Criminal Law Library Blog

by: David Badertscher

For those who have not visited us, the New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library of New York County (sometimes referred to as the New York Criminal Law Library) is located in lower Manhattan near the Brooklyn Bridge, City Hall, and State and Federal courthouses. Like other Supreme Court libraries located throughout the State of New York, it operates under the
auspices of the New York Unified Court System and participates in the various state-wide initiatives sponsored by the OCA Office of Legal Information.

Although the primary focus of this library is to provide reference and research support to personnel of the Criminal Term, its actual responsibilities and obligations are quite broad. Using its various collections in all formats, including digital, in conjunction with various web and online services, including a website and a weblog, this library functions as both an information repository and an information service. These resources and services enable it to reach out to patrons both local and worldwide, as time and resources permit. Part of the library's responsibility is to provide support as needed and operational oversight to the New York County Public Access Law Library, which is charged with serving those members of the public who need law-related information.

In order to discharge these responsibilities with limited staff, it has been necessary for the library to work cooperatively with library consortia and other groups to provide the added resources and services required to maintain an acceptable level of service. One of the organizations that has been especially helpful to us is the Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO). The library has been a member of METRO since 1981. It was through METRO that we first learned of QuestionPoint and were invited to participate in a 2002 pilot project. With some initial apprehension we accepted the offer and became an active participant in the latter part of that year. The New York County Public Access Access Law Library has also been very helpful in enabling this library to maintain an acceptable level of web based reference services. Since may of our QuestionPoint users are public patrons a majority of those questions are now handled by that library; Theodore Pollack, the Senior Law Librarian at the Public Access Library also serves as my backup administrator for QuestionPoint. We are grateful for the assistance of Ted and his staff in helping support this effort.

Despite some initial reservations that we might not be able to keep up with expectations and workflow, the use of QuestionPoint has been quite successful for us. It serves as a useful and important adjunct to our other web based services in both reaching out to our patrons and through its referral features. It enables us to augment our resources in ways otherwise impossible. For example on more than one occasion we have used QuestionPoint to search worldwide for materials that would otherwise have been unobtainable. In order to make it work for us, however, we have needed to avoid some of the features that are essential to others. We do not use chat or any form of instant messaging because we simply do not have the appropriate staff resources to make this work satisfactorily for us. We have not, however, found the lack of chat a limitation at all.

Over the past few years many libraries, including this one, have been involved in lively discussions as to how best to respond to demands for digitized information which can be retrieved at any time from a variety of devices, both stationary and mobile. After some experimentation, our response has included the use of blogging technology coupled with rss feeds. In 2004 we introduced the New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library blog powered by Bloglines, http://www.bloglines.com/blog/pll . It incorporates many features including a link to our QuestionPoint form for submitting reference questions, RSS feeds, and the capability of storing online reference, legislative, and other information useful to patrons. This blog based outreach service also serves as a vehicle for sending New York Legislative Activity Reports, updated information regarding appellate court criminal decisions originating from this court, and other relevant updated information directly to the work stations of judges and judicial staff on a regular, ongoing basis. It is popular with both court personnel and public users and remains our most effective outreach service on the web. As of April 29, 2008 it is visited by an average of 153 patrons per day and 1,069 per week. We obtain this and additional statistical information through special software designed to collect statistical information regarding website use. Reports are sent to me weekly.

Although the New York Supreme Court Criminal Term blog remains both useful and popular, we have found it necessary to also create a new blog, www.criminallawlibraryblog.com, to take advantage of added features which cannot be incorporated effectively into the original blog. For example, the new blog includes both a QuestionPoint form for submitting questions and a direct link to the public portion of the QuestionPoint knowledgbase. Using this feature, users are able to type in key words which will in turn retrieve questions/answers in the knowledgbase which correspond to their queries. The global knowledgbase feature is located near the upper left part of the screen of our newest blog. This particularly innovative feature has been developed and included as a direct result of the inspiring online QuestionPoint presentation this summer by Peter Armenti of the Digital Reference Team at the Library of Congress. This blog also includes the capability for uploading documents not currently on the web, a useful feature not included in the original blog. Finally, the Criminal Law Library Blog has substantially greater search capabilities. In order to adequately describe the added features included in the Criminal Law Library Blog, we are calling it an "added value blog."

