Articles Posted in Commentary and Opinion

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While most agree that forensic science is a critical element of the criminal justice system, there are increasing expressions of concern as to whether it is becoming fragmanted, less reliable, and urgently needs an infusion of financial and research support in order to remain viable.

These and related concerns have been discussed in a variety of books, journals as well as the web media. Of particular interest to many is the National Academy of Sciences Report on Forensics which addresses directly many of the points mentioned above. While I cannot link directly to that Report here I can link to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) catalog where you can purchase a copy: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12589 . There may be a free summary available at that site. The NAS Report is also discussed in some depth in an American Judicature Society Editorial at http://www.ajs.org/ajs/ajs_editorial-template.asp?content_id=797 Also recommended is the Comments on the Release of the NAS Report on Forensic Sciences by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD).

Recognizing the growing concern and importane of viable forensics, the New York Times has devoted most of the Science Section of its May 12, 2009 issue to what it calls the “New Forensics”. This issue contains a wide selection of articles addressing various aspects of forensic science as related to criminal justice. Links to a few are included in the listings below:”

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Spencer S. Hsu writes in the May 7, 2009 Washington Post that according to U.S. officials “the Department of Homeland Security is dismanteling a next generation biological attack warning system in New York City subways because of technical problems. Click here to see entire article.

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Rob Richards, a law librarian and legal information consultant in Philadelphia writes: “A list of empirical studies of law-related information behavior is now available at http://home.comcast.net/~richards1000/InformationBehavior.html . If you know of additional studies not listed, I’d be grateful to learn of them. Persons interested in this topic may be interested to know of the availability of a major new dissertation on this topic:

Stephann Makri, A Study of Lawyers’ Information Behaviour Leading to the Development of Two Methods for Evaluating Electronic Resources (2008) (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University College London), also available at http://eprints.ucl.ac.uk/14729/ .” We are always grateful to Rob for sharing such insights with us.

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A quarterly journal published by John Wiley and Sons, Inc. on behalf of the American Bar Foundation.

Law & Social Inquiry is a multidisciplinary quarterly that publishes original research articles and wide-ranging review essays that contribute to the understanding of sociolegal processes.
Law & Social Inquiry’s combination of empirical and theoretical research with critique and appraisal of the sociolegal field make the journal a useful source for the latest research and commentary. Law & Social Inquiry’s ambit spans law and sociology, criminal justice,economics, political science, social psychology, history, philosophy and other social science and humanities disciplines. The journal publishes a wide range of scholarship on specific topics in law and society, including but not limited to law, legal institutions, the legal profession, and legal processes.

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The U.S. government’s CIO recently appointed by President Obama told Congress this week that obsolete regulations are blocking agencies from serving the people by participating in top Web sites and social media. Regulations governing the use of cookies and — ironically — disclosure laws are keeping government stuck in the 20th Century. See:

Obsolete Regulations Block Government Adoption Of Social Media

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According to C.G. Lynch’s provocative artice in the CIO Insider Newsletter,Twitter’s growing popularity is exposing a considerable “fraility” of writing among those tweet. He observes that Twitter’s 140 character message format demands concise, engaging writing “and that’s a skill that a lot of people don’t have. To read more of Mr. Lynch’s practical, expert advice click here.

As for where to write, sometimes it seems as though tweeting or twittering is almost universal. Amy Hale-Jenke, Head of Reference at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has found many fellow twittering, or tweeting, law librarians by going to the Twitter Yellow Pages. To “meet” all types of legal professionals, including law librarians who like to tweet, you can also go to Justia’s Legal Birds, a “Twitter Community.” Perhaps all of this gives the quotation, “birds of a feather flock together” a special meaning. Thinking of all this one wonders if tweets are becoming sort of information age variations of haiku that are being spread around the web.

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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 “take the first step to realizing this cooperative service model with a new, ‘quick start’ version of the OCLC WorldCat Local service.” The service expands WorldCat Local’s cataloging and discovery tools to include functions now performed in most libraries by a locally installed integrated library system. Andrew Pace, OCLC’s executive director for networked library services, explains why this service is a “sea change” in this exclusive interview….
American Libraries Online, Apr. 24
Groups submit comments in favor of access ALA, ACRL, and the Association for Research Libraries jointly submitted comments (PDF file) to the U.S. Copyright Office April 28 on the topic of facilitating access to copyrighted works for the blind or persons with other disabilities. The associations believe they should be afforded the same access to materials as sighted persons. Currently, only about 5% of published books are available in accessible formats for the visually impaired. Some materials are not available at all, particularly scholarly journals, research materials, professional resources, and local history materials….
District Dispatch, Apr. 28
Congress supports National Library Week The U.S. House of Representatives passed H. Res. 336, a resolution in support of National Library Week, April 22. During the floor debate, Reps. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), Vern Ehlers (R-Mich.), and Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) made statements highlighting the significant role libraries and librarians serve in communities across the country….
District Dispatch, Apr. 23 Continue reading

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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

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