New Password Complexity Policy

Has the Westlaw "Strong OnePass Initiative" got you down? Do you worry that your aging brain will never be able to remember all the passwords and updates? Do you fear that some day you will be unable to use Purdon's because you just can't remember how to get into Westlaw?
Well cheer up, some people have it worse. Here's a (tongue-in-cheek) McSweeney's post containing a letter from Corporate Security on Secure Passwords. "
Here's a sample password that meets the new requirements: J8JΒΝzγΨfΛδ@6%vΤfShr57w/
(This password is for example purposes only and cannot serve as your personal password.)"

Carl Malamud on law librarian talk radio this Friday

This Friday, November 6, at 3:00 PM Eastern Time, The Law Librarian on BlogTalkRadio will welcome Carl Malamud, founder of EDGAR, FedFlix, and Public Resource dot org to discuss his newest project, Law.Gov. Host Richard Leiter, co-host Marcia Dority-Baker, Margi Maes, (Executive Director of LIPA) and Roger Skalbeck, Associate Librarian of Electronic Resources, will delve into the subject of Open Access to Law, and explore the nuances of the "nation's operating system." You can call in and/or join the chat room to participate. (Follow the link above for phone numbers and log in information.) The transcript of the chat room will be posted online after the show.

GM Bankruptcy proceedings

The US Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York has announced a pilot project to make digital audio recordings of court proceedings relating to Chrysler LLC, 09-50002, and General Motors Corporation, 09-50026, publicly available online through the federal judiciary's Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system. They add that we should "Please remember that these digital recordings are copies of court proceedings and are provided as a convenience to the public at the cost of $0.08 per audio file. In accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 753 (b) "no transcripts of the proceedings of the court shall be considered as official except those made from the records certified by the reporter or other individual designated to produce the record." A list of approved transcription companies can be found on the court's website."

Links to documents from the case are also available on the Court's website. 

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Flying from Sam Fuller on Vimeo.

New AALL blawg

The Washington Affairs Office of the American Association of Law Libraries has just announced the launch of its new blog. The blog, named AALL’s Washington Blawg, will highlight bills that the AALL is tracking in Congress, Action Alerts, news, resources, events and more. The blog will will cover legislative, judicial and regulatory activities on the state, national, and international levels and address important topics such as access to government information, digital authentication, copyright, and open government issues. The WAO is located at the Georgetown University Law Library in Washington, D.C., a location that allows them to work closely with the three branches of government. They are involved in several active coalitions, including the Library Copyright Alliance, OpenTheGovernment.org, and the Alliance for Taxpayer Access. You can keep receive regular updates by subscribing to the RSS feed, signing up for email updates, or by visiting the blog for the latest news.

schedule

Spring08

Schedule

Spring08

Spring08

Westlaw Patron Access now available in the Library

We have just added a subscription to Westlaw Patron Access, a new online service for our non-law-school patrons doing legal research.

WHO can use it? Our West Patron Access subscription is intended for university patrons and public patrons – including alumni and attorneys – engaging in legal research.

WHERE is it? It’s only available on the 2 computers next to the Pharos printing station. Access is by IP address, so there are no passwords to learn.

HOW do patrons use it? All you do is sign patrons in to the computer as usual for a public patron. There is a desktop icon and a Start menu icon for the Westlaw service. When a user clicks on the icon they will first be taken to an agreement page that they must accept; then they are taken to the Westlaw research page.

WHAT does it offer? It contains many of the same databases as our Westlaw subscription, but there is a focus on Pennsylvania Federal primary law. Content includes:

Pennsylvania

• PA cases

• PA statutes

• PA Administrative Code

• PA forms

• PA analytical materials and treatises

• PA Jury verdicts and settlements

• PA law reviews & journals

Federal

• US Code Annotated

• Federal caselaw

• Regional Reporters

• Code of Federal Regulations
  USCC&AN

• 50 State Caselaw

• 50 State Statutes

• Keycite citator for all

It doesn’t have all of the secondary source materials, specialty materials, or international materials that Westlaw has. To see all of the databases included, click on the Directory at the top of the page.

BASIC INSTRUCTIONS:

I have set up 2 research tabs on the “home” page: Pennsylvania and Federal. The tabs are on the upper left of the screen. These tabs display the databases in that area of law. The Pennsylvania tab is the default, so when a patron signs on they will see a search box and a list of Pennsylvania law databases that they can search. You can instruct users to click on the Federal tab to see the federal databases.
The Westlaw Patron Access Quick Reference Guide (4 page pdf) is a free download from the Westlaw site. We are going to save it on the desktop of the 2 computers and I will also get some glossies in print from our rep.

If anyone would like training in using Westlaw Patron Access, just let me know and we’ll set something up. Thanks!

