You may have heard about the groundbreaking Public Library of Science (PLOS) …
but have you heard about the Public Library of Law (PLOL)?
These are all works in progress (isn’t all learning a work in progress?), but wonderful all the same. The PLOL is sponsored by FastCase.
Legal writers take note: Can you say it in Six-Words?
From the smithmag/six-word memoirs web site:
“Six-Word Memoirs: The Legend
This Oregonian “Complaint Desk” article from 2/10/08, “Handling inspectors and inspections is tricky,” was interesting:
What do you do when you believe that the home inspector hired by a potential buyer of your house managed to damage your house in the course of the inspection?
Excerpt from the article:
The topic for today’s OPB’s Thinking Out Loud will be Finding a Home for the Criminally Insane. To participate in the discussion, visit the Thinking Out Loud site for links and instructions.
I previously posted on Criminalizing the Mentally Ill.
The Beer and Blog dot com gathering is weekly at the Lucky Labrador Brew Pub, 915 SE Hawthorne, Portland, Oregon.
Their motto: Bloggers helping bloggers over beer. They are even working on a logo.
Now if only we can get a few more Oregon lawyers in on some blawging fun ….
Repeat after me: Don’t believe most of what you hear, old wives do tell tall tales, and THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A SINGLE, COMPREHENSIVE criminal records database. This essay by Genie Tyburski, may make the point for those who haven’t gotten it so far: To Catch a Thief
Excerpt from To Catch a Thief:
“The myth of a one-stop shop for criminal records is not new to Lawyer X. He has heard other lawyers and clients alike ask for national criminal searches. He has even listened to expectations that include getting such information quickly and cheaply. Lately, he has had to debunk myths about a low-cost option known as the National Criminal File (NCF).
Lawyer X doesn’t mind explaining all of this to his friend. Contrary to popular belief, criminal background checking is a complex type of research and much about the field is changing.”
To Catch a Thief was written in 2004 and has not been updated, but the point it makes is still valid. Click on Genie Tyburski in this list for more updates and articles on public records searching and visit other sites that describe how to search criminal records searches, including but not limited to here, here, and here.
JSTOR, in a nutshell, is just another database of scholarly articles on a variety of topics. You could also say it’s a storage place for journals, thus JSTOR. (See, even scholarly sorts can’t spell 🙂
For the most part, only academic libraries and large public libraries subscribe to JSTOR, but if an article you are seeking pops up in a search engine with a JSTOR location, ask at any library reference desk. Librarians Know Things and, more to the point, know how to find things.
P.S. A database can be much more than a collection of articles. If you want to know more about databases, without screaming, visit here and here. If it helps, online library catalogs can be databases, mailing lists can be databases, but they can also be … no, I won’t make you scream. (But I will whisper spreadsheet, field, file structure, ….)
Articles from Willamette Law School law journals can be found here, here, and here.
Articles from law journals from Lewis & Clark Law School are highlighted at BoleyBlogs.
Articles from law journals from the University of Oregon Law School are highlighted here, and here, and here.
The latest issue of the Willamette Law Review (vol.44, #2, Winter 2007) is chock full of articles on Oregon:
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Oregon Law Commission: Bridging the Gaps Between Islands of the Legal Profession, by Jeffrey C. Dobbins
The Oregon Law Commission at Ten: Finding Vision for the Future in the Functions of the Past, by David R. Kenagy
Visit Justice Bedsworth here A Criminal Waste of Space.
Some archives are here, if you want more.
Oregon Legal Research Blog