Well . . . not just any party or any platform – but, the Democratic and Republican Parties and the 2012 election platforms. Search no further . . . . The American Presidency Project, established in 1999 as a collaboration between John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has an archive of over 100,000 documents related to the study of the Presidency. The National Political Party Platforms section in the Documents area of the web site contains the platforms for political parties receiving electoral votes from 1840-2012.
Author: farrah nagrampa
Bluebook App Now Available!
Good news! The Bluebook is now available for iPads, iPhones, and iPods. The app supports full-text searching, browsing, highlighting, bookmarking, and annotating. Among its features, the continuous display of the Table of Contents and hyperlinking of cross-references make navigation a breeze. You don’t have to worry about losing your Internet connection either. Once downloaded, the rules reside on your device for offline use. Give it a try! Here’s the link.
A few things to note: First, for the foreseeable future, the app is only available for the iPhone and the iPad – not for Androids or Blackberrys. If you have both an iPhone and an iPad, one purchase enables you to use it on both devices. Second, at $39.95, it is a little more expensive than the print Bluebook (which is $37.15 (new) at the NYLS bookstore). But for folks who want the convenience and search capability of digital access it may well be worth it. An added benefit is that all Bluebook updates between editions are automatically added to the app and you “own” the app; there’s no need to purchase it again unless you want to once a new edition is published. (New editions are published every five years, with the 20th edition scheduled for 2015.) Comparing it against the Bluebook’s online version, the app’s pricing may still be more favorable. The online version is $32 for one year, with annual renewals priced at $15, although you can pay $42 for two years or $50 for three years with corresponding $15 renewals. But that is only available “online,” meaning on a PC or Mac, and you’ll need an Internet connection while using it. Remember: the Mendik Library has a subscription to the online Bluebook, which can be accessed from two PCs in the Library. Contact the Reference Desk for password information.
Q: When is a student a Kioskuser?
A: When the student is using a convenience PC in the Library.
The convenience PCs, located just outside the elevators on every Library floor, are for searching our Online Catalog. They’re also handy for using the portal, checking your email, or making quick visits to the Internet. You can open documents on them, and you can print from them.
But when you’re using a convenience PC, you’re not logged into the network. So when you send a print job, the network doesn’t know it’s coming from you. Instead, your job shows up in the printer’s queue as having come from someone named Kioskuser. And if a dozen students all send jobs from the convenience PCs, then all those jobs land in the print queue looking like they came from Kioskuser. It can get very confusing!
Luckily, it’s easy to avoid this confusion! For printing important documents, head down to the labs on L2. There are dozens of PCs there where you can log in to the network. And once you’re logged in, the network knows you’re you. Your jobs go to the print queue with your name, which makes them much easier to identify.
Don’t Be Legally Prizeless!
There’s no need to be legally clueless or legally prizeless anymore. All you need to do is turn in your completed Legally Clueless Info Hunt answers at the Library Reference Desk before Tuesday, August 28 at 1:00 p.m. and you could win one of more than a dozen valuable study aids, texts and other fun prizes we will be giving away. In addition to OneCard Guest Cards (good at the coffee bar and cafeteria) and Barnes and Nobel gift cards, winners can choose from the following list of titles:
Criminal Procedures II: Examples and Explanations
Legal Analysis: 100 Exercises for Mastery
Property: Examples and Explanations
Property Stories
Questions & Answers: Business Associations
Questions & Answers: Civil Procedure
Questions & Answers: Contracts
Questions & Answers: Criminal Law
Questions & Answers: Property
Questions & Answers: Torts
Questions & Answers: Wills, Trusts, and Estates
New York Practice Hornbook
If you can’t find your lime-green copy of the Legally Clueless Info Hunt form, pick up another one at the Reference Desk. Remember, you can work with a partner or a group and you should always feel free to ask one of the reference librarians for help.
Good luck to all!
Welcome from the Library Director
On behalf of the entire staff of the Mendik Library, I want to extend my welcome and congratulations to the entering classes of 2015/16. We are all looking forward to meeting you as you embark on a challenging and exciting journey.
