CMLawLibraryBlog

Recent improvements to Lexis include:

• LexisWeb is a web search engine, which has indexed over 4,500 legal websites. A nice feature is the list of search filters on the side. For example, a search for "death penalty" will allow you to filter by a generated list of keywords such as "moratorium pending" or "serious flaws". It is free to all -you do not need a Lexis account to access LexisWeb.

• Improved Find a Source - Instead of just searching the publication name, Lexis now performs relevancy searches against selected segments of the online Guide. You can do a boolean search or natural language search.
• Transactional Advisor - After logging in, click on the beige Transactional Advisor tab at the top of the screen. You can search for forms by type of transaction, without having to know which database to select. (Launched Winter 2008)
• Suggested Content-When you select certain databases, for example, International Court of Justice Decisions, Combined, Lexis will suggest additional databases to search. The suggestions are based upon what sources previous users of that database also used. The idea is similar to Amazon.com's "Customers who bought this item also bought ...." This feature is currently operational for banking, securities, litigation, intellectual property and labor & employment databases.

Enhancements coming soon .... (More)

Talk about options. You have the library’s popular Research Certificate Seminars and individualized research consultations, and now you and up to seven of your classmates can set up a MyClass session. A MyClass session is a personalized research class for 2-8 students on whatever law-related topic you’re researching. Some possible topics for MyClass sessions include administrative law and regulations, legislative history, health law, tax, statistics research, and more. To set up a MyClass session, there’s form on the Instructional Services page under Student Research Consultations and MyClass Sessions.

Will you be working on a journal note or a paper for an upper-level writing requirement? As you work through the research and writing process this semester, you might feel –

• like you haven’t got a clue on a topic
• that you don’t know where to start with the research
• that you’ve gotten along so far so good, but now you’re stuck
• that there’s this killer source, but darn if you know how to get it; or
• like Bluebooking is as easy as reading ancient Greek.

This is where an individualized research consultation with a librarian might come in handy. You can set up a time that fits your schedule and get personalized research help on your paper or note. You’ll find an online form to send us to set up a time on the Instructional Services page under Student Research Consultations.

As a follow-up to today’s faculty lunch presentation, don’t forget you can find additional information on the Faculty Services page under Course Page Options. The page should give you some more ideas on setting up your own course page, and it includes the handy Course Comparison Chart put together by Sue Altmeyer, Electronic Services Librarian, that lists the pros and cons of web pages with Contribute, blogs, wikis, TWEN, and Lexis Web Courses.

The library is pleased to offer access to CCH databases, available both on and off campus. CCH publishes outstanding reporter series, which contain clear explanations of the law, as well as relevant up-to-date cases, statutes and regulations. Now this information is accessible via easy to use databases. The system also provides current awareness emails on many topics, which can be customized with specific search terms. (directions for signing up for current awareness emails)

The library subscribes to two different CCH databases: CCH Business and Finance (Securities, Business Organizations, Intellectual Property & more) and CCH Health and Human Resources (Labor & Employment, Environmental Law, Health Care). For a list of topics, and a list of titles contained in these databases, see the Electronic Resources Page.

More reasons to use CCH databases:

• Law firms typically do not pass research charges to clients for CCH usage. It is cost effective to start research with CCH rather than Lexis or Westlaw.
• CCH is known for their fifty state charts. If you need to know the minimum wage laws in all the states, for example, CCH is a great place to look.
• In addition to keyword searching capability, there are indexes to the CCH reporters accessible online. Using an index may be easier or faster than a keyword search.

In observance of Labor Day, Monday, September 1st, The Law Library will be closed. We'll resume our regular semester hours on Tuesday.

The Ohio Supreme Court Library recently scanned in the Proceedings and Debates of the Constitutional Convention of the State of Ohio: Convened January 9, 1912. Kudos to the Ohio Supreme Court for undertaking this huge scanning project of 2,000 plus pages. There are individual pdf documents for each week of the convention. These documents are searchable, as is a searchable topical index.

The 1912 Constitutional Convention proposed 42 constitutional amendments and the voters approved 34 of them. Courts today often rely on the 1912 Constitutional Convention Proceedings in deciding controversies involving the amendments added in 1912. For a recent example, see State ex rel. Ohio Gen. Assembly v. Brunner (2007), 114 Ohio St.3d 386, paragraphs 156-171.

Thanks to Prof. Steven Steinglass for the tip, and for his help with this post.

For more information on the Ohio Constitution, see the Ohio Constitutional Law and History Web Page.

Got 3 minutes? That's all it takes to learn where important links are on the law library web page and how to navigate around the site. Just click on this button on our homepage:

to take a screencast tour of the library website.

