The Mendik Library now subscribes to HeinOnline’s World Constitutions Illustrated, an excellent resource for anyone researching constitutional history. Organized by country, the site provides links to historical constitutional documents throughout the world in reverse chronological order.  Additional resources include Country Studies, the CIA World Factbook and the Modern Legal Systems Cyclopedia. Researchers will also find selected scholarly articles for download or print, a bibliography of constitutional works, as well as news feeds and external links relating to each country. HeinOnline plans to provide constitutions in every official language, and at least one English translation, for each of the 195 countries in the world.

To link directly to this terrific new source, search “World Constitutions Illustrated” in the Mendik Library Catalog, or go to the alphabetical list of libraries in HeinOnline (found on the Library’s home page under Electronic Resources)and click “World Constitutions Illustrated.”

 

Over 1,000 electronic databases are accessible by anyone who lives or attends school in New York State. How, you ask?  Use a library card from the NYPL.  The databases cover business, news, social science, art, health, etc. and are accessible anywhere you have an internet connection.  You can apply for a card online and it will be sent to you in the mail.

And there’s yet more digital information available through NOVELNY, the New York Online Virtual Electronic Library offered by the New York State Library.  This resource also provides over 1,000 databases covering business and finance, general reference, health and medicine, literature and news. You can log in with your New York driver’s license or non-driver state ID.

There are many benefits to using digital libraries.  For one thing, no ghosts! (Or professors of parapsychology.)

The Mendik Library recently unveiled DRAGNET (Database Retrieval Access using Google’s New Electronic Technology), a custom search tool that allows users to search simultaneously in more than 80 free, law-related web sites and databases.

DRAGNET searches general law sites as well as sites containing legal news, foreign and international law, tax law, cyber law and other law-related materials.  It also searches a large number of state and local government sites. Search results are limited to the 100 most relevant hits, so users are encouraged to use very specific search terms.  Librarians at the Mendik Library developed DRAGNET using Google’s free custom search option.

For questions or suggestions about DRAGNET, please contact systems librarian Terry Ballard at terry.ballard@nyls.edu .

It is becoming easier and easier to locate primary legal material (cases and statutes) through a variety of free online sources. Click here to access our Free & Low Cost Legal Research guide.

Join us next Wednesday June 23 (and on any or all of the following Wednesdays through July 28), for the Mendik Library’s 2010 Summer Research Challenge! Hone your research skills and have some fun at the same time. Get all the details here.

From March 1 through March 25, the Mendik Library’s Reference Staff is offering a number of Research Skills Workshops focusing on the practical skills you will need in order to do research for class or for the workplace.

All sessions will be held in Electronic Research Classroom L203.

Each session is limited to 16 attendees.

Advance Online Registration is required for ALL sessions.

Sessions for which no one has registered will be cancelled 24 hours prior to the scheduled start of that session.

To Register for a Research Skills Workshop:
1. Click on the name of the class in which you are interested.
2. The calendar will highlight the date or dates on which sessions for that class are offered. Click on date of the session you wish to attend.
3. Click on the Time Slot box.
4. Enter your name, e-mail and an easily remembered password. You will be sent a confirmation e-mail immediately and a reminder e-mail before your session.
5. Submit Your Request.
6. Click on SAVE.

If you discover you will not be able to attend a session for which you registered, please use the link contained in either the confirmation or reminder e-mails to cancel or re-schedule your appointment.

 

Agency Law: Rules, Regulations & More  March 3rd (Wed.) from 5:00 – 5:50 pm.

Not all law is made in Congress. Focusing on the CFR and Federal Register, learn the basics of researching Federal Agency rules and regulations. (50 minutes)

CALR: Bring in your Problems (Lexis, Westlaw or anything else)*
March 1st (Mon.), March 18th (Thu.) and March 22nd (Mon.) from 5:10 – 5:50 pm.
If you have any questions regarding Westlaw, Lexis or any other type of Computer Assisted Legal Research, you should definitely come to one of these sessions.
* Note: Attendance DOES NOT satisfy the1st Year CALR requirement.

Citation Workshop
March 2nd (Tue.), March 9th (Tue.) and March 25th (Thu.) from 5:10 – 5:50 pm.
Uncomfortable with the Bluebook? This workshop focuses on some of the common citation problems faced by people trying to use the Bluebook.

Encore: You Will be Surprised at What Is in Our Catalog
March 8th (Mon.) from 5:10 – 5:50.
The catalog used to just tell you what books a library owned. Now it is a sophisticated 21st century program that is the gateway to many kinds of electronic and paper resources. Find the catalog search secrets that will give you the research edge.

