Thursday, June 27, 2019

Oxford Historical Treaties Now Available

The Oxford Historical Treaties database is now available to the Duke University community. This database contains the full text of treaties from 1648-1919, derived from Clive Parry's Consolidated Treaty Series. Additional editorial commentaries on treaty-related topics will be regularly added by General Editor Randall Lesaffer (Tilburg Law School) and guest editors.

Just in time for Friday's centennial anniversary of the Treaty of Versailles, the database has contributed several texts to a free Oxford Public International Law online collection of scholarly articles, book chapters, definitions, and expert commentary on the Treaty of Versailles and the history of international law. This collection is free to all readers until August 31; however, most of the content will remain available to Duke readers after that date, as the Goodson Law Library subscribes to most of the databases from Oxford Public International Law (including the online Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law and other titles).

Current members of the Duke University community may now access Oxford Historical Treaties via the Duke libraries' online catalog or through Legal Databases & Links. For more information about treaty-related research resources, consult our research guide to Treaties or Ask a Librarian.

Thursday, June 20, 2019

Black's Law Dictionary 11th Edition

The new 11th edition of Black's Law Dictionary has arrived at the library and online. Once our hard copies are processed, you can find a print copy at the Reserve Desk and on the dictionary stand in the library Reading Room. Online, the Black's Law Dictionary database on Westlaw has already incorporated the 11th edition changes.

What's new in the 2019 edition? The publisher's description promises "new material on every page." More than 3,500 new terms have been added, bringing the total number of definitions higher than 55,000. Definitions now include information about the earliest known usage in the English language, a unique feature among law dictionaries. In addition, definitions for 900 Latin maxims have also been added to a new, separate section.

Historical editions of Black's Law Dictionary are available on Reserve. The first (1891) and second (1910) editions are also available online.

For help with locating Black's Law Dictionary or finding legal definitions, be sure to Ask a Librarian.

Thursday, June 13, 2019

Virtual Summer School

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 instructors. Available topics at Duke include computer programming and statistical analysis skills. Additional topics can be found at Coursera.org's full course catalog, and may be available in a free "audit" option that does not provide a certificate of completion.
  • Language learning resources were the subject of a January Goodson Blogson post, covering Duke subscription databases like Mango Languages and Transparent Language Online, as well as the popular freemium language app Duolingo.
For help with accessing or using these resources, be sure to Ask a Librarian.