Monthly Archives: December 2009

“Teaching Legal Research Online”

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Teaching Legal Research Online

by Susan Herrick, University of Maryland – Thurgood Marshall Law Library
and
Sara Kelley Burriesci, Georgetown University – Law Center, Edward Bennett Williams Law Library

Legal Reference Services Quarterly, Vol. 28, pp. 239-270, 2009
U of Maryland Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2009-51

Abstract:
Online instruction has great potential for accommodating the learning styles and preferences of Millennial law students, as well as for the effective teaching of legal research in the digital age. While integrating instructional technology into a face-to-face classroom legal research course is highly desirable and relatively easy, designing and teaching a purely distance or hybrid distance course provides some unique challenges as well as some distinct benefits for both instructors and students. This article will first evaluate individual instructional technologies independently of each other, since any of them could be used to supplement traditional face-to-face research instruction, whether formal or informal. Consideration will then be given to special problems of teaching a graded legal research course entirely or predominantly online. Legal research instruction presents some opportunities for experimentation and innovation with online learning techniques that may serve students better, accommodate the librarian’s technology skills and abilities and her time constraints, and inspire others at our law schools to follow suit.

Source: LEGAL INFORMATION & TECHNOLOGY ABSTRACTS, Vol. 1, No. 37: Dec 09, 2009

“Introducing and Integrating Free Legal Research Resources into Classroom”

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“Introducing and Integrating Free Internet Legal Research Resources into Classroom”

by Jootaek Lee
University of Miami Law Library

June 10, 2009

Abstract:
The Global financial crisis has been discouraging legal researchers and practitioners from accessing high-cost databases such as Westlaw and Lexis. On the other hand, internet legal research provides great benefits to researchers in that it is free or less expensive than Westlaw and Lexis. The necessity of teaching law students internet legal research skills is imminent.

The cons and pros of internet legal research will be discussed along with the effective ways of approaching and evaluating internet legal resources in terms of coverage, currency, accuracy, authority, appropriateness, perspective, presentation and usability, and cost. Additionally, a garden variety of authoritative internet legal resources for different primary and secondary sources will be introduced.

Source: Cyberspace Law Abstracts, Vol. 14, No. 75: Dec 09, 2009

White House Issues Open Government Directive

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The White House today issued an Open Government Directive under the signature of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Peter Orszag to the heads of U.S. executive departments and agencies.

The directive follows previous action by President Barack Obama, who issued a Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government on his first full day of office (21 January 2009).

Cross-posted in Law Library Blog.

Europeans’ Attitudes Towards Climate Change

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Eurobaramoter has released a special report on European attitudes towards climate change.

Europeans’ Attitudes Towards Climate Change. Special Eurobameter 322

http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_322_en.pdf

From the introduction of the opinion survey:

This report presents the results of a survey on the attitudes of Europeans towards climate change which was carruied out on late August and September 2009.

2009 is a watershed year for fighting climate change, with world leaders meeting at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen in December to try and reach a follow-up agreement to the Kyoto Protocol.  As this time grows closer there has been an increasing focus in the international media on the conference, on climate change, and on the various measures needed to curb its impact. Since the EU adopted ambitious climate and energy targets for 2020 in December 2008 many countries have also seen a more active dialogue about climate change taking place. The EU has launched its own climate change campaign website to provide general information to the public as well as to suggest ways for individual actions1. But what do Europeans actually think about climate change?

This survey mapped the opinion of Europeans on a range of climate change related topics, and in particular covers:

♦ Respondents’ perceptions of climate change in relation to other world

problems.

♦ Respondents’ perceptions of the seriousness of climate change.

♦ Respondents’ perceptions about the actions of local, national governments as

well as the EU in combating climate change

♦ Respondents’ attitudes towards alternative fuels and CO² emissions.

♦ Whether respondents feel that climate change is stoppable or has been

exaggerated, and what impact it has on the European economy.

♦ Whether respondents have taken personal action to fight climate change, and

what those actions are.

♦ Perceived relative importance of the economy and the environment

♦ Europeans’ willingness to pay more for greener energy

Valuable and Convenient Guide: How to Research a Legal Problem

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The American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) has released an update to its valuable and convenient guide How to Research a Legal Problem.

See the AALL’s Legal Information Services to the Public (LISP) Special Interest Section (SIS) webpage for more handy links to places on the web where one can obtain legal information.

Cross-posted on Law Library Blog.

Thomson Reuters to Cut Law-Unit Jobs

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The Wall Street Journal, Friday, December 4, 2009, p. B9

“Thomson Reuters to Cut Law-Unit Jobs”

By Jerry A. DiColo

Thomson Reuters . . . said . . . it will cut 240 jobs in its legal businesses . . .

. . . legal has been a relatively weak performer, hurt by layoffs and cost cutting at law firms.

The company’s third-quarter revenue fell 4% as it began to feel the effects of slowdowns in subscriptions to its legal and financial-services products.

. . .

Handy U.S. GAO “Reports and Testimonies” Webpage

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The United States Government Accountability Office (U.S. GAO) maintains a handy “reports and testimonies” webpage containing links to its latest work product.

The GAO is a well-respected independent nonpartisan agency of the U.S. Government (USG) — see “About GAO” — that works specifically for the U.S. Congress and authors on the order of 900 separate products (mostly “blue books,” i.e., reports, as well as correspondence) per year — see “About GAO Reports.”

Moroccan Family Code

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GlobalRights.org produced an English language translation of the Moroccan Family Code (Moudawana) of 2004.

http://www.globalrights.org/site/DocServer/Moudawana-English_Translation.pdf

This unofficial English translation of the 2004 Moroccan Family Law (Moudawana) was prepared by a team of English and Arabic speaking lawyers at the Global Rights head office in Washington D.C. and our field office in Rabat, and a professional Arabic-English Moroccan translator. Our intention was to produce an English language text that reproduces as faithfully as possible the original Arabic text, rather than to elaborate an autonomous English legal text. We have therefore privileged a literal translation rather than attempted to clarify, explain or interpret the intention of the legislator. Global Rights hopes that this translation will be useful to researchers, NGOs and public authorities interested in family law and the rights of women in Morocco.

hat tip to to Katie Zoglin.

Wikipedia in Court: When and How Citing Wikipedia and Other Consensus Websites is Appropriate

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“Wikipedia in Court: When and How Citing Wikipedia and Other Consensus Websites is Appropriate”

HANNAH B. MURRAY, affiliation not provided to SSRN

JASON C. MILLER, Government of the United States of America – United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

Practitioners and courts are relying more and more on Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit. Hundreds of court opinions, including at least one from every federal circuit court, and thousands of law review articles cite Wikipedia. Some opinions have relied on Wikipedia for technical information, although others only turned to the consensus website for background information on minor points.

This practice has generated controversy, with newspapers, professors, practitioners, and judges weighing in. Wikipedia in Court examines the controversy and the history of Wikipedia in court opinions before proposing a framework to determine when it is appropriate and inappropriate to rely on Wikipedia for authority in legal writing. Given the inconsistency in the legal community’s use of Wikipedia, courts and practitioners will benefit from this framework.

 

Source:  LSN Legal Writing Vol. 4 No. 32,  12/02/2009