Book Podcasts: Not Just for National Library Week

It is true that many people who work in libraries love to read books. We read in a variety of genres and in all sorts of formats. We read e-books, pristine new print books, and ratty old used paperbacks bought with cash from independent bookstores. At work, we blog about books and libraries and even bookmobiles. National Library Week is a perfect excuse for a blog post about one of my favorite things: the book podcast. Reading is personal, and so is podcast listening. These are just of few of my favorites.

Books on the Nightstand is a project of two friends and colleagues who work in the publishing industry. Book reviews and behind the scenes chats about the business.

Book Lust with Nancy Pearl is in-depth author interviews, recorded at the University Bookstore.

Slate has several podcasts of interest to readers. Live atPolitics and Prose features author appearances at the bookstore and the AudioBook Club features critics’ discussion of a particular title.

NPR: Books Podcast pulls together book stories – reviews, interviews, news – from the week’s programs.

BBC’s Open Book features author interviews and A Good Read is discussion of favorite titles.

And of course both The New York Times and The Guardian offer podcasts by their respective book editors.

Happy listening and happy reading!

National Library Week: Peepshow Contest Voting is OPEN!!

At long last, the voting for our Second Annual Peepshow Contest is now open to anyone with a UW NetID.  The voting will end at 5:00 pm on Sunday the 21st and the winners will be announced on Monday the 22nd.

Remember, the first place winner in each category will score a UW Bookstore gift card so make people happy and vote! 

Follow this link to see the fantastic submissions (including the two fun ones below): https://catalyst.uw.edu/webq/survey/aendter/199594



Declaration of Indepeepdence

 



Peeping Toms

Pulitzer Fever

The 2013 Pulitzer Prizes were announced earlier this week. (April 15 NY Times story is here.) The winner for General Nonfiction is Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America, by Gilbert King. The publisher's page says this book

is a gripping true story of racism, murder, rape, and the law. It brings to light one of the most dramatic court cases in American history, and offers a rare and revealing portrait of Thurgood Marshall that the world has never seen before.  

As Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns did for the story of America’s black migration, Gilbert King’s Devil in the Grove does for this great untold story of American legal history, a dangerous and uncertain case from the days immediately before Brown v. Board of Education in which the young civil rights attorney Marshall risked his life to defend a boy slated for the electric chair—saving him, against all odds, from being sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit.

It's in the law library: HV9956.G76 K56 2012 at Classified Stacks.

Lincoln's Code: The Laws of War in American History, by John Fabian Witt, was a finalist in the history category. It also won the Bancroft Prize for history. The publisher's page says:

In this pathbreaking and deeply original book, John Fabian Witt tells the hidden story of the laws of war in the first century of the United States–and of the extraordinary code that emerged from it to change the course of world history. Lincoln’s Code is the haunting and inspiring story of an idea in American history: the idea that conduct in war can be regulated by law. For many, the very idea of a law for war has seemed like an oxymoron. But with sweep and vitality, Witt unfolds the story of the cast of characters who invented the modern laws of war.

Gary J. Bass reviewed Lincoln's Code in the New York Times Book Review Sept. 28, 2012. And you can check out the library's copy: KF7210 .W58 2012 at Classified Stacks.

Remember that "Friends" episode with the encyclopedias?

Do you remember the hilarious "Friends" episode where Joey wants to buy an encyclopedia set but can only afford to buy one volume, so he chooses the "V" volume and learns everything beginning with the letter "V"? Vesuvius... volcano... vivisection... vas deferens... the Vietnam War.  With an encyclopedia, he became an unstoppable force of interesting facts, beginning with the letter "V"! 



When was the last time you looked at an encyclopedia? *crickets*

Don't feel bad if you don't remember. I felt the same way until a month ago when I had an occasion to search the online version of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (I know it says "dictionary" but really, I think it's an encyclopedia) and found the obscure person/answer I was seeking! If you ever did a report in elementary school (pre-Internet era), you might remember trudging to your local library, pulling a big volume of the Encyclopaedia Britannica to read what turned out to be a fascinating overview of Queen Hatshepsut.

