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If public law librarians had a motto, it might be:

We don’t make it easy, but we try to make it possible.

This underwater logging reference question came to us (the 3 Oregon county law librarians who answer email legal reference questions for L-net, the online Oregon Statewide Reference Service). My Lane County Law Librarian counterpart crafted a masterful response and I thought it would be worth posting (and it is edited to protect the innocent).

The question was about laws and regulations governing underwater logging, who has rights to logs, what kinds of permits are required, etc.

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I frequently get calls from people looking for U.S. pocket constitutions and I happily refer them to our various sources, including this one, which is having a sale!

But it occurred to me that I should start a 100 Uses for Pocket U.S. Constitutions list. Here goes:

1) To hand out to law library patrons on Constitution Day.
2) To pass around to public-transit mates when we start talking about the 17th Amendment (election of Senators) and other heavy subjects. (And see also #7, below.)
3) Gifts on special occasions or for special people who appreciate such things
4) A book group “book” (research guides about the U.S. Constitution?)
5) A book-group prop when reading a history or political science book (I took a stack of them for everyone when we read Kafka Comes to America.)
6) Stocking stuffers (and this doesn’t just have to be for Christmas 🙂
7) Peace Out, Dawg offerings when riding public transit (it’s hard to get mad at someone who’s handing you a free pocket U.S. Constitution!)
8) Luggage stuffers. I always put one in my suitcase, on top, before I close the lid. It’s not prohibited, is it?
9) When a law library patrons asks, “can you sign away your Constitutional rights?”
10) As a handout when I teach a class to paralegals.
11) To hand out to the first 10 librarians who attend the inaugural business meeting of the recently formed Oregon Library Association (OLA) Legal Reference Round Table during the OLA Annual Meeting.
12) …

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In our continued exploration of the Oregon Legislature, in particular the information on their website, don’t forget the Committee Services webpages. Click on Committee Services Publications for, among other things, previous session summaries. You can find full session publications or view these reports section by section, e.g. 2008 Judiciary.

These and other useful publications are from the Legislative Administration Services Committee Office. (I last blogged about them when reporting on the demise of the legislative minutes.)

Lawyers, and their clients, and law librarians, live in the present, future, and especially in the past – seriously. There is a reason we need to keep superseded laws, regulations, and rules in our libraries, many of which are “out of print” and not online, so we are thrilled to see “retrospective conversion” digitization projects going on.

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The Oregon State Bar (OSB), Winter 2009 issue of the Debtor-Creditor Section newsletter (online only to section members) has a sobering article by Oregon attorney Terrance J. Slominski:

“Foreclosure Rescuers: Good Samaritans or Scam Artists?” with a description of 4 categories of foreclosure scams, including: Sale-Leasback, Equity Stripping, Loan Modification, and Stealing the Home.

These sound harmless enough, don’t they? Beware. Please talk to an attorney who is qualified and experienced in creditor-debtor matters if you have serious financial problems.

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We ask a lot of that airplane seatback in front of us. It has to be a tray, a TV, as far away as possible (and not sticky), and now it might soon contain an airbag.

Here’s a story from the always interesting Popular Mechanics website: Airbags on Planes: Will a New FAA Regulation Pave the Way for Airbag Seatbelts, March 12, 2009.

Here are some related FDA documents on airplane cabin safety, Fact Sheet and the 2005 regulation. There is a lot more out there, so go forth and research. One day that seatback will connect us to a Web browser, but use your headphones, please.

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In Washington County (Oregon), April 2, 2009:

‘Day for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: 37,536 Oregon children live with their grandparents

“In Oregon, over 20,000 grandparents have stepped forward to raise children because their parents struggle with drug and alcohol abuse, incarceration, HIV/AIDS, mental illness, domestic violence, divorce, unemployment or military deployment,” notes Deborah Letourneau, Program Coordinator for Washington County’s Family Caregiver Support Program of Disability, Aging and Veteran Services.

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One day I’m going to blog about the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of legal research, though I’ll put it more in terms of the Expensive, the Impossible, and the Obscure. For now, I’ll limit myself to writing about The Boring, but Necessary: Court Rules (which have nothing to do with the popular saying, “Librarians Rule” 🙂

Court Rules run the gamut from the statewide Oregon Rules of Civil Procedure and Uniform Trial Court Rules and more, all of which you can find at the Oregon Judicial Department (OJD) website, under Court Rules.

There are also local court rules, which include the Supplementary Local Rules (SLRs) and General Orders. The SLRs can be found at your Circuit Court’s website.

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A 2009 HB 2620 to rewrite the Oregon Constitution has been introduced, by Representative Chuck Riley:

A summary from the Legislature (html or pdf):

“Provides for constitutional convention in 2011. Establishes qualifications for delegates, number of delegates and manner of electing delegates. Requires that chairperson of convention certify proposed Constitution to Secretary of State no later than August 26, 2011. Requires that Secretary of State submit proposed constitution to people for approval or rejection at special election to be held on November 8, 2011.

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Give a big welcome to a (relatively) new entrant in the Oregon legal research database field of players: Oregon Laws dot org. It’s a legal research database designed and powered by law students (our future!). I like it so far – and its associated blog too.

The owners solicit feedback, which I’m sure they’ll get from law librarians on issues of authentication, PURLs, archives, and more – oh my (law librarians always have something to say, and we’re always glad to see new entries into the Legal Information to the Public arena).

Lawyers might have other things to add, including our friends at PLoL and Justia and Public Resource, all very public spirited, like librarians.

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We meet a lot of people who want to start a business but don’t know where to begin. Entrepreneurs with great ideas don’t always have good business sense, but they can acquire it (usually) – or find business partners who have it.

Before you plonk down the first month’s rent on a store front, or invest in any alleged money-making endeavor (especially if it eats), read the Starting a Business guides from the Oregon Corporation Division.

Other business start-up websites that are sometimes overlooked include ones you can find or link to from these:

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