So, West is coming out with a new research system.  It will be rolled out next week (February 1).  When will we see it?  Not sure yet.  But, a few law librarians have seen it and are letting us know about it.  First, our own Jason Eiseman (along with former YLS librarian Tom Boone. Greg Lambert, and Jason Wilson) discuss WestlawNext.  Next, Betsy McKenzie gives a thoughtful analysis of WestlawNext and what it means for researching and what to do with those old skills.

We'll have more news about WestlawNext (and the new Lexis and Bloomberg) as we learn about them.

Today, U.S. Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra and U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra launched the Administration’s comprehensive Open Government Plan, furthering the President’s commitment to increasing transparency and accountability in Washington and ensuring greater access to information.  You can view the directive, which instructs the agencies to take specific actions to open their operations to the public here.

Below please find the text of an email that was sent to YLS students regarding current awareness tools.

Today, I thought that I would let you know about a few tools that can help you keep current.  These tools can help you keep current with the law in particular fields or scholarship in particular fields, by particular authors, or that appear in particular journals.

There are several methods that you can use to stay current with new events in particular areas of law.  I expect that you are already familiar with Lexis' and Westlaw's saved searches (if not, contact a reference librarian or the Lexis or Westlaw representative for instruction).  Those tools allow you to receive new results from searches that you have constructed.  There are, however, better tools.

Two publishers have specialized in a form of legal publishing called "looseleafs".  Looseleafs pull together all primary source material on a legal topic as well as analysis and current awareness information (the name hearkens back to their print past).  Today, these publishes still produce these research tools and they are still very useful and they produce excellent current awareness tools.

Commerce Clearinghouse is one of these publishers.  CCH has pulled many of their looseleafs together into one online platform that you can access from the Law Library Databases page (under the name CCH Online Networks).  After a short registration process you will have access to information on a wide variety of legal topics.  You can also sign up to receive "tracker" newsletters from CCH (either in your email of via your rss reader) on over 70 legal topics.  Just click on the "tracker News" link in the upper left.

Another looseleaf publisher, the Bureau of National Affairs also produces material on a large number of legal topics and produces newsletters on over 100 legal topics.  You can see a list of the newsletters here: http://www.law.yale.edu/library/research/bna-email.asp.  These newsletters will come to you by email.  If you are interested in receiving any BNA newsletters, please send an email with your name, your Yale email address, and the name(s) of the newsletters that you would like to receive to john dot nann at yale dot edu.  Please note that it will take several days for your BNA subscription to become active.

There are several tools that you can use to track legal scholarship.  I expect that you know about the "New Acquisition" lists that the law library publishes, http://www.law.yale.edu/library/acquisitions.asp, but did you know that you can find out, on a weekly basis, what new books we've recieved on any topic that  you choose?  To do that, set up a preferred search and have new results sent to you.  To set up a preferred search, conduct a search in MORRIS (a subject search is a good one) and, on the results screen, click on the "Save as preferred search" button.  Log in and follow the prompts and from then on, you'll receive notice of any new books that we receive that match your search.  By the way, for broader coverage, you can also do the same at worldcat.org.

There are a couple of good tools for keeping up with legal periodical articles.  Washington and Lee Law Library's Law Journal Content tool allows you to set up an rss feed for new journal tables of contents (http://lawlib.wlu.edu/CLJC/index.aspx) (there is actually a lot more that you can do with the content, you can see their information page for more: http://lawlib.wlu.edu/CLJC/explanation.aspx).

The Current Index to Legal Periodicals is another contents tool.  CILP is available to you by a variety of means.  First, it exists as a database on Westlaw (database identifier is CILP) and the usual Westlaw saved searches work on it.  Second, you can sign up to get the tables of contents of selected journals and/or information about articles classified under selected subjects.  To set up a CILP search, go to http://lib.law.washington.edu/cilp/scilp.html and set up a profile.  First, however, you will need YLS's code.  You can get that in the Library databases link on the Inside site (https://inside.law.yale.edu/Research/305/default.aspx - this should work if you sign in).  And third, you can go to CILP and read it in html, Word or PDF at: http://cilp.nellco.org/cilp/index.cfm.

Also, some journal publishers provide table of content or other current awareness tools for their stable of titles (see Sage Journals Online for example) and other, non-law, indexes allow you to save searches.  If you are interested in any of these, stop by and see a reference librarian or contact one of us and set up a meeting (http://www.law.yale.edu/library/reference.asp).

Also, don't forget that we can help with your other research issues.  You can stop by or, for more complex probnlems, contact us and set up a meeting.

Thank you!

