The Goodson Blogson

As the holidays approach, users may find themselves wanting help at a time when the Goodson Law Library is closed. Our Hours & Directions page explains our library entrance and staffing hours over the winter break. The Duke Law community will retain its 24-hour building access with a current DukeCard, but what if you have a research question when library staff are not available? Here are some time-saving strategies. Library research guides are available for more than 30 topics. They present a mix of print materials, free Internet sites and subscription-based online resources, aimed at helping researchers get started with recommended resources. Some of our most popular guides are Federal Legislative History , North Carolina Practice , Legal Research on the Web , and Foreign & Comparative Law . If your topic isn't listed in our research guides, try a quick search of Cornell Law School's Legal Research Engine , a custom Google search of law school and other legal rese...

Earlier this week, the U.S. Government Printing Office announced the release of the 2012 United States Policy and Supporting Positions , better known by its nickname: " the Plum Book ." Published every four years following the presidential election, the Plum Book provides a listing of more than 8,000 presidentially-appointed federal government positions, along with information about the current employees (where applicable). The volume is divided into the three branches of government, then by department, agency or office (see Table of Contents ). The Plum Book also includes a breakdown of positions subject to non-competitive appointment , as well as federal salary schedules . For those who aspire to a career in federal politics, the Plum Book is an essential resource; for others, it's an interesting view of the inner workings of Washington, D.C. Although the Goodson Law Library no longer receives the Plum Book in print format, it is available free in PDF and text f...

Since at least the beginning of October, readership of the annual Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Special Institute (RMMLF-INST) has likely skyrocketed. Is the sudden spike due to increased public concern about fracking, or a boom in the oil & gas law employment sector? Actually, it's a little more technical than that. An undetermined coding issue in Westlaw Classic 's Journals & Law Reviews database (a.k.a. JLR) has given a strange prominence to Terms & Connectors search results from the Mineral Law Foundation publication. For almost the last two months, the top results for JLR searches in Westlaw Classic are dominated by all available matches in reverse-chronological order from RMMLF-INST, even if more recent articles which match the search parameters are available within other publications. (Other titles which now seem to float all of their matching articles randomly to the top of Westlaw Classic search results, regardless of the user's selected ...

[In this guest post, Reference Intern Janeen Williams explores the legal history of the Thanksgiving holiday. Post title courtesy of Lee Cloninger .]  Currently, Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November, but that has not always been the case. The tradition of the " Day of Thanks" began soon after the establishment of the United States. In 1789, in accordance with George Washington's proclamation , Thanksgiving was on Thursday, November 26; however, at this time the holiday was not annual. The holiday was not annually recognized until after Abraham Lincoln’s proclamation in 1863. In the mid-1900s, when states began to recognize Thanksgiving on different Thursdays, Congress decided to enact legislation that would create a fixed national date for the holiday. In 1941, President Roosevelt signed legislation establishing Thanksgiving as a national holiday that would occur on the fourth Thursday in November. Visit the National Archives website to see fede...

Last week, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor visited Sesame Street to explain the concept of a "career" to Abby Cadabby. Justice Sotomayor is no stranger to the educational program's young viewers, having previously appeared earlier in 2012 to decide the case of Baby Bear v. Goldilocks. But her latest appearance coincided perfectly with the beginning of interview season for first-year law students, who can undoubtedly relate to Abby's excitement – and confusion – about the many possible career paths that she might choose. While our 1Ls probably don't have a SCOTUS justice on speed-dial, they do have a lot of resources at their disposal to help make their job searches easier. First and foremost is the Duke Law Career Center , whose Career Paths website outlines and describes common professional areas like private practice, public interest, academia, and even international opportunities. The 1L Career Toolkit provides invaluable guidance for each of t...

