“Remember, Remember, the Fifth of November…”: Guy Fawkes Day

Remember, remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder treason and plot
We see no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

English children’s chant when collecting money for fireworks
on Guy Fawkes Day
Guy Fawkes Day celebrates the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot, in which a group of conspirators aimed to restore Catholic rule to England by assassinating King James I and members of Parliament via gunpowder explosion. The celebration is named for the man in possession of kegs of gunpowder when he was arrested shortly after midnight on November 5. The trial for this now infamous act of high treason quickly followed the torture of the conspirators, whose conviction was a foregone conclusion despite pleas of not guilty. The executions were, by statute, quite grisly. Guy Fawkes Day is still marked in the United Kingdom with bonfires and fireworks.

At present, sentences for treason are no longer so gruesome, but still very serious. For their crime today, Fawkes and his co-conspirators would face up to life in prison. (Treason Act, 1998, c. 146, § 1.) In the United States, however, a defendant can still be sentenced to death. (18 U.S.C. § 2381 (2006.)

Last Prize Drawing for OneLs

The last prize drawing of the semester for those who register and remain registered for the Mendik Law Library News blog will be held on Friday, November 12, 2010. Only OneLs who remain registered for Mendik Law Library News as of November 12, 2010 are eligible. Winners will receive one of three NYLS Guest Cards ($5 each), which can be used for printing and copying as well as food purchases at the coffee bar and the café.

If you are already registered (or, once you do register), all you need to do to enter the drawing is forward a copy of the FeedBlitz email that announces the posting of the blog entry that will appear on Thursday November 4 titled “Remember the 5th of November” to reference@nyls.edu. Winners will be contacted by email.

If you are not already subscribed it’s not too late – go to this page, enter your email address and click Submit (under email notifications); then follow the instructions above.

 

First Week Pizza Survey Results

For the fourth consecutive year we surveyed one-Ls during First Week library tours about their use of digital communication tools. Nearly 640 students responded to questions about what form of electronic communication they used most often; what social networking site they used and how often; whether they subscribed to or read blogs or RSS feeds; how often they listened to podcasts; what type of computer and which web browser they used most often; and whether they have used e-books. This year’s survey also asked which electronic devices students owned (including Blackberries, iPhones, other smart phones, iPads, and e-book readers), which search engine they used most often, and how often they used a different search engine to repeat a search seeking different or additional results. And, as always, we asked for their favorite pizza topping. The four years of data are beginning to reflect certain trends.

  • E-mail use continues to plummet vis-à-vis text messaging as the preferred means of written electronic communication among members of the class of 2013/14. The percentage of those favoring e-mail fell this year to 45%, down from 55% in 2009, 62% in 2008, and 67% in 2007. At the same time, entering students’ preference for text messaging rose to 43%, up from 35% in 2009, 31% in 2008 and 24% in 2007.
  • Facebook is continuing to grow in dominance and importance. Not only did 89% of survey respondents name it as the social networking site they use most often, but more and more of those using it are using it more and more often; frequency of use increased again this year, with 46% reporting logging on to the site more than once per day, compared to 2009 (39%) and 2008 (28%).
  • While 41% of this year’s class subscribe to or read blogs (up from 36% in 2009 and 32% in 2008), the number of students subscribing to or reading RSS feeds remained small, at just 11%, on par with 2008’s figure but down from nearly 14% in 2008.
  • Podcast use presented a mixed bag: while 25% of respondents downloaded or listened to 1-5 podcasts during the year (continuing a downward trend compared to 29% in 2009 and 32% in 2008), those who downloaded or listened to more than 5 podcasts increased to 18%, slightly more than the 16% figure from both 2008 and 2009.
  • The popularity of Macs compared to PCs continued a steady climb, rising to 48% from 38% in 2009 and 31% in 2008.
  • Internet Explorer continued to lose popularity while both Safari and Google Chrome made big gains as browsers of choice. The latter two (31% and 12%), along with Firefox (36%), are now the choice of nearly 80% of respondent users.
  • A new question this year asked which search engine respondents use most often. Not surprisingly, 93% identified Google. Interestingly, 44% of those surveyed “sometimes” use a different search engine to perform an identical search after receiving results from an initial search, perhaps recognizing that individual search engines can have limitations and failings. An additional 8% “usually” use another search engine to supplement their results and nearly 5% “always” do so.
  • Another new question asked students which among certain specified electronic devices they owned. Among “smart phones,” Blackberry holds a 40% share compared to the iPhone at 22% and “other” smart phones at 17%. Less than 5% of respondents own an iPad and less than 4% own an e-book reader. A surprising 12% owned none of the five devices.
  • Use of e-books (via a computer or any other electronic device) showed an unexpected drop-off –- 42% compared to last year’s 56%.
  • Finally, after years of dominance as students’ favorite pizza topping, pepperoni (21.63%) lost its crown to cheese (23.20%). Mushrooms repeated as a contender with 10.66%.

