InfoBrief

Black's Law Dictionary: There's an app for that

Mar 102010

iPhone, iPod touch, and now iPad apps for legal research have been picking up steam, and a small variety of apps are currently available. Of course, none of these are useful to you if you have a Droid, a Blackberry, or a Palm Pre. Also how useful these are depends on how mobile you are and whether you want/need/like access to resources that your laptop with Wi-Fi can’t provide.

One prominent app is Black’s Law Dictionary, which West released in April 2009. The upsides include:

Speed-it’s fast
Auto-complete feature helps you find the words you’re looking for
Audio pronunciation for 7,000 words, so you will never embarrass yourself again by mispronouncing a term
You don’t need the Internet to access
Links to other words and resources in Westlaw (e.g., Corpus Juris Secundum) if you have an account (but you may have to pay to use them, depending on your plan)
Portability, of course!

The downsides:

The price is steep for an app–$49.99–which won’t be worth it for many who already have access to Black’s through Westlaw or in print
App is for the 8th edition of Black’s, but West published the 9th edition last summer (no word yet on if and when West will release an app for the 9th edition)
Text does not resize itself when you zoom in
No browsing words alphabetically

By the way, don’t confuse the iPhone app with Black’s Law Dictionary Digital. The Digital version consists of a toolbar you download to your computer to use in Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer, and Mozilla Firefox. The toolbar links you to the online version of Black’s in Westlaw, and will provide spell-checking of legal terms in Word. This tool is not something I find useful since I can add legal terms to the spell checker the first time it finds them and the toolbar does not make it much faster or easier to retrieve Black’s in Westlaw or from my bookshelf.

For a more detailed review of the Black’s app, see Jeff Richardson’s Review: Black’s Law Dictionary for iPhone on iphonejd.com; also see the reviews from users in iTunes.

If you don’t want to pony up $50 for Black’s Dictionary, never fear: free law dictionary apps are also available and will be the subject of a future post.

This Thursday: Rare Book Room Open House

Amy Emerson No Responses »

Mar 092010

All members of the law school community are invited to an Open House for the Rare Book Room hosted by the Cornell Law Library this Thursday, March 11 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The Rare Book Room is located on the eastern end of the Reading Room (on the Law Library’s third floor). Please join us for an introduction to some of the most treasured items from our collection, including the Donovan Nuremberg Trials Collection, the Scottsboro Trials Collection, and our collection of Liberian Law. Light refreshments will be served.

New exhibit: Law and Literature

Elizabeth Teskey 1 Response »

Mar 052010

What do these novels have in common: The Bluest Eye, The Handmaid’s Tale, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The House Gun, in addition to offering gripping action and memorable social vision created by brilliant women? These books are part of the canon of great literature in which law plays a prominent part. For more examples of law in literature see the display case at the stacks entrance to the Reading Room.

Recent scholarship on Supreme Court dynamics

Matt Morrison No Responses »

Mar 032010

Two items of particular interest on the U.S. Supreme Court came across my desk last week. The first was a National Law Journal article titled “Does Thomas’ Silence Thwart Advocacy?” (thanks to Robert Ambrogi’s LawSites). Author Tony Mauro notes that it has been four years since Justice Thomas has asked a question during oral argument and wonders if that is too long—does that reticence damage the Court, its decision-making, and Justice Thomas’s reputation? Mauro highlights a recent law review note on the subject.

The second item I saw was a brand new article in Law Library Journal titled “Dissents from the Bench: A Compilation of Oral Dissents by U.S. Supreme Court Justices.” Authors Jill Duffy and Elizabeth Lambert have sifted through various sources to compile oral dissents from the Burger, Rehnquist, and Roberts Courts, October Term 1969 to present. The piece provides a fascinating look at the Court’s cases from the last 40 years that have stirred the most impassioned dissents.

To delve further into the Supreme Court, there are many resources available. The Law Library offers two research guides, one on Supreme Court Records and Briefs and the other on Supreme Court Oral Arguments. Be sure to visit the Oyez Project, an archive of oral argument audio files, and the SCOTUSblog, which tracks Supreme Court news. In our Law Library print collection, you may want to check out “Oral Arguments Before the Supreme Court: An Empirical Approach” by Lawrence Wrightsman. This book has a chapter on justices’ questions and another on justice behavior during oral argument. Another book, “Majority Rule or Minority Will: Adherence to Precedent on the U.S. Supreme Court”, looks at voting and opinion behavior.

New exhibit: Famous American Trials

Elizabeth Teskey 1 Response »

Mar 012010

What do Lizzie Borden, a middle-aged white woman living in Fall River, Massachusetts at the turn of the nineteenth century, who inherited a small fortune after her parents were savagely murdered in their own home, and O.J. Simpson, all-American athlete turned Hollywood celebrity, who was charged with the brutal murder of his ex-wife and her boyfriend at the turn of the twentieth century, have in common? If you knew that they were both acquitted, and that many people think they literally got away with murder, then you would be right. If you knew that both were defendants in two of the most publicized trials in U.S. history, you would also be right. For these and more famous American trials see the display case in the center of the Reading Room.