We are encouraged by the positive responses from library patrons both inside and outside the courts to these services. These responses along with statistics gathered and staff observations demonstrate that by introducing these initiatives along with others sponsored by the Office of Legal Information, the library has been able to meet reference, research, and access needs of patrons far more effectively than in the past. Our hope is to be able to continue developing web based services and to work together with others to improve access and services for all of our libraries. Recently I have taken classes offered by the Unified Court System in the setting up and use of WIKI's, preparing and tabulating web based surveys, aa well training in the development of public access applications using specialized web based software. Only time will tell if we are able to inplement additional services using these applications.
_____________________________________
*This posting is based on an article recently prepared for publication in a future issue of Pro Se the newsletter of the New York State Unified Court Law Libraries Association.

Posted by David Badertscher | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: Commentary and Opinion , David Badertscher , Library News and Views , Library Organization and Planning , Library Reference and Research , News from Organizations

Bookmark:

On April 4, 2008 Patricia Barbone sent an e-mail to the Law Library Association of New York (LLAGNY) listserv in which she listed the following two excellent sources where information about judges can be found.:

Judicial Reports is an on-demand service that covers NY Judges. The first profile you request is $600, then second is $500, and the third is $400. All subsequent profiles are $400. Reports generally consist of

1. A sample profile of judge
2 Judge's campaign contributors (since 1999)
3. Judge's financial disclosure form

All this information is public, but some of it may only be available via FOIA or by going directly to the agency. Some may be on the "deep" web by burrowing down in many of the state and city databases...not necessarily reachable by a google search.

Their phone number is 212-766-3201.

The second source Patricia listed is Legal Metric at http://www.legalmetric.com/cgi-n/index.cgi
which reports on U.S. District Court Judges. The report answers these fundamental questions and more:

·How likely is the judge to rule in your favor?

·Which significant motions are granted or denied?

What is the time to termination for cases like yours?

While these sources are excellent, I am adding a third source which can also be helpful for obtaining information about judges and the judiciary in New York State. :

The New York State Unified Court System public website at http://www.nycourts.gov includes under the category of Judges, a Judicial Directory and links to other information as well, including: Judicial Resources, New York State Judicial Institute, Judicial Ethics Opinions, and more. Once you click on the above link and get to the Unified Court System public web site, you will need to go to the list of options on the right side of your screen and click on Judges. This will take you to the site containing link to the above options and more.

Posted by David Badertscher | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: David Badertscher , Library Reference and Research

Bookmark:

Every month I look forward to receiving the ABA Criminal Justice Section E-News. True to form, the April 2008 issue just received is filled with information to those involved with criminal justice issues. Here are some exampled highlighted in the April 2008 issue:

Weekly Criminal Justice News Roundup.

Legislative Update

Upcoming Events

April 3-6
Criminal Justice Section 2008 Spring Meeting, Charleston, SC (Francis Marion Hotel)

Superior Direct and Cross Examination (CLE, April 4)

April 11
Protecting Attorney-Client Privilege in 2008, Philadelphia, PA

May 9-10
The Comparison of Jury Trials and the Mystery of Art Theft, Bilbao, Spain

May 14-16
Health Care Fraud, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

May 21-23
Federal Sentencing Guidelines, Orlando, FL

June 11-13
Civil False Claims Act and Qui Tam Enforcement, Washington, DC

June 18-20
CyberLaw: Expanding the Horizons, Washington, DC

Aug. 7-12
ABA Annual Meeting (and CJ Section Programs and Meetings), New York, NY

Oct. 19-21
ABA/ABA Money Laundering Enforcement Conference, Washington, DC

New Publications

New from the ABA Commission on Effective Criminal Sanctions

Second Chances in the Criminal Justice System: Alternatives to Incarceration and Recovery Strategies
"This compendium of the American Bar Association's Commission on Effective Criminal Sanctions and the Justice Kennedy Commission focuses on the fairness and proportionality of punishment and on ways in which criminal offenders may avoid or escape the permanent legal disabilities and stigma of a criminal record."