The Riddick Rare Book Room display case currently holds an exhibit featuring items from the Robinson Everett Redistricting Cases Papers . This collection is kept in the Goodson Law Library Archives and is named after Judge Robinson O. Everett (1928-2009), who was a Duke Law faculty member for more than 50 years. The papers tell a unique North Carolina story with several close ties to Duke Law School.  After the 1990 Census increased North Carolina's seats in the U.S. House of Representatives from 11 to 12, the state General Assembly created a new apportionment plan , with one district drawn to ensure an African-American majority. The U.S. Attorney General's Office objected, stating that the population makeup of the state (78% white, 20% black, and 1% each Native American and Asian) made a single majority-minority district insufficient. In a special legislative session, the General Assembly rewrote the apportionment plan to create an additional majority-minority district....

Today marks the end of the sixth annual Open Access Week , an international effort to promote free access to scholarly research. Previous years' events and initiatives are detailed in past Blogson entries . This year, we'd like to highlight an ongoing effort at Duke Law School, which illustrates our commitment to open access: The Duke Law Scholarship Repository . Since 1998, Duke's student-edited journals have been freely accessible on the Duke Law website. The Faculty Scholarship Repositor y was launched in 2005 to provide broader access to the research of our faculty and affiliates. Today, the Repository houses both the long-running Faculty Scholarship collection as well as the complete back files of Duke Law's nine student-edited journals , which were added to the repository over the last year. Both our collection and audience continue to grow steadily; in mid-September, Duke became the first law school repository to reach 1.5 million downloads . For a glimpse ...

Law students often curse the dreaded LARW word count, but the truth is that courts can impose very similar restrictions on practicing attorneys. Consider the recent example of California entertainment lawyer (and author of Kohn on Music Licensing ) Bob Kohn, who in August sought to submit a 55-page amicus curiae brief in the Department of Justice's e-book price-fixing lawsuit. U.S. District Court Judge Denise Cote allowed his brief – on the condition that he limited it to no more than five pages (see a copy of the order at PaidContent ). To the delight of legal bloggers around the globe, last month Kohn filed his revised amicus brief in comic-strip form , condensing his argument into five pages of explanatory illustrations (see PDF at Thomson Reuters Insight ). Kohn's comic-strip brief was undeniably fun, but did it conform to court rules ? Local rule 11.1(b) of the S.D.N.Y. does specify that "The typeface, margins, and spacing of all documents presented for filing mu...

The Goodson Law Library recently updated its guide to Legal Research for Non-Lawyers . The new additions include an extensive list of local and national services for legal referrals , maintained by the Duke Law School Pro Bono Project. New links to free legal research resources like Google Scholar (for case law) and the American Bar Association's Law Reviews & Journals Search (for articles) have also been added. By far, though, the biggest change to the guide was the addition of e-book versions (where available) of popular Nolo Press self-help guides via the Legal Information Reference Center . These electronic versions may be used on-site by library visitors or off-campus by those with a current Duke University NetID. In many cases, the version available online is more recent than the library’s Reference Collection copies, which are updated less frequently. Some highlights: Paul Bergman & Sara J. Berman-Barrett. Represent Yourself in Court: How to Prepare and Try a W...

With Fall Break (a.k.a. 1L writing week) on the horizon, the semester is more than halfway over. Break week generally marks a turning point when returning students begin to buckle down and prepare for final exams and papers. As the library fills with increasingly-anxious students, it can be hard to find a place to settle in for long hours of outline review or intensive research. So with that in mind, the Goodson Law Library is pleased to announce a new option for study groups and other meetings: Room 4200B has now been added to our online reservation calendar . Like the eight study rooms on Level 2 of the library, it can be reserved by current Duke Law students up to 72 hours in advance; once reserved, its key can be checked out from the Circulation/Reserve desk. ( Note that unlike the Level 2 study rooms, Room 4200B has no built-in technology, but it can comfortably accommodate 6 people around its large table.) Room 4200B can be found on Level 4, in the area directly above the libr...

