Commentary and Opinion

March 20, 2009

New FOIA Guidelines Issued In Memorandum By U.S. Attorney General Holder

In his memorandum of March 19, 2009 to heads of executive departments and agencies, Attorney General Holder rescinds former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft’s October 12, 2001 memorandum which states that records could be witheld by the Department of Justice “unless they lack a sound legal basis or present an unwarranted risk of adverse impact on the ability of other agencies to protect other important records” Topics included in the Attorney General Holder memorandum include: A presumption of openess; FOIA is the Responsibility of Everyone, and the importance of agencies working productively and properly.

To quote from a statement on the U.S. Department of Justice website:

“By restoring the presumption of disclosure that is at the heart of the Freedom of Information Act, we are making a critical change that will restore the public’s ability to access information in a timely manner,” said Attorney General Holder. ‘The American people have the right to information about their government’s activities, and these new guidelines will ensure they are able to obtain that information under principles of openness and transparency.’ “

March 20, 2009

ABA Journal Weekly Newsletter. March 20, 2009.

by David Badertscher

Top Ten Stories of the Week ending March 20, 2009:

Law Practice Management Layoff ‘Herd Mentality’ Ignores Greater Savings of Pay Cuts, Prof Says

Mar 17, 2009, 08:19 am CDT

March 19, 2009

Q&A: To What Extent and Under What Conditions Are Congressional Research Reports Official Documents? *

by David Badertscher

Q\UESTION::

In a recent e-mail, someone from Canada asked asked how she could obtain an “official copy” of a Congressional Research Service report, “one from Congress,” not one from the website of an organization such as the Federation of American Scientists. The responses which follow are very interesting; they address a variety of related issues including the following: Are Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports that contain added designations such as watermarks, trademarks, or copyright notices official and are they in the public domain? Does the U.S. Government have any special rights to use copyrighted materials? and can CRS reports always be freely disseminated as government documents?

RESPONSES:

March 16, 2009

Legal Division Quarterly: The Winter/Spring 2009 Issue

by David Badertscher

The Legal Division Quarterly is the Newsletter of the Legal Division of the Special Libraries Association:

The 2009 Winter/Spring issue of the Legal Division Quarterly is now online at:

http://units.sla.org/division/dleg/Newsletter/LDQ%20Winter%20Spring%20v16n1&2.pdf

March 16, 2009

Two Twitter Stories

by David Badertscher

Stories about popular, exciting topics, often appear almost together , sometimes on the same day. On March 13 two stories published in the InformationWeek Daily Newsletter caught our attention and we wanted to pass them on to our readers:

In “The Intruder Story: Man At His Best”, Michael Hickins writes:

“As far as I’m concerned, David Prager is a hero. I would love to meet the man with enough sangfroid (that’s French for cojones) to Tweet and to even set up a Ustream of the event, all while reflecting on the relative degree of danger in which he found himself.”

March 16, 2009

Book Review: Trial Advocacy Planning, Analysis and Strategy

by David Badertscher

REVIEWED BY: THEODORE POLLACK*

Title: Trial Advocacy: Planning, Analysis, and Strategy

Authors: Marilyn J. Berger, John B. Mitchell, Ronald Clark

March 13, 2009

Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO): Strategic Plan 2009-2014

by David Badertscher

The Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO), the New York State reference and research library resource system serving New York City and its metropolitan area, has just released its Strategic Plan 2009-2014. This stragetic plan which was developed through a broad consultative and inclusive process (including input from law libraries), addresses the needs of its member libraries, the demands of a changing library/information world, and the course METRO should take. As for disclosure, I participated in the planning and development of this Stragetic Plan as a member of the METRO Professional Planning Group. In the past I have also served as a member of the Board of Directors of METRO.

In view of the importance and urgency of issues addressed I am posting the entire Strategic Plan here with the hope that it will be distributed widely among libraries, their parent organizations, and other organizations concerned about libraries and librarianship. We would also appreciate comments.

David Badertscher