U.S. Supreme Court Cases

MEDELLIN v. TEXAS

By a 6-3 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court held that President Bush overstepped his authority when he ordered a Texas court to reopen the case of Jose Ernesto Medellin, a Mexican citizen whom police prevented from consulting with Mexican diplomats, as provided by international treaty. Medellin was arrested a few days after the killings of Jennifer Ertman, 14, and Elizabeth Pena, 16, in June 1993. He was told he had a right to remain silent and have a lawyer present, but the police did not tell him that he could request assistance from the Mexican consulate. Medellin was convicted of murder in the course of a sexual assault, a capital offense in Texas. A judge sentenced him to death in October 1994.

Texas acknowledged that Medellin was not told he could ask for help from Mexican diplomats, but argued that he forfeited the right because he never raised the issue at trial or sentencing. In any case, the state said, the diplomats' intercession would not have made any difference in the outcome of the case. State and federal courts rejected Medellin's claim when he raised it on appeal.

Then, in 2003, Mexico sued the United States in the International Court of Justice in The Hague on behalf of Medellin and 50 other Mexicans on death row in the U.S. who also had been denied access to their country's diplomats following their arrests. An international court ruled in 2004 that the convictions of Medellin and 50 other Mexicans on death row around the United States violated the 1963 Vienna Convention, which provides that people arrested abroad should have access to their home country's consular officials. The International Court of Justice, also known as the world court, said the Mexican prisoners should have new court hearings to determine whether the violation affected their cases.

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, disagreed. Roberts said the international court decision cannot be forced upon the states. The president may not "establish binding rules of decision that pre-empt contrary state law," Roberts said. Neither does the treaty, by itself, require individual states to take action.

Click on the link below to access the full opinion. If you cannot click on the link, copy and paste it into your browser. http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/07pdf/06-984.pdf

Snyder v. Louisiana

By a 7-2 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court found that prosecutor Jim Williams improperly excluded blacks from the jury that convicted Allen Snyder of killing his estranged wife's companion. Snyder is black and the jurors were white. Justice Alito, writing for the majority, said the trial judge should have blocked Williams from striking a black juror. Justices Thomas and Scalia dissented. Thomas said he would not "second-guess" the judge. In a 4-3 decision, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that race had no part in the state's decisions involving black potential jurors.

During jury selection in the trial, Williams disqualified all five blacks in the pool of prospective jurors. The Supreme Court ruled in 1986 that prosecutors may not exclude people from a jury solely because of their race. The court already had sent Snyder's case back to the Louisiana courts following a ruling in 2005 that bolstered the prohibition on race bias in jury selection.

The prosecutor's explanation for striking a prospective black juror was "suspicious," said Alito. The prospective juror's supervisor said he did not think a schedule conflict between the upcoming trial and the prospective juror's work would be a problem. In contrast, the prosecutor accepted white jurors who disclosed conflicting obligations "that appear to have been at least as serious as" the prospective black juror who was excused, Alito wrote.

Stephen Bright, Snyder's Atlanta-based lawyer, said the ruling shows there is broad agreement among the justices that courts must closely examine the reasons given for excusing potential jurors when racial motives might be present but not acknowledged. "The disturbing thing is that courts in Louisiana and elsewhere were just deferring to trial judges, no matter the reasons," Bright said. Snyder will get a new trial as a result of the ruling.

Click on the link below to access the full opinion. If you cannot click on the link, copy and paste it into your browser. http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/07pdf/06-10119.pdf

Posted by David Badertscher | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: Commentary and Opinion , Conferences, Seminars and Webinars , Criminal Law and Justice , David Badertscher , Legislative Information , Library Reference and Research , News from Organizations , Publication Announcements and Reviews

Bookmark:

The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday (March 26) in a sweeping rejection of powers in the presidency ruled that neither the World Court nor President Bush can interfere with Texas regarding that states' enforcement of its own criminal laws. The justices in their 6-3 decision, Medellin v. Texas (06-984), ruled that neither an opinion by the World Court nor a directive from the President amounts to "enforceable federal law" that requires compliance by the State of Texas.

