DULL News — No. 127
November 15, 2006
Headline
Countdown to Finals
The fall semester is almost over! In addition to much-anticipated holidays and much-dreaded exams, November and December will also bring a few important changes in the Law Library's schedule.
The Library will close for the Thanksgiving holiday at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, November 22. The Library will resume regular staffing hours, including reference service, on Sunday, November 26. Over the break, members of the Duke Law community will continue to have 24-hour access to the Law School building and the Law Library entrance with a valid DukeCard.
The last day of classes is Friday, December 1. During the subsequent reading week and examination period, the Library doors and the Circulation Desk will maintain regular hours, but the reference librarians will be available only on Mondays — Fridays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. There will be no evening or weekend reference service during exams or the winter break, but don't worry–you can e-mail the Reference Desk your questions at ref@law.duke.edu, and the staff will get back to you as soon as possible. Evening and weekend hours will resume at the beginning of the spring 2007 semester, Wednesday, January 10.
This issue of DULL News will focus on resources, both serious and frivolous, to help you get through this hectic time of year.
Get to Know
Exam Study Aids
Although you probably had enough to read during the semester, the Law Library owns a number of materials that might help you through the examination period. Many popular study materials are available in the Library's Reserve collection (behind the Circulation Desk). These items may be checked out for 4 hours at a time, in order to make them available to the largest possible number of students.
To find study aids for a particular class, try searching the Duke University Libraries Catalog (http://catalog.library.duke.edu) with a key word or phrase from your course title and the type of study material that you want. For example, "criminal procedure" and nutshell or "criminal procedure" and hornbook. (Remember, a nutshell provides a succinct outline of the key rules and major cases for a particular subject; a hornbook usually condenses a multi-volume treatise into a single book, and provides more extensive background on the issues and cases than a nutshell.) When you find a Reserve item that you would like to borrow, bring the title and author to the Circulation Desk, along with your DukeCard.
In addition, you might find it helpful to look at previous years' exams. The Law Library maintains an archive of Exams on File at http://www.law.duke.edu/lib/exams.html. To access the past exams, just ask at the Reference Desk for the username and password. Please note that some professors do not wish to make prior exams available for review; the Law Library does not have any exams beyond what is currently listed in the online archive.
Web Sites and Blogs
Distraction
Excessive studying can be hazardous to your sanity. With that in mind, here are a few law-related online games and blogs to provide some welcome distraction during exam week.
- Court TV's Web site has a section of fun Games (http://www.courttv.com/game/allgames.html) which will appeal to anyone with an interest in criminal justice. The games range from a simple "fingerprint match" to complex, multi-character animated mysteries. The site also features a Virtual Forensics Lab, which leads you on a video tour of lab equipment and techniques. Who knows? It might help you on that Evidence exam.
- For any aspiring politicians, there's Fantasy Congress (http://www.fantasycongress.com). Designed to resemble fantasy football, players must select a team of 16 all-stars from both houses of Congress. Points are then awarded to "MCs" (Members of Congress) who can push their bills farthest through the legislative process. The site requires registration, but joining the game is free. Congress's "lame duck" session began on November 13, so gather some friends and start a league today!
- Finally, take your tired eyes out of your casebook and read Anonymous Lawyer (http://anonymouslawyer.blogspot.com/) instead. This popular blog provides "stories from the trenches, by a fictional hiring partner at a large law firm in a major city." The partner writes like a legal version of Steve Carell's clueless character from The Office, as in the National Boss Day entry in which he wonders why his "slaves and underlings" failed to send him any cards. If you'd like to read even more, the blog has also recently been reworked into a bestselling novel, imaginatively titled Anonymous Lawyer (available in the Law Library at the call number PS3602 .L23 A 56 2006).
The Figures
Legal Oddities
- 0.18: New blood alcohol limit, in grams, for drunk driving in New York State, thanks to a typo in a recently passed bill. Lawmakers intended to create a new aggravated misdemeanor for drivers with 0.18 percent blood alcohol content in their systems; the law as written would make "endogenous alcohol" (the amount naturally present in the body) illegal! Thankfully, authorities will not enforce the new law until the typo is corrected.