For more information and the complete survey results, click here.

More Online Resources

Over 1,000 electronic databases are accessible by anyone who lives or attends school in New York State. How, you ask?  Use a library card from the NYPL.  The databases cover business, news, social science, art, health, etc. and are accessible anywhere you have an internet connection.  You can apply for a card online and it will be sent to you in the mail.

And there’s yet more digital information available through NOVELNY, the New York Online Virtual Electronic Library offered by the New York State Library.  This resource also provides over 1,000 databases covering business and finance, general reference, health and medicine, literature and news. You can log in with your New York driver’s license or non-driver state ID.

There are many benefits to using digital libraries.  For one thing, no ghosts! (Or professors of parapsychology.)

Ghostbusters-library

First CALR Survey Winner

One lucky OneL has already won a $25 bookstore gift card and more chances to win remain!

If you are a OneL and have had your required CALR training but have not yet participated in the CALR survey, please click here. After completing the survey, follow the on-screen instructions for a chance to win. If you have not yet had your CALR training, you will receive a survey invitation via email after you have completed the class.

If you haven’t yet signed up for a CALR session, please do so right away as our last class is on October 20. Instructions for registration can be found here.

First Monday in October

This coming Monday October 4, “the first Monday in October,” marks the beginning of a new term for the U.S. Supreme Court.  Why do Supreme Court terms always begin on the first Monday in October?  Watch this 2-minute video from the Clerk of the Supreme Court to learn why.

And the OneL Winners Are . . .

We are pleased to announce the five OneL prize winners in the Mendik Library FeedBlitz Registration Drawing announced during library tours. Congratulations to:  Albina Gertsberg, Tara Gatto, Michael Jozefczyk, Pihra Pizzingrilli and Chloe Mentar, who have each won either a Barnes & Noble Gift Card or a NYLS Guest Card (which may be used for printing and copying as well as food purchases at the coffee bar and the café).

There will be more chances to win later this semester.  All you need to do is stay subscribed to the Mendik Library News & Announcements blog via FeedBlitz (if you are not already subscribed it’s not too late – go to this page, enter your email address and click Submit). We will hold an additional prize drawing on November 5, 2010.

Celebrate Constitution Day

September 17 marks Constitution Day, commemorating the 1787 date on which thirty-nine of the Philadelphia Convention’s delegates signed the new Constitution.  This year’s theme is one near and dear to lawyers’ hearts – jury service.  Juries as we know them first took shape in 12th century England, under the reign of Henry II.  These early panels did not quite provide a jury of one’s peers, but they were a decided improvement over trial by combat, where the disputing parties or their chosen delegates beat one another savagely until only one was left standing.  So when you receive your jury summons, think of it this way:  although you may be mildly inconvenienced, you may also be saving someone from a UFC-style beat-down!

Jury service in the United States has also resulted in numerous contributions to pop culture, ranging from the great (Twelve Angry Men), to the mediocre (Runaway Jury), to the downright awful (Pauly Shore’s Jury Duty).  And, don’t forget all the work provided to New York City extras during the twenty-year run of Law & Order.  Think of it as Henry II’s economic stimulus package.

Further reading:

The American Jury System by Randolph N. Jonakait, KF8972 .J66 2003.

The Palladium of Justice by Leonard W. Levy, KD 7540 L48 1999.