The Avon Global Center for Women and Justice

Amy Emerson No Responses »

Feb 262010

Based at Cornell Law School, the Avon Global Center for Women and Justice provides an international forum for judiciary, governments, and civil society to work together to promote justice for women and girls who have been the target of gender-based violence.

The concept for the Center was born in 2008 at the Senior Roundtable for Women’s Justice hosted by the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. There, over seventy participating judges from around the world expressed the need for a medium in which they could continue their dialogue and thereby facilitate ongoing change to the global and domestic status of women and girls. Funded by the Avon Foundation for Women and supported by the Cornell Faculty Innovation in Teaching Program, the Avon Global Center is the first center of its kind.

Four major initiatives serve to further the Center’s mission: undertaking clinical projects; providing legal research assistance for judges; developing online legal resources and a discussion forum; and organizing and hosting an annual conference and other substantive events. This year’s conference entitled “Gender-Based Violence and Justice in Conflict and Post-Conflict Areas” will be held on March 12, 2010 in Washington, D.C.

The Avon Center also sponsors the Women and Global Justice Speaker Series at Cornell Law School. Prominent speakers from all over the world speak on issues related to violence against women. These events are free, but you must RSVP in advance (lunch is served).

New Reading Room exhibit: Guess the theme

Elizabeth Teskey No Responses »

Feb 242010

What do John Marshall, Roger B. Taney, John Jay, and Salmon Portland Chase have in common? If you know that they all served as Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, then good for you. But that’s not the answer. What about Patrick Henry, Abe Lincoln, and Daniel Webster? Yes, they were all prominent statesmen. But that’s not it, either. For the answer to both questions, which happens to be the same in each instance, see the display case in the center of the Reading Room.

National African American History Month

Pat Court 1 Response »

Feb 222010

In February we celebrate National African American History Month, recognizing the contributions that African Americans have made to U.S. history. President Obama issued a proclamation on National African American History Month, “call[ing] upon public officials, educators, librarians, and all the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.” So from the library, we share with you some sources of legal information in the spirit of this special month.

The Law Library of Congress has an excellent guide to African American History Month with links to Congressional and Presidential documents. The continuing legal struggles and achievements of African Americans are well documented by the NAACP.

And just a few of the books on this topic you will find at Cornell Law Library include:

Legacy and Legitimacy: Black Americans and the Supreme Court, by Rosalee A. Clawson and Eric N. Waltenburg. Call number KF8748 .C425x 2009

Justice Older than the Law: The Life of Dovey Johnson Roundtree, by Katie McCabe and Dovey Johnson Roundtree. Call number KF373.R686 M34x 2009

Critical Race Realism : Intersections of Psychology, Race, and Law, edited by Gregory S. Parks (Cornell Law ’08), Shayne Jones, and W. Jonathan Cardi. Call number KF4755 .C749x 2008

Three good reasons to visit Scholarship@Cornell Law

Jean Callihan No Responses »

Feb 192010

The Law Library developed Scholarship@Cornell Law (S@CL) to provide an online repository for faculty publications and working papers. S@CL has expanded and now includes many other interesting collections to explore. So here are three reasons to click on the link on the Law Library home page to visit S@CL:

Did I mention faculty scholarship? You can browse through papers submitted by year or search by author and see just what your professors have been up to. The collection includes published articles and working papers.
Check out the Centers and Programs link. Find out about ongoing programs like the Death Penalty Project and the Avon Global Center for Women and Justice (just click on International Comparative Programs to find the Avon Global Center).
Conferences, Lectures and Workshops gives you a chance to “attend” some of the interesting programs that have been held in the law school in years past. This collection lets you see what was discussed in the comfort of your own room.

We have other collections worth visiting, but hopefully these three highlights will pique your interest in the scholarship happening at Cornell Law School.

Researching for a paper? Sign up for a Research Consultation

Iantha Haight No Responses »

Feb 172010

Are you writing a paper for a class or a journal this semester? Whether you are in the advanced stages of your research or just getting started, the Law Library offers Research Consultations tailored to your personal needs. Don’t know where to start? Need ideas on choosing a topic? Want to know what databases to use or how to construct a search strategy? Looking for treatises, data sets, or articles? Research attorneys can answer those questions and more.

Fill out and submit the online form, and we will set up an appointment to meet with you one-on-one. You can request to meet with a specific research attorney if you like. Consultations can last up to an hour but may be shorter depending on your needs. Give us as much information as you can on where you are in your project. We’re here to help!

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