Encyclopedias are fantastic at giving you a concise overview of a topic.  The handiness and reliability of print encyclopedias have been translating to their online versions. Some will only give you a teaser for free (like the Encyclopaedia Britannica) but others are completely free! Check out a Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History at HistoryLink.org (Mary Whisner blogged about it back in 2009). Established online encyclopedias are like authenticated (ahem, IMO better) versions of Wikipedia. 

If, like me, online encyclopedias are an untapped resource in your life - tap them!  If for no other reason than to avoid being the "Joey"* in your own group of friends! 

*Incidentally, "Joey Tribbiani" can be found in the Encyclopedia of Television!

Photo Credit 1: www.tumblr.com
Photo Credit 2: www.nytimes.com  

Mayor McGinn Loves Libraries

As you probably/hopefully know by now, we are busy celebrating National Library Week here at Gallagher (Dubs did not disappoint yesterday, he brought smiles to everyone who visited with him and posed for many, many adorable photos with eager law students). 

Of course, we are not the only library in town that is celebrating this week.  Mayor Mike McGinn has proclaimed that this week is National Library Week in Seattle!  Mayor McGinn provides compelling and excellent reasons why libraries and librarians matter, especially the Seattle Public Library.  And we couldn't agree more!  Our community benefits in so many ways from the great work and dedication of the SPL and other area libraries and we join in honoring them this week.

Stay tuned for more fun as we wrap up our Peepshow and candy jar contests.  And, as always, come see us in the reference office for research help.

Put a Peep on it!
Photo credit: Fernando O. Gonzalez (and Peep placement by Anna Endter)

New Faculty Publication: Kathryn Watts on Bankruptcy Exceptionalism

Rafael I. Pardo & Kathryn A. Watts, The Structural Exceptionalism of Bankruptcy Administration, 60 UCLA L. Rev. 384-460 (2012).

Kathryn A. Watts

Professor Watts' latest article discusses:

• Judicial Administration of the Bankruptcy Code
• Problems Posed by the Current Structure of Bankruptcy Administration
• Redesigning Bankruptcy Administration to be Unexceptional

Abstract from the SSRN posting:

The current system of administration of the Bankruptcy Code is highly anomalous. It stands as one of the few major federal civil statutory regimes administered almost exclusively through adjudication in the courts, not through a federal regulatory agency. This means that rather than fitting bankruptcy into a regulatory model, Congress has chosen to give the courts primary interpretive authority in the field of bankruptcy, delegating to courts the power to engage in residual policymaking.

Although scholars have noted some narrow aspects of the structural exceptionalism of bankruptcy administration, Congress’s decision to locate responsibility for bankruptcy policymaking almost exclusively with the federal judiciary, with little input from administrative agencies, has evaded scholarly attention. This Article aims to fill the gap by analyzing Congress’s choice of delegate in the bankruptcy context and assessing the consequences of the congressional decision to locate residual policymaking power in the courts. After identifying the structural anomalies of the current court-centered model and some of the constitutional and policy-driven concerns that flow therefrom, this Article makes the case for moving bankruptcy toward an administrative model with a regulatory agency charged with setting bankruptcy policy. Such a shift away from bankruptcy exceptionalism could bring greater expertise, accountability, uniformity, accessibility, transparency, prospective clarity and flexibility to policymaking in the bankruptcy arena. In addition, such a shift could help alleviate some of the constitutional issues that cast doubt on the legitimacy of our current system, such as Article III questions highlighted by the Supreme Court’s 2011 decision in Stern v. Marshall.

DUBS IS COMING TODAY!! Happy National Library Week!!

HAPPY NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK! 

Dubs will be in the law student lounge TODAY from 12:30-1:30pm!  Stop by and give our mascot some love!  The excitement in the law library is almost exactly like this...almost.

The exciting news doesn't stop after the Dubs visit!  To give everyone a chance to participate in the Peepshow Contest, we have extended the deadline for Peepshow entries to Wednesday, April 17 at 5pm.  Champions in the three categories will each be the envied winners of a fantastic $25 UW Bookstore gift card!  A gift card could be used to purchase a little study companion Dubs:

 Finally, stop by the Reference Office and enter a guess in our Candy Jar Contest:

The UW law student with the closest guess wins a wicked cool prize.  It could be you, so do it! Do it!