Monday, October 2 marked an important annual legal event: as required by 28 U.S.C. § 2 , the "First Monday in October" begins a new term of the U.S. Supreme Court . The Court has already begun to hear oral arguments in the cases it will decide during this term, which adjourns in June 2013. Court-watchers regard First Monday with great anticipation, and much was written earlier this week about the current docket and expected additions. See coverage at CNN , the New York Times , and the Washington Post , among others. But once the mainstream media's excitement about First Monday dissipates, how can you keep up with the goings-on at One First Street? The Goodson Blogson has some ideas. The Court's own website includes argument calendars and transcripts, links to briefs and other docket materials, and opinions and orders as they are released.  For news and commentary, many legal researchers subscribe to U.S. Law Week , which is available electronically to the Duke L...

Today, the Library of Congress unveiled the beta version of Congress.gov , which provides free access to congressional bills, enacted legislation, and member directories. This new site will eventually replace THOMAS , the Library's current legislative information portal. Read the announcements on the Library of Congress blog and the Law Library of Congress blog, In Custodia Legis . Like THOMAS, Congress.gov features the text of current and past bills and legislation , dating back to 2001 (compared to THOMAS's 1990, though the developers will be adding all historical THOMAS content into the new site over the next two years). Congress.gov also includes some new features, like biographies of current as well as past members of Congress (dating back to 1947) and an expanded collection of tutorials on the legislative process. The most noticeable changes, though, are the slick design (which is more compatible with mobile devices), improved search functionality, and the use of p...

Time flies when you're having fun! Monday, September 17 marks the 225th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution's signing. "Constitution Day" was established in 2004, piggybacking on the existing federal recognition of September 17 as "Citizenship Day." See 36 U.S.C. § 106 (2006) . As part of the effort to commemorate this important day, the National Constitution Center offers a "Pop Quiz" of 10 questions about the U.S. Constitution’s content and history. In 2011, the Christian Science Monitor prepared a similar quiz of constitutional trivia . More advanced con law scholars can also test their Constitution IQ with the Questions & Answers: Constitutional Law multiple-choice format study aid in the library's collection. Celebrate Constitution Day at the Goodson Law Library by picking up a free pocket Constitution at the library service desk, while supplies last. (Reading from afar? You can also print your own pocket Constitution from t...

Are you curious to see what all this iPad fuss is about before committing to buy one of your own? Or are you an experienced iPad user who just needs temporary access to a device? Either way, the Duke Law School's new iPad Loaner program may be able to help. Duke Law students can check out iPads and selected accessories from the Academic Technologies Help Desk. Why is this potentially useful? According to Digital Initiatives Librarian Hollie White , "There are many reasons to check out an iPad. On an iPad, notes can be taken , either by hand or using the keypad. Being very portable, iPads can also be used to store important documents using cloud applications. Four of Duke Law’s classrooms and the Digital Initiatives Lab have Apple TVs , which can be used with an iPad to project relevant content in meetings or with a study group." The loaner iPads come pre-loaded with a set of standard productivity, video, and legal research apps , such as Pages, Skype, Kindle, ...

Duke Law students, faculty and staff have access to Practical Law Company (PLC) , a transactional law resource which is used in practice by many firms. Register for an account with PLC for Law Schools by clicking the button labeled "FREE PLC Access." The website is organized into three sections, all of which include model documents with drafting tips, "Practice Notes," and step-by-step checklists in such areas as bankruptcy, securities, corporate finance, international arbitration, and intellectual property. Each section is organized slightly differently, and offers additional unique features. The Law School section provides Summer Associate Survival Guides and Interview Survival Guides designed to demystify corporate and securities law basics. The Law Firm section includes a glossary of law and business terminology, current news and analysis of the latest corporate deals, and guides to international business. The Law Department section is intended for use ...

