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Warning about the Cornell Olin Library

Pat Court No Responses »
Aug 302010

If you are headed up to Olin Library for library materials, your trip may not be instantly rewarding.  Olin is in the midst of a Fire Safety Improvements Project, which means various floors of the library and certain collections will not be accessible.

For specifics on the status of collections at Olin, check their schedule online, as well as the latest updates.

In the closed areas, the materials are still available but library staff will have to get them for you.  They will retrieve materials once a day, Mondays through Friday, after 2:00 pm.  No weekend retrievals.

To avoid a wasted trip, remember that many books can be sent to you here at the Law Library from Olin (and other libraries on campus).  When you find the item in the online catalog, click “Requests” on the screen and complete the information, selecting LAW as the library to which you want it sent.

Pardon the dust while safety improvements are underway!

Posted by library at 2:54 pm Tagged with: ,

World Constitutions Illustrated on HeinOnline

Nina Scholtz No Responses »
May 052010

HeinOnline World Constitutions Illustrated world logoHeinOnline’s World Constitutions Illustrated is a great new resource for comparative constitutional law research.  It contains the current constitution for every country; past constitutions; substantial constitutional histories for the United Kingdom, France, Brazil and Colombia (among others); more than 800 classic books about constitutional law; more than a dozen legal periodicals focused on constitutional law; links to scholarly articles and online resources, and bibliographies of important works.  Every country is linked directly to its primary and secondary resources; for instance, you can go to France and view all the resources related to the constitutional and political development of the country, all in one place.  The publisher invites librarians, scholars, and constitutional law experts from all over the world to contribute their works and knowledge to help continue building the constitutional development for every country.

Posted by library at 12:34 pm Tagged with: , ,

Property Outlaws by Eduardo Peñalver & Sonia Katyal

Jean Callihan No Responses »
Apr 282010

Property Outlaws book coverCornell Law School is celebrating the publication of Prof. Eduardo Peñalver’s book Property Outlaws: How Squatters, Pirates, and Protesters Improve the Law of Ownership, which he co-authored with Sonia K. Katyal, Professor at Fordham University School of Law.  The library catalog information for the book is available here. You can see the Table of Contents and read selected pages from the book at amazon.com.

If you are intrigued by the concept of the role of the lawbreaker as a force in the evolution of property law, you can read an earlier treatment of the topic entitled “Property Outlaws,” co-authored by Professors Peñalver and Katyal in 155 U. PA. L. REV. 1095 (2007) and available in Scholarship@Cornell Law.  The book expands the scope of the earlier article and also introduces the concept of “Altlaws.”  Altlaws appear to violate the laws of intellectual property but “skirt the boundaries of property legality and can often make an objectively plausible argument that, although in a sense they are rebelling against the property status quo, their conduct actually falls within the boundaries of legal permissibility.”  Altlaws push against the unclear boundaries of intellectual property law, as opposed to Outlaws who clearly operate outside the boundaries of property law.

For more of Professor Peñalver’s writings, see his faculty publications page and the Scholarship@Cornell Law online repository.

Posted by library at 1:43 pm Tagged with: ,

NYLJ report: Finding a job in a tough economy

Iantha Haight No Responses »
Apr 272010

The New York Law Journal published a special report yesterday on law schools that has a lot of good information for current law students, including articles such as:

  • Career Prospects in a Difficult Economy discusses how to make the best of the changing job market.  Look for the quotation by Dean Schwab on page 3 of the article.
  • Alternative Jobs.  Probably several people have told you that you can do many things with a J.D., but what exactly are those “things” (besides practicing law, of course)?  This article provides some answers to that question.
  • How High is Your E.I.? (i.e., Emotional Intelligence)  There’s a lot more to being a good lawyer than the ability to understand the U.C.C.  Having a high emotional intelligence makes you not only more employable but also more successful after you get the job.

Anyone can view the special report for free by signing up for the digital edition with a name and email address.

For more information for Cornell Law students on accessing other articles from the NYLJ, see my blog post from a few weeks ago, Legal troubles of Yankee Stadium.

Posted by library at 3:06 pm Tagged with: ,

Some Earth Day reading

Amy Emerson No Responses »
Apr 222010

An Unreal View of Earth courtesy of NASADid you know that although the first Earth Day was founded by a U.S. Senator, its successful organization was actually coordinated by a law student?  Denis Hayes, who later became an environmental lawyer, was, needless to say, preoccupied by issues other than his final exams at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government in the spring of 1970.

If you are looking for a few moments of pleasant diversion during this 40th Earth Day, I recommend relaxing with a book from the Cornell University Library that celebrates the earth.  Some to consider are:

In any of these books you will find the inspiration you need to take a break from your studies and take action on this Earth Day.