Become a fan...of the C-M Law Library Facebook page. On our page you can find our hours, Scholar, blog posts, up coming events and recent additons to our collection. We also have our Del.icio.us bookmarks, tagging our research guides and more. If you have your own Del.icio.us account, add us and view our tags and any that we add. While we added the Chat option on our webpage, we will be adding it soon to our Facebook page, making it convenient to contact us. Look forward to seeing you there.

The Law Library resumes its Research Certificate Seminars on Tuesdays, 4:50pm-5:50pm, in Room LB66, this Fall Semester 2008.

Seminar Dates and Topics are:
September 9th - Ohio Legal Research (register by Sept 5th)
September 23rd - Scholarly Writing (register by Sept 19th)
October 7th - Research Strategies & Comparative Research Features of LexisNexis & Westlaw (register by Oct 3rd)
October 21st - Criminal Law Research (register by Oct 17th)
November 11th - Federal Legislative History Research (register by Nov 7th)
November 18th - International Law Research (register by Nov 14th)

Seminars attendance is limited to 20 students, and light refreshments will be provided. Attendees of each Seminar will earn 25 points toward a Law Library Research Certificate. Certificates will be awarded to students with 100 Seminar points. In the 2007-2008 academic year, 22 students earned Certificates, and another 38 students are working toward a Certificate.

Certificate Seminars discuss research materials and resources critical to successful legal practice and scholarly writing, as well as focus on research skills law firms and courts are seeking when hiring associates and clerks. Presented by our team of research librarians, the Seminars offer a unique forum for students to learn more about specific research topics.

To register for a Law Library Research Certificate Seminar, please contact Laura Ray, Educational Programming Librarian, at 216-687-6880 or laura.ray@law.csuohio.edu.

If you would like a Quick Tour of the Law Library, we are scheduling several this week -

Wed 8/27 at 1pm & 5 pm
Thurs 8/28 at 5 pm
Fri 8/29 at 12:15 pmSat 8/30 at Noon & 1 pm

Please sign up in advance at the Law Library Information Services Desk.

Tours will begin at the Research Services Desk.

As we start a new semester I, and all the library staff, want to welcome you and share some of the new things you'll see in the library.

I am starting the school year as a new member of the C-M community. I'd like to thank everyone for the warm welcome I've received. I look forward to working with you.

Some new things from the library you'll want to look for:

• New design for the library homepage - you can take a quick, online tour by clicking the "Visual Tour" button on the homepage.
• Meebo chat reference services - click the link on the homepage and look for more information in this blog post.
• Become a fan of the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Library on Facebook - look for an upcoming post with more information.
• We've added CCH databases - click on Electronic Resources from the homepage and look for an upcoming post with more information.
• C-M Law Faculty Mini Sessions - C-M Law Faculty can schedule personalized assistance from a Law Librarian. See the announcement here.
• Similarly, C-M Law Students can schedule small group classes on a variety of research topics through MyClasses. Watch the blog for more information.

Continuing this year are the popular Research Certificate Seminars. A schedule of this semesters seminars will be posted soon.

Finally, as you enter the library take time to peruse the New Book Shelf. Here you can see some of the library's recent acquisitions.

I look forward to seeing you in the library. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to be of assistance.

you can chat with a library staff person via Meebo chat. Chat will be staffed whenever the library is open. See Library Hours. Meebo chat will be monitored by a research librarian during Research Librarian Hours, and will otherwise be monitored by the circulation staff.

The Securities Exchange Commission announced that a new database called Idea will be online by the end of the year. Instead of just containing forms filed with the SEC, the new database will have tagged fields of information, enabling the public to search for the precise information they want and generate reports. Idea stands for Interactive Data Electronic Applications. The Edgar database will still be available during a transition period. See the SEC's Press Release.

Thanks to Wisblawg.

By way of MSNBC.com...A woman from Grafton, Wisconsin was arrested for not paying her $30 library fine. While she admitted she had ignored overdue notices and calls from the library, she did not expect a warrant to be issued. She was served with the warrant at her home, handcuffed and taken to the police station where she was booked and fingerprinted. According to the Library Director, a couple dozen people are cited a year for overdue items. When all was said and done, it cost approximately 5 times more to get her out of jail than to pay the fine. YIKES!

Here at C-M Law Library, we are a bit more reserved when it comes to overdue items. To help you avoid fines, we send courtesy notices via email 3 days in advance of a book being due. Take a minute to familiarize yourself with our loan/renewal policies.

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• New Lexis Enhancements
• Design Your Own Research Class With MyClass
• Writing a Note or Paper? Get Help with an Individualized Research Consultation
• Faculty Course Page Options
• CCH Databases are Here!
• Library Closed Labor Day
• 1912 Ohio Constitution Proceedings Now Online
• New: Visual Tour of the Library Webpage
• Facebook-Become A Fan
• Law Library Research Certificates Resume

• Career Information [29]
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