Welcome (or welcome back) to the Fall 2012 semester! Effective at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 19, full evening and weekend library services have resumed. See our updated building access hours , and remember that you'll still need a current DukeCard to enter the Law School building after 5:00 p.m. and any time on weekends. Those just returning to Duke from a summer away will notice a few changes to the Goodson Law Library. In May, work began on a renovation project designed to create new spaces for eight of Duke Law's student-edited journals on Level 1 of the library. As part of this project, other study spaces throughout the library were also improved. While some work will continue into the fall semester (check the Renovation Updates page for details), here is your floor-by-floor guide to the changes so far. LEVEL 1 The most dramatic transformation can be seen at the back of Level 1, where the bank of study carrels was removed in July. (Don't worry - the carrels ha...

The Goodson Law Library recently subscribed to The Making of Modern Law: Foreign, Comparative & International Law, 1600-1926 . This new resource offers the full text of nearly 3,500 historic treatises on foreign, comparative and international law topics, from the 17th century to the early 20th. The collection offers a fascinating perspective on legal history, with titles like 1911's Patent and Trade Mark Laws of the World , which gives a country-by-country summary of then-current intellectual property requirements (ever wondered what a patent application cost in Uruguay at the turn of the 20th century? It's in there), or its earliest title, 1602's tongue-twisting The Pandectes of the Law of Nations: Contayning Seuerall Discourses of the Questions, Points, and Matters of Law, Wherein the Nations of the World doe Consent and Accord: Giuing Great Light to the Vnderstanding and Opening of the Principall Obiects, Questions, Rules, and Cases of the Ciuill Law and Common La...

Did you ever wish that The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation would go back to its 28-page roots ? While the ever-expanding citation manual (now up to a hefty 511 pages in its current 19th edition) probably will never shrink back down to its original size, you can still carry it in the palm of your hand. The Bluebook editors (a joint effort of the Columbia Law Review, the Harvard Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and The Yale Law Journal) have granted exclusive rights to a mobile version within the recently-launched rulebook™ mobile app from Ready Reference Apps. This mobile version of The Bluebook is now available for sale (iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch) in the iTunes App Store . The Bluebook library is available for $39.99 within the larger rulebook™ app, which also includes libraries of federal rules and selected state court rules. If the app isn't compatible with your own mobile device, never fear – the Bluebook editors also offer a web-based su...

Friday, July 27 marks the opening of the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The massive international competition will last until August 12 and feature more than 10,000 athletes competing in 26 different sports. (See this page for descriptions of each summer sport, as well as information about the criteria for adding a new sport to the Olympic program.) Planning for each Olympic Games is a complex process, from site selection to judging each event. The primary organization which oversees the Games is the International Olympic Committee , in cooperation with International Sports Federations (IFs) and National Olympic Committees (NOCs). This "Olympic Movement" adheres to a lengthy Charter which outlines the various rules and by-laws which make the Games possible. The IOC website includes the text of the Olympic Charter, a directory for the members of the international as well as national committees, and more information about financing and governance. Several works in the Goo...

Last week, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a House resolution intended to provide wider public access to reports prepared by the Congressional Research Service . CRS staff members research and draft reports on current legislative and policy concerns, which are made accessible to all members of Congress. The reports give important background information to lawmakers on such diverse topics as the impact of recent Supreme Court decisions , the political outlook in other countries , and even the procedure for naming U.S. Navy ships . Their access to the public is far more unpredictable, though – citizens may request free copies of particular reports from their elected representatives, assuming that they are able to identify a desired report title. A commercial publisher, Penny Hill Press , provides RSS feeds of newly-released reports, and sells them as PDF downloads for around $30 each. As described in the library's research guide to Federal Legislative History , the full ...