Photo Credit: Fernando O. Gonzalez

Foreign Legal Research Handout and Slides Available Here!

If you attended one of the Foreign Legal Research lectures this week for your Comparative and International Law Survey course, you may be interested in grabbing a copy of the helpful handout or reviewing the slides.  The handout and slides will surely come in handy when you're completing your assignments!

National Library Week: Peepshow Contest Closing Soon!

We had so much fun with the Peepshow contest last year that we've decided to do it again! And this year, there will be PRIZES for the winners. A $25 UW Bookstore gift card will be awarded to the first place winner in each category!

Grab some peeps (the colorful candy variety) and stage them in humorous or dramatic vignettes. Then snap a photo and send it to Anna Endter, with a title and short description (if the image doesn't peep for itself). Short films are also acceptable.

Submit your entry in one of these categories:

• Legal Peeple
• Library Peeple
• Peeple's Choice (any theme that is not law and/or library-related)

The entry deadline is Sunday, April 14th at 5:00pm.

Voting for the winner in each category will begin on Tuesday, April 16th and winners will be announced on Monday, April 22nd.

The rules:

1. All entries must be original. That is, you cannot reproduce a setting from the American Bar Association's Peeps in the Law contests or similar Peeps-featured settings. You may, however, derive inspiration from these sources.
2. Entries may be submitted by individuals or groups.
3. Entrants agree to permit the Gallagher Law Library to use submitted images and movies in noncommercial advertising or promotion.
4. The contest is open to students, faculty, and staff of the University of Washington School of Law.

Procedural Analysis of Private Laws Enacted: 1986-2013 (New CRS Report)

The Congressional Research Service has issued a new report that may be of interest: Procedural Analysis of Private Laws Enacted: 1986-2013 (April 9, 2013).

The summary states:

Between 1986 and 2013 (99th-113th Congresses), 170 private laws were enacted. As of this writing, no private laws have been enacted in the 113th Congress (2013-2014). Most private laws during this period dealt with immigration issues or claims against the government. Of these measures, 65% originated in the House, 9% had cosponsors, and 23% had companion bills. Most were enacted without amendment or need to resolve differences with the other house. This report examines the broad distinctions among these measures in terms of their subject matter, introduction, sponsorship and cosponsorship, referral, method of consideration, amendment, and reconciling of differences between the chambers’ versions of the bill.

Thanks to the Federation of American Scientists for posting this and many other CRS reports. For other ways to identify and access CRS reports, see the Gallagher guide. 

How Twitter Can Help You Avoid Information Overload.

The progress of technology seems to be rapidly accelerating, with new options for accessing information frequently becoming available. With print resources, emails, RSS feeds, listservs, Facebook, and Twitter all to choose from, it can be overwhelming. Information overload can lead to passivity and indecisiveness about which information sources to pursue. I recall when I was a law student, I regularly processed so much new legal information in my studies that the idea of "keeping up" with current legal developments that weren't directly tied to academic pursuits sometimes seemed unrealistic.

Twitter can help! With a bit of time and care to pick some of the best key sources, your Twitter feed can be tailored to provide you with a quick way of keeping up to date with important legal information.

I have only recently come around to using Twitter. If you haven't gotten on board yourself, I encourage you to give it a try. Here are some reasons I've recently signed on for Twitter:

1. The information is already vetted - The best thing about Twitter is that other users are doing the work of considering the source before they tweet it to you. It's crowdsourcing at its best.

2. No more overload - Scrolling through a Twitter feed is a little like browsing newspaper headlines. The maximum character allowance is only 140, which is enough space to share a link to something interesting with brief commentary, but not so much that you don't have time to take note at all. If something is compelling, you can read further.

3. There is networking potential - You can share bits of information with others in your field and respond to things you find interesting and useful. It's a large open forum that allows you to expand your professional network. You may never meet them in person, but you can keep abreast of what they're doing.  

4. There is more of a conversation on Twitter than you might think! Twitter feeds are very up to date, and any current event is bound to light up the feed with discussion. For example, when the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments on the Defense of Marriage Act, Twitter was rife with commentary. It can be very interesting to see real time interactions to current issues in your feed.

