Why copy when you can scan for free?

For decades, the Appellate Division Law Library has provided patrons with the ability to make photocopies for a small fee. The copiers are still here, gobbling up dimes and using up plenty of paper. However, this is no longer your only option.

Over the last year, the library has purchased two scanners which can be used free of charge! One scanner works for paper documents (including books, magazines and newspapers) and the other works for microfilm and microfiche. Both scanners are easy to use, and both are capable of producing high-quality, text-searchable PDF files that can be emailed or saved to a flash drive.

Never used a scanner before? Not to worry; a staff member will be happy to show you how. Step-by-step instructions are also provided. So, next time you need a copy of an old bill jacket or a record on appeal, save your dimes and some trees and try out our new scanners!

First weekend of the 2013 Jazz Festival

The scene by our front entrance this past weekend -

festival goers enjoying a free concert on a fine summer night!

(Thanks, Jeremy, for the photo!)

Jazz Festival street closures

Tents and equipment trucks are springing up all around the library - yes, it's time for the Jazz Fest. The first block of Gibbs St. (in yellow) has already been closed off to traffic for the duration of the festival. Please note that our stretch of Chestnut St. (in orange, from East Ave. to E. Main St.) will be closed all day Friday, June 21, after 6 AM and again all day Friday, June 28 after 6 AM. Also note that East Ave. from E. Main St. to Scio St. (in blue) and Chestnut St. from East Ave. to Broad St. (in magenta) will close at 5 PM on Friday, June 21 and Friday, June 28. One last advisory for traffic in our immediate vicinity: beginning Friday, June 21 and continuing the duration of the fest, evenings after 5 there will be detours around the Big Tent venue on E. Main St. (in lilac).

For a complete list of street closures, please see the City of Rochester's Jazz Fest page.

Welcome to the Appellate Division Law Library blog!

September 2010

We’re in possession of calendars so beautiful and informative we wanted everyone to know that we have them. These calendars are produced annually, beginning in 2004, by The Historical Society of the Courts of the State of New York and are sent to Society members. There are three members on the library staff who have donated their unused calendars to the library. Many thanks to the Assistant Director of the Society for kindly and generously providing pdfs of calendar images for the slide show. He will also send us calendars for 2004-2007, making our holdings complete to date!

Calendars are considered ephemera, which the American Heritage dictionary, Houghton Mifflin (4th ed. 2000) defines as “printed matter of passing interest.” Cataloging ephemera is new and exciting for us. For those unfamiliar, “cataloging is the process of organizing library materials and making them accessible to library users” – Mary Liu Koa, Cataloging and classification for library technicians p. 1 Haworth Press (2nd ed. 2001). Luckily, we are acquainted with a Rare Books & Manuscripts librarian experienced in cataloging all manner of ephemera, including calendars, who graciously shared his expertise and provided us with many examples of his calendar records. Find our original record in the library's online catalog here, scrolling down to view the years in our collection.

Caution: Interest in ephemera could lead to passion and collecting. Find camaraderie in The Ephemera Society of America, an organization of individuals and institutions dedicated to the promotion, preservation, exhibition, and research of ephemeral materials. Attend the annual March conference and Paper Fair in Old Greenwich, CT. The engaging educational sessions and the opportunity to hunt for treasures in the Fair’s ample exhibit space makes the conference a rite of Spring.

A cataloger