The Goodson Blogson

Where did the semester go? While the fall semester may have disappeared quickly, there’s still plenty of time to prepare for a successful exam season. First, fill in those outline gaps with study aids , available in print and online via the Law Library. The West Academic Study Aids Library includes Acing, Concepts and Insights, Hornbooks, Nutshells, Black Letter Outlines, Legalines, and Sum and Substance audio. The Aspen Learning Library includes Examples & Explanations, Glannon Guides, and Emanuel Law Outlines. Elgar Advanced Introductions to Law provides accessible yet comprehensive overviews of more than two dozen legal topics, particularly strong in comparative and international areas of law. All three study aid databases can be accessed quickly from the Law Library’s Legal Databases & Links page. First-semester students might also want to take a look at general exam preparation guides , like those listed on the library orientation guide to Law School Success . Titles...

In 2019, engineer Phillip Wang launched a website called "This Person Does Not Exist," which harnessed the StyleGAN AI system to generate realistic-looking photographs of nonexistent people. Although Wang's original website is now defunct, scores of similar sites do exist, including a variation of This Person Does Not Exist and a variety of generators designed for such diverse uses as helping programmers look busy at work , creating a geography guessing game out of Google Street View , and introducing made-up dictionary definitions into the lexicon . Just a few years later, large language model (LLM) chatbots are the hottest trend in generative AI technology, with OpenAI's ChatGPT , Microsoft's Bing Chat (powered by ChatGPT), and Google's Bard the best-known of their kind. It's easy to see their appeal – type a quick prompt and almost instantly generate a wall of convincing-sounding text, complete with citations. Sound too good to be true? Alas, it ...

The Law School community now has institutional access to PowerNotes , a research organization and outlining tool that uses a browser extension to capture, organize, and track sources from other databases and websites. Current Law School community members may sign up under an institutional account allowing unlimited projects with their Duke.edu email address. (Anyone may sign up for a free individual account that includes the creation of one project.) PowerNotes provides a helpful "Quick Start" guide to using its system. Users must install a browser extension for Chrome (also works with Microsoft Edge) or Firefox , and create an account with the system. The browser extension allows researchers to capture highlighted text on a website and add it to a project outline with notes. Outlines can be easily organized and also exported into various formats, including Microsoft Word and Excel or Google Docs and Sheets. PowerNotes can be used with free websites as well as subscrip...

In law practice (and life), sometimes you'll need to calculate a future date, especially for filing deadlines. While it may seem like a quick and simple task, any miscalculation could result in at least an embarrassing conversation, if not more severe consequences like a barred claim or even formal discipline. Some law practice management systems have this feature built in (like Thomson Reuters Firm Central Deadline Assistant), but others do not (for example, Clio's help page notes that while this feature is not yet available, users can request it). What should you do if your employer doesn't have such a tool built into its practice management system? As it turns out, there are a lot of options. On social media last week, Chicago attorney Brad Romance went viral for his "Next Level Lawyer Pro Tip" video of the future date calculation feature in Microsoft Outlook Calendar , in which users can type "today+45" (or any other number) in the date field of a...

How many email addresses do you have? More importantly, how many email addresses have you forgotten about? In June, Lifehacker posted a helpful guide, How to Find and Delete Your Old Email Addresses . Echoing concerns raised recently by Consumer Reports , the posts noted that dormant email accounts present a serious security vulnerability – especially if you used them as password recovery addresses for linked services or other, more valuable email accounts. Both posts detail some steps to locate and delete unwanted, dormant email addresses. A few key tips to identify past addresses to potentially shutter: Conduct a web search for your known usernames and email addresses. View the connected email accounts on your social media services (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) by accessing your Settings. Check the secondary "password recovery" accounts listed on your primary email account and other online services. Review any saved logins in your web browsers or passw...

Interested in learning a new skill this summer? Discovered a technological weak spot at your summer job? Wanted to brush up on a foreign language before an exciting overseas vacation? Whatever the reason, the library can connect you to the resources to learn more. Duke's Office of Information Technology's Online Training page points to several options, and provides tips for ensuring successful progress in online learning. Lynda.com , linked from the OIT Online Training site, is available to all members of the Duke University community, and includes video modules for more than 6,000 topics. The subject library provides links to the lessons under each category. A number of modules are available for Microsoft Office products like Word and Excel, as well as presentation technology like Prezi, computer programming languages, and even music lessons. Coursera for Duke provides Duke community members and alumni with free access to Coursera online courses created by Duke instruc...

Today is Data Privacy Day , an international event to raise awareness about online privacy and security. As noted on the event's website, "Data Privacy Day began in the United States and Canada in January 2008 as an extension of the Data Protection Day celebration in Europe. Data Protection Day commemorates the Jan. 28, 1981, signing of Convention 108, the first legally binding international treaty dealing with privacy and data protection." The Data Privacy Day website includes practical tips to Stay Safe Online . Three easy steps that everyone can take today to increase their online privacy and security include: Strengthen your passwords. Did you know that current members of the Duke community can download the password management service LastPass Premium for free? LastPass and other services like it will help you create long, extra-strength passwords, which are then stored securely in a "vault" – leaving you with only one master password to remember going ...

You may have seen the Duke Law Tech Hub on the third floor of the Law Library. The Tech Hub is a space to engage with and learn about different legal technology and tools. From virtual reality to analytics to design thinking, the Hub has a little bit of everything. Wait. What is design thinking, you ask? In short, design thinking is a problem-solving methodology for innovation . Rooted in engineering, design thinking has permeated education, business, and legal practice. More and more law firms are looking into how design thinking can help make their practice more efficient, while others adopted it long ago. With the growing popularity and curiosity around design thinking, the Tech Hub is hosting a lunch panel on Design Thinking and the Law this Monday, Oct 29th, with two leaders in the field: Camillo Sassano, IBM Design Principal & Kevin L Schultz, IBM Hardware Design Lead. IBM has been implementing design thinking into their business model for over a decade and did resear...

While Duke Law students, faculty and staff have long enjoyed 24-hour access to both the Law School and Law Library, the Duke Law community didn't have a 24-hour service desk…until now. A Self-Checkout Station is now available at the Circulation/Reserve desk. If you need to check out a Law Library item after hours – or just feel like bypassing a line during the day – bring your items to the iPad kiosk at the service desk. Follow the instructions on the touch screen to log in with your NetID and password, use the camera to take photos of the item barcodes, and verify that the system has logged you out when you are finished. Need to borrow items even faster? With the Duke Self-Checkout smartphone app , you can borrow Standard Loan library items right at the shelf. MeeScan Duke Self-Checkout apps for iPhone and Android devices are available at the App Store and on Google Play . Note that this station offers checkout service only – to return items for check-in after hours, use th...

With only a few days left in the U.S. Supreme Court's term, all eyes have been on SCOTUSblog and other sources for news and analysis. Yesterday, the Court released four opinions, including the much-discussed "Internet sales tax" case South Dakota v. Wayfair , and Pereira v. Sessions , which interpreted rules regarding immigration removal notice and procedure. Compared to those higher-profile opinions, Wisconsin Central Ltd. v. United States received less attention in yesterday's news media. A case determining that stock options are not taxable compensation under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act, this opinion is likely of greatest interest to tax professionals (or, presumably, retired railroad employees). But something notable lurks in the dissenting opinion by Justice Breyer: the Court’s first-ever reference to the cryptocurrency Bitcoin in its opinions. Moreover, what we view as money has changed over time. Cowrie shells once were such a medium but no longer a...

As reported in the ABA Journal this week , the North Carolina State Bar has proposed an amendment to its annual requirements for continuing legal education (CLE) . Attorneys in North Carolina are already required to complete 12 credit hours of approved CLE each year; the proposal, if approved, would mandate that one of those hours be focused on "technology training" topics. (As outlined in the State Bar website , some of those hours must already focus on professional responsibility topics, including substance abuse awareness.) Back in 2012, the American Bar Association amended Model Rule of Professional Responsibility 1.1 on competent representation, in order to include an understanding of technology within its scope. Comment 8 to the rule now reads, "To maintain the requisite knowledge and skill, a lawyer should keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology , engage in continuing study and e...

Do you prefer brainstorming on a whiteboard to typing up an outline? If so, then mind mapping tools may be a great way to plan your next project. Mind mapping allows you to brainstorm, take notes, or plan projects visually, and these tools also allow easy collaboration with other users. Learn more about the benefits of mind mapping at the Lifehacker blog's 2013 post How to Use Mind Maps to Unleash Your Brain's Creativity . Duke University has just announced a partnership which makes MindMeister available for free to all current students, faculty, and staff. MindMeister is a cloud-based mind mapping tool which is compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux. Duke users should log in at the OIT software download page , search for MindMeister, and Add to Cart. After Checkout, the free MindMeister Account Creation Link will generate an email to create your Duke account on the service. MindMeister also offers iOS and Android apps for mobile users, as well as the ability to collabora...

It's that time of year again! Since 2009, the Goodson Blogson has compiled holiday gift ideas for the law students or lawyers in your life. We are proud to stand alongside long-time lawyer gift guide authors like Reid Trautz of Reid My Blog (which, sadly, seems to have ceased updating after its 2015 gift guide) and the ABA Journal . This year, we are getting a head start on our holiday shopping plans, with our earliest gift guide ever. The gift shops of federal museums and other D.C.-area tourist attractions remain a great place to locate unique law-themed items. If you can't make it to the new National Museum of African American History and Culture (where advanced tickets quickly sold out until 2017), you can browse some of its souvenirs available in the Smithsonian Store , including books on African-American and civil rights history, t-shirts, and jewelry. The Supreme Court Historical Society Gift Shop and White House Gift Shop are also perennial favorites for legal a...