For most law students, the law library quickly becomes a constant feature of their lives, a second home if you will. We have worked hard to make our home a comfortable study and learning environment and you can be assured that you are getting the benefit of an outstanding library collection, an extensive offering of services, and an excellent library staff.
We describe our collections and our services in great detail on our web pages and numerous handouts. What you might not realize from these publications is the outstanding quality of the Mendik Library Staff and why that is important to you. Our staff of twenty-two includes fifteen professionals with master’s degrees, eight of whom also have J.D. degrees from law schools around the country. Your librarians have many years of experience working in law libraries and teaching legal research. Many also have years of legal practice experience and most have been at New York Law School for several years. They can all help you with your library and research needs, of course, but their value to you goes far beyond that. Do not hesitate to ask your librarians questions about the law school, particular courses, or any of the extracurricular activities available. We can help you, or we will direct you to the best person to give you the help you need.
We all realize that law school is a new experience for each of you, and we are committed to making that experience a rewarding one. We welcome the opportunity to work with you throughout your law school career.
Sincerely,
Professor Camille Broussard
Library Director & Associate Dean
NYLS Law Students “Friend” the Supreme Court
Congratulations to the students and faculty of the NYLS Racial Justice Project for completing and filing an amicus curiae brief in Fisher v. Univ. of Tex. at Austin, 631 F.2d 213 (5th Cir. 2011), cert. granted 132 S. Ct. 1536 (Feb. 21, 2012) (No. 11-345) a case the U.S. Supreme Court will hear in October. The case is a challenge to UT Austin’s consideration of race as a factor in undergraduate admissions and will be the first time the Court addresses affirmative action in higher education since Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306 (2003).The brief was written on behalf of the National Black Law Students Association and responds to arguments in other briefs that race-conscious admissions programs demoralize minority students, exposing them to stigma and academic environments in which they are outmatched. A copy of the brief is attached here.
Hats off to students Matthew Hellman (’12), Christopher Binns (’12), Lailah Pepe (’13), Joycelyn Pittard (’13) and Xan Marshall (’13), and, of course, Professors Deborah Archer, Susan Abraham and Aderson Francois.
Law and the Olympics
Haven’t been able to make it to London for the Olympics? Curious about the many different laws and regulations that underlie and sometimes impact what has been described as “the world’s most recognized international sporting event”? It’s not too late to explore the wide-ranging Olympics and International Sports Law Research Guide produced by the Georgetown Law Library. You may not win any medals but you’ll learn about the formal organization and legal structure of the Games and the various forums and procedures that govern resolution of disputes. So, in the spirit of the Olympics . . . Citius, Altius, Fortius!
Good Luck on the Bar Exam!
The Mendik Library wishes the very best of luck to all New York Law School graduates who will be sitting for a bar exam next week. It has been a long haul – but, you really are almost there. To better accommodate your study needs during the home stretch, the Mendik Library will stay open until midnight starting Wednesday, July 18th through Sunday, July 22nd .
We wish you every success and look forward to seeing you on the other side!
Can the Library Do the Can-Can? You Bet We Can!
Congratulations Class of 2012! We are very happy to report that this year’s “Food for Fines” was a smashing success! We collected more than 780 food items for the Salvation Army’s Chinatown Corps. In addition to serving underprivileged families, the Chinatown Corps helps more than 700 senior citizens in the nearby neighborhood. When the Corps staff came by recently to pick up the cans, Dean Crowell presided over the donation event.
Thank you all for helping us help our neighbors. You have set a very high bar for 2013!
Library Closed for Independence Day
Just a reminder that the Mendik Library will be closed tomorrow, Wednesday July 4, 2012, in celebration of Independence Day. The Library will be open on Thursday and Friday, July 5 and 6, from 10:00 a.m.—9:00 p.m. We will be open for regular summer weekend hours on Saturday and Sunday, July 7 and 8, 10:00 a.m.—9:00 p.m.
Enjoy the fireworks!