See Medellin v. Texas here

Sources for this posting:

Mauro, Tony. "High Court Backs Texas in Dispute With Bush Over Mexican in Death Row," New York Law Journal (March 26, 2008).

Berman, Douglas A. " 'States Win Over President in Criminal Law Issue,' In Medellin". Sentencing Law and Policy Blog. (Posted March 25, 2008).

Posted by David Badertscher | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: Court Decisions , Criminal Law and Justice , David Badertscher , The Documents Corner

Bookmark:

While reviewing responses to readers of this blawg, I noticed that many seem interested in postings related to information security. Therefore, as an experiment beginning with this posting I plan to include an occasional newsletter covering topics and issues related to information security.

As an added activity I serve on an Information Security Committee at my orgaization. This experience has certainly increased my awareness of the importance of information security issues to all of us, including law librarians. Let's see how this works. Comments are welcome.

David Badertscher

February 2008

Volume 1, Issue 1

Securing a Wireless Network

From the Desk of David Badertscher

Is a Wireless Network Secure?

Wireless networks are not as secure as the traditional “wired” networks, but you can minimize the risk on your wireless network (at home or at work) by following the tips below.

How Does it Work?

The standard set up for a wireless network requires two components: a Wireless Access Point (WAP) and a computer with a wireless network adaptor. Properly configuring a wireless device can be challenging and the steps will vary depending on the manufacturer. If you do not feel comfortable doing it yourself, be sure that whomever is configuring the wireless network follows these best practices.

Wireless Access Point (WAP)

The WAP connects to your high speed Internet connection or your internal network. This is the foundation for building a wireless network. It provides the ability to use a computer without being constrained by the distance of a wire. Keep in mind that metal filing cabinets as well as certain building materials, such as bricks and blocks, can interfere or limit the range. The distance between your wireless computer and the wireless access point. Generally, the indoor range for a WAP is approximately 125 feet.

Wireless Network Adaptor

A wireless network adaptor, used for transmitting and receiving information, is required for each computer you intend to connect to a WAP. When purchasing wireless networking hardware from separate vendors, be sure to obtain guarantees that the hardware will conform to defined standards and interoperate properly. The wireless network adaptor is usually built into laptop computers while it is an add-on component inserted into a USB port on desktop computers.

Enable Encryption

Every wireless network should enable encryption. Encryption scrambles the data in a way that if your signal is intercepted there is reduced risk of someone being able to eavesdrop or monitor your communications. There are several standards of encryption common to most WAPs. Wired Equivalency Privacy (WEP) is the older standard. WEP has a number of known security flaws and should only be used if no other method of encryption is available. Be sure to set the WEP authentication method to ”shared key” instead of “open system.” Under “open system” the initial sign-on is encrypted but the data is not. Newer wireless access points include Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2). WPA2 is the stronger and the preferred method of encryption.

Change the Default Password

Change the default password that comes with your WAP. The default passwords used by manufacturers are well known to the hacking community. Be sure to use a strong password, at least eight characters including numbers and special characters.

Change SSID Name

The Service Set Identifier (SSID) is the name of your wireless network. Default SSIDs are well known, often the name of the manufacturer and easy to guess. Change the SSID name to something unique and be careful not to use a name that freely discloses information. For example, avoid using your family name. Avoid descriptive or functional names as well, such as “Payroll” or “Accounting” since this would advertise an attractive target for an attacker.

Turn Off SSID Broadcasting

By turning off SSID Broadcasting, your wireless access point does not advertise its presence. It is similar to having an unlisted telephone number. This is a way to reduce the visibility of your network to others in your neighborhood. The only way to connect to a WAP with SSID Broadcasting turned off is to know the SSID name and password.

Use MAC Filtering on Your WAP

The MAC (Media Access Control) address is the unique ID assigned to your computer’s network interface card. It is referred to as the computer’s “physical address.” Enabling MAC filtering on your WAP allows you to designate and restrict which computers can connect to your WAP. If the computer’s address is not listed, a wireless connection cannot be made to the WAP. To look up a MAC address on a Windows computer, go to “Start” then “Run” and type “cmd”. A new window will open and you will need to type ipconfig /all and press the enter key. A number of attributes will be displayed. The MAC address is identified as the “Physical Address.”

