Articles Posted in September, 2007

The State of Oregon Law Library is having a book sale, September 20th and 21st, at the Supreme Court Building, 1163 State St., Salem. Hours are 9-4.

This notice from the Oregon State Bar Bulletin, Aug/Sept 2007 issue (available online).

PI Buzz links to some intriguing stories about how news / media businesses are forcing open and making public those public records that government agencies have been trying to protect, for all sorts of reasons. PI Buzz focus on the Utah database, Utah’s Right To Know, but the discussion goes far beyond that, and even beyond privacy and confidentiality issues.

For example, from a Scoop posting that the PI Buzz post links to:

“The good news is that there are plenty more databases served up on newspaper Web sites than there used to be. Some papers are organizing entire desks around data. The bad news – and people can disagree on this – is that in some cases, the papers aren’t really doing much in the way of Web database development. They’re outsourcing much of the work to Caspio and its Bridge application.

This can’t be such a bad thing, right? I mean, more databases online is a good thing, and of all people, I should be encouraging any way to get the stuff up. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. By leaving the work to Caspio and reducing database development to the safety of point and click, news organizations are far more likely to end up with a bunch of cookie-cutter apps that go just far enough to satisfy the “hey, we need some databases” crowd but not nearly far enough to hold the attention of readers and provide a real service.”

By the way, when I linked to the Salt Lake Tribune story, there was an ad to Travel Oregon 🙂

I am celebrating Constitution Day this year. I’ll be handing out free pocket and wallet-size U.S. Constitutions in my Law Library (all day) and on the Washington County (Oregon!) Courthouse steps from Noon – 1 on Monday, September 17th. I’m inviting our local attorneys, judges, and elected officials, and will do a little publicity as the date gets closer, but it will still be a very informal event. See our web page for more information.

Tom Mighell’s Internet Legal Research Weekly (quick, fun, informative – subscribe!) led me to the intriguing Northwestern Colloquy (and Tom’s Sept 9th issue is especially loaded with great stuff). From Tom’s Weekly (the 9/9 issue that is) – see his archives too):

‘Northwestern University Law Review is using the weblog format to publish law review articles. Each post is really a mini-law review article, which you can read online or download as a PDF. Recent articles include “Is the ‘Junk’ DNA Designation Bunk?”, “Why the Blight Distinction in Post-Kelo Reform does Matter,” and “Massachusetts and EPA: Breaking New Ground on Issues other than Global Warming.”‘

Northwestern Colloquy is a marvelous and creative use of a blog (or blawg, if you prefer). Blogs are so easy (wikis not so much) and it is wonderful seeing what inventive law students can do with the simple blog.

Whoever thought librarians and other information providers don’t have lots to laugh and talk about when their work day is done, had better think again. The Sept 4th SF Chronicle had a great story, “Pig balls and stuck skunks: A 311 customer service rep has a window onto San Francisco’s secret heart,” by Chris Colin:

‘Forget the Golden Gate Bridge and House of Nanking and Zeitgeist on a summer night — the heart of San Francisco beats loudest on the carpeted second floor of that South Van Ness building you thought was Bank of America.
“Thank you for calling San Francisco 311, this is Kyle speaking, how may I help you?”
“Yes, there’s a skunk with his head stuck …”

Kyle Sutton is one of 50 or so customer service representatives, or CSRs, asking this question 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The free service launched in March not just to funnel 2,300 government phone numbers into a single line, but to give the city more of a service orientation. About 6,000 calls come in every day, and program director Ed Reiskin says 311 is on track to answer 2 million a year. …’