Libraries are bridges to information and knowledge.

According to libraryjournal.com, a libraries taskforce has been formed to investigate the recent OCLC policy changes regarding the use and transfer of WorldCat records.

According to libraryjournal.com:

“Taking a step likely to be welcomed by many in the cataloging community, the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) and the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) have formed an ad hoc task force to study the recently disseminated OCLC policy governing the use and transfer of WorldCat records.

According to an NBC report on MSNBC, use of library has gone “way up” during the present economic downturn; circulation is “skyrocketing”. All of this at a time when the budgets of many of these libraries are being cut..

When you go to the above link, be patient, You will first need to listen to a brief commercial before getting to the report about libraries.

“GPO’s Authentication initiative focuses on the primary objective of assuring users that the information made available by GPO is official and authentic and that trust relationships exist between all participants in electronic transactions. In furthering GPO’s mission to provide permanent public access to authentic U.S. Government publications, GPO is working to afford users further assurance that files are unchanged since GPO authenticated them.

The Beta release of an Authenticated Congressional Bills application provides digitally signed and certified Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files for a sample set of Congressional Bills from the 110th Congress. GPO has signed and certified the House and Senate bills PDF files within this application as part of GPO’s initiative to reassure users that the online documents are official and authentic.

The documents in this database are available as ASCII text and digitally signed and certified Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files.”

From: The New York City Bar Library December 15, 2008.

The New York City Bar has finalized an agreement with Google and LLMC-Digital to digitize the remaining print volumes of Records & Briefs in the City Bar’s collection. This project will preserve court cases from the New York Court of Appeals (1823-1929) and all four departments of the Appellate Division (1896-1940). The project will also include scanning very scarce cases from the Superior and Appellate Term courts in the mid-late 1800’s. The trial transcripts and briefs will be available free of charge from Google and in an enhanced format in the LLMC-Digital database available through the City Bar’s web site (www.nycbar.org ).

The City Bar expects to transfer 1,000 volumes per week to Mountain View, California starting this week. Other New York area libraries may also become involved in this project in order to create a comprehensive online collection of New York Records and Briefs.

QUESTION:

What are libraries with existing Thomson West Library Maintenance Agreements (LMAs) planning to do when those Agreements come up for renewal? Responses, arranged by type of library are quite varied. All names have been removed to protect privacy but we are especially grateful to the person who both submitted the question originally and compiled the responses below:

RESPONSES:

THE FEDERAL INFORMATION MANUAL: How the Government Collects, Manages, and Discloses Information under FOIA and Other Statutes

By P. Stephen Gidiere III

“Disputes about access to federal information arise in numerous contexts, from corporate transactions and administrative rulemaking to Congressional subpoenas, civil litigation, and national security. The Federal Information Manual provides a comprehensive guide through the powerful Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) as well as the varied and often obscure statutes, cases, regulations, judicial decisions, executive orders, and policies that govern federal information.”

Update from the Lexis Alert Service, Search run morning of December 15, 2008.

1. People v. Mears, 4384, 4854/03, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2008 NY Slip Op 8021; 55 A.D.3d 439; 866 N.Y.S.2d 75; 2008 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 7858, October 23, 2008, Decided, October 23, 2008, Entered, THE LEXIS PAGINATION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING RELEASE OF THE FINAL PUBLISHED VERSION., THIS OPINION IS UNCORRECTED AND SUBJECT TO REVISION BEFORE PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS.

The People of the State …

BY: Emmy Gordon Case Manager National Pardon Center of Canada

Many fantastic careers await today’s law students upon graduation. There are the typical directions down the criminal justice road that many will take such as working as a public defender, a pardon attorney, a probation officer, or working in an already successful law firm. There are those, however, who would prefer something a little less traditional, careers to better accommodate their unique talents and interests. Fortunately, there are plenty of exciting alternative career options within the law umbrella which can help these soon-to-be professionals put their degrees to good use. As many as 10% of law students entering the workforce today, do so at an alternative angle as they vie for non-traditional jobs.

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