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Bob Miller on Native America Calling

Lewis & Clark Law School Professor Bob Miller’s new book, Native America, Discovered and Conquered: Thomas Jefferson, Lewis & Clark, and Manifest Destiny, will be featured as the “Book of the Month” on Native America Calling on December 27, 2006. The show will air for one hour at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.

Listen to Professor Miller on one of these Native America Calling station affiliates or listen online. If you miss the show, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to still catch it at this NAC archive of past pograms.

But try to listen live. The show is in a call in format in which callers can comment or ask questions. The first ten callers receive a free copy of the Native America, Discovered and Conquered: Thomas Jefferson, Lewis & Clark, and Manifest Destiny.

Native America Calling is “a live call-in program, linking public radio stations, the Internet and listeners together into a thought-provoking national conversation about issues specific to Native communities. Each program engages noted guests and experts with callers throughout the United States and is designed to improve the quality of life for Native Americans. Native America Calling is heard on 52 stations in the United States and in Canada by approximately 500,000 listeners each week.” (about NAC)

The UK Statute Law Database

Today marks the long-anticipated release of the UK Statute Law Database (SLD),the official revised edition of the primary legislation of the United Kingdom and the only edition available free online.

SLD contains the texts of all Acts that were in force on February 1, 1991, and all Acts and printed Statutory Instruments passed since then. It also contains local legislation, both primary and printed secondary. It is a well thought out database, providing all UK legislation in force as of February 1, 1991.

Most of the primary legislation is provided in its latest revised form. Each document includes a complete history and enables a view of the document at any point in time (from February 1, 1991), with annotations indicating the authority for the amendments incorporated. Amendments not yet in force are marked with one of the many colorful signals created for SLD, with links to versions of amended provisions.

SLD may be searched by words in the title, the full-text of legislation, by number of the Act or instrument, and by year. It may also be browsed, either alphabetically by title or chronologically by year and number.

The information found in the UK Statute Law Database has previously only been available to a limited number of users in government, and via for-fee providers such as Westlaw and LexisNexis.

Sources: WisBlawg, Irish Law Updates, Binary Law here and here, and Information Overlord

Google Patent Search

Google this week unveiled Patent Search, its latest addition to the Google “search product” line.

Google Patent Search brings a whole lot of Google relevance searching goodness to the patent world, all the while expanding the universe of patents fully searchable for free. While the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office only offers keyword searching of full text patents back to 1976, Google has used its Google Books technology to scan the text and images of every patent from 1790 to mid-2006.

Google Patent’s advanced search provides easy templates for searching by patent number, title, inventor, assignee, classification, issue date or filing date. Results from both the basic and advanced patent search are ranked according to relevance to the search terms, just like the standard Google web search.

Individual patents are hosted by Google. Each patent has its own Google page, showing the first page of the patent, drawings, claims, citations to other patents, and patents referencing this patent – all with links to the source documents. It also provides a handy “search within this patent” box for quick narrowing of results. Here’s how Google explains it all.

There is no easy way to print patents from Google patents, but the free pat2pdf service is a fine way to print or download whole patents in PDF (something you can’t do at the U.S. PTO). Firefox user? Try this nifty script which adds a link to pat2pdf to any Google Patent result. Invent Blog points to the many other patent downloading options.

Does this mean you need never again search using the U.S. PTO or private patent databases? Of course not – Google provides a great tool, but there are real limitation to its character recognition, its relevance ranking, and to its true advanced search capabilities.

Read the wise words of Nancy Spitzer, Patents and Technical Reports Librarian at UW-Madison’s Wendt Library, via WisBlawg

Patent librarians across the country are busily analyzing this new member of the Google family and it looks promising. There’s much excitement because this is the first time that keyword searching of all US patents from 1790 to (almost) the present are available free on the Internet! (The US PTO Patent Full Text Database only allows keyword searching back to 1976 and Espacenet keyword in abstract back to 1920).

Google says: “We don’t currently include patent applications, international patents, or U.S. patents issued over the last few months, but we look forward to expanding our coverage in the future.”

Also, be aware of many glitches due to faulty OCR character recognition in older patents. “Electric EEEE CHIICFTE” was found to actually be “Electric cash register.”

Please keep in mind that more precise, comprehensive, “advanced” patent searching is still going to require using the US PTO database and other resources.

Still, Google Patent Search provides easy access to the full-text of patents not previously available to the researcher for free, along with the Google search engine and innovative linking and presentation. One more piece of the shrinking ‘invisible web’ now out in the open.

Sources: WisBlawg, Invent Blog, About Google Patent Search

New on LLRX

LLRX.com, which regular readers well know is one of our favorite legal research sites, has recently posted these new guides and articles:

• Bloggers Beware: Debunking Nine Copyright Myths of the Online World – Updated
• Deep Web Research Research 2007
• Criminal Justice Resources – Criminal Justice Blogs
• A Compilation of State Lawyer Licensing Databases
• CongressLine by GalleryWatch.com: Voting in Congress
• Reference from Coast to Coast: An Overview of Selected SEC Resources on the Web
• And more…

Source: beSpacific

The November 27, 2006 issue of Cornell Law Library’s InSITE contain reviews of these legal sites:

• Campaign to Rescue & Restore Victims of Human Trafficking
• Demos: A Network for Ideas & Action
• Free Press
• Legal Management Resource Center
• National Security Archive

Read the full reviews and links to subscription info at the Law Librarian Blog.

Source: Law Librarian Blog

With exams around the corner for most, on the same block for a few, here are a few more sources chock full of exam taking advice. Most are there to assist 1Ls going through the process for the first time. But even the most grizzled upperclass veteran of exams may find a tip or two to help gain an edge.

CALI’s Law School Exam Post
Links to the top-ten sources of exam tips, including some of the best advice from law professors podcasting at CALI Radio and their own blogs, and especially trenchant tips from law student bloggers, including this collection from Top Law Student.

Boley’s Exam Season Spotlight
Amidst our seasonal spotlight pointing our our many exam-friendly services – from our exams database to snacks to extended hours to study aids on reserve – we also point you to exam advice. Resources include:

• Books in the library on taking law school exams
• Our own selection of online articles with exam advice
• Podcasts of subject-specific review sessions

Lots to choose from, but we think you’ll find a few choice tips without getting overwhelmed. These exam tips are here to help, after all, not to add a new burden to the particular joy that is exam season. So pick what works for you, leave the rest behind and go into exams confident in your plan.

Best of luck during exams and enjoy the holidays and break!

Sources: CALIopolis, Law Librarian Blog, Boley Spotlight