Law Librarian blog post: Orphan Works: A Statement of Best Practices links to the report (PDF) from the Society of American Archivists.
There is another post about this on a July 22, 2009 post at the Library Law blog: At last! Guidance for users of Orphan Works
(And while you’re at that blog, don’t miss Peter Hirtle’s July 5, 2009 post on: They Myth of the pre-1923 Public Domain)
Who couldn’t use a book on Baseball Law? We sure could here in the Portland-metro area.
A summary of what you’ll find in “The Little White Book of Baseball Law,” by John Minion and Kevin Cole.
My previous (and favorite) post on baseball, and don’t forget f/k/a’s baseball haiku.
Driving canines, flip-flopping on the gas peddle, beating a breathalyzer (with a penny?), and much more —at Seattle911, a police blog.
As little as we know about our own (Oregon) city or state’s traffic laws, we know even less about our destination city’s laws.
So, if you’re heading to Seattle (or anywhere in Washington State, for that matter), here is some wonderful Q & A to read before venturing out in your car, on your bicycle, or even at all: KCLL Klues blogs about Seattle traffic law Question & Answer websites: Conveyance Quandry? Consult a Traffic Blog!
Oregon’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OHSA) August newsletter is out.
Three noteworthy stories:
1) “A fine danger: Controlling silica dust, by Melanie Mesaros (page 4):
We’ve had a rash of restaurant and wait-staff questions, on subjects from music licensing, to tip-pooling, to “can a restaurant owner deduct credit card company charges from their wait-staff wages when a customer pays the bill with a credit card?” (The latter is definitely one of those “just when you think you’ve heard everything” questions.)
This post originally started out as one on a new Restaurant Law book we just got in the library, but, as usual, it took on a life of its own.
This post could also be combined with the previous one on Small Business Resources, but we’ll stick to food, so to speak, for the moment.
The latest Oregon Uniform Trial Court Rules (UTCR) will be released August 1, 2009. You will find an online version of it at the Oregon Judicial Branch website.
Legal Research Plus blog has had (at least) two very interesting posts this past week:
1) Writing the book on citing unpublished and non-precedential opinions, July 27, 2009, by Paul Lomio:
Excerpt: ‘Today’s mail brought Volume 10, Issue # 1 (Spring 2009) of The Journal of Appellate Practice and Procedure. This issue contains Professor David R. Cleveland’s book-length (116 pages) article “Overturning the Last Stone: The Final Step in Returning Precedential Status to All Opinions.”…’ (link to full post)
I’ve always said that the smaller the footnote or the simpler the question, the more time it will take to find the footnote’s supporting document or a citable document to answer the question.
We were recently asked how many states have three-strikes laws. Now, you would think this would be straightforward, but it’s not. There are many studies, many articles, many commentators, and many, many assumptions.
We find reports from a few years ago, tons of stuff from California on their recent legislation, some excellent research out of Hawaii on their 2009 legislative action to repeal their 3-strikes law, but nothing that can be used as a reliable current citation for all 50 states. I have charts from 2000, writers and journalists who say there were 23 states in 2004, 26 states in 2004 (Wikipedia, unfootnoted), and a fairly reliable study from 2006 that says 25 states. But nothing actually or even relatively official or authoritative (e.g. government or think-tank or nonprofit) from 2007 forward.
Building Codes Division proposes rule for quick approval of small wind turbines
Excerpt: “(Salem) — In its continuing effort to be flexible with the onset of new technology and advance sustainability, the Department of Consumer and Business Services, Building Codes Division (BCD), in conjunction with its Electrical and Elevator Board and the Oregon Department of Energy, has proposed a rule that would allow manufacturers to install small wind turbines quickly, yet safely. The rule provides a streamlined process of certification for small wind turbines as an alternative to the lengthy national certification process….” (link to full media release)
Look at the BCD website, under What’s New, for more announcements.
1) Check first with your local public library! Public librarians know how to find all sorts of genealogical information in print and online and have networks for asking other librarians when the specific question is particularly vexing.
2) In Oregon, public libraries may have these subscription databases that you can search, sometimes remotely:
a) America’s Obituaries and Death Notices
b) Biography and Genealogy Master Index
c) Ancestry Library has an Oregon Death Index. It’s similar to the SSDI except it has Oregon Death Certificate numbers (but no SSNs). Call your library. Some libraries subscribe to it, but not necessarily as a remote access database so you may need to visit your library, use their local email reference service, or use the Oregon statewide one, L-net.
3) Web-based free online databases:
a) Oregon Center Heath Statistics: Death Data
b) Social Security Death Index
c) Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness
Oregon Legal Research Blog