From time to time we hope to post book reviews on this blog. Philip Blue our Senior Law Librarian has just written a very interesting review of a fascinating book. We hope you enjoy both the review and the book:
TITLE: ON THE LAPS OF GODS
SUBTITLE: The Red Summer of 1919 and the Struggle for Justice That Remade a Nation AUTHOR: Robert Whitaker PUBLICATION DATE: June 2008 PUBLISHER: Crown Publishers PAGE COUNT: 400 pp.
An Introduction*
David Badertscher
How trustworthy are state-level primary legal resources on the Web? The American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) published the State-by-State Report on Authentication of Online Legal Resources (Authentication Report) that answers this very important and timely question. The comprehensive report examines and draws conclusions from the results of a state survey that investigated whether government-hosted legal resources on the Web are official and capable of being considered authentic. The survey was conducted by the Access to Legal Information Committee of AALL. For a quick overview, the Authentication Report’s Executive Summary provides an excellent introduction to some of the underlying issues and facts surrounding the pressing and timely issue of the authenticity of state primary digital legal materials.
Newsletter No. 5 of 2008
2008-2009 LGRMIF Grant Applications:
I know that many of you are wondering about the status of your 2008-2009 grant application. Here is where we are now: The first step in the review process, the formal evaluation by outside reviewers and staff members, was recently completed. All reviewers had to evaluate and score each proposal assigned to them and return it to the State Archives by April 18th. This information is now being compiled and shared with the other Members of each panel. Those panels, which are organized by grant category, meet on May 14th to make final recommendations on funding to be forwarded to the Commissioner of Education, who by state law authorizes all grant awards.
Primary Research Group has published Library Use of E-books, 2008-09 Edition, (isbn 1-57440-101-7) and would like to share some of the results. *
Data in the report is based on a survey of 75 academic, public and special libraries.. Librarians detail their plans on how they plan to develop their e-book collections, what they think of e-book readers and software, and which e-book aggregators and publishers appeal to them most and why. Other issues covered include: library production of e-books and collection digitization, e-book collection information literacy efforts, use of e-books in course reserves and inter-library loan, e-book pricing and inflation issues, acquisition sources and strategies for e-books and other issues of concern to libraries and book publishers.
Some of the findings of the 110 page report are:
Jonathan L. Zittrain has written an interesting, informative and innovative book titles The Future of the Internet: And How to Stop It. . I use the word “innovative” because the web version, which is available in full text at http://yupnet.org/zittrain/ incorporates added features to engage the reader.
To quote from his introduction:
“…The Internet’s current trajectory is one of lost opportunity. Its salvation lies in the hands of its millions of users. Drawing on generative technologies like Wikipedia that have so far survived their own successes, this book shows how to develop new technologies and social structures that allow users to work creatively and collaboratively, participate in solutions, and become true ‘netizens.’ “
From the Section of Science and Technology Law:
Science for Lawyers Eric York Drogin, Editor http://www.abanet.org/abastore/productpage/5450051
Science for Lawyers clearly explains and discusses 13 applied scientific disciplines in jargon-free language that is specifically geared toward lawyers. The book explores the definitions (what is science), the practice (what scientists do) and the professional roles (what ethical guidelines influence scientists) of 13 professional disciplines such as:
The following is from TechnoLawyer Newswire,- http://www.technolawyer.com/tlnewswire.asp April 16, 2008:
Traditionally, the software industry presented law firms with a dilemma – single-task best-of-breed programs or easier to manage but lower quality all-in-one programs. And then came the suite, which offers best-in-class programs designed to work together.
Corel’s new suite, Corel WordPerfect Office X4, seeks to take the suite where it has never ventured before with new features and programs that eliminate the need to purchase standalone programs from other companies.
We are passing on the following message just recieved from the ABA Journal.
The ABA Journal has been nominated for the Internet’s most prestigious honor. And we need your help to win.
ABAJournal.com is one of five nominees for a Webby Award in the Law category. Described by the New York Times as the “Oscars of the Internet,” the Webby Awards are judged by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences, and received almost 10,000 entries this year. ABAJournal.com features a legal newswire updated with 25 to 50 fresh stories throughout every business day, a directory of more than 1,800 blogs written by lawyers, and archives of the magazine stretching back to 2004.
With spam and virus attacks at record levels, and spammers using increasingly sophisticated techniques, Google commissioned Osterman Research to conduct a study of organizations to assess the performance of their on-demand and on-premise email security solutions. Osterman Research shares what they uncovered in their research of companies using Google Message Security compared to companies using other solutions.
Criminal Law Library Blog