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September 24, 2014, 10-11am
Oregon State Bar: Promoting Access to Justice with E-Books
“The OSB Legal Publications department launched a new project in May that we wanted to tell you about. We have begun offering a series of Family Law e-books on Amazon.com. These e-books include information on how to find and hire a lawyer, as well as links to information about the OSB Lawyer Referral Service, legal aid services in Oregon, and the ABA page on lawyer referral services nationwide….” [Link to full 6/27/14 blogpost.]
This is a quick and dirty guide to free and not-free (usually subscription) databases for this kind of research; it is not a comprehensive list. (And novice researchers should be reminded that the same statutory language is not always used across states to accomplish the same purpose.)
FREE:
David Lankes tells a familiar “Death by Failure to Research” story in his free eBook, “Expect More: Demanding Better Libraries for Today’s Complex World”:
“…. In 2001 Ellen Roche, a 24-year-old lab technician, entered into a clinical trial at Johns Hopkins University’s Asthma and Allergy Center. The trial was investigating how the lungs responded to chemical irritants. Researchers had Roche inhale hexamethonium. Roche was the third volunteer to do so in the study. The first volunteer had developed a slight cough that lasted a week. The second volunteer had shown no adverse reactions. Roche developed a slight cough that got worse and worse. Five days after inhaling the chemical, Roche was admitted to intensive care. Less than a month later, she was dead. What makes this story all the more tragic is that Roche’s death could have been avoided. As part of the funded clinical trial, the researcher did a literature search. He searched a database that indexed studies from 1960 to the present day. He found nothing on hexamethonium. However, had he not restricted himself to the Internet-accessible version of the database he would have found studies from the 1950’s linking hexamethonium to significant lung problems. Because of Roche’s death, all drug studies at Hopkins must now include a consultation with a librarian and pharmacist….” [Lankes, p. 80 [PDF p. 87] Link to free online versions of David Lankes’ latest book: “Expect More: Demanding Better Libraries for Today’s Complex World.” The digital version of this book is free to download and distribute. It is in PDF, EPUB, MOBI, and iBook formats.]
Read more about “Principles and Standards for Legal Research Competency.”
Tom Mighell tackles the question: “Why are Passwords So Hard for Lawyers?”
Answer: ZZZZZzzzz. But doze off at your own risk:
Excerpt: “The subject of passwords is one that is both fascinating and frustrating to me. We know that it’s getting easier and easier for hackers to crack our passwords; just three years ago, a nine-digit password would take 44,530 years to crack, but today that same password can be cracked in less than a day, according to Passfault. And yet, when I mention this in speeches that I give, lawyers invariably give a heavy sigh, roll their eyes, and promptly tune out. I know what they’re thinking: “12 digit password? It’s hard enough for me to remember the name of my dog and the numbers 123!” [Link to blog post and blog homepage.]
Open Law Lab is a wonderful website, curious, provocative, funny, wise, and more. It stands on its own (enjoy!) but it is also an excellent companion to Richard Zorza’s Access to Justice Blog.
One of my (several) favorite Open Law Lab “images of law” is the blog post titled: Law for Normal People. It includes a graphic with this text that pretty much sums up everything that makes legal self-help center and public law library program management so confounding:
“People don’t want to talk to lawyers, but they really want legal advice.“ (See its original posting at the Stanford d. school blog, Whiteboard.) And read more about the lawyer / artist: Margaret Hagan.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Report:
“Who Has Your Back? 2014: Protecting Your Data From Government Requests “
Download the PDF and read the full “Executive Summary
“Clever piece of code exposes hidden changes to Supreme Court opinions.”
Hat Tip to Library Link of the Day. (June 14, 2014, Tip.)
From InfoDocket: “U. of South Florida Libraries Will Begin Lending Drones For Aerial Photography This Fall”
(I can only begin to imagine the terms of the loan and the pages of disclaimers! I wonder if they are self-insured?)
Gallagher Blogs reminds us that Headnote of the Day still lives!
“A dog cannot recover for emotional distress?
You are probably well aware of the West Key Number System and headnotes but are you familiar with Westlaw’s Headnote of the Day provided on Thomson Reuters’ Legal Solutions Blog? ...” [Link to blog post.]
Oregon Legal Research Blog