RF Interference Assuming your WAP point functions in the 2.4 GHz range, you may experience Radio Frequency (RF) interference from other 2.4 GHz devices, such as cordless phones, microwaves and baby monitoring devices. These devices can limit wireless performance. To manage the problem, limit sources of RF interference in proximity to the WAP.

Additional resources for wireless networks can be found at:
Wireless Network Tutorial including manufacturer step by step procedures.
http://spotlight.getnetwise.org/wireless/wifitips/
Microsoft: www.microsoft.com/technet/network/wifi/wifisoho.mspx

For more monthly tips go to: www.msisac.org/awareness/news

FROM IT SECURITY NEWS:

Bush wants a security clearance reform plan by April 30
The memo's language reflects concerns that longstanding security
clearance practices are preventing employees and contractors from
beginning work. (fcw)
http://www.1105newsletters.com/t.do?id=866100:3309489

For more monthly tips go to: www.msisac.org/awareness/news/

Posted by David Badertscher | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: Authors of Articles , David Badertscher , Information Security Newsletter

Bookmark:

BY DAVID BADERTSCHER

Since October 11, 2007 the New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library, New York County has been uploading slip opinions of the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, First Department to the Criminal Law Library Blog. See http://www.criminallawlibraryblog.com/court_decisions/new_york_supreme_court_app_div/

As could be expected, users of that blawg who consult the slip opinions posted have started asking questions about how these slip opinions should be cited where found by consulting this blawg. Here is a recent question received by the Library:

"...I got a phone call from an attorney reading the [Criminal Law Library Blog] where the slip opinions from the Appellate Division [First Department] are posted. She was preparing a brief and needed a cite, not Westlaw whatever. Can the cite be determined from the blog or do we have to go to Westlaw or Lexis?"

After receiving this question I consulted the web version of the New York Official Reports: Official Reports Style Manual which is an official, authorative source for offering guidance for citing New York cases, including slip opinions, see http://courts.state.ny.us/reporter/NYStyleMan2007.pdf, to determine if the question posed has been addressed; my concern was that whenever possible citations should conform to established the established conventions of the jurisdiction involved, in this instance the State of New York.

While the Official Reports Style Manual does not address directly the accepted format for citing slip opinions found on a blaw posting, it does offer guidance through a combination of its sections that together can be used to construct a format for citing New York Slip opinions on a blawg. Specifically, Section 2.2(a)(8) "Citations to Slip Opinions" and Section 7.1(c)(3) " Citation to a Document or Page on a Web Site". Section 7.1(c)(4) "Weblog Citation" does not address directly the citing of cases found on a weblog but it does offer the following guidance: "For citations to weblogs (blogs), follow the general citatation style above [Section 7.1(c)(3)] including the name of the weblog, the title or entry, the URL, and the date of posting."

For your convenience I have prepared two sample citations to slip opinions posted on the Criminal Law Library Blog that should meet the above standards if you find it necessary to include a blogsite in your citation:

(Tighe v. Henneghan Construction Co. Inc., _AD3d_, 2008 NY Slip Op 2287 [1st Dept. 2008], Criminal Law Library Blog, http://www.criminallawlibraryblog.com/ny_AppDiv1_SlipOp_02-05-2007.pdf [February 5, 2008])

(In Matter of Zelda E. Stewart, _AD3d_, 2008 NY Slip Op M-6222 [1st Dept. 2008], Criminal Law Library Blog, http://www.criminallawlibraryblog.com/Ny_AppDiv1_Stewart_02-05-2008.pdf [February 5, 2008])

In this posting I have only considered slip opinions in the State of New York. Acceptable. Due to the need to post this information in a timely manner, I have only briefly reviewed citation formats for cases on blawgs in other jurisdictions. From that review I suspect requirements in many other locations will be similar to those outlined above.