Image “An Unreal View of Earth” courtesy of NASA

Posted by library at 9:19 am Tagged with: ,

Introduce yourself to transnational legal issues

Jean Callihan No Responses »
Apr 082010

Want to be prepared to practice in a world of international and transnational law? Most of you will face issues involving transnational law—are you ready? An easy way to learn the basics is to use the Global Issues series on reserve in the Law Library. These slim volumes supplement law school courses from contracts to torts and give you an overview of key concepts along with comparisons to U.S. law. Each title includes narrative explanations and excerpts from articles, government documents, and cases. Most importantly, the books quickly get to the point. We will be adding titles on more areas of law as they become available. More are on the way, but right now we have the following Global Issues in…:

We have ordered these Global Issues in…:

  • Copyright
  • Employee Benefits Law
  • Environmental Law
  • Freedom of Speech and Religion
  • Intellectual Property Law

Check reserve items out for two hours at a time or overnight from the Law Library circulation desk.

Posted by library at 3:18 pm Tagged with:

Legal troubles of Yankee Stadium

Iantha Haight No Responses »
Apr 022010

Yankee StadiumThe New York Law Journal featured an article today entitled “What Legal Challenges Ahead For New Yankee Stadium?” written by Angela M. Mazzarelli, Robert J. Patchen, and Jeffrey D. Ratner. Despite its title, the article is not a prospective look at the future of the new Yankee Stadium; instead it summarizes ten historic lawsuits involving the former Yankee Stadium.

Number 8 on the list is my favorite because of the opinion’s snarky concluding paragraph. In 1927 Harry Schafer purchased tickets for two ringside seats at the Sharkey–Dempsey prizefight at Yankee Stadium for $27.50 each—quite a lot of money then (click here for the results of the bout). Harry and his wife took the train from their home in Oklahoma City to NYC just to attend the fight, only to allegedly find the gates of Yankee Stadium locked. Upset and disappointed, Schafer sued to recover the cost of the trip, but the judge did not believe his story. The judge found that the defendant had, in fact, kept the gates open. But the judge offered Schafer these final words of consolation:

This was the first visit to New York for both plaintiff and his wife. They were there for three days after their tragic experience. They did some shopping in its magnificent stores, and attended the performances at several theaters. Plaintiff should find some consolation in the pride which must be his, that it can no longer be said that he and his wife did not visit the greatest metropolis in the world, and its splendid and stupendous places of amusement.

The case is Shafer v. Rickard, 132 Misc 489 (Mun. Ct. of N.Y., Bor. of Man., 4th Dist. 1928).

If you want to access this or other New York Law Journal articles and you are a Cornell Law student, you have several options available to you. Selected articles (including this one) are available in Westlaw, database code NYLJ. You can ask for a copy of the print publication at the circulation desk in the Reading Room. We keep the most recent issues stored there until we receive it on microfiche. Law students can also access the Journal’s Web site. Some of the articles are free; for articles that are not freely available, email a Research Attorney or ask at the reference desk for a password.

Yankee Stadium Photo by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kjetilhr/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Posted by library at 7:10 am Tagged with: ,

The Snitching Blog

Iantha Haight No Responses »
Mar 262010

Snitching by Alexandra NatapoffA blog can be a great place to dip into a new topic. Take the Snitching Blog, for example–an excellent resource for news and information about criminal informants, how they operate, and how they affect the U.S. criminal justice system. The blog has entries about cases in which an informant played a critical role, a heads-up about a recent NPR series on a confidential informant and the House of Death murders, and legislative reform efforts. You can find links to reports, data, and government hearings in the blog’s sidebar.

Alexandra Natapoff, a professor at Loyola Law School, authors the blog. She recently published a book entitled Snitching: Criminal Informants and the Erosion of American Justice, Cornell Law Library call number KF9665 .N38x 2009. You also may want to check out Ethan Brown’s Snitch: Informants, Cooperators & the Corruption of Justice, Cornell’s Olin Library call number HV8141 .B74 2007. Ancient history buffs should try Imperial Inquisitions: Prosecutors and Informants from Tiberius to Domitian by Steven H. Rutledge, Olin Library call number JC89 .R87x 2001.

Posted by library at 2:05 pm Tagged with: , ,

New booklet: Rare Treasures of Cornell Law Library

Janet Gillespie No Responses »
Mar 172010

A new booklet called Rare Treasures of Cornell Law Library is now available in the law library. The booklet highlights some of the rare books and special collections we have in our Rare Book Room. Among these treasures are the Donovan Nuremberg Trials Collection of transcripts and documents, a first edition of Blackstone’s Commentaries, an extensive 19th Century Trials Collection (part of which Hein digitized for its World Trials Library), and many other rare and interesting materials. The Rare Book Collection houses several thousand volumes, mainly English and continental European materials. We also have Liberian Law and artifacts from the Scottsboro Boys Trial, which are interesting viewing.

If you would like to look at any of these materials please contact me, Janet Gillespie, to make an appointment, or submit the online form. We also have periodic open houses when our treasures can be viewed. There are digital collections of some of these materials online, such as the Nuremberg Trial transcripts, which are being digitized courtesy of a generous grant from the Nathaniel Lapkin Foundation. Please pick up one of the beautiful pamphlets of Rare Treasures at the table in front of the Research Desk (in the Reading Room).

Posted by library at 10:55 am Tagged with: , ,

This Thursday: Rare Book Room Open House

Amy Emerson No Responses »
Mar 092010

Image from Cornell Law Library Trials CollectionAll 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.

Posted by library at 11:30 am Tagged with: , , ,
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