John

--
John B. Nann
Associate Librarian for Reference and Instructional Services,
Bibliographer for EU and UK Law, and Lecturer in Legal Research
Yale Law School
127 Wall Street
P.O. Box 208215
New Haven, CT 06520-8215
203.432.1259
john dot nann at yale dot edu

Just received this press release from the YLS Information Society Project:

Yale ISP Celebrates Open Access Week with New Research

The Information Society Project at Yale Law School (Yale ISP) today launched three new reports on the state of access to knowledge in comparative national perspective. The new works feature research on challenges of intellectual property and innovation in three developing countries. The launch is timed to coincide with the first-ever international celebration of Open Access Week, October 19-23, 2009.

Open Access Week seeks to raise awareness of the importance of open access to research. In today's world, proper use of digital publication platforms and open copyright licenses can greatly facilitate the spread and impact of academic research. Consistent with these values, the research launched this week carries Creative Commons licenses and is available for free download at the Yale ISP website.

In developing the reports, the Yale ISP partnered with academic institutions abroad at the University of Buenos Aires, the University of Addis Abeba, and the University of Cape Town. Research teams within these and other institutions have joined with the Yale ISP to form the A2K Global Academy, a network of academic centers dedicated to research, education, and policy analysis promoting access to knowledge.

The project has already resulted in two books, both forthcoming from the open access publishing imprint Bloomsbury Academic this winter: Access to Knowledge in Brazil: New Research on Intellectual Property, Innovation and Development, and Access to Knowledge in Egypt: New Research on Intellectual Property, Innovation and Development.

Research examining related topics in India and China was launched in August 2009. The newest installment, featuring insights into the state of access to knowledge in Argentina, Ethiopia, and South Africa, completes the series of seven reports. Topics addressed by the research include: open source software, alternative business models for cultural production, exceptions and limitations to copyright, ICT for development, access to medicines, open educational resources, technological standards, and biotechnology.

The three-year research project was supported with funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, as part of an initiative supporting international academic collaboration on access to knowledge challenges and opportunities.

“Innovation is the basis for economic growth and finding solutions to pressing problems,” said Lea Shaver, director of the ISP’s research program in access to knowledge. “But law and policy do not always support innovation optimally, nor ensure that new knowledge spreads as widely as it could. This research offers important guidance to policymakers, particularly in the context of developing countries.”

Continuing its academic work in this area, the Yale ISP will host a major conference on access to knowledge and human rights on February 12-13, 2010 at Yale Law School.

The Yale Information Society Project is an intellectual center at Yale Law School that studies the implications of new information technologies for law and society, guided by values of democracy, human rights, and innovation. For more information, visit isp.law.yale.edu.

The Law Library has a variety of case law materials in print from the European Union, including:

Proceedings of the Court of Justice and of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities

Reports of Cases Before the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance, usually referred to as European Court Reports (ECR)

Common Market Law Reports (CML) and European Union Law Reporter

European Commercial Cases

International Law Reports

Case law is also available online from the EU, as well as on LexisNexis Law School and Westlaw.

For a research guide on India's Resources, check out our country-by-country grid or the Foreign Law Guide.

For print primary resources please go to the Lower East Side of the Law Library, call number location KNS.  Here we will have the Constitution of India (KNS1744.5195), selections of Constitutional Debates (KNS1760 .I33 2001) and the following federal case reporters: Supreme Court Reports (KNS18.5.A2 I53), the All India Reporter (KNS24.A2 A45), and Supreme Court Cases (KNS18.5 .A3).  Please note that state cases will also be in the All India Reporter (KNS24.A2 A45).  In addition to federal and state reporters, the Lower East side houses certain specialized reporters like Current Consumer Cases (abbreviated CCC) and the decisions of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (abbreviated NC).  However, the collection of specialized reporters is not complete in coverage.  Titles such as Consumer Protection Reporter (abbreviated CPR) and Consumer Protection Judgments (abbreviated CPJ) can be ordered by library patrons through Interlibrary Loan.     Other primary print sources, including archived editions of India's constitution, India's Code, and Regulations are available by request from the Library Shelving Facility (LSF) via MORRIS.

For electronic primary resources, the Government of India's web site <http://indiacode.nic.in/> contains primary law, although this is not an official version.  Yale Law Students also have access to India's statutory and case law through the subscription database Manupatra (password on YLS Inside).  In addition, LexisNexis Lawschool (individual password) contains the reported and unreported decisions of the Supreme Court of India, from 1999 to present, as well as select international arbitration agreements.  More specialized information can be found through agency websites, for instance National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission decisions are available here and the Legal Information Institute has select government publications online, as well listed here. 

For secondary sources, run title searches in MORRIS and ORBIS first.  These catalogs will indicate if we subscribe to a journal in either print or electronic format.  If we do not own a copy of the journal or book that you are looking for, search WorldCat and request the item via Interlibrary Loan using the "Yale Links" button.