This points out again the urgent need generally to address issues related to the appropriate and functional citation of legal materials stored in a digital format. It is good to see that the American Association of Law Libraries working with others is continuing to carry on this effort
_______________________________

*The opinions expressed above are entirely my own and do not reflect any opinions or commentary, official or unofficial, of the State of New York Unified Court System.

Posted by David Badertscher | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (1)

Posted In: Authors of Articles , Commentary and Opinion , David Badertscher , Library News and Views , Library Organization and Planning , New York Supreme Court App. Div Slip Opinions , Questions and Answers

Bookmark:

DAVID BADERTSCHER

The following posting consists of a series of documents selected to hopefully help provide those readers interested with an overview of the budget and the budget process. It also includes a list of the web sites rererenced in President Bush's Budget Message.To provide added context I have embedded some of the citation references within quotations from his message. Due to the size and complexity of this budget as submitted we can only include a few of the documents in this posting. The following includes links to the series of documents selected.

SELECTED DOCUMENTS:

The Nation's Fiscal Outlook (PDF 365 KB)
As Released by the Office of Management and Budget

The Budget System and Concepts (PDF 235 KB)
As Released by the Office of Management and Budget

Fiscal Overview of the President's Fiscal 2009 Budget Proposal (PDF 50.3 KB)
Summary Prepared by the Minority Staff of the House Budget Committee

The President's Fiscal 2009 Budget: Analytical Perspectives - Introduction (PDF 147 KB)
As Released by the Office of Management and Budget

The President's Fiscal 2009 Budget: Analytical Perspectives - Economic Assumptions and Analyses (PDF 677 KB)
As Released by the Office of Management and Budget

The President's Fiscal 2009 Budget: Analytical Perspectives - Budget Reform Proposals (PDF 191 KB)
As Released by the Office of Management and Budget

What's at Stake? State-by-State Analysis of the President's Fiscal 2009 Budget (PDF 188 KB)
Report Prepared by the Majority Staff of the House Budget Committee

WEB SITES LISTED IN PRESIDENT BUSH'S BUDGET MESSAGE:

www.budget.gov The budget of the Federal Government for Fiscal Year
2009.

"To help Americans see where their money is being spent, we have launched
website called www.USAspending.gov "

"...to help Americans see the kind of results they are getting
for their money, we launched www.ExpectMore.gov...."

Posted by David Badertscher | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: Commentary and Opinion , David Badertscher , Publication Announcements and Reviews , The Documents Corner

Bookmark:

Since issues related to stimulating the U.S. economy and the more general economic outlook are being so widely discussed in the news media, we thought it would be helpful to add context to the general discussion by posting a few federal documents which provide an added dimension to the topic.

The list of materials below is not meant to be comprehensive; most have been generated in the past few days by those involved directly in developing the proposed stimulus package. In addition, we have added two documents which discuss the general outlook of the economy.

Here is the list with brief descriptions. To gain access to these materials click on the links provided:

Fact Sheet: CBO Budget Outlook, Fy 2008-2018

State-by-State Economic Snapshots: Reports Prepared by the Joint Economic Committee

Subprime Crisis Timetable: Prepared by Joint Economic Committee - December 2007 - August 2007

Expanded Summary of the 2008 Economic Growth Package From House Minority Leader John Boehner

Expanded Summary of the 2008 Economic Growth Package From Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Summary of the Economic Stimulus Agreement From the White House

Transcript of a Press Conference From Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader John Boehner and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson: Transcript as Released by theOffice of Speaker Pelosi

Economic Stimulus Bill HR 5140 To provide economic stimulus through recover rebates to individuals, incentives for business investment, and an increase in conforming and FHA loan limits...

Statement of Administration Policy for House Consideration of the Recovery Rebate and Economic Stimulus for the American People Act, H.R. 5140 (PDF 48 KB)
SAP Prepared by the Office of Management and Budget

U.S.Senate: Description of the Chairman's Modification to the Provisions of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 (PDF 86.8 KB)
Prepared by the Staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation

Posted by David Badertscher | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: Commentary and Opinion , David Badertscher , Legislative Information

Bookmark:

BY: David G. Badertscher

The New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library of New York County (sometimes referred to as the New York Criminal Law Library) is located in lower Manhattan near the Brooklyn Bridge, City Hall, and State andFederal courthouses. It is one of several Supreme Court libraries located throughout the State of New York, which operate under the
auspices of the New York Unified Court System.

