Libraries are bridges to information and knowledge.

Source: LJXpress, October 30, 2007.

by Michael Rogers — Library Journal, 10/30/2007 6:52:00 AM

OCLC October 22 announced that it and the European OCLC PICA division have merged into a single “global organization” under the OCLC brand. OCLC said that by “bringing together all offices under one name and identity, libraries worldwide can benefit from OCLC membership, research, and an expanded portfolio around a comprehensive set of products and services.” The announcement immediately raised questions among other vendors regarding how OCLC can maintain its nonprofit status, since OCLC PICA is directly competing with for-profit vendors.

I just received the following news item from Lawrence Savell which I am delighted to post. It adds a dimension to the blog which we can all appreciate. If any of you would like to send me either news items or longer articles I will be happy to consider them for posting.

…now to the featured item!

Dear Mr. Badertscher: First, thank you for your excellent law blog. Second, I thought your readers might enjoy a lighter news item, and I am therefore also writing to request that you please consider mentioning the release of my indie music label LawTunes’ (www.LawTunes.comhttp://www.lawtunes.com) latest humorous lawyer-created, law-related album, “The Lawtunes: Live At Blackacre.”

BY Basil Tilmon, Account Manager GalleryWatch Inc.

This Week – Thursday afternoon, October 25

The week featured an interesting cyclical pattern – after a turbulent week of an attempted veto over-ride and floor ranting, this week was relatively conciliatory. Veto threats however loom over much of what Congress is doing, however. (Note: when you see the word veto…the link will take you to the appropriate veto statement.)

The following are some recent letters, memoranda and other correspondence in regard to the contractor, Blackwater:

Letter to Blackwater CEO Erik Prince from House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman (PDF 360 KB)

Letter Requests Further Information on Blackwater’s No-Bid Contracts, Additional Incidents Involving Their Personnel in Iraq, and Payments Made to the Families of Iraqis Killed by Blackwater

CALL FOR PAPERS

Special Issue: Global Warming, Governance, and the Law

Fiona Haines, Nancy Reichman, and Colin Scott, as editors of Law & Policy, are bringing together a series of papers on the legal and policy issues around global warming. We are interested in papers in all areas of law and policy related to climate change from any relevant academic discipline including:

Best Practices in Information Retrieval and Records Management: Analysis and Recommendations from the 2007 Sedona Conference

By Steven Essig

The Sedona Conference Journal, Volume 8, Fall 2007, includes much relevant commentary on possible best practices and other important concerns on effective information retrieval of legal documents. Issues raised range from effective precision and recall searching, appropriate sorts of indexing strategies, word choice, email retention policies for courts and other legal organizations among other major concerns. Of particular interest to librarians should be the section of the issue entitled “ESI Symposium”, which contains a report from “The Sedona Conference ® Working Group on Best Practices for Document Retention and Production (WG1), Search & Retrieval Sciences Special Project Team” (the August 2007 Public Comment Version).

“…Selfhelpsupport.org is an award winning membership site that serves as a Network for Practitioners of Self-Help Programs as well as an online Clearinghouse of information relating to self-representation.”

“…Members include courts, legal aid programs, bar associations, educational institutions, researchers, and other governmental and non-profit programs working to increase access to justice. Usage of the site and of materials accessed is for non-commercial purposes only.”

You can go directly to Selfhelpsupport at http://www.selfhelpsupport.org/

The following is a list of new and forthcoming hardbound books and e-books with a publication date range from 2007 – 2009. This subject search was run on Bowker Books in Print Professional on October 22, 2007:

Arkansas and Missouri DWI Defense: The Law and Practice

Author: Abele, Jon R. et al. Publisher: Lawyers & Judges Publishing Company, Incorporated ISBN or UPC: 1-933264-19-5(Active Record)

A Report of the Innocence Project. Benjamin Cordozo Law School of Yeshiva University, October 18, 2007:

“New York State Not Doing Enough to Prevent Wrongful Convictions, Report Says …exonerated through DNA evidence. The report…director of the Innocence Project, a legal clinic…frequently used for DNA analysis. But in…evidence stored in DNA and fingerprint…not comment on the Innocence Project report until it…” New York Times October 18, 2007

See Innocence Project Report Here

Contact Information