Articles Posted in Commentary and Opinion

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BY STEVEN ESSIG*

Library Trends Volume 57, issue 1 focuses on “Digital Books and the Impact on Libraries”. Issue Editor Peter Brantley, Executive Director for the Digital Library Federation (DLF), introduces the discussion by summarizing several cataclysmic developments in the library and publishing worlds that are forever changing the production, delivery and acquisition of books and other print materials: namely, the increasing centrality of Google and the resulting uncertainties over the disruption of the traditional relationships between authors publishers and libraries and the disruptive effects of ubiquitous internet technology on people’s everyday lives. Brantley asks whether there are alternatives to Google-shaped agreements for librarians and publishers and what economies would be necessary to sustain these alternative agreements.

Among the articles that follow this introduction, particularly interesting discussions include that of Jason Epstein’s “The End of the Gutenberg Era” (pages 8-16). Epstein, formerly the editorial director of Random House and founder of Anchor Books, foresees a continued place for most current versions of the physical book (though purely reference materials such as encyclopedias will go totally online) but emphasizes a change in the manner of its distribution. Increased digitization will cut back elements of the previous supply chain reducing costs of the physical inventory, packaging etc. and replacing this costly and elaborate setup with a “practically limitless digital inventory”, making it possible to “email an entire book with all necessary metadata as easily as a letter” (15). Epstein then discusses his involvement with “On Demand Books”, a company marketing an “Espresso Book Machine” which prints books on demand from online digital files. He foresees this print-on-demand technology being setup as a sort of “ATM for books” where readers could order a title at their computers (much as they currently do at Amazon.com) and then collect the item at a nearby machine, perhaps located at a Kinko’s, Starbucks or local library or bookstore. For this setup to become widespread, there would need to be cooperation with publishers and other content providers; Epstein sees it as in the latter’s interest in cutting back on the current costly distribution infrastructure as well as in the chance to “exploit new technologies and markets” (16).

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From: Resource Desk, Quinlan’s Law Enforcement Enews Alert, February 17, 2008.

Last year was one of the safest years for U.S. law enforcement in decades. The number of officers killed in the line of duty fell sharply in 2008 when compared with 2007, and officers killed by gunfire reached a 50-year low.

Based on analysis of preliminary data, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) and Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.) found that 140 officers died in the line of duty last year. That is 23 percent lower than the 2007 figure of 181, and represents one of the lowest years for officer fatalities since the mid-1960s.

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Volume 13, Number 2 of this Newsletter is being reproduced in full on this posting with the permission of its Editor and Publisher, Lesley Ellen Harris. I am grateful to her for granting us this permission.

FROM THE OFFICES OF LESLEY ELLEN HARRIS Copyright, New Media Law & E-Commerce News __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

Vol. 13, No. 1, January 5, 2009 ISSN 1489-954X

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DAVID BADERTSCHER
Tomorrow is Lincoln’s birthday; it is also the 200th anniversary of his birth, all of which calls for a special celebration of the life, works, and thought of such an inspiring individual. Our current President has said that he has found the thoughts and deeds of Abraham Lincoln to be a source of great inspiration. I too have been inspired by Lincoln’s words, his principles, his focus on justice, his focus on equality, and his strong belief in our nation and our constitutional democracy; but as a law librarian working in a court setting I will focus primarily on books about Lincoln and leave the other topics to historians and others.

Before leaving this section however, I want to commend the American Bar Association (ABA) for its efforts to help make this a banner year for the Lincoln Bicentennial. They have been working with many other organizations, including the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), to incorporate a celebration of the legacy of Lincoln in various events nationwide throughout the year. In addition they have prepared a comprehensive planning guide, “A Legacy of Liberty: Celebrating Lincoln’s Bicentennial”, which is being distributed widely. The ABA has also devoted a significant part of the February 2009 issue of its journal, The ABA Journal to features about Abraham Lincoln including his practice of law and discussions of what that practice has in common with that of lawyers today.