Although its primary mission is to provide reference and research support to personnel of the Criminal Term, its actual responsibilities and obligations are quite broad. Using its various collections in all formats, including digital, in conjunction with various web and online services, including a website and a weblog, this library functions as both an information repository and an information service. These resources and services enable it to reach out to patrons both local and worldwide, as time and resources permit. Part of the library's responsibility is to provide support as needed and operational oversight to the New York County Public Access Law Library, which is charged with serving those members of the public who need law-related information.

In order to discharge these responsibilities with limited staff, it has been necessary for the library to work cooperatively with library consortia and other groups to provide the added resources and services required to maintain an acceptable level of service. One of the organizations that has been especially helpful to us is the Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO). The library has been a member ofMETRO since 1981. It was through METRO that we first learned ofQuestionPoint and were invited to participate in a 2002 pilot project. With some initial apprehension we accepted the offer and became an active participant in the latter part of that year.

Despite some initial reservations that we might not be able to keep up with expectations and workflow, the use of QuestionPoint has been quite successful for us. It serves as a useful and important adjunct to our other web-based services in both reaching out to our patrons and through its referral features. It enables us to augment our resources in ways otherwise impossible. For example on more than one occasion we have used QuestionPoint to search worldwide for materials that would otherwise have been unobtainable. In order to make it work for us, however, we have needed to avoid some of the features that are essential to others. We do not use chat or any form of instant messaging because we simply do not have the appropriate staff resources to make this work satisfactorily for us. We have not, however, found the lack of chat a limitation at all.

Over the past few years many libraries, including this one, have been involved in lively discussions as to how best to respond to demands for digitized information which can be retrieved at any time from a variety of devices, both stationary and mobile. After some experimentation, our response has included the use of blogging technology coupled with rss feeds. In 2004 we introduced the New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library blog powered by Bloglines, http://www.bloglines.com/blog/pll . It has remained popular with both court personnel and public users to this day. It is mentioned here because it incorporates the ability of users to submit questions via QuestionPoint through a link to the library website.

Although the New York Supreme Court Criminal Term blog remains both useful and popular, we have found it necessary to also create a new blog, www.criminallawlibraryblog.com, to take advantage of added features which cannot be incorporated effectively into the original blog. For example, the new blog includes both a QuestionPoint form for submitting questions and a direct link to the public portion of the QuestionPoint global knowledgbase. Using this feature, users are able to type in key words which will in turn retrieve questions/answers in the knowledgbase which correspond to their queries.The global knowledgbase feature is located near the upper left part of the screen of our newest blog. This particularly innovative feature has been developed and included as a direct result of the inspiring online QuestionPoint presentation this summer by Peter Armenti of the Digital Reference Team at the Library of Congress.

With the new blog we are also able to embed documents, some not otherwise readily available on the web, in such a way that one can readily access these materials on the blog by simply clicking on the link provided. In order to adequately describe the added features included in the Criminal Law Library Blog, we are calling it an "added value blog."

By adding these services to our overall information services program, which are are able to provide judges and other library patrons with needed information on a more timely and selective basis than would otherwise be possible. The overall response has been quite positive and has helped to create the perception that the library is making a concerted effort to address the information challenges of the 21st century.

Posted by David Badertscher | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: Commentary and Opinion , David Badertscher , Library News and Views

Bookmark:

David Badertscher

"Why we need to move from thinking about Web pages to thinking about the information on those pages."

http://www.gcn.com/blogs/tech/45477.html

The above quote and link refer to a recent posting by Joab Jackson in which he discusses an idea recently put forward in a posting by the "father of the web" Sir Berners Lee. Berners Lee writes "The net links computers, the web links documents...now people are making another mental move. There is a realization now, its not the documents, its the things they are about which is important." He is proposing that we think to the web as not a www (World Wide Web) but as a GGG (Giant Global Graph). As I understand it, he believes that the www model places too much emphasis just on documents themselves, not enough emphasis on specific information or content within documents on the web and is proposing a different model (GGG) as a possible way of addressing these concerns.

