Upcoming classes

There are still openings available in our January class:

Corporate Information Online
Thursday, January 15, 2009, 9:00 - 10:30 a.m.
Looking for new clients or investigating an opposing party? Learn how to find company information online. This class covers how to locate background and financial data, litigation history, and more. Access Securities and Exchange Commission filings, navigate the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institution’s records service, and learn to research ratings, directories, and news sources.
Fee: $50. 1.5 CLE credits applied for. Registration is limited to 8. Print registration form.

Registrations for February through July 2009 classes are also being accepted at this time. From finding online Wisconsin appellate briefs to searching BadgerLink for medical information, there’s bound to be a class that offers the information and instruction you’re looking for to become a better researcher. Visit our Classes & Tours page for class descriptions and registration information.

WSLL now offers Wi-Fi Internet Access

Library users at WSLL can now access the Internet wirelessly! Just stop by the Circulation Desk and ask for the Wi-Fi password, which changes daily. Wired internet access also remains available. If you don't have your own Cat5 cable, you may sign one out from the Circulation Desk.

State Law Library program highlights services & resources for attorneys

In an effort to reach out to more small firm and solo practice attorneys in Wisconsin, the State Law Library has developed an hour-long presentation highlighting its resources and services and taken it to local bar and legal associations.  Audiences have included the Dane and Green County Bar Associations, and this month we’ll present the program to the Buffalo/Jackson/Pepin/Trempealeau County Bar Association in Black River Falls, and the Legal Association for Women located in Madison. Other local bar or legal associations interested in hosting this presentation may contact Connie Von Der Heide, Director of Reference & Outreach Services, at 608-266-1600 or connie.vonderheide@wicourts.gov.

January is traditionally the month when we look to the future and think about how we can do things better.  Maybe you want to use your time more efficiently or you want to be a more effective legal researcher.  We offer a few suggestions on ways the Library can help you keep your resolutions.

In 2009, resolve to…

• Ask a Librarian if you can’t find an answer or don’t know how to begin your legal research.   Knowledgeable reference staff may be reached by email, phone, fax or mail, or you can visit us in person at one of our three libraries.

• Bookmark the Wisconsin State Law Library website.   Our website is a powerful gateway to state and federal primary law, resources on nearly 470 legal topics, forms, local ordinances, tribal law and more.

• Get a Library Card so you may view law review articles and hundreds of legal classics from the comfort of your office, home or anywhere you can access the internet.  

• Register for a class at the Library and earn CLE credits.   You can take classes on finding corporate information, public records, tax resources and briefs on the web, and that’s just a few of the classes that will be offered during the year.

• Visit the New Titles List each month to learn about new books and online resources available through the Library.   Better yet, subscribe to the RSS Feed so updated lists may be sent directly to you.

• Search the Library Catalog  and locate titles in the State Law Library’s collection and those of the Milwaukee Legal Resource Center and the Dane County Legal Resource Center.   You can also access law review articles in LegalTrac, Hein Online and numerous Badgerlink databases.

• Read WSLL @ Your Service each month.   Since you’re reading this article, you’re already keeping one of your Library Resolutions.

Happy New Year!

Resolve to get the most of out of the library in 2009 by using our print collection of Wisconsin materials.

New Seminar Materials

Evidence: Strategies for Finding, Preserving and Using Evidence to Support Your Case, by Charles W. Kramer
National Business Institute, 2008
Call Number: KFW2938 .A75 K27 2008

O’Brave New World: New Horizons in Employee Privacy Law
State Bar of Wisconsin, 2007
Call number: KFW2734.5 .P75 O23 2007

What Civil Court Judges Want You to Know, by Robert J. Kasista
National Business Institute, 2008
KFW 2938 .A75 K27 2008

New Editions

Fine’s Wisconsin Evidence; A Quick Guide to Courtroom Evidence, by Ralph Adam Fine
Juris Publishing, 2008
Call Number: KFW 2940 .F561

Real Estate Transactions System, by John L. Horwich
State Bar of Wisconsin, 2008
Call Number: KFW 2512 .H64

Wisconsin Governmental Claims and Immunities Handbook, by Joseph P. Guidote, Jr.
State Bar of Wisconsin, 2008
Call Number: KFW 2599 .G6 W57 2008

Updates to the Wisconsin Practice Series

Elder Law, by Jay E. Grenig
Thomson West, 2008
Call number: KFW2930 .W72 v.18 2008-2009

Elements of an Action, by Jay E. Grenig
Thomson West, 2008
Call number: KFW 2930 .W691 v.14 2008

See our latest New Titles list for the complete list of new arrivals.

For assistance in accessing these or other resources, please contact our Reference Desk.

Google’s Magazine archive includes searchable print ads

Google recently added a small, full text magazine archive to the Google Books portion of their site.  Like other aspects of Google Books, it’s difficult to discover the exact coverage and title list of the current archive collection.   Titles include Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Ebony, Prevention, and New York Magazine. 

What I find most interesting about the magazine archive of Google Books is that it is a complete scan of the entire magazine.  Most article databases include only the text of the article, leaving out graphic and advertisements.  The Google archive includes the entire magazine, cover to cover.  What’s more, the words in the advertisements, as well as the text of articles, are searchable.  A search for “spark plugs,” for example returned several articles on cleaning spark plugs, making spark plugs last longer, etc. It also returned a 1956 advertisement for a new spark plug invention from the Life Long Spark Plug Corporation.  Currently, there are no legal journals in the magazine archive.  However, the inclusion of keyword searchable print ads may make the archive useful for patent research. 
           
To confine your search to the magazine archive of Google Books, choose the “advance search” option and restrict your search to magazines.    

Don’t forget the (rechargeable) batteries

If you received holiday gifts that included the reminder “Don’t forget the batteries!” you might be interested in the latest on rechargeable batteries.  As explained in this Holiday Technology Guide rechargeable batteries have come a long way.  Some recharge in as little as 15 minutes. 

Rechargeable batteries are environmentally friendly because they can be reused and most can be recycled. Use this website  to find a collection location near you.

For a helpful guide on using recyclable batteries, check out Rechargeable Batteries and Chargers: A Personal Perspective and Rechargeable Batteries Technote.

This year, I resolve to…

• Pick a resolution from Popular New Year’s Resolutions, courtesy of USA.gov
• Take care of my cats with New Year’s Resolutions for Pets.  Good idea, WI Dept. of Agriculture, Trade, & Consumer Protection.
• Keep tabs on bills and resolutions through Thomas.gov and the WI State Legislature
• Take stock of my emergency plans.  Thanks for the reminder, Dept. of Homeland Security!
• Send my own gentle reminders using the Center for Disease Control’s e-cards

And now some resolutions for you, gentle reader…

• If cleaning out those overstuffed bookshelves is on your New Year’s to-do list, please consider donating your gently used legal fiction and movies to our Prose & Cons collection.
• Tell us what you think! We love to get feedback, so email us and tell us what you would like to see and hear from us in 2009.

New Year’s Day in History

1836  Wisconsin Territory is created  (For this and other landmarks, see On this day in Wisconsin history, WI Historical Society)

1892  Annie Moore, a fifteen year old Irish girl, leads the ranks of more than 12 million immigrants through the doors of the Ellis Island Immigration Station.  (For this and other landmarks, see This Day In History, Library of Congress)

1942  Sales of new cars and trucks to civilians prohibited.  All manufacturing is now directed towards the war effort.  (For this and other landmarks, see This Day in History, History.com)