Celebrate Earth Day!

Sunday April 22, 2012 is Earth Day.

Repeating last year’s theme of A Billion Acts of Green®, a “people-powered campaign to generate a billion acts of environmental service and advocacy . . .” the folks at the Earth Day Network have almost reached their goal:  the total Acts of Green reported as of the morning of April 18, 2012 was 977,876,186 (and counting).

One easy Act of Green you could pledge, helping send that number over the one billion mark, would be to turn off the library study table lamps and carrel lights whenever you leave.  Or, you could use the stairs instead of the elevators between floors.  We will thank you and so will the Earth.

Another suggestion:  By drinking your coffee, tea, or other beverage from a spill-proof, reusable mug, you can transform a single Act of Green into an ongoing one, helping continually to reduce the volume of plastic, Styrofoam, and paper cups piling up in landfills or requiring energy for recycling.  At the same time, you’ll be complying with the Library’s food and drink policy and earning our thanks! 

If you don’t have a spill-proof mug, pick one up at the Circulation Desk for $3.00.  Although we already sell these mugs at a loss, for every one purchased through the end of this semester’s exam period librarians will contribute $.50 to Earth Day Network (www.earthday.org/), which works with over 22,000 partners in 192 countries to broaden, diversify and mobilize the environmental movement.

For complete information about Earth Day, visit Earth Day Network.

Tax Time

This is the time of year when our thoughts have turned to the issue of taxation.  Whether you have already submitted your tax returns or continue to fiddle with them under an extension, you may want to take an enjoyable look at the Tax History Project, created by Tax Analysts, publisher of Tax Notes. The Tax History Project is a collection of all kinds of fun and interesting things:

  • 1040s back to 1913
  • cartoons and posters about tax dating back to the 1870s
  • FDR’s tax returns, as well as those of other presidents and presidential candidates

 

-and much much more!!  See it all at http://www.taxhistory.org

 

Introducing Fastcase

The Library is happy to announce the addition of Fastcase to the long list of electronic resources we offer the NYLS community.

Comparable in many ways to Lexis and Westlaw, Fastcase is a legal research service providing full-text searchable access to comprehensive libraries of federal and state cases, statutes, constitutions, court rules, administrative regulations, and attorney general opinions.  The robust service has recently expanded to offer libraries of newspapers, federal court filings, and legal forms.

Unlike Lexis and Westlaw, Fastcase will not restrict student access to its research libraries in June.  You’ll be able to use Fastcase libraries all summer long, at your job or for any other purpose.  Fastcase also offers excellent free apps for your iPhone and iPad, facilitating research on the fly.

It’s worth your while to check out Fastcase!  One easy way to get started is to sign up for one of their free webinars.  You’ll find a complete list here.

Don’t be an April Fool!

REMINDER:   The April Fool’s Day Info Hunt drawing is almost here!  Submit your completed entries by Tuesday, April 3rd at 5:00 pm for a chance to WIN one of many prizes, including study aids and texts, and OneCard Guest Cards (these can be used for food purchases as well as printing and copying).  The drawing will take place outside the library entrance at 5:30 pm on Tuesday, April 3rd.

For more information, click here.

April Fool’s Day Info Hunt

It’s almost April Fool’s Day, so let the games begin!

In the spirit of “the games,” the Mendik Library is challenging you with the chance to enter the April Fool’s Day Info Hunt with a chance to WIN one of many prizes, including study aids and texts, and OneCard guest cards (these can be used for food purchases as well as printing & copying)!

To access the April Fool’s Day  Info Hunt:

*  If you are using Firefox, Chrome or Safari, click here.

*  If you are using Internet Explorer, click here.

Each slide includes one question (there are only 5) plus helpful guidance on sources and steps to get you to the answer.  Press Enter to reveal each step in the research process and to move on to the next question.  Click here to access a PDF answer sheet (or pick up a copy at the Reference Desk) and submit your completed copy at the Reference Desk (or by e-mail: reference@nyls.edu) by 5:00 PM Tuesday, April 3rd to enter the drawing.  The official collection barrel for completed entries is located at the Reference Desk in the Library.  The drawing will take place outside the library entrance on April 3 at 5:30 PM.  Although you need not be present to win, winners in attendance will have the opportunity to choose from the selection of prizes, and may even receive bonus prizes.  Absentee winners will be contacted by email.

Good luck!

Our Online Catalog Has a New Look

The Mendik Library is pleased to announce  new enhancements to its Encore catalog interface – a state-of-the-art “discovery engine.”

Encore has a trimmer and cleaner look with tags listed on the left instead of displaying in a cloud. In the facets column on the left you can now access course reserves and other drill-downs to move you from broad search results to a more specific and focused list of resources.  Links to relevant full text articles from our HeinOnline subscription are now displayed at the bottom of the results screen.

This enhancement of Encore helps place New York Law School among the leaders in law school library technology. We hope you will enjoy using Encore to help navigate all of our resources. So give it a try and let us know what you think! We look forward to your comments and suggestions.