In his own posting referenced above, Joab Jackson interprets Berners Lee's idea as ..."in other words, with the Web we think of web sites, but we really need to move toward thinking about specific information we are trying to retrieve from the Web." Joab also quotes Dr. James Hendler a professor of computer and cognitive science at the Rensslear Polytechnic Institute who who is familiar with Berners Lee's thinking. According to Dr. Hendler, "as we seek more on the spot information with our mobile devices, we increasingly need a more nuanced way of retrieving that information...For instance if we just need an address, we don't need an entire Web page, or database, that contains that addressd. We just need the address itself."

Reading through this material and the Berners Lee post, I was struck by the thought that librarians, who have become highly dependant on the web in their work as information specialists, have long been concerned about these and related issues and are also working to resolve them . As information of all types, both accurate and inaccurate, becomes increasingly accessible, librarians too have been concerned about the need for more nuanced methods of not only finding specific information but determining if that information is both reliable and meets the needs of their patrons. There is a need for real collaboration if the semantic web and other ideas being put forward by Tim Berners Lee and others to ensure that the information needs of society are truly addressed as the web continues to evolve.

Although the idea of changing the web from WWW to GGG is certainly provocative and perhaps beneficial in providing a clearer description of its evolving functions, it is the effective resolution of issues raised by SirTim Berners Lee and others in this discussion that are of paramount importance, regardless of what naming conventions are eventually adopted. Looking ahead, concerns about content within documents on the web will become progressively more urgent.

Those concerns include issues related to accuracy, accessibility, reliabiality, authenticity, and in terms of some legal information, whether the documents containig the information are official or unofficial. These are among the areas where librarians can be especially helpful in moving the web forward.

Posted by David Badertscher | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: Commentary and Opinion , David Badertscher , Information Technology , Library News and Views

Bookmark:

David Badertscher

Usually four times a year I make a presentation to Psychiatric Fellows associated with our forensic psychiatric clinic. In these presentations I discuss updated reference sources including databases, and review with them various searching and other techniques useful in their research. When preparing for an upcoming session I noticed two items, one a small OP-ED article in the New York Times, and the other a review of a book published by Oxford University Press.

One book that is consulted repeatedly is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM, a respected reference source, currently in its fourth edition, prepared by the American Psychiatric Association. While this source is often relied upon without question, there is a concern among some that future editions may need to focus in a more precise way on issues such as symptoms and the linkage between diagnosis and treatment.

In her September 13, 2007 New York Times article, Sally Satel, a psychiatrist and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute frames the issue in a concise, readable manner useful to lawyers, judges and others who depend on DSM IV as a basic resource. To quote Dr. Satel, “Why aren’t we closer to understanding the relationship between manifest illness and its underlying causes? One obstacle is the staggering complexity of the brain.”

This brings me to my second source. The latest issue of Jurimetrics includes a review by Stacey Tovino of the book, Law and the Brain, edited by Samir Zeki and Oliver Goodenough. It consists of a collection of fourteen essays that explore “a range of topics at the intersection of law and neurobiology” which focus on “special challenges raised by the neuroscience-policy interface”–these challenges flowing from the basic differences “ in the orientation of the brain and brain science on the one hand, and the law on the other.”

The final four essays in the book explore the implications of advances in neuroscience for criminal responsibility and publishment. In one essay, “For the Law, Neuroscience Changes Nothing and Everything,” Joshua Greene and Jonathan Cohen “recommend shifting away from punishment aimed at retribution and moving towards ‘a more progressive, consequentalist approach to criminal law.” In the final essay “Responsibility and Punishment: Whose Mind? A Response” Oliver Goodenough “asks us to consider the law of responsibility from a unique perspective; that is, from the brain of the punisher, not the punishee.”

In their separate ways each of these sources, DSM and Law and the Brain, contribute significantly to an appreciation of the significance of relationships between psychiatry and the law, both applied and conceptual. .

Posted by David Badertscher | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: Commentary and Opinion , Criminal Law and Justice , David Badertscher

Bookmark: