The Goodson Blogson

[Update 11/7: Listen to the archived webcast of this event at http://realserver.law.duke.edu/ramgen/broadcast/11062008lib.rm . RealPlayer is required.] As part of Building Dedication Week , Senior Associate Dean for Information Services Dick Danner will host a panel discussion on the scholarly role of the modern law library. The 21st Century Law Library Thursday, November 6, 4:30-5:30 p.m. Room 3041 The panel will also include S. Blair Kauffman , Librarian and Professor of Law at Yale's Lillian Goldman Law Library, and John G. Palfrey , the Henry N. Ess III Professor of Law and Vice Dean of Library and Information Resources at Harvard Law Library. Immediately following the discussion will be a reception in the library to honor J. Michael Goodson, for whom the renovated library has been renamed. For a full list of Dedication Week events, see the online schedule .

For decades, Pike & Fischer Communications Regulation (previously known as Pike & Fischer Radio Regulation ) has assisted legal researchers with its compilation and analysis of Federal Communications Commission rules, agency and court decisions, and related statutes and regulations. Previously available at Duke in loose-leaf binder format, the Library has recently transitioned to the electronic version (access with NetID and password at http://library.duke.edu/metasearch/db/id/DUK03232 ). The older print editions of the loose-leaf will be preserved in the library's collection, but are no longer being updated with new pages. The electronic version of Communications Regulation offers: Current FCC rules, updated daily Cases from the FCC and selected communications cases from other courts (including a growing PDF archive of the FCC Record ) Relevant statutes and regulations, including an archive of proposed FCC rules and requests for comment back to 1964 Pike & Fischer n...

If you read court opinions on Lexis and Westlaw , the star paging feature will help you to determine where the page breaks appear in each of the parallel print reporter citations. This makes it simple to quickly generate pinpoint citations which are appropriate for Bluebook format. Occasionally, though, legal researchers require the original page image of a particular case. Although PDFs of the National Reporter System are available on Westlaw back to 1920, locating page images of official state reporters can be more difficult. The library does own most American reporters in print, although many state reporters are housed off-site at the Library Service Center (these can be requested for delivery to the Law Library through the online catalog with a NetID and password). Fortunately, an increasing number of online sources are also providing PDFs of state cases. As mentioned above, Westlaw offers PDFs of its regional reporters ( view map ) dating back to their first volumes in 1920. Mor...

Everyone needs an occasional break from the rigors of law school. Fortunately, the Law Library offers an oasis from statutes and casebooks, right by the window wall in the Reading Room. The Cox Legal Fiction Collection offers hundreds of law-related novels (in addition to scholarly examinations of law and literature). The collection features the usual best-selling suspects (such as John Grisham and David Baldacci) as well as classic literature ( To Kill a Mockingbird ) and first-time novelists with a legal bent (Saira Rao's Chambermaid and Jonathan Blachman's Anonymous Lawyer , to name a few). Students may borrow Cox Collection titles with a DukeCard for up to 4 weeks-- plenty of time to sneak a chapter of "fun" into nightly reading assignments. Visit this page for a sampling of the latest additions to the Cox Collection. Many entries include plot summaries, and some even include previews of the first chapter in Google Books: there's surely something to please ...

Since 1946, the Yearbook of the United Nations has remained a critically important publication for researchers of the international organization. The Yearbook provides a detailed history of the activities of the United Nations, arranged by topic and offering several useful appendices. For decades, the Yearbook was available only in print (it can be found in the Law Library's Periodicals collection, Level 4), although a CD-ROM version was introduced in the 1990s. However, the United Nations announced last week that it has digitized the complete series of the Yearbook , and posted it for free at http://unyearbook.un.org . The online version allows researchers to browse or search all available issues of the Yearbook , which currently spans 1946-2005. International law researchers should bookmark this valuable free online resource.

Every year since 1950, the National Moot Court Competition attracts top talent from the nation's law schools. Teams who have advanced from regional competitions argue before a panel of legal professionals, who evaluate participants based upon their written briefs and oral arguments. This prestigious competition allows students to develop their legal writing and oral argument skills-- essential for most legal professionals. New moot court participants often look to the winning briefs of past years in order to determine the competition's preferred writing styles and arguments. The winning materials are published each year in a book series, National Moot Court Competition (available in the library 1991-present at the call number KF8918 .N38). The entire series, from 1950-present, has just been digitized in the HeinOnline database, and is now available at Duke. From the main HeinOnline screen, choose "National Moot Court Competition" to search or browse the available ...

Open Access (OA) is a growing international movement that uses the Internet to throw open the locked doors that once hid knowledge. It encourages the unrestricted sharing of research results with everyone, everywhere, for the advancement and enjoyment of science and society. Tuesday, October 14 marks the first international Open Access Day , which aims to broaden awareness of the OA movement through educational events around the world. The Duke Libraries will host two events on Tuesday, October 14, the first of which includes discussion by two Duke Law faculty members: Duke Talks about Open Access 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Perkins Library (Room 217) Featuring James Boyle , William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law, Chairman of the Board, Creative Commons. Professor Boyle will focus on Creative Commons, an organization which is working to facilitate the free availability of art, scholarly and creative materials through online licenses that authors can attach to their work. His talk will be f...

The Law Library will operate under reduced staffing hours during the Law School's Fall Break, October 11-18. Saturday & Sunday Oct. 11-12 CLOSED Monday - Friday Oct. 13-17 8:00 am - 5:00 pm Saturday Oct. 18 CLOSED Sunday Oct. 19 Regular hours resume During the break, Law students, faculty and staff retain 24-hour access to the Law School and Law Library with a DukeCard.

It’s that time of year again. "First Monday", October 6, marks the beginning of the U.S. Supreme Court ’s 2008-2009 term. What issues will be tackled by our nation’s highest court? A number of online resources have the answers. The Supreme Court’s own web site offers its Argument Calendars for the upcoming term. Argument transcripts should be posted within the same day at http://www.supremecourtus.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts.html . The American Bar Association’s annual Supreme Court Preview provides copies of all merit and amicus briefs for the Court’s upcoming term, and a “Supreme Court Primer” of procedures. The popular SCOTUSblog offers running (often live) commentary and analysis on the new term’s cases. Its SCOTUSwiki feature presents OT2008 cases in argument order, with links to briefs, commentary and analysis; following arguments, SCOTUSblog volunteers will post “Oral Argument Recaps” and “Opinion Analysis”, making this an excellent place to begin rese...