Are you one of the millions of users who downloaded the Pokémon GO app in its first week of release? Or have you spent the last few days confused by your friends' sudden stream of social media references to "PokéStops," "Poké Balls," and "Pidgeys"? For the uninitiated, Pokémon GO is an augmented-reality game, available in the US on iPhone or Android mobile devices, which encourages players to head outdoors in search of computer-generated creatures which pop up on your screen. Users catch the Pokémon by throwing a virtual ball, then engage in competitive battles with other users' Pokémon. The game was an instant cultural phenomenon, capitalizing on nostalgia for the Pokémon cartoons of the early 2000s and the prevalence of smartphones. Almost immediately, users began to flood public spaces which have been designated as Pokémon "Gyms" (including many churches, parks, and even the White House ). Despite safety warnings from municipal pol...

The vast majority of state bar associations offer their members free access to one of the major low-cost legal research services, Casemaker and Fastcase . The advantages are obvious for solo practitioners and small-firm attorneys, who rely on these research services for access to primary law and selected secondary materials. But even Biglaw practitioners can benefit from access to these alternatives to premium services like Westlaw, Lexis, and Bloomberg: they provide uncluttered case law and statute searching, and include unique features like Fastcase's interactive search results timeline ( covered in the ABA Journal last year), local legal materials such as county and city codes, and secondary sources like CasemakerLibra's Continuing Legal Education collection or Fastcase's treatise library (added after its recent acquisition of the now-defunct service Loislaw). There have been some changes to the state bar associations' legal research offerings since the Goodson B...

With final exams on the horizon, we wanted to review some important library information and resources to help you through the end of the semester. Library Access Exam time brings a temporary change to the library's access policy , most notably in the evening hours. From now until the end of exams (Friday, December 18), access to the Goodson Law Library for study purposes will be limited to current Duke Law students, faculty and staff. Card-swipe access to the library entrance will be required after 5:00 p.m. on weekdays and all day on weekends. Members of the Duke University community or general public who require access to the library for legal research purposes should contact the library service desk for assistance during reference service hours (Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.). Additional study space is available to all throughout the building, such as in the Star Commons. Getting Technical If you will use your laptop to take an exam, make sure you have ...

Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia heard a challenge to the Canadian province's anti-cyberbullying law , which was passed in 2013 following the suicide of 17-year-old Rehtaeh Parsons. Parsons, a victim of sexual assault, had been harassed for several months by students at her school after a photo of the attack was circulated online. In response to her tragic death, Nova Scotia lawmakers enacted the Cyber-safety Act , which prohibits "electronic communication […] that is intended or ought reasonably [to] be expected to cause fear, intimidation, humiliation, distress or other damage or harm to another person’s health, emotional well-being, self-esteem or reputation." Under the Act, victims of cyberbullying may be entitled to civil damage awards from their harassers, or from the parents of minor children who engage in online harassment. Robert Snell, who was accused of cyberbullying by a former business partner, has challenged a protective order issued against hi...

Online passwords: so necessary, so hard to create, and so easy to forget. If you're prone to keeping the same passwords on multiple sites for long stretches of time, Westlaw is about to make your life a bit more difficult: all academic Westlaw users should change their OnePass password as soon as possible, in order to avoid an upcoming automatic reset which would lock you out of your account until a new password is created. A similar reset occurred last year for law firm Westlaw subscribers; the academic reset may take place as early as mid-January. To change your OnePass password before the automatic reset, log in to http://lawschool.westlaw.com , click "Update" in the left-hand welcome sidebar, and create a new password following the requirements. Passwords must be between 8-16 characters long and contain at least 3 of the required features (upper-case letter, lower-case letter, symbol, and/or number). But think twice before typing your pet's name or "Pa...

It's no secret that web links can be unreliable. The Chesapeake Digital Preservation Group , which has been reporting on website "link rot" since 2008, said in its 2013 annual report that nearly half of the links from its original website sample list no longer work; this includes a number of government and educational websites. A similar study of websites cited by the U.S. Supreme Court from 1996-2010 showed that nearly one-third of the cited links were no longer functional. As the A.B.A. Journal reported in December , groups including Chesapeake as well as Perma.cc (of which Duke Law is a member) are working to combat the problem going forward, but in many cases the damage has already been done. So what can researchers do when they encounter a dead website URL? A blueprint can be found in chapter 6 of the latest edition of Levitt & Rosch's new reference work The Cybersleuth's Guide to the Internet: Conducting Effective Free Investigative & Legal Re...

Keeping up with the latest scholarly literature can be a challenge: old journal issues pile up into office clutter. Articles you found online are lost as soon as you close your browser, if you didn't keep track of your search history. A link in an email might lead to a publisher pay wall, if you haven't authenticated your computer with your University credentials. Is there a better way to keep your scholarly research organized? If you're a tablet user, consider BrowZine . The Duke University Libraries have partnered with BrowZine to provide thousands of its subscription journals through a tablet "newsstand" app, which is available for iPad, Android and Kindle Fire devices. Instructions and download links are available at http://library.duke.edu/research/browzine . Once the app is downloaded, Duke users should select Duke University from the Institutions list, and enter their NetID and password ( security note : these credentials are not provided to the app...