Getting Started on a NY Legal Research Project
March 4th (Thu.) and March 17th (Wed.) from 5:00 – 5:50.
What is the NYCRR, the Green Book, the CLS? Get a quick overview of the major sources used in researching New York legal questions.

Loislaw: A Low-Cost Alternative to Lexis and Westlaw
March 16th (Tue.) from 5:10 – 5:50.
While having fewer databases than Lexis or Westlaw, Loislaw can be a viable CALR alternative for the solo practitioner or small firm.

Power Googling
March 11th (Thu.) from 5:10 – 5:50.
Don’t restrict yourself to the tip of the Google iceberg! Learn to use wild cards, phrases, connectors. Set up electronic Google Alerts. Check out Google Scholar and Google Print.

Premium Databases for Specialized Research
March 23rd (Tue.) from 5:10 – 5:50.
A large number of very useful subscription databases can be accessed by members of the NYLS community. Learn what is available to you and how to use these valuable research tools.

Tax Workshop
March 15th (Mon.) from 5:00 – 5:50.
An introduction to many of the tools with which the Federal Tax researcher needs to become familiar. Learn about Looseleaf Services, the tax databases on Lexis & Westlaw and internet tax research resources to which the library subscribes.

Using the West Digest System
March 24th (Wed.) from 5:10 – 5:50.
Using the West Digest System can make researching easier. Come to the session and learn how to use Headnotes, Digest Topics and Key Numbers to your best advantage.

What Is a Legislative History and Why You Should Care
March 10th (Wed.) from 5:00-5:50.
What is a Legislative History? Why is it important? How is one complied? Come to the session and see.

 

One-on-One Research Appointments

If you have a specific research question or problem that can’t be dealt with adequately within the time framework of a scheduled class, or, if you would like to spend some time talking with a Reference Librarian about any aspect of Legal Research, contact the senior reference librarian (Michael McCarthy or 212.431.2384).

 

 

Lexis & Westlaw, the long-time standard-bearers in online legal research, are now facing a Google-Bloomberg tsunami. Over the past several years, Lexis and Westlaw have both felt increasing competition from lower cost electronic legal research providers and from free government and public interest websites.  Now they are being hit hard by the emergence of two formidable competitors, Google and Bloomberg.

In November, Google began offering free access to all federal court opinions dating back to 1923 (Supreme Court opinions from 1791), state appellate court opinions back to 1950, and a range of law reviews and journals.  (See our previous post about Google here.)  Meanwhile, Bloomberg was already in the process of unveiling Bloomberg Law, which provides access to federal and state case and statutory law, case dockets, legal and business news and analysis, and a growing collection of secondary sources.  Along with its own citator (BCite), Bloomberg Law also introduces elements of web 2.0 to the research process.  Among other things, researchers can collaborate through shared “Workspaces,” and can annotate research results using a “Memo Pad.” Lexis and Westlaw appear primed to respond with their own new platforms:  Westlaw is debuting WestLawNext on February 1 and Lexis is expected to unveil its New Lexis product later this year. For additional details see this January 24, 2010 New York Times article.

Stay tuned for what are certain to be ongoing developments.

Do you need an authoritative definition of an English-language word?  Are you looking for the origins or first usage of a word?  Remember that the Mendik Library provides online access to the OED (the Oxford English Dictionary). The OED covers words from across the English-speaking world. It is a guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of over half a million words, both present and past. It traces the usage of words through 2.5 million quotations from a wide range of international English language sources, from classic literature and specialist periodicals to film scripts and cookery books.  You can find it on our web page under Electronic Resources.

Google Scholar has recently begun offering free access to federal and state case law (as well as some law reviews and other secondary legal materials). You can access U.S. Supreme Court opinions from 1791 to the present and other federal opinions, including district, appellate, tax and bankruptcy opinions, from 1923 to the present.  State appellate court cases are available from 1950 to the present.

You may search for cases the same way you search for any information on Google.  Using the advanced search option, you can restrict your search to federal or state court opinions. For more information, see the discussion at the Google blog. You may also want to see Google Scholar: A New Way to Search for Cases and Related Legal Publications.

Remember, there are a number of other very good sources for free cases (and more), including:  Lexisone.com, Precydent, and The Public Library of Law.  Caution:  None of these sources is yet comprehensive and you should always check the scope (jurisdictional, geographical, and chronological) of their coverage.

Join us next Monday June 22 (and on any or all of the following Mondays through July 20), for the Mendik Library’s Summer Research Challenge! Hone your research skills and have some fun at the same time. Get all the details here.