Web page: http://www.gliffy.com/publish/1265201/ Large image:http://www.gliffy.com/pubdoc/1265201/L.jpg Medium image:http://www.gliffy.com/pubdoc/1265201/M.jpg Small image:http://www.gliffy.com/pubdoc/1265201/S.jpg Thumbnail image:http://www.gliffy.com/pubdoc/1265201/T.jpgv

tessting

Wednesday, 25 July 2007

v. cool/useful stuff
Seems like there's an awful lot of new cool stuff to try out , is it the summertime?- Pat told me about Quintura, a very interesting search engine. You type in your query and it displays a visual map/cloud of words or hints that are related to your query in different contexts; you find the context you want and go from there.- Then I got the regular Steve Bass/ PC World email with a very thumbs-up review of Jing, a new video screencapture tool. "It's smart and free and a kick to use." said the review, and I have to agree. Easy too. Jing is a by TechSmith, the same people who sell SnagIt and Camtasia, the fancy/expensive screen and video capturing tools.- Finally, PC World.com reported on a free PDF viewer called PDF-Xchange Viewer that lets you type on and mark up (stamp, draw on, highlight, attach sticky notes...) pdf files. Once you mark up a pdf file, you can save both the "clean" copy and the marked up copy. Here's the first thing I tried it on - the law school Fall course catalog.
Posted by Barco Reference Librarian at 14:34 0 Questions or comments?
subject keywords: useful online tools

What was the first law blog?
There's an ongoing discussion on the Law.com blog about who was the first legal blogger. The author points out the Sabrina Pacifici created a webpage with regularly updated legal content before the term "blog" was coined.
Posted by Barco Reference Librarian at 11:29 0 Questions or comments?
subject keywords: blawgs

XReferplus name changed to Credo Reference
FYI: News from the ULS that the database Xreferplus is now listed under "C" for Credo Reference in the databases A-Z list. If you haven't used it, it's a collection of reference books including a handful of law reference books, namely:Collins Dictionary of Law Dictionary of Conflict Resolution, Wiley Dictionary of Law, Peter Collin Publishing Encyclopedia of the European Union EurojargonGreat American Court Cases, Gale Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of LawWorld of Criminal Justice, Gale
Posted by Barco Reference Librarian at 11:14 0 Questions or comments?
subject keywords: databases

library and information science
Inside Higher Ed. reporter Scott Jaschik has podcast (it's an mp3 file) an interview with Loriene Roy, the new president of the ALA. In the 15 minute interview she talks about library schools, information science, and how academic programs have been evolving as information grows and changes. It's a very good interview, she does an excellent job of explaining what librarians and libraries do, and why we're important.
Posted by Barco Reference Librarian at 06:55 0 Questions or comments?
subject keywords: librarians, podcasting
Tuesday, 24 July 2007

Seeqpod finds "playable" files on the web
Seeqpod is a new media (music, videos & podcasts) search and recommendation website that indexes uploaded media files from around the web and lets you instantly play what you find when you search. It builds its index by crawling media-related sites, blogs, social networks –anywhere that "playable" files might be found. The technology used by Seeqpod was built in the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley Labs.But is it legal? According to Seeqpod, "Like most other search engines or social networks with content, SeeqPod does not stream or allow downloading of media. SeeqPod does not host media. SeeqPod indexes and links to submitted media its vertically targeted crawling system finds in the deepest quandrants of the internet. SeeqPod operates like a search engine technology company and social network combined. SeeqPod adheres to the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act). "Katie has been using Seeqpod and highly recommends it.
Posted by Barco Reference Librarian at 08:43 0 Questions or comments?
subject keywords: media files, search engines, Seeqpod

website: environment and health at the US-Mexican border
The EPA has announced a new website to provide the public with current environmental news and information on the U.S.-Mexico Border 2012 program. This is a bi-national 10-year initiative focused on making measurable improvements in environmental quality and health along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Posted by Barco Reference Librarian at 08:19 0 Questions or comments?
subject keywords: environmental law, international law

DOT and inconvenienced air travelers
The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) this morning that, for the first time in almost 30 years, the Dept. of Transportation is considering raising the amount of money airlines must pay to passengers who are bumped from flights. One possibility would fully account for inflation since 1978 and more than triple the penalties to a maximum cap of $624 from $200 and $1,248 from $400 - the amount depends upon how long you have to wait to get to your destination.They are taking comments from the public. You can read the document here , which contains an abstract: "Petition of the Air Transport Association of America, Inc. for Rulemaking, requesting the Department of Transportation to expeditiously initiate two consumer-related rulemaking proceedings, the first would reexamine the maximum level of involuntary denied boarding compensation that Part 250 of the Department's Economic Regulations establishes and the second would reexamine the method by which mishandled baggage data are collected under Part 234 for the Department's airline service quality performance reports."Submit your comments here before Sept. 10, 2007.
Posted by Barco Reference Librarian at 07:46 0 Questions or comments?
subject keywords: air travel, DOT

Harry Reid: Nevermind
Yesterday Senator Harry Reid (D NV) withdrew his aforeblogged amendment S. Amend. 2328 to the Higher Education Act (S. 1642). But it's not over yet - Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) had agreed to incorporate a modified version of Reid’s amendment into S.AMDT.2381 on which Kennedy, the bill’s sponsor, will have the full Senate vote this morning. Rumor has it that the technology requirement will be removed but the increased reporting

Governmentand technology

Two stories about government workers and technology caught my eye this morning:1. Apparently the use of hand-held portable scanners is becoming popular with government workers, especially those who do some sort of field work and can now carry scanners with them rather than having to take papers back to the office to photocopy. This has also had the salutary effect of forcing scanner manufacturers to make the scanners more user-friendly for the average layperson. 2. Web 2.0 has got all sorts of people blogging, including plenty of "public servants", and there are some cautionary suggestions on how not to get "George Allen-ed."

Textbook costs

The Chronicle of Higher Ed. has a story about a briefing that was held yesterday on Capitol Hill. Publishers were there to defend the cost of college textbooks, and Congressional staffers (many recent college graduates) questioned them about how expensive textbooks have become. No mention of law school textbooks in the article, but surely they aren't any less expensive than college textbooks.

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This is where the internet is going. It's exciting. For everyone, but especially for all of us in the information field.

This is where the internet is going. It's exciting. For everyone, but especially for all of us in the information field.