members. The inaugural issue of the CCR will be published in September 2008.  In order to stimulate research for this publication, an annual conference will be held in July of each year at which contributing authors will present their draft papers.  The first such conference will take place at the Lourensford wine estate in Somerset West, Western Cape, in July 2008.

Harvard Law Library’s John Palfrey Noted and Quoted

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In these two stories:

Underage kids flock to social networks
‘They keep signing up and we keep chasing them,’ says Nexopia’s Chris Webster

DAVID HUTTON
Globetechnology.com
September 15, 2008 at 11:27 PM EDT

According to a recent study, more than 750,000 kids between the ages of 8 and 12 have set up a profile on the big social-networking sites. Most simply enter a false birth date when they register; others get a friend or sibling to help them circumvent the age-restriction policies.

. . . Attorney-General Michael Mukasey has commissioned an Internet safety task force to find better ways to verify the age of users.

The task force is looking at implementing age-verification technology from Microsoft and IBM on several sites and even opening the process of enshrining age restrictions in law, said John Palfrey, . . .  who chairs the task force. But determining the age of users is a complex problem without clear answers, Mr. Palfrey said. “There’s no way to stop people from getting on to the site at the front end, when they sign up,” he said. “But I think there are ways we can improve the systems that work behind the scenes to find the underage kids and deter them from using sites where they shouldn’t be.”

 

CNET

Harvard professor sees answers to nagging Web-youth issues

John Palfrey, one of Harvard’s leading thinkers on the Internet, has recently finished a study on kids raised in the digital age. He now has a few tips to share about Web porn, online piracy, and Sen. John McCain’s lack of tech know-how–Palfrey, who wrote a book about the study called Born Digital, was fairly upbeat about the Web’s affects on young people. That’s not going to surprise too many people as Palfrey is a recognized Internet booster. But after completing 100 “in-depth interviews” with young people, ages 13 to 22, Palfrey sees some possible solutions to problems confronting Web-connected youth.

 

Source: Source:  Harvard Law School’s News@Law – September 17, 2008

Copyright claims for state statutes – Round Two

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Our friends Carl Malamud and Tim Stanley are again in the news:

ROWLAND: California seeks compensation for posting laws online
Kara Rowland
The Washington Times, Monday, September 15, 2008

In the latest instance of states claiming copyright over their laws, public information activist Carl Malamud posted the California Code of Regulations online at public.resource.org. According to the Press Democrat in Santa Rosa, Calif., the state government is asserting a copyright over its laws so that people will be forced to buy a digital copy for $1,556 or a print copy for $2,315. The state rakes in nearly $1 million a year from sales of its code.

“We exercise our copyright to benefit the people of California,” Linda Brown, deputy director of California’s Office of Administrative Law, told the paper earlier this month. “We are obtaining compensation for the people of California.”

. . .

Oregon relented in June following negotiations with Mr. Malamud and Mr. Stanley.

Mr. Malamud told the Press Democrat he is willing to go to court.

“If that happens, it opens the doors to innovation,” he said.

The Research Log, and other great ideas for successful research

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We tell our students to always keep a little log of their research projects and to jot down things such as important numbers as they come across them — for example, a statute’s bill number, Public Law number, title and chapter sites from the U.S. Code, and etc., etc.  A new book that just arrived at the law library offers “A More Complete List of Lists Every Researcher Should Keep” and it includes some wonderful information ideas for our students to include in their research logs.   The book, The Elements of Library Research, has a bit of an eye-rolling title, but it is deliciously written and includes “Mary’s Maxims” (tips from the author, Mary W. George, such as Mary’s Maxim #14 – “Curiosity Begets Serendipity”).  Anyone who wants to give a new student — be it high school, college, or graduate school — a head start would be wise to give this little gem of a book, perhaps packaged with Elements of Style. 

 

A More Complete List of Lists Every Researcher Should Keep

1. Keywords from thinking, brainstorming, background reading, or a thesaurus

2.  Relevant call numbers, to use for both shelf and online browsing purposes.

3.  Subject headings from the fullest display in an online catalog and subject descriptions from every relevant article database

4.  Authors and scholars whose work is repeatedly mentioned by others

5. Titles of peer-reviewed journals and popular periodicals

6. Titles of relevant reference tools related to the research project

7. Publishers that seem to specialize in the field

8. Insitutions, associations, societies, or government agencies that focus on the area of interest

9. Dates, such as the life span of key people, the exact date of a major event, or the publication year of primary sources

10. Order of the steps taken to obtain background information and discover souces, including the navigation path leading to electronic resources and the address of useful Web pages

 

Now that’s some great advice!

Here’s the book’s catalog record.

 

Author: George, Mary W., 1948-
Title: The elements of library research : what every student needs to know / Mary W. George.
Imprint: Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c2008.
Physical Description: xiv, 201 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [191]-194) and index.
Contents: Introduction to research as inquiry — From research assignment to research plan — Strategy and tools for discovery — The fine art of finding sources — Insight, evaluation, argument, and beyond.
          Subject (LC): Library research–United States.
                  ISBN: 9780691131504 (acid-free paper)
                  ISBN: 0691131503 (acid-free paper)
                  ISBN: 9780691138572 (pbk. : acid-free paper)
                  ISBN: 0691138575 (pbk. : acid-free paper)
LAW CALL NUMBER:                             
Z710 .G44 2008                               

ABA Journal: Free Online Legal Research Overtakes For-Fee Services

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Among other interesting things, the ABA Journal displays a chart “Research: Free v. Fee” in its September 2008 issue — in an article titled Web 2.0 Still a No-go: Lawyers slow to adopt cutting-edge technology – indicating that free online legal research has now overtaken for-fee services.

Another hat tip to Law Librarian Blog.

New book: How to be a Law Professor Guide: From Getting that First Job to Retirement

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An new book from Vandeplas Publishing offering lifelong advice for someone interested in becoming a law professor. Might also be useful for library science students without JDs thinking of careers in academic law librarianship.

How to be a Law Professor Guide: From Getting that First Job to Retirement

Ronald W. Eades

Vandeplas Publishing

978-1-60042-051-1

 

Description from the publisher:

The “How to be a Law Professor Guide” is intended to provide an overview of the law teaching profession. Many lawyers think about going into law teaching, but do not know how to get that first job. This book will offer advice on finding that first position. In addition, getting that first job is only the beginning. Getting through the early years and earning “tenure” is harder than it looks. There is much needed useful information on gaining that job security of tenure. Once tenure is obtained, however, the job of law teaching does not stop. Law teaching is a rewarding, lifelong career. This book offers suggestions on how to continue enjoying that career. As with all good things, they must come to a close. The book offers some tips on moving into retirement. A prospective member of the law teaching profession should read this book before getting started. A new law teacher should read the book several times during those pre-tenure years. A tenured law professor may want to read the book to keep the career exciting.