Below are a few of my favorite legal information Twitter accounts. For those of you who have been tweeting for a while, what other legal information Twitter accounts do you enjoy following?

Macy's, Martha Stewart and J.C. Penney all walk into a courtroom...

Last month Macy's, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and J.C. Penney were ordered into mediation. The dispute: whether both Macy's and J.C. Penney can peddle Martha Stewart branded items in their stores.

Much to nobody's surprise, the parties were back in court yesterday with no settlement in hand. Macy's brought the lawsuit against both Martha Stewart and J.C. Penney contending that it has "an exclusive license to make and sell Martha Stewart-branded products in certain exclusive product categories".

Martha Stewart testifying in court earlier today

Martha Stewart, Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren, and (as of 9 hours ago) former J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson have all taken a spin in the witness box to testify in the case. And while all their he-said, she-said drama makes for some entertaining tweets:

Stewart told Tighe, "they were feeding off" her brand."
— Women's Wear Daily (@womensweardaily) April 8, 2013

"Rest means rest," an exasperated Penney's lawyer said, referring to Macy's assertion that it mayhave rebuttals after it rests its case.
— Women's Wear Daily (@womensweardaily) April 8, 2013

"I think my spouse would be totally depressed that I know all this stuff," Judge Oing said about his knowledge of MSLO's home goods.
— Women's Wear Daily (@womensweardaily) April 11, 2013

the hold up is not helping J.C. Penney's turnaround plans as its CEO has just been dropped.  Ouch.  Maybe Martha will make him a delicious pie to help ease the pain. 

Photo Credit: www.money.cnn.com


Washington Population and Housing Unit Counts

Did you know that the first U.S. Census in 1790 counted a population of 3.9 million (including slaves but not Native Americans), and the recent 2010 census counted over 308 million people! The Decennial Census is a fantastic resource for researchers and there are probably about 308 millions reasons why.  The Ohio State University Libraries guide on the Census of Population and Housing explains:

The Census of Population and Housing, or Decennial Census actually is two censuses taken concurrently every ten years. The Census of Population, begun in 1790, counts the number of people and some personal, social, and economic characteristics. It is the oldest statistical product of the Federal government, and the first periodic census in the world.

The Census of Housing, taken since 1940, counts the number of residential dwellings and selected physical and financial characteristics. The Decennial Census is mandated by the U.S. Constitution, and by law (Title 13, U.S. Code), the Census Bureau cannot share the answers that respondents provide with anyone or any other government agency.

The Decennial Census' rich collection of data is also available at the state level, comparing population and housing unit changes by county. The Washington: 2010 Population and Housing Unit Counts was recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau and is available at Gallagher Law Library!  Can't get to the library? Access the PDF version here!

National Library Week - Second Annual Peepshow Contest

We had so much fun with the Peepshow contest last year that we've decided to do it again!  And this year, there will be PRIZES for the winners.  A $25 UW Bookstore gift card will be awarded to the first place winner in each category!

Grab some peeps (the colorful candy variety) and stage them in humorous or dramatic vignettes. Then snap a photo and send it to Anna Endter, with a title and short description (if the image doesn't peep for itself). Short films are also acceptable.

Submit your entry in one of these categories:

• Legal Peeple
• Library Peeple
• Peeple's Choice (any theme that is not law and/or library-related)

The entry deadline is Sunday, April 14th at 5:00pm.

Voting for the winner in each category will begin on Tuesday, April 16th and winners will be announced on Monday, April 22nd.

The rules:

1. All entries must be original. That is, you cannot reproduce a setting from the American Bar Association's Peeps in the Law contests or similar Peeps-featured settings. You may, however, derive inspiration from these sources.
2. Entries may be submitted by individuals or groups.
3. Entrants agree to permit the Gallagher Law Library to use submitted images and movies in noncommercial advertising or promotion.
4. The contest is open to students, faculty, and staff of the University of Washington School of Law.

Labor Archives of Washington

Curious about the labor movement in Washington State?