For newspapers are kept at Sterling Memorial Library's Newspaper Room for 6 months after receipt.  Some are then archived in microfiche format.  Always check Orbis for currency and title, as well as to find online versions.  Certain papers are also available online through the newspaper's website:

• Bombay
  • The Times of India
    
• Madras
  • The Hindu
    
• New Delhi
  • The Indian Express
    
  • The Statesman

Tough question to answer, but Reed-Elsivier took a crack at it.  They looked closely at the carbon costs related to one journal (the aptly enetitled Fuel) 

There are two sides to the cost: production and end use.  The biggest carbon impact in journal production was employee commuting and business travel.    Production of the journal used about 40 tons of CO2.  Delivery of the print journal has about twice the carbon impact when compared to online delivery.  But, and it's a big but, the largest variable is end user behavior.  Online delivery starts out with a 2 to 1 advantage over print (say 10 tons of CO2 versus 5 tons).  However, if users print out the articles, the online benefit quicky disappears.  The estimate of the carbon impact of "high end use" of the online version using the numbers above raises the 5 tons to 80 tons!  Although, the study seems not to include any corresponding increase related to photocopying articles from print journals.

So, production 40 tons, printing and distribution 10 tons, online delivery 5 tons.  Printing out the online journal up to 75 tons!

In any event, what seems clear is that the biggest variable is end user behavior and that a marked benefit for online delivery can quickly disappear.  Another reason for better e-readers!

We are happy to announce that we have released a new site for researching and tracking federal judicial nominations.

The site is available at http://judges.law.yale.edu/ .And it includes data for every federal judicial nomination from the 103rd congress to the current day.

The site offers:

1. The ability to quickly and easily track down nominees based on a number of faceted criteria including congress, nominating president, and nomination result.
2. The ability to track nominees and nominations via RSS feeds.
3. Up to date contact information for sitting judges nominated and confirmed since the 103rd congress, and nominees from the 111th congress forward.

Possible future enhancements include:

1. Adding additional biographical data such as education (currently only Yale grads are tracked), gender, etc.
2. Adding the ability to narrow down nominations by date and sort congress information by date.
3. Better styled RSS feeds, RSS feeds for search results.
4. Enhanced search capabilities.
   

Why isn't Sonia Sotomayor listed as having been nominated to the Supreme Court?

As of the writing of this blog post, President Obama has announced his intent to nominate Sonia Sotomayor as Associate Justice to the U.S. Supreme Court. When her nomination is made official and received in the senate, we will add this information to the nominations database. But you can track her nomination by using the RSS feed from her existing profile page, or using the RSS feeds for Recent Nominations on the home page.

Any additional questions, comments, suggestions (including corrections), should be sent to lawlib.webmaster at yale.edu

On 21 April 2009, the [European] Commission adopted a report and a green paper on the functioning of the existing rules on jurisdiction of the courts and the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. It concludes that time has come to achieve a free circulation of judgments in civil and commercial matters in the European Union on the basis of mutual recognition of judgments among Member States.

In this context, the report limits itself to presenting the outcome of the evaluation of the operation of the Regulation. Instead, the green paper outlines possible avenues for moving forward on the points raised in the report. In summary, the report and green paper address the following issues:

• The removal of the remaining obstacles to a free circulation of judgments, i.e. the removal of "exequatur"^[6]
• The protection of European citizens and companies in case of disputes with parties domiciled in third States, in particular by ensuring equal access to the courts of the Member States and equal protection against judgments given by the courts of third States against European defendants;
• Finally, certain imperfections in the application of certain rules of the Regulation, such as avoiding parallel proceedings in different Member States and ensuring the sound application of contractual agreements as to which courts will deal with the case in the Union.

The report and the green paper aim at launching a broad public consultation of civil society and Member States on the possible ways to deal with the issues referred to above. The deadline for consultation is 30 June 2009. The Commission's work programme foresees that a proposal for revision of the Regulation may be adopted by the end of 2009.

A recent report by Consumers International has concluded that the UK is the worst among 16 leading nations at protecting the rights of the users.

"UK copyright law is the oldest but also the most out of date. It’s time our copyright law caught up with the real world," said Ed Mayo, chief executive of Consumer Focus. "The current system puts unrealistic limits on our listening and viewing habits and is rapidly losing credibility among consumers. A broad ‘fair use’ exception would bring us in line with consumer expectations, technology and the rest of the world."
.
In addition, the UK government does not seem to see reform of copyright law as a priority.

More

This past Saturday, Yale Law School's Information Society Project hosted a fantastic symposium on "Library 2.0".  Materials from the conference, including video of the sessions and the concurrent twitter conversations is available at: http://yaleispblog.net/ .  Take a look, the issues are increadibly important: its no exageration to say that the future of society will, to a large extent, be driven by the resolution of these issues.  Also, it was great fun.

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