Oregon Legal Research BlogMore than you may ever want to know about Web 2.0:
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In the words of another librarian, this is “moderately overwhelming!”
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Don’t Second that Motion: Oregon Public Meetings Manual and Parliamentary Procedure
People who know absolutely nothing else about parliamentary procedure always seem to know absolutely, positively (!) that motions have to be “seconded.” It’s not necessarily so.
You can look in any number of other sources, but I found this in the January 2008 Oregon Attorney General’s Public Records and Meetings Manual (partially online – and don’t blame me for that “partially” – ask the candidates running for Oregon AG this year):
“To facilitate decision-making, a simplified and flexible approach to parliamentary procedure is helpful. The author of one text on parliamentary procedures believes that ‘stressing a more straightforward and open procedure for meetings eliminates the parliamentary impasses that appear to follow when too much attention is given to parliamentary intrigue and manipulation.’ He has, for example, eliminated the ‘seconding’ of motions because it is ‘largely a waste of time.’ [See Meetings Manual for footnote to R. Keesey, Modern Parliamentary Procedure (1994).] This warning against blind adherence to parliamentary rules is echoed by the author of another text ….”
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Water Supply (free) Game
You can live without oil (petroleum, not the stuff you put on pasta or a salad) but you can’t live without water:
The Sunday Oregonian Business section (3/9/08) had an interview by Anne Saker with Northwest Pipe Co. CEO Brian W. Dunham about the company’s move to Vancouver from Portland. An hour later I came into work and read Tom Mighell’s Internet Legal Research Weekly (archives here) and found a Water Pipe Game. Who said lawyers and librarians, and plumbers, don’t have fun.
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Consumer Protection and Blogging: A Match Made in Heaven?
I post not infrequently* about consumer protection issues, which are a big part of public law library (and regular public library) business from both attorneys and non-attorneys:
From Portlander Isaac Laquedem’s blog : “Comcast calls Isaac to apologize for my overpayment
Cable giant Comcast wrote me last month to complain that it owed me some money, and if I didn’t write it a check for $203.32 below zero, it would cut off my service. I posted the letter three days ago, on Friday.
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Say Farewell to Oregon Legislative History “Minutes” Online
The online legislative history “minutes” heretofore* on the Oregon State Archives web page, courtesy of the Oregon State Legislature and the Legislative Administrative Committee, will henceforth* not be available online; just the tape logs and audio files will be online.
Anyone who researches Oregon legislative history knows about the welcome transition several years ago to online records (from microfilm) at the Oregon State Archives, a division of the Secretary of State’s office. (Another statewide office up for election this year.) So, it’s full speed ahead to the past now, not back to the future.
This is likely a budgetary decision. But we haven’t yet found out why the “minutes” were chosen for cuts rather than something else. Law librarians weren’t asked is all I know so don’t blame me; you can try these instead if you want to know why.
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Celebrating 1,004 Blawg Posts: Law and kids, traffic, lawyers, building codes, divorce, and laughs
This is my Oregon Legal Research blog’s 1,004th post, so this one looks back. Here are a few of the most recent popular posts if haven’t already found them.
1) Babysitting and leaving kids alone (and the law) posts are by far the most popular. Go figure. Parenting is rough; sometimes you just need to get away.
2) Beat Your Traffic Ticket (and the follow-up)
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Oregon Law Librarians (back) on TV: Topic: Family Law
On Thursday, February 28, 2008, from 8-9 p.m., the Clackamas County Law Librarian, and I, the Washington County Law Librarian, appeared again on “Legally Speaking” with the host of the show, attorney Jim Hilborn. The subject was family law. (We also sent some photos from this show into the AALL Day in the Life contest so stay tuned.)
Some of the legal information sites we talked about included:
· OJD Family Law website
· Legal Aid Services of Oregon
· Oregon State Bar public information
· Oregon Council of County Law Libraries (OCCLL) Directory
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Oregon Building Code Changes Coming April 1st, 2008
There is a lot of information at the Oregon Building Codes Division (BCD) web site including free Current Building Codes, news releases, and more.
*My previous OLR post on Building Codes, in Jan. 2007.
**Coming soon from the Oregon Building Codes Division (BCD) (source):
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Clocks Change! This Sunday, March 9th
It’s that time of year again (scary, isn’t it): Daylight Saving Time.
Clocks change on March 9th, 2008. Jump, spring, fall FORWARD (and sadly lose) one hour.
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Airborne, Inc. Settlement Web Page
The “Welcome to the Information Website for Wilson v. Airborne, Inc. et al., Case No. EDC V07-770 VAP (OPx)” is up and running.
A news story from YubaNet, by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, about the settlement and the case: “Airborne Agrees to Pay $23.3 Million to Settle Lawsuit Over False Advertising of its “Miracle Cold Buster Company Now Under Scrutiny By FTC & 24 State Attorneys General.”