Libraries are bridges to information and knowledge.

On October 18, 2007 a coalition of major media and technology companies released a set of guidelines designed to halt online piracy. Media companies involved include CBS, NewsCorp, Fox Enertainment Group, NBC Universal, Viacom Disney, and MySpace. Google was notable absent from the list. A You Tube spokesperson who asked not to be named said that Google had talked to Disney and You Tube about the guidelines but decided not to join the group out of concdrn that ‘ “industry-wide mandates would stifle innovation’ “. I

In a posting on LEXOLOGY by four attorneys from Arent Fox LLP “…The joint collaboration aims to eliminate infringing content on services providing user-uploaded and user-generated audio and video content (UGC) services, encourage uploads of wholly original and authorized user-generated content, and accommodate fair use of copyrighted content, and protect user privacy interests.” It is interesting to note that many of the concerns reflected in the guidelines are similar (except perhaps in context) to those confronted by libraries in their own efforts to resolve issues the reproduction and transfer of materials.

To provide added context for those interested in this topic, this posting includes the full text of an article published on FindLaw Corporate Counsel by Julie Hilden. Finally,some additional links to other sources are listed.

The 2007 Annual Report of the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct was released last Thursday. In his article in the November 19, 2007 New York Law Journal Daniel Wise writes that the Commission ” opened more investigations in 2006 [the year covered by the Annual Reporrt] and had more matters pending against judges than at any time in its 29 year history…”.

INTRODUCTION TO THE 2007 ANNUAL REPORT

The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct is the independent agency designated by the State Constitution to review complaints of misconduct against judges of the State Unified Court System, which includes approximately 3,400 judges and justices.

With the expanding variety of formats required for effective storage and retrieval of information in libraries coupled with the rising level of expectations of patrons, the future of bibliographic control is of utmost concern for all types of libraries. The following material from the Library Journal Academic Newswire for November 15, 2007 discusses the work of one group, The Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control and its recommendations.

From the Library Journal Academic Newswire;

Some big changes may be coming from the Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control, convened by Deanna Marcum, associate librarian for library services at the Library of Congress (LC). The extent of those changes, however, remains unclear, as LC did not actually release its report on bibliographic control and how the library community and LC can move forward. That release is now expected on November 30. LC did give attendees at an in-house session Tuesday a copy of a PowerPoint presentation. Also, a webcast on the Working Group’s session was downed by a technological problem, frustrating many eager to watch it.

The following announcement appeared in the November 2, 2007 issue of the New York Law Journal

“Justice Stephen G. Crane of the Appellate Division, Second Department, said yesterday he will resign on Feb. 4 to join Judicial Arbitration & Mediation Services in Manhattan. JAMS, a California-based dispute resolution firm, employs several prominent retired New York state judges, including Milton Mollen, Betty Weinberg Ellerin, Stanley S. Ostrau and Richard M. Rosenbaum. ‘They came to me, I hadn’t thought about it till then,’ Justice Crane, 69, said yesterday in an interview. ‘I thought it was time to move on to a new challenge.’ He called the decision to step down a ‘terribly wrenching one.’ Justice Crane, who has been at the Second Department since 2001, is a former Criminal Court judge, Supreme Court justice and administrative judge of the civil branch of Manhattan Supreme Court. — Joel Stashenko”

Justice Crane has also served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the New York County Public Access Law Library since it first opened on February 14, 1995.

From Citrix Systems

Summary:

The threat profile facing enterprise organizations has undeniably shifted from network-layer exploits to more formidable attacks against applications, primarily Web and Web services applications. This radical change has been recognized by numerous IT security vendors, which have rushed to deliver products that shield Web applications from a new generation of attacks.

I”n response to the discussion about the far-reaching changes to the Federal Civil Rules of Procedure, we have posted a 5 minute video featuring the authors of the Federal Civil Rules Handbook. The authors, Steven Baicker-McKee and Professor William Janssen, discuss the dramatic amendments to the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure, and why every major rule and form is changing on December 1, 2007. The video can be found under the “What’s New for Law Librarians” section at: www.west.thomson.com/librarian.”

“The changes have mostly come about as a result of a comprehensive overhaul by a federal style committee. There are stylistic and substantive changes, and all the forms have changed as well.”

“Thomson West has published the Federal Civil Rules Handbook just in time for the coming rule changes. All rule changes will be in this volume, along with all the new forms, and a great deal of annotated commentary. There will also be a “roadmap” at the end of each rule indicating the Style Project changes and the non-stylistic (substantive) changes to the rules”

By Eric Chabrow

Society for Information Management’s 2008 list of leadership books covers a wide-range of subjects, except IT itself.

Books ranging from How to Read a Book to The Prince are among 30 books every CIO wannabe should read, according to an annual list of must-read books issued by the Society of Information Management’s Regional Leadership Forum.

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