Information Technology

May 7, 2023

REFLECTIONS OF A RETIRED LAW LIBRARIAN: From Mimeograph to Generative AI

Being a retired law librarian of a certain age, I am now often asked to reflect upon my 50 years serving in various capacities as a law librarian. I have noticed that most questions asked can be grouped into discrete categories. For example, people want to know what lessons I have learned along the way as a law librarian, what I found most rewarding being a law librarian, what changes in law librarianship I have observed since I started approximately 50 years ago, and who have been my mentors or people who have greatly influenced me along the way. In this posting, I offer responses to these questions based on my current views.

What are some of the lessons you have learned as a professional in your field and in life?

I have come to appreciate the importance of understanding that change as it relates to all aspects of work and life is constant. And in order to be truly successful and to avoid stagnation, we must learn to become highly adaptable and flexible. Of utmost importance is the need to maintain enduring and useful connections with others.

February 1, 2011

AALL: Network Neutrality Update – January 2011

by David Badertscher

David Badertscher

Network Neutrality (Net neutrality) is a principle that expresses the concept that all Internet traffic must be treated equally regardless of possible economic and other incentives to do otherwise. The American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) strongly supports Net neutrality and is a member of Save the Internet Coalition and the Open Internet, both working to bring together individuals, non-profit organizations, businesses, and bloggers who strongly support this priciple.

As part of its leadership role in raising and clarifying issues related to Network Neutrality, AALL prepared a Newwork Neutrality Issue Brief, published in December 2008. Since that time there has been sufficient debate, discussion, rule changes (both actual and proposed), and litigation surrounding this issue to make it necessary for AALL to update its 2008 Network Neutrality Issue Brief, resulting the 2011 AALL Network Neturalty Issue Brief linked to below.

February 1, 2011

Internet Society Statement on Egypt’s Internet Shutdown

by David Badertscher

Source: The Internet Society Newsletter Volume 10 Number 1 January 2011.

On 28 January, Lynn St.Amour President and CEO, and the Internet Society Board of Trustees issued a statement on the Egypt’s Internet shutdown:

“We are following the current events in Egypt with concern as it appears that all incoming and outgoing Internet traffic has been disrupted. The Internet Society believes that the Internet is a global medium that fundamentally supports opportunity, empowerment, knowledge, growth, and freedom and that these values should never be taken away from individuals.

November 15, 2010

The WWW at 20

by David Badertscher

November 12. 2010 is the twentieth anniversary of a research proposal that is remaking our world. As Ben Zimmer tells it in his November 14 On Language column, WWW: The 20th Anniversary of a Research Proposal That Remande the Language in the New York Times, Tim Berners-Lee, a British software programmer working at CERN outside Geneva, was attempting to “sketch out a global system for sharing information over the Internet. After submitting a document in 1989 on the topic which generated little interest, Berners-Lee tried again in 1990, collaborating with a Belgian engineer Robert Cailliau. It was this paper, WorldWideWeb: Proposal for a Hyper Text Project, submitted on November 12, 2010, that is the true basis of the World Wide Web as we know of it today. There are a number of articles, papers, and media events commemorating this seminal event, but for a quick read that is also informative, Mr. Zimmer’s colum in the Sunday November 14, 2010 New York Times comes highly recommended.

David Badertscher

October 21, 2010

Social Media are Affecting the Way We Hear About Death: Police Grapple With Issue

by David Badertscher

On social media bad news spreads quickly.

When off-duty Baltimore Police Detective Brian Stevenson was killed Saturday night after being struck in the head by a piece of concrete, word spread quickly through police circles and spilled onto Facebook, where the officer’s young daughter learned of his death before relatives could break it to her in person.

See complete article by Justin Fenton in the October 20, Baltimore Sun.

October 18, 2010

Leading Executives in the Legal Research Industry Join Bloomberg Law

by David Badertscher

Leading Executives in the Legal Research Industry Join Bloomberg Law

Lou Andreozzi and Larry D. Thompson to Lead Expansion of Bloomberg’s Web-Based Legal Platform

New York, October 18, 2010 – Bloomberg today announced that Lou Andreozzi has joined the Company as chairman of Bloomberg Law and Larry D. Thompson, PhD, has joined as chief operating officer. Andreozzi and Thompson will play key leadership roles in the growth of Bloomberg Law, the innovative real-time legal research system from the world leader in data and information services.

October 18, 2010

From the Offices of Lesley Ellen Harris

by David Badertscher

A New Bog:

Those of you who follow this blog will know that I occasionaly post Lesley Harris’s excellent Newsletter The Copyright & News Media Law Newsletter, (latest issue posted below with permission) where she covers a wide range of topics from copyright and licensing to jobs for librarians. Although the Newsletter is by itself an ambitious undertaking, Leslie has now outdone herself by also launching a new blog, Copyrightlaws.com which, as you might expect, is about “copyright, licensing and digital property”. I have been following the blog since she launched it a few months ago: it is a nice complement to her newsletter. I especially like the Questions and Answers feature. You can see the blog at http://copyrightlaws.com.

David Badertscher

October 14, 2010

Ethics and Social Media Use By Court Staff

by David Badertscher

Real world examples needed.I

am posting the following request for real-world examples of issues and problems regarding ethics and social media that have occurred in our courts as a service to all of us who really need access to this information. Please contact Norman Meyer directly if you have any helpful information. Congratulations to Mr. Meyer for taking on this project.

David Badertscher

October 13, 2010

The Internet’s Thee Principles

by David Badertscher

The New York Chapter of the Internet Society has just sent word that avideo of Alex Goldman’s OneWebDay talk ‘The Internet’s Three Principles” is now available..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2akLJoA5W24

October 13, 2010

State of Telecom Conference: Matching Supply and Demand for the Next Generation of Broadband

by David Badertscher

The Columbia Institute for Tele-Information (CITI) “State of Telecom” conference will be held on October 15 at the Columbia University Business School, Davis Auditorium in theShapiro Center (just behind Uris Hall). This year’s focus will be on “Matching Supply and Demand for the Next Generation of Broadband.” The conference will be a “Trans-Atlantic Dialog” co-organized with IDATE of France so the topic will be explored from a global perspective.

Details, including registration, may be found on http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/citi/events/telecom2010