I.W.W. poster from Labor Archives of Washington guide

Check out the Labor Archives of Washington (LAW).

[It] was founded to preserve the records of working people and their unions and to serve as a center for historical research, ensuring that new generations have access to the rich labor history of the region. A unit of the Special Collections Department of the University of Washington Libraries, the Labor Archives is a collaborative project of the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies and the University of Washington Libraries. Funding for the Archives comes largely from the labor movement.

The digital collections include a wide variety of material, from the Seattle General Strike of 1919 to the WTO protests in 1999.

There are also records from many unions and individuals, including some lawyers:

• John Caughlan papers. Seattle civil rights attorney, active 1937-1990. In the 1940s and 1950s he represented labor unions, union activists, the Communist Party, the Washington Pension Union, Henry Huff in the Smith Act, foreign-born residents facing deportation because of their political activities, and individuals accused of "subversive" or "un-American" activities in cases related to the Smith Act, the McCarran Act, and the McCarran-Walter Act.
• Cynthia K. Gillespie papers. Feminist activist, attorney, author. Feminist activist, attorney, author. Founder and first Executive Director of Northwest Women's Law Center, Seattle, 1978-1980. A practicing attorney with emphasis on family law and women's rights.
• Mark M. Litchman Papers, 1901-1965. Attorney, civil rights activist, Jewish communal leader. Mark Litchman was born in 1887, and died 1960. Litchman defended prospective deportees from deportation, 1918-1920, 1931; the "Seattle Union Record" against sedition charges, 1919-1920; socialists and members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) incarcerated in Yakima, 1933; and represented Haverty in International Stevedoring Company v. Haverty, leading to abolition of fellow-servant doctrine, 1926. He was a member of the King County Housing Authority, 1939- , and of the Executive Board of the ACLU Washington until 1955.

Congratulations to the team at the Labor Archives of Washington!
It is receiving the 2013 John Sessions Memorial Award for its steady stream of exhibits, outreach efforts to the community and the impressive LibGuides site and digital collections portal site. This award is sponsored by the Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO and presents a citation to a library or library system that has brought recognition to the labor movement in the United States.

Convicting the Innocent

You've heard of people who were shown by DNA evidence to be innocent of the crimes they were imprisoned for. How can that happen? What can we learn from it?

Prof. Brandon Garrett (with the help of a team of research assistants) found out all he could about the first 250 DNA exonerations, gathering trial transcripts (when available), news coverage, appellate records, and the records from state post-conviction proceedings and federal habeas cases. Then he mined the data: How many of the exonerated people had confessed falsely? How many had been mistakenly identified by one or more eyewitnesses? How many were prosecuted with questionable forensic evidence (hair analysis, for instance, does not prove much of anything)? How many years did it take from initial conviction to eventual exoneration?

He presents the results in Convicting the Innocent: Where Criminal Prosecutions Go Wrong (KF9756 .G37 2011 at Classified Stacks). The results are disturbing—but can also be instructive.

Open Access to Government Information: Did Washington State Make the Grade?

Joke of the day: What do state legislatures and law students have in common? Punchline: They both receive report cards!

Okay, so that wasn't very funny, at all.  Anyhow...

Recently, the Open States project published a report card ranking each state's efforts towards providing government information to its citizenry.  Happily, Washington State received an "A." 

Although we were ranked "average" in the categories of completeness, ease of access, standards, and permanence, we received perfect scores for machine readability and timeliness.  Say what you will about Washingtonians, but don't question our punctuality!

More information available here.

National Library Week - DUBS IS COMING!!

Everybody needs research assistance...even Dubs! You might have been fortunate enough to see Dubs stop by Gallagher Law Library earlier this year for his reference fix. He visited the Reference Office for some help finding the WAC section and statutory authority that permit him to enter university buildings and structures. 

He then needed some help finding the CFRs.

He left satisfied with his research and in awe of Gallagher Law Library's collection of CFRs.


If you missed Dubs, don't worry! Dubs is returning to Gallagher Law Library to celebrate National Library Week!*  Dubs will be in the Law Student Lounge on Monday, April 15 from 12:30pm-1:30pm. Law students are welcome to stop by and say hello to UW's awesome mascot. In the meantime, consider this: if Gallagher Law Library is able to provide Dubs with excellent reference service, just imagine what they can do for you!
 
