UW-Madison Library School Students Visit WSLL

On April 20, WSLL hosted several students from the UW-Madison School of Library and Information Studies for a tour of the library and a lunchtime question-answer session with Madison area law librarians about careers in law librarianship. During the daylong event the students also visited the library of Madison law firm LaFollette, Godfrey & Kahn, and the University of Wisconsin Law Library. The following day, law librarians in Milwaukee offered a similar event there for students at the UW-Milwaukee School of Information Studies.

Sponsored by the Law Librarians Association of Wisconsin, these events were held in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the American Association of Law Libraries.

WSLL Staff News
The Law Librarians Association of Wisconsin (LLAW) recently elected new officers and appointed 2006 committee chairpersons. Angela Sanfilippo, Wisconsin Collections Librarian, has been appointed chair of the Public Access to Legal Information Committee. She replaces Paula Seeger, Reference/Outreach Librarian at the Dane County Legal Resource Center. Julie Tessmer, Deputy Law Librarian, has been appointed Membership Chair. Heidi Yelk, Reference/Electronic Services Librarian, has been re-appointed as the Webmaster.

Connie Von Der Heide, Director of Reference & Outreach Services, has been re-appointed to a second year on the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Communications Committee. The Committee serves as the editorial board for the Wisconsin Lawyer magazine and oversees other State Bar print and electronic communications.

Jane Colwin, State Law Librarian, spoke at the 2006 State Bar of Wisconsin annual convention in Madison last month. She was one of four panelists in a presentation on citing to Internet resources in appellate court opinions.

Another Tool to Fight Repetitive Stress Injuries?

Dory Delvin, a tech blogger for Yahoo!, recently asked this question: Qwerty Query: Why do we still type this way?

Delvin’s blog questions why we are still tied to the QWERTY keyboard layout, which was designed to prevent the jamming of typewriter keys. With the advent of