Bloomberg Law Training Sessions on Wednesday March 7

A reminder that tomorrow, Wednesday March 7, Bloomberg Law is offering a series of trainings on how to use Bloomberg Law to search for various content types.  If you are a 1L, these trainings satisfy the Research Skills Workshops component of your Legal Practice Course requirement.  Please Note: Bloomberg Law offers UNLIMITED summer access to students.

Trainings are being held in room L207 and are currently scheduled for:

Mar. 7 – 10:00 – 10:50 a.m. (Wednesday) – Formulating Effective Searches on Bloomberg Law.

Mar. 7 – 11:00 a.m. – 11:50 a.m. (Wednesday) – Finding and Researching Regulations on Bloomberg Law

Mar. 7 – 12:00 p.m. – 12:50 p.m. (Wednesday) – Formulating Effective Searches on Bloomberg Law.

Mar. 7 – 2:00 p.m. – 2:50 p.m. (Wednesday) – Finding and Researching Statutes on Bloomberg Law.

Mar. 7 – 3:00 p.m. – 3:50 p.m. (Wednesday) – Using Bloomberg Law’s Citator (BCITE).

Please contact Omesh Seemangal via e-mail at oseemangal@bloomberg.net to reserve a spot for one of the training sessions.  Please also e-mail Omesh if you are unable to attend on Wednesday and would like to request possible additional training opportunities, or have questions about the service itself.

Thomas More, Patron Saint of Lawyers

Born on February 7, 1477, Thomas More was an English lawyer, statesman, author, scholar, dedicated father, early proponent of education for women, and eventually, a saint.  Raised in London, he entered the bar around 1501 after studies at Oxford and legal apprenticeship.  Politics followed shortly afterwards with his election to Parliament in 1504.  He eventually rose to the high office of Chancellor in 1529.  More’s strongly held religious convictions brought him into conflict with the king when Henry VIII established the Church of England.  More could not bring himself to acknowledge the king as supreme to the Pope, which led to his trial and execution for treason in 1535.  He was canonized in 1935 and is the patron saint of a variety of groups, including lawyers.

Douglas Linder, The Trial of Sir Thomas More, Famous  Trials, http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/more/more.html (last visited February 3, 2012).

A Man for All Seasons (Highland Films 1966).

More, Sir Thomas, http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0833989.html  (last visited February 3, 2012).

Thomas More, Utopia (1516).

Mendik Library In The News


Victoria Sukhol, Assistant Director for Cataloging at NYLS, was recognized recently by the American Association of Law Libraries for her work cataloging the website of the Joint Committee on Taxation.  The AALL selected the Joint Committee’s website as its website of the month in December, and thanked Ms. Sukhol for her work cataloging this rich source of tax legislative information for the past century.  The Committee recently posted to its website all of its publications back to the 1920s.

The Joint Committee on Taxation is a nonpartisan committee of the U.S. Congress, originally established by the Revenue Act of 1926. The committee operates with a professional staff of economists, attorneys, and accountants, who assist members of Congress of both parties with tax issues.  The committee staff is involved with every aspect of the tax legislative process, including:

  • Assisting Congressional tax-writing committees and Members of Congress with development and analysis of legislative proposals;
  • Preparing official revenue estimates of all tax legislation considered by the Congress;
  • Drafting legislative analyses for tax-related bills; and
  • Investigating various aspects of the Federal tax system.


Perhaps best known of the Committee’s publications are their “Bluebooks,” which provide explanations of tax legislation enacted in each congress.    The explanation follows    the chronological order of the tax legislation as signed into law. For each provision, the document includes a description of present law, explanation of the provision, and effective date.  The analysis provided in the Bluebooks is often cited in tax cases.  For more information please see the committee’s website at http://www.jct.gov/.  You may review Victoria’s catalog record at http://lawlib.nyls.edu/record=b1676785~S0 .

 

Find Some Love in the Library

The Valentine’s Day Info Hunt has arrived!  As our Valentine’s Day gift to you, the Mendik Library is offering another opportunity to be entered into a drawing to WIN one of many valuable study aids and texts, along with other prizes we will be giving away (see a sampling below).

To access the Valentine’s Day Info Hunt:

*  If you are using Firefox, Chrome or Safari, click here

*  If you are using Internet Explorer, click here   

Each slide includes one question (there are only 5) plus helpful guidance on sources and steps to get you to the answer.  Press Enter to reveal each step in the research process and to move on to the next question.  Click here to access a PDF answer sheet (or pick up a copy at the Reference Desk) and submit your completed copy at the Reference Desk by 5 PM Tuesday, February 14 to enter the drawing.  The official collection barrel for completed entries is located at the Reference Desk in the Library.  The drawing will take place outside the library entrance on February 14th at 5:30 PM.  Although you need not be present to win, winners in attendance will have the opportunity to choose from the selection of prizes, and may even receive bonus prizes.  Absentee winners will be contacted by email. 

Among the titles and prizes winners will choose from are:

The Elements of Legal Style

Legal Writing Process, Analysis, and Organization

New York Practice Hornbook (Siegel)

Understanding Labor Law

and many more

. . .

plus:

Starbucks gift cards

OneCard guest cards (can be used for food purchases as well as printing & copying)

. . . and who knows what else!