Category: Blog

Recent posting on the Law Librarian Blog: William & Mary Community Raises Thousands to Help Children of Law Libary Staff Member Killed in February Fire. [drc]

Posted today on the govdoc listserv:

Thank you for bringing this Govdoc’s listserv query to our attention. I suppose that now is a prudent time to let the cat out of the bag and provide you with some good news. The William S. Hein & Co., Inc., through its HeinOnline interface, will be releasing a digitized version of the Congressional Record. The first release, due in June 2007, will include the following titles:

• Congressional Record V. 1-10 (bound), and V. 142 to date (paper)
• Annals of Congress
• Register of Debates
• Congressional Globe
• Journals of the Continental Congress
• American State Papers

It is our intention to continue forward with the bound volumes, and simultaneously continue backward with the paper edition, until the two meet and overlap. We expect this collection to be available in its infancy in June 2007, with the remainder of Congressional Record volumes available sometime in the year 2008.

The Congressional Record module will be billed a-la-carte as an additional library module that can be subscribed to through the HeinOnline interface.

In addition to the above, we have digitized and will make available, during the second half of 2007, the following titles in their entirety.

• Administrative Decisions under Immigration and Nationality Laws
• Atomic Energy Commission, Reports, Opinions and Decisions
• Comptroller General of the United States. Decisions
• Controller General of the United States. Index Digest of Published Decisions.
• Copyright Decisions
• Decisions of the Commissioner of Patents
• Federal Communications Commission Record
• Federal Communications Commission. Reports. U.S. Federal Trade
• Federal Trade Commission. Decisions. U.S. Federal Trade
• Internal Revenue Cumulative Bulletin. Office of Internal Revenue. U. S. Treasury
• Interstate Commerce Acts Annotated
• National Labor Relations Act. Court Decisions
• National Labor Relations Board. Decisions and Orders
• Nuclear Regulatory Commission Issuances
• Reports of the Tax Court of the United States
• Reports of the United States Board of Tax Appeals
• Securities and Exchange Commission. Decisions and Reports
• Securities and Exchange Commission. Judicial Decisions. U.S. Securities and Exchange

From a recent Thomson West announcement: Thomson West Introduces Civil Procedure: A Contemporary Approach. “Civil Procedure: A Contemporary Approach is designed to appeal to visual, textual and kinesthetic learners.” [drc]

Recently posted on the GOVDOC listserv by Andrea Sevetson of LexisNexis:

In its latest step to create the most comprehensive and authoritative online collection of congressional information available, LexisNexis(r) announces today its plan to digitize the bound Congressional Record and its three predecessors. These four titles, the Congressional Record (1873-to date), the Annals of Congress (1789-1824), the Register of Debates (1825-1837), and the Congressional Globe (1838-1873) cover all the concerns of the day, provide researchers with a unique perspective on American history, and are considered key primary resources for research in American history, pubic policy, business and economics, politics, international relations, and the law.

The product will provide full text searching, as well as controlled subject, speaker, public law, and bill number searching. Offered through the LexisNexis(r) Congressional interface users will be able to search these titles separately or in conjunction with other LexisNexis Congressional Digital Collections they own, such as hearings, congressional prints, CRS reports, and the Serial Set. “Imagine the new avenues for scholarship that will be uncovered for researchers in a service that allows them to find all relevant hearings, debate, and reports on a topic or a piece of legislation,” said Tim Fusco, Vice President of Publishing Operations for LexisNexis Government and Academic Markets. “Our superior indexing and our commitment to make logical linkages between legislative documents will make it easier for even the most adept researcher to find relevant information across this huge collection of congressional documentation.” The product is scheduled to launch in early 2008. [drc]

Click here for the May 2007 issue. [drc]

Check out the nice list of legal wikis in Robert Ambrogi’s article, Legal Professionals Are Using Wikis – Widely and Wisely, from Social Computing Magazine. [drc]

Feres Doctrine (feer-is or feer-eez or fer-ez). Torts. The rule that a member of the military is barred from recovering damages from the United States on a claim brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act for injuries sustained in military service. [drc]

From The Chronicle of Higher Education, Todd Gilman provides a list of “four traits that would not only make librarians more effective, but happier and more productive, too.” [drc]

Adhesion Contract. A standard-form contract prepared by one party, to be signed by the party in a weaker position, usually a consumer, who adheres to the contract with little choice about the terms. — Also termed contract of adhesion; adhesive contract; adhesory contract; adhesionary contract; take-it-or-leave-it contract; leonine contract. [DRC]

Res Judicata [Latin “a thing adjudicated”] An issue that has been definitively settled by judicial decision. [DRC]