Who owns the law?

Carl Malamud is a familiar name in the law library world, an advocate of free access to public information who has often clashed with government bodies, legal publishers, research firms, and others. As a lawsuit brought against Malamud's organization by the American Society for Testing and Materials gets underway in the District of Columbia District Court, the cover story of June's ABA Journal, Who owns the law? Technology reignites the war over just how public documents should be, provides a good overview of the issues being contested in this fascinating intersection of technology and the law.

Please do not reshelve our books

If you come to the library, you probably see signs saying, “PLEASE DO NOT RESHELVE OUR BOOKS.” These signs are not unique to us. We see them at the public library as well. The reason for this is two-fold.

One is, although we trust our users to remember where they got the book, sometimes, spaces on shelves look alike and just about any book that is of the same thickness will fit in it. Books get misshelved and there they will stay until someone browses the area and notices the misplaced book. Sometimes, it takes a very long time to find the book.

The other reason for asking our users not to reshelve our books is because this is the only way we can tell what books are being used. When the time to order new editions or supplements comes and we review the usage for particular titles, chances are only those that show that they have been used will get updated or only those on certain topics will be bought.

So, please leave the reshelving to us! You will be helping to ensure that material that's being used is accurately counted and then put back in its proper spot for the next patron.

Close to finishing law school? Learn about us!

Yesterday we had some law students in their last year at UB visiting us. As their "tour guide" notes,

One aspect of the tour that was particularly interesting for the students was the availability of free Lexis, private study rooms, and Wi-Fi. I told the students that many attorneys meet with clients in the private study rooms, while using the wireless connection to access email, Lexis and the Internet. It was clear they were already pondering the possibilities as I talked about it - one of them immediately commented, "We could use the library as our law office." The idea that they could start their own law practice without the expense of an office was something they hadn't thought possible. When combined with the library's massive print collection, the students acknowledged that our facility really does offer just about everything a young attorney would need to get started in the profession. In fact, one of them has already returned (a day later) to conduct research for her current law school assignment!

Sunshine

Next Sunday, March 23, at 3:00 P.M., the Little will present Forbidden Voices, a documentary profiling three dissident bloggers who've braved repression in their home countries, as part of its Women's History Month Film Series. The stories of Yoani Sanchez of Cuba, Zeng Jinyan of China, and Farnaz Seifi of Iran will no doubt make compelling viewing.

Closer to home, it's important to note that this is Sunshine Week, a national initiative, in the words of its website, to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Participants include news media, civic groups, libraries, nonprofits, schools, and others interested in the public’s right to know. The American Association of Law Libraries and the American Library Association will be taking part in Sunshine Week activities. For more information, see here and here.

Update: The Democrat and Chronicle has several pieces online addressing Sunshine Week concerns locally. Here's a site we learned about there and would like to pass along: Open New York, an open data portal "bringing together local, state and federal data in one place."

Reception for Rochester's new mayor

The Rochester Black Bar Association and the Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys recently hosted a reception for Mayor Lovely Warren. We noted some familiar faces in the Daily Record's photos of the event.

Downton Abbey & Law Made Fun

Appearing last night on WXXI-TV's Talking Abbey Live, Brighton Town Justice Karen Morris provided engaging and thoughtful commentary from a legal point of view on the popular PBS series Downton Abbey, which appears to enjoy quite a following in the legal community. As the show wrapped up its fourth season, Judge Morris, author of Law Made Fun through Harry Potter's Adventures, suggests there may be a Law Made Fun through Downton Abbey coming our way. We look forward to it.

From vellum to digital archives

We were pleased to get a visit yesterday from a group of students from the World of Inquiry School who had chosen the subject of law to investigate during their "Intensive Week." Pictured below is a discussion on data preservation and storage media. Staff was vividly reminded of the rapid changes in this area when the teacher accompanying the group was unfamiliar with a 5 1/4-inch floppy!

If your group would like to schedule a tour of the library, please call the Reference Desk at 585-530-3251.