*Note: This is just the first of many National Library Week events here at Gallagher Law Library, so check back often for more exciting news!

Photo Credit: Fernando O. Gonzalez

Gates Goose Sanctuary?

The Student Animal Legal Defense Fund (SALDF) and GreenLaw have petitioned the University of Washington to designate the terrace of William H. Gates Hall to be a Canada Goose sanctuary.

Canada Geese in front of Gates Hall "crystal"

SALDF recently held a pet photo contest to raise money for a dog shelter. "After that effort," said SALDF president Rachel Swanson, "We thought we could do even more to improve the UW Law community's relationship with non-human animals. What better way than having a flock among us?"

When local geese got wind of this proposal, they organized a march in support. Through an interpreter provided by SALDF, a spokesgoose said, "We can be Leaders for the Global Common Good^TM too!"

Geese march across Gates Hall terrace

Bankruptcy Filing Reprieve: April Fools!

A Nevada attorney filed 25 bankruptcy cases near the deadline before a change in the law. Unfortunately for him and his clients, they were just after the deadline, not just before. The court dismissed the cases, determined the late filing was the fault of the attorney, and ordered him to disgorge all the compensation he'd received.

Moral: Pay attention to those deadlines!

Almost five years later, the lawyer tries to reopen the case, based on a press release indicating that there had been a computer glitch preventing filing on the deadline and Congress had passed a law to give filers two hours back. He did not cite the statute. In fact, he hadn't been able to confirm anything about the press release. And he didn't notice (or didn't care) that, along with being implausible, the press release was dated April 1. The court denied his motion and sanctioned the lawyer for Bankruptcy Rule 9011 (which is similar to Fed. R. Civ. P. 11).

The court also offered a research lesson:

n. 13   Mr. Huntsman alleged that he was unable to independently verify the accuracy of the Press Release or the existence of the law in question because his office does not subscribe to either Westlaw or Lexis. This alone gives rise to concerns as to the reasonableness of Mr. Huntsman's inquiry into the matter, Gutierrez v. City of Hialeah, 729 F.Supp. 1329, 1332 (S.D.Fla.1990) (attorney's inquiry was not reasonable within the meaning of Civil Rule 11 where the attorney did not consult available "basic legal research tools, such as citators, digests, annotated codes, or computerized searches") (citations omitted); Blake v. Nat'l Casualty Co., 607 F.Supp. 189, 191 n. 4 (C.D.Cal.1984) (where attorney did not shepardize relevant case law, did not consult an annotated code or a digest, and failed to conduct a computer search, the attorney's inquiry was not reasonable for the purposes of Civil Rule 11). There are many free legal research tools available to attorneys such as Mr. Huntsman. Not only could he consult one of the many law libraries in Nevada, but as a member of the State Bar of Nevada, Mr. Huntsman has free access to the Fastcase legal research database. See State Bar Member Benefits: Fastcase, STATE BAR OF NEVADA, http://www.nvbar.org/content/fastcase (last visited Oct. 12, 2011). In addition, the Thomas website, maintained by the Library of Congress, is freely available to the public. It is a particularly thorough and accurate source for research concerning federal legislation. See Thomas, THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, http://thomas.loc.gov (last visited Oct. 12, 2011). Finally, the Legal Information Institute, affiliated with the Cornell University Law School, maintains a website which makes available, free of charge, the United States Code, the Code of Federal Regulations, Supreme Court cases dating to 1990, the Uniform Commercial Code and many other legal resources too numerous to fully list here. See Legal Information Institute, CORNELL UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL, http://www.law.cornell.edu  (last visited Oct. 12, 2011). The lack of a Westlaw or Lexis subscription, therefore, cannot be said to be an impediment to Mr. Huntsman's ability to confirm whether or not the federal law he claimed to exist did, in fact, exist.

Moral: know how to research!

The case is In re Schivo, 462 B.R. 765 (Bankr. D. Nev. 2011), available on Google Scholar.

Hat tip: West Headnote of the Day