Over the weekend, California residents bid au revoir to foie gras, as a statewide ban signed in 2004 finally took effect on Sunday. The expensive delicacy is made from the livers of geese or ducks which have been fattened, often through a controversial force-feeding system called gavage . The Force Fed Birds Act of 2004 (text via CA legislature or HeinOnline’s Session Laws Library ) prohibits both the practice of gavage as well as the sale of products which result from such force feeding, meaning that California farmers and restaurateurs alike are affected by the ban. Most new laws don’t take effect immediately, in order to allow sufficient time to adjust to changes. In fact, California usually delays the effective date of new laws until the following January 1 (see Gov. Code § 9600 at http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes.xhtml ). But if a 7+ year delay seems excessive, look no further than the statute itself for the explanation: the lengthy gap was intended to give th...

With less than a month until the July bar exam, heads are probably swimming with legal concepts, case names, and prep-course mnemonics. If you’ve come down with a case of bar-exam brain-freeze, it might be time to try some alternative ways to learn: CALI, the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction , provides interactive tutorials on more than 900 legal topics. Tutorials range in scope from general areas of law to very specific legal concepts. A Duke Law registration code is needed for accessing the tutorials on the web, and can be obtained from the library Reference Desk or online with a NetID and password . If you like an interactive Q&A approach to studying, you might also prefer to download the mobile app versions of popular aids like the Law in a Flash flash-card series or the Q&A books from LexisNexis . Though the online version of each series is only slightly cheaper than the tangible versions, the ability to “shuffle” and annotate the flash cards and re-ta...

Last week, the blog Letters of Note revived a famous exchange of correspondence between two attorneys in 1988 . Wyoming lawyer Becky Klemt wrote to several practitioners in California, seeking assistance with collecting court-ordered child support from her client’s ex-husband, who had skipped town to the Golden State. Stephen Corris, an Irvine-based international trade specialist, attempted to decline the opportunity politely: "Without sounding pretentious," he informed Klemt six weeks after her original letter, "my current retainer for cases is a flat $100,000, with an additional charge of $1,000 per hour." Klemt fired off a cheeky reply, which quickly circulated throughout law firms around the country: "Steve, I've got news — you can't say you charge a $100,000.00 retainer fee and an additional $1,000.00 an hour without sounding pretentious. It just can't be done. Especially when you're writing to someone in Laramie, Wyoming where you'r...

Yesterday’s New York Times contained a fascinating article about the recognition of tribal courts in South Africa . These traditional village councils were commonplace during the apartheid era, and have remained an influential force in many areas nearly two decades after the country’s democratic reforms. As the Times piece illustrates, village residents who resist the unofficial but powerful local courts do so at their own peril: one widowed resident of Candu ignored the call of a traditional court following an insult to the village headman, and found herself shunned by neighbors until she appeared before the council to apologize and pay a fine (which included one live sheep and several cases of beer). Ironically, the affront to the local court was actually the woman’s adherence to the formal legal system: "She had broken customary law by calling the police to investigate a burglary at her house without informing the village headman." A bill pending before Parliament woul...

Yesterday, President Obama announced two nominees for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit . This is the first step in the federal judicial appointment process, which is outlined by the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary . The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts points out around 75 current vacancies in the federal court system, with almost half of those classified as “ judicial emergencies ”. The Judicial Nominations page at the U.S. Department of Justice presents a graphical view of nominees and hearings, although there is a slight delay in updating. Information about current Article III judicial nominees can be found in a variety of places. THOMAS , the free Library of Congress web portal, maintains a search screen for federal nominations, including the judiciary. Results link to information about the status of the nomination. The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary also maintains free information for the current Congress , including links to hearing tra...

As the trial of John Edwards drags into its ninth day of jury deliberations, you might wonder what is taking so long. The former U.S. Senator and 2004 vice-presidential candidate was indicted in 2011 for violating federal campaign finance laws in order to conceal his pregnant mistress, Rielle Hunter, during his 2008 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Yesterday, the News & Observer reported that the members of the jury "have been behind closed doors for twice as long as it took the defense to present its side of the case." A note from one juror prompted several closed-door sessions between U.S. District Court Judge Catherine Eagles and the attorneys on each side of the case. In addition, the four alternate jurors (who have not participated in the deliberations thus far) were allowed to return to their daily lives rather than spend more time waiting at the courthouse, although they remain “on call” if any of the twelve regular jurors are dismissed, and are st...

