The European Library

Recently, I came across a website of the European Library.

[It] is a free service that offers access to the resources of the 48 national libraries of Europe in 35 languages.  Resources can be both digital (books, posters, maps, sound recordings, videos, etc.) and bibliographical. Quality and reliability are guaranteed by the 48 collaborating national libraries of Europe.

Read more about the library and its organization.  You may subscribe to the library's newsletter.  To learn more about the participating libraries, click here. Current library's exhibitions include Reading Europe, A Roma Journey, Napoleonic Wars, Treasures, and Buildings.

Users may browse the entire collection or by subject, or search the collection by subject or material. The advanced as well as simple searches are available.  And, something that I was impressed by, the search screen includes an option for a virtual keyboard that has 28 language keyboards for users to choose from.  The website is very clean and easy to use.

Users may also register, which now allows them to save favorites and session query history, and in the future users will  be able to save selected collections, receive email alerts concerning collections of interest, and receive email alerts concerning subjects of interest.

Internet Materials In Opinions: Citations and Hyperlinking

In the July 2009 Newsletter of the Federal Courts, titled The Third Branch, is an interesting article titled Internet Materials In Opinions: Citations and Hyperlinking mentioning some "suggested practices" to assist courts on how to deal with citations to Internet materials.

The Judicial Conference has issued a series of “suggested practices” to assist courts in the use of Internet materials in opinions. The recommendations follow a pilot project conducted by circuit librarians who captured and preserved webpages cited in opinions over a six-month period.

The guidelines suggest that, if a webpage is cited, chambers staff preserve the citation by downloading a copy of the site’s page and filing it as an attachment to the judicial opinion in the Judiciary’s Case Management/Electronic Case Files System. The attachment, like the opinion, would be retrievable on a non-fee basis through the Public Access to Court Electronic Records system. When considering whether to cite Internet sources, judges are reminded that some litigants, particularly pro se litigants, may not have access to a computer.