- 6,799,762: number of U.S. Patent, issued 10/5/2004, for "psychic seeds entertaining growth system", in which a plant seed will (eventually) predict your future by sprouting through a hole marked either "Yes" or "No".
- 25 to life: possible sentence, in years, for a Michigan man who accidentally confessed to murder during a party, while playing a game in which participants were asked to name the "stupidest thing" they'd ever done.
[Sources: CNN.com; Patently Silly blog (www.patentlysilly.com)]
Research Tip
Keep Current with BNA Newsletters
Classes at Duke Law may pause for a month, but the court system certainly doesn't. So how can you keep up with any new cases or other legal developments in your areas of research interest? The Law Library recently subscribed to electronic versions of BNA reporters, which were previously available only in loose-leaf binder formats. Titles include U.S. Law Week, Environment Reporter, the Patent, Trademark and Copyright Journal, and many more. To view the list of available titles, visit the Law Library’s home page (http://www.law.duke.edu/lib/). Select “Find more articles and databases”, then type “BNA reporters” into the search box. Note that you can also access these titles through your Lexis and Westlaw accounts.
To receive new issues of your preferred titles via e-mail, visit http://www.bna.com/lawschool. At the lower left corner of the page, click "E-mail Preferences". Select either "BNA news services" or "BNA reference libraries" (the available titles for each option vary, so be sure to check both links). Enter your Duke Law e-mail address in the box and press the SUBMIT button. On your first visit, you will need to register your contact information before selecting your titles. On future visits, you will only need to enter your e-mail address to update your contact information and subscription preferences. Then sit back and let the news come to you!
Library News
Hello, Goodbye
Please join the Law Library in bidding farewell to Joy Hanson, who has worked as a Reference Librarian at Duke Law since July 2004. In December, Joy will begin a position at the United States Supreme Court Library, where she had interned prior to joining Duke. In her short time at the Law Library, Joy provided exceptional reference service to students and faculty while also co-teaching a section of the Legal Analysis, Research and Writing program. Joy was also a familiar face in the Duke Law bowling league, where she maintained a formidable average of 122 (that's without handicap). Congratulations to Joy, and best of luck in Washington!
The Law Library is also welcoming a new colleague this month. Susan Hicks will take over the position of Business Manager for Information Services from Sarah Roberts, who retired in October. Sue has worked for the Pratt School of Engineering since 1987, and most recently held the position of Finance and Administrative Specialist. Welcome, Sue!
Research Stumper
Question: Where in the Library can you find a copy of the Puerto Rican constitution? Note that there are several possible sources.
Answer will appear in the January 15 issue.
Answer to last issue's stumper: In the last issue of DULL News, we asked, "How many U.S. Presidents were also attorneys? Did any of them attend Duke?"
Throughout history, lawyers have dominated the U.S. Presidency. A whopping twenty-five out of forty-three Presidents had a previous career as an attorney. The recent book America's Lawyer-Presidents: From Law Office to Oval Office (Law Library KF 353 .A46 2004), profiles the legal careers of each, from John Adams to Bill Clinton.
Only one of the twenty-five lawyer-presidents attended Duke Law. Richard Nixon graduated with the class of 1937.
DULL Question of the Month
Question: Which of the following electronic resources can provide you with an image PDF of the National Turkey Improvement Plan emblem, as it appeared in the 1957 supplement version of 9 C.F.R. § 146.3(e)?
- GPO Access
- HeinOnline
- LexisNexis
- Westlaw
Answer: B. While all of the above choices offer full-text access to the Code of Federal Regulations, their dates of coverage and document formatting varies.
- GPO Access, the Government Printing Office's portal for government publications, provides some access to the CFR in PDF (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html), but it only includes volumes dating back to 1996.
- LexisNexis' CFR Archive dates back to 1981. Images from the original CFR are scanned as attachments, but the volumes themselves are not available in PDF.
- Westlaw includes CFR volumes from 1984-present. Like Lexis, Westlaw includes scanned images from the original volume pages, but does not provide the full text of the CFR in PDF.
- HeinOnline, however, recently announced the addition of the Code of Federal Regulations to its library of historical legal materials in PDF. Hein's new CFR library provides all volumes and supplements in PDF from 1938-1983.
Comments to Jennifer L. Behrens.