Earlier this spring, we invited you to test-drive the online version of International Encyclopaedia of Laws , a looseleaf set whose volumes provide a general overview of 25 legal topics, as well as country-specific monographs which describe individual nations’ legislation and case law in those areas. The set is edited by practitioners in the field, making the volumes an excellent introduction to comparative practice on a particular topic. The library had long received 20 of the available 25 topics in print ( catalog record ), but their looseleaf format made them cumbersome for researchers. The Goodson Law Library is pleased to announce that the online version of International Encyclopaedia of Laws is now active, and will replace the print set for current information (although the historical volumes will remain on the library shelf, where they are kept in call number order with other materials on the set's topic). Researchers can access any of the topical sets through a search...

[ On Saturday, June 30, Duke University access to Blackboard course sites will expire. Digital Initiatives Librarian Hollie White offers some advice to help students, faculty and staff prepare for the transition to Sakai , Blackboard’s replacement system. ] For Students: Although the last four years of Blackboard content have been migrated to Sakai for faculty access, students will not see these past courses in Sakai. If you want to save some of your work from a previous course (such as final products from group projects) which used Blackboard, sign on to Blackboard before June 30 and find the class(es) from which you want to save material . Please remember that handouts and slides are the property of the faculty member and you should not copy, save, or redistribute these without permission from your instructor. For Faculty: The last four years of Blackboard content has already been copied from Blackboard into Sakai. To explore your migrated classes, log in to Sakai . Class...

The Goodson Law Library now provides campus-wide access to Investor-State Law Guide (ISLG) , a new research resource for international investment treaty law materials. ISLG includes the text of international agreements and decisions interpreting them from various tribunals, in addition to the rules of these tribunals. Documents are linked together by a "mapping" system, allowing researchers to quickly access case law which interprets a particular provision or article of an investment treaty. ISLG’s collections of NAFTA and ICSID materials are particularly robust; other subject areas continue to grow. A brief online demo is available, illustrating the mapping feature and other search options within ISLG. The database can now be accessed through its link in the Foreign & International column of our Legal Databases & Links page; a current NetID is required for off-campus access.  For more resources related to researching international law, check out our online Rese...

Congratulations to our newest graduates! If you plan to remain in the Triangle area this summer for bar exam study, please note the following information about Duke Law building access, library services, and access to electronic resources. More details can be found on the library’s page Services for Law Alumni . Building Access : Although your law student IDs (which provide 24-hour access to the Law School and Law Library) are deactivated shortly after graduation, you are eligible for a free alumni card from the DukeCard Office . E-mail your alumni card number to the Law School's Building Manager, Catherine Hall , in order to activate 24-hour access for the summer. The access will continue until August 15. If you are leaving the Triangle area, and hope to visit another law library for regular bar exam study, be aware that many private law schools require a letter of introduction from your "home" institution in order to grant access. Chec...

The end of the semester brings some important changes to the Goodson Law Library’s access and service hours. Please note this information for reading/examination period and beyond: Library Services Effective Monday 4/16, the Reference Services desk will be open from Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Circulation/Reserve desk and the Academic Technologies Help Desk will continue evening and weekend service hours until the end of the examination period. Beginning on Friday, May 4 , all three library service desks will operate under summer hours (Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.), and will resume evening and weekend service at the start of the Fall 2012 semester. Library Access To ensure that adequate quiet study space is available for law students, use of the Goodson Law Library for study purposes during the Law School’s reading/exam period (Tuesday 4/17 to Friday 5/4) is limited to current Duke Law students, faculty and staff. University students, faculty and staf...