The U.S. Courts Website Redesigned

The United States Courts website is redesigned. Today's announcement introduces new enhancements and highlight the primary goal of the website.

The site has been redesigned to make it more attractive, accessible, and useful to its diverse audience of users. The improvements further the website's mission of increasing public interest, awareness, and understanding of the federal court system and its functions, and to serve as a source for disseminating Federal Judiciary information to the public.

The website is a primary source of information on the structure, function, and operations of the federal courts. It plays an important role in how the Judiciary communicates to the public, with useful and timely information for students, news media, attorneys, academics, government officials, associations, and others - both in the United States and worldwide.

Among the objectives of the redesign are a more dynamic website that can integrate emerging web technologies, such as RSS, podcasts, and multimedia.

The website features email delivery services, multimedia services including video, podcasts, photos, YouTube channel, widgets, and read-aloud services.

Happy Birthday YouTube

Today, YouTube celebrates its 5th birthday. To celebrate its birthday, YouTube launched a special channel filled with five year timeline videos. Happy birthday!

Pace Law Library's Summer Hours

Although it only is middle of May, the Spring semester is over and the library's summer hours are in effect. Between May 15 and August 19, the library is open as follows, except for scheduled closings:

Monday - Thursday: 9:00 AM - 10:30 PM

Friday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Saturday and Sunday: 11:00 Am - 7:00 PM

Be sure to check our website for any closings and/or feel free to call the library's circulation desk at 914-422-4272.

N.Y. State Senate Passes Bill on Workplace Bullying

From the Senate press release:

New York State Senator Thomas P. Morahan, Chairman of the Committee on Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities today secured Senate passage of his landmark legislation (S.1823-B) which establishes a civil cause of action for employees who are subjected to an abusive work environment.

Mistreatment of employees in the workplace is a serious issue, but too often, workers have no recourse when they are subject to an abusive work environment,” said Senate Republican Leader Dean G. Skelos. “Senator Morahan’s legislation will help employees who have been harmed, physically, mentally or financially, and will encourage employers to do more to prevent and respond to this problem.

The text of S.1823-B is available here.

Microsoft Office on the Web

Just in case last week's NY Times article Revamped Microsoft Office Will Be Free On the Web slipped by you. According to the article, the latest version, talked about for a really long time, will include the usual Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint, but this version will be available online for free allowing users to store documents on the Web. It is scheduled to be available in June of this year.

Users of the new version of Office will be able to share and work on the same documents and presentations over the Internet rather than e-mailing files back and forth to each other.

New Additions to LLRX.com

Among the most recent additions on LLRX.com, are the following research guides:

A Compilation of State Lawyer Licensing Databases

Compiled by Andrew Zimmerman and Trevor Rosen.

Although this guide focuses on websites that help you determine whether a lawyer is currently licensed to practice in a particular state, there are many other kinds of state-specific lawyer-related online databases -- lawyer finders, lawyer referral services, bar member directories, disciplinary rolls, etc. Many of these resources can be found by following the links posted at LegalDockets.com.

Forensic Evidence and the CSI Effect

Compiled by Ken Strutin.

This is a collection of select legal scholarship and media studies that illuminates the extent of the phenomenon and whether it needs to be addressed and how. It should be noted that there is a large body of news articles, short-term scholarship, books and other media concerning this topic that is not covered in this survey.

Recently Added Research Guides

Pace Law Library uses LibGuides to create its legal research guides. Check out the home page and browse among our 28 legal research guides.

The following are the most recent additions:

Prisoners' Rights Law Resources

Includes federal, state, and international primary and secondary sources, in print and online, with a a particular focus on special populations and topical issues.

Securities Law Research Guide

Guide to statutes, regulations, treatises, and other sources of securities law.

Supreme Court Nominations

Information and resources about the Supreme Court appointment process and specific information about the recent nominees.

Genocide Resources

Sources of law, commentaries, and other secondary sources on genocide.

New Addition to Skype

According to Telegraph.co.uk, Skype launches monthly subscription service.

In a move that escalates its rivalry with the major telecommunication companies, Skype which makes its money from people using the services on a pay as you go basis to call landlines or mobiles, has expanded its subscription packages from 40 countries to 170.

The new monthly packages now also include calls to mobile phones, as well as landlines, and offer savings of up to 60 percent compared to its pay as you go rate.

I have been using Skype for as long as I can remember. Calling computer to computer is free. Calling landlines or mobile phones is often very convenient and ends up being much cheaper than using a cell phone, regular phone, or calling cards. Video option is available. Skype application for iPhone or iPod is available. Voicemail services are available. Recording audio/video software or add-on is available. Chat option is available. Sending text messages or SMS to a mobile phone service is also available. It is intuitive, easy to use, and not costly at all. Check Skype.com for more information.

The 19th Edition of Bluebook Is On The Horizon

The 19th edition of the Bluebook is scheduled to be released in May 2010, according to HeinOnline, and available for purchase from HeinOnline for $32.00.

The online version of Bluebook, available for $25.00 subscription fee, states the following on its order page:

Please be aware that we will be releasing the Nineteenth edition of the Bluebook by June 1.

Summer Access To Lexis, Loislaw, and Westlaw

Summer is approaching, so don't forget to register your Lexis and Westlaw passwords for summer access.

LexisNexis Summer Access

Students may register for LexisNexis Summer Access by requesting access to LexisNexis using their Law School Educational ID from June 1 to August 1, 2010 for academic purposes. Academic purposes include, but are not limited to:

• Class preparation and assignments
• Summer school or course work
• Research associated with moot court, law review, or law journal
• Research associated with pursuing a grant or scholarship
• Service as a paid or unpaid research assistant to a professor
• An internship, externship or clinic position for school credit or graduation requirement
• Research skill improvement, such as improving research efficiency and sharpening your area of law research skills as you prepare for practice
• Study for the Bar Exam
• NEW: Research skill improvement for education purposes. You can take any Lexis Interactive Tutorials to prepare for your summer or fall employment

Please note:

'Academic purposes' do not include research conducted for a law firm, corporation, or other entity (other than a professor or law school) that is paying the student to conduct research, or that is passing along the cost of research to a third party. These are deemed 'commercial purposes.'

Loislaw

Loislaw provides one low, all inclusive flat rate; no hidden charges for hyperlinking, downloading or printing; free training; and 24/7 technical support. Loislaw does not pose any summer access restrictions on students.

If you are not graduating this summer, click here to get the authorization code, so you can register for an account with Loislaw, if you have not already done so. The code is listed on TWEN, under Law Library on Twen - Passwords.

If you are graduating and will no longer be a student, Loislaw is also available for free through the New York State Bar Association website if you are a member.

Westlaw Summer Access

Extend your Westlaw password for the summer. Current students may use the Westlaw password for the following purposes:

• Summer law school classes
• Law review or journal work
• Project for a professor
• Moot Court
• Unpaid, nonprofit public interest internship/externship pro bono work required for graduation

Please note:

Graduating students may extend their Westlaw password for the summer for the purpose of preparing for the July bar exam. Passwords may NOT be used for research for law firms, government agencies, corporations or other purposes unrelated to law school coursework. Students graduating this academic year are not eligible. Even if student does not qualify to extend his/her Westlaw password, the password may still be used 2 hours a month in June and July.

Free and Low Cost Resources

The Pace Law Library also has a guide to free and low cost resources: Free and Low Cost Resources for Legal Research, compiled by Cynthia Pittson.