Now back to the books. The list below is divided into two sections. The first section consists of a few books about Lincoln recommended by William Safire in his New York Times Book Review article,”Lincoln Monuments”. (February 8, 2009). The second list is of books devoted to Lincoln the lawyer. This list is based on books retreved through what we call bibliographic searching for materials about Lincoln as a lawyer. The listings will be brief and some abbreviated:

RECOMMENDED BOOKS (GENERAL)

McPherson, James M. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. (Oxford University).

White, Ronald C. Jr. A. LINCOLN: A Biography. Random House.

Burlingame, Michael. ABRAHAM LINCOLN: A Life. (Johns Hopkins University), 2 vols. 2000 pages.

Holzer, Harold and Joshua Wolf Shenk Eds. IN LINCOLN’S HAND: His Original Manuscripts With Commentary by Distinguished Americans, Bantam.

Holzer, Harold. THE LINCOLN ANTHOLOGY: Great writers on His Life and Legacy From 1860 to Now. (Library of America).

LINCOLN THE LAWYER: (These are listed in Books in Print format).

Lincoln the Lawyer
Author: Dirck, Brian Publisher: University of Illinois Press ISBN or UPC: 0-252-07614-1 (Active Record)
Format: Trade Paper Date: Dec 2008 Price: $19.95 Market: United States Availability: Readily Available
ISBN 13: 978-0-252-07614-5

Lincoln, Lee, Grant, and Other Biographical Addresses
Author: Speer, Emory Publisher: Read Books ISBN or UPC: 1-4086-8446-2 (Active Record)
Format: Trade Paper Date: Jul 2008 Price: $29.45 Market: United States Availability: Available for Order
ISBN 13: 978-1-4086-8446-7

The Papers of Abraham Lincoln: Legal Documents and Cases, Set
Author: Lincoln, Abraham et al. Publisher: University Press of Virginia ISBN or UPC: 0-8139-2606-8 (Active Record)
Format: Trade Cloth Date: Nov 2007 Price: $300.00 Market: United States Availability: Readily Available
LC Class #: KF213.L53S76 2007 Dewey#: 973.7092 B ISBN 13: 978-0-8139-2606-3

Lincoln the Lawyer
Author: Dirck, Brian R. Publisher: University of Illinois Press ISBN or UPC: 0-252-03181-4 (Active Record)
Format: Trade Cloth Date: Mar 2007 Price: $29.95 Market: United States Availability: Available for Order
LC Class #: E457.2.D575 2007 Dewey#: 973.7092 B ISBN 13: 978-0-252-03181-6

An Honest Calling: The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln
Author: Steiner, Mark E. Publisher: Northern Illinois University Press ISBN or UPC: 0-87580-358-X (Active Record)
Format: Trade Cloth Date: Aug 2006 Price: $42.00 Market: United States Availability: Available for Order
LC Class #: E457.2.S8 2006 Dewey#: 340.092 B ISBN 13: 978-0-87580-358-6

Courage and Country: James Shields
Author: Callan, J. Sean Publisher: Authorhouse ISBN or UPC: 1-4107-8895-4 (On Demand)
Format: Trade Paper Date: Jan 2004 Price: $24.95 Market: United States Availability: Available for Order
LC Class #: E403.1.S5C35 2004 Dewey#: 973/.049162/0092 B ISBN 13: 978-1-4107-8895-5

Lincoln, the Constitutional Lawyer [1932]

Author: Zane, John Maxcy Publisher: Lawbook Exchange, Limited, The ISBN or UPC: 1-58477-257-3 (Active Record)
Format: Trade Cloth Date: Mar 2003 Price: $80.00 Market: United States Availability: Available for Order
LC Class #: KF368.L52Z36 2002 Dewey#: 973.7/092 B ISBN 13: 978-1-58477-257-6

Life on the Circuit with Lincoln: With Sketches of Generals Grant, Sherman and McClellan, Judge Davis, Leonard Swett and Other Contemporaries, 1892
Author: Whitney, Henry Clay Publisher: Lawbook Exchange, Limited, The ISBN or UPC: 1-58477-115-1 (Active Record)
Format: Trade Cloth Date: Jan 2001 Price: $110.00 Market: United States Availability: Available for Order
LC Class #: KF368.L52W48 2001 Dewey#: 973.7/092 B ISBN 13: 978-1-58477-115-9

Lincoln for the Defense: The Only Known Transcript of an Abraham Lincoln Criminal Jury Trial
Author: Plaetzer, Ross F. Publisher: High House Press, Incorporated ISBN or UPC: 0-9641176-0-6 (Active Record)
Format: Trade Paper Date: Sep 1994 Price: $15.95 Market: United States ISBN 13: 978-0-9641176-0-0

Lincoln the Lawyer
Author: Hill, Frederick Trevor Publisher: William S. Hein & Company, Incorporated ISBN or UPC: 0-8377-0711-0 (Active Record)
Format: Trade Cloth Date: 1986 Price: $45.00 Market: United States LC Class #: KF368.L52H55 1986 Dewey#: 349.73/092/4 B ISBN 13: 978-0-8377-0711-2

Lawyers Before the Warren Court: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights, 1957-66
Author: Casper, Jonathan D. Publisher: University of Illinois Press ISBN or UPC: 0-252-00244-X (Out of Print)
Format: Trade Cloth Date: Jun 1972 Price: $24.95 Market: United States Availability: Hard to Find
LC Class #: KF298.C27 Dewey#: 342/.73/0850269 ISBN 13: 978-0-252-00244-1

Abraham Lincoln, the Lawyer-Statesman
Author: Richards, John Thomas Publisher: Library Reprints, Inc. ISBN or UPC: 0-7222-8804-2 (Active Record)
Format: Trade Cloth Date: Not Supplied Price: $98.00 Market: United States ISBN 13: 978-0-7222-8804-7

SEE IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BELOW:
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The following is posted as a service to those readers who still need to convert to digital television:

An article by Peter Whorisky and Kim Hart published in the February 11, 2009 Washington Post, “500 TV Stations Still Plan to Make Digital Switch Next Week,”explains “…the onset of the digital transition comes despite Congress’s best intention to delay it.” Although Congress has postponed the February deadline, nearly 500 full power television stations across the nation are preparing to move ahead to make the conversion and drop traditional over-the-air broadcasts on February 17, the original deadline date, as authorized in the DTV postponement legislation.

A Chart listing all TV stations (including those that will be converting early – highlighted in red) is included as an added feature accompanying the web version of this article To see the list click on the link below:

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I was going to post something about the comparative funding levels between the House and Senate versions of the stimulus legislation, but have just learned that ProPublica has already done so on their blog. Congratulations to ProPublica for a really good posting.

Here is the link. http://www.propublica.org/special/the-stimulus-bills-house-vs.-senate

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The following are links to issues of American Libraries Direct, the e-newsletter of the American Library Association from December 23, 2008 through February 4, 2009, including a special issue devoted to the “tough economy”. Each link will take you to a particular newsletter issue as noted below:

http://link.ixs1.net/s/ve?eli=m292611&si=u98437424&cfc=3html December 23, 2008

http://link.ixs1.net/s/ve?eli=m292611&si=u98437424&cfc=3html December 24, 2008

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Rob Richards an in independent law librarian and legal information consultant based in Philadelphia has pub together a Website listing resources useful in creating metadata for digital legal materials . According to Mr. Richards, “the site is intended for use by researchers studying legal information systems and by librarians building digital libraries of legal materials…” As he explains: “…I wasn’t able to find a pathfinder for people new to the study of legal information systems…, so I wrote my own, and then put it on a Website in hopes that it might be helpful to others. Suggestions and comments are welcome.” He can be contacted at richards1000@comcast.net

Here are the links to his site:

http://home.comcast.net/~richards1000/LegalInformationSystemsBibliography.htm#METADATA, and links to legal scholarly respositories, http://home.comcast.net/~richards1000/LegalInformationSystemsBibliography.htm#INSTITUTIONALREPOSITORIES (listing only stand-alone repositories of legal materials),

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