April 29, 2009. An e-publication of the American Library Association (ALA) HIGHLIGHTS: OCLC challenges ILS vendors In what clearly represents a challenge to the integrated library system industry, OCLC announced April 23 that it has created what it calls “the first web-scale cooperative library management service,” inviting member libraries to…
Library of Congress Report: Information Technology Strategic Planning: A Well Developed Framework is Essential to Support the Library’s Current and Future Information Technology (IT) Needs The Library of Congress Office of the Inspector General. Library-Wide Report No. 2008-PA-105 March 2009. “The intent of this review was to access the effectiveness…
The Brennan Center at NYU Law School just released a report grading the Obama Administration on its transparency efforts.* There is a report card and a longer report at this link. http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/report_card_table _____________________________ * The above information is from an e-mail sent by Barbara Brandon of the University of Miami…
“The Response”, a movie based on an actual transcript of a military tribunal hearing at Guantanamo Bay, has been selected by the American Bar Association (ABA) as the 2009 ABA Silver Gavel Award winner for “drama and literature”. It was made in collaboration with the University of Maryland School of…
OMBWatch has posted four useful documents summarizing the Obama Administration’s record at 100 days.* The first link is an assessment of improvements on the right to know front. The second link is to a brief YouTube summary on the topic from Washington NGOs. http://www.ombwatch.org/files/obamaat100daysrtk.pdf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp6AXSVBTR8&fmt=18 The second assessment is on…
As you undoubtedly have heard, a new strain of influenza called Swine Flu or Swine Influenza apparently started about a month ago in Mexico. It has now spread, first to at least a few states in the United States and now may be spreading world wide. Art Bernardino who provides…
Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, a Republican since 1966, said on Tuesday April 28 that he will switch to the Decmocratic Party and will run as a Democrat in 2010, thus presenting Democrats with a possible 60th vote and the power to break Senate filibusters. Here is a link to…
BY Philip Y. Blue, Senior Law Librarian New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library In a move that could reshape the library automation landscape, OCLC has expanded WorldCat Locals existing cataloging and discovery tools with new circulation, delivery, and acquisitions features. This new project, which OCLC calls “the first Web-scale,…
In response to litigation brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Obama administration authorized the Justice Department to release four secret legal memoranda used by the Bush administration to justify torture. The memoranda were releasd on April 16, 2009. President Obama also issued a statement, emphasizing that “this…
Top Ten Stories of the Week ending April 17, 2009: In-House Counsel Some Law Firm Clients Ban 1st-Years, Says Morgan Lewis Chair Apr 13, 2009, 05:49 pm CDT Law Practice Management BigLaw ‘Has Changed Forever,’ Says Womble Carlyle, Cutting Pay 10 Percent Apr 14, 2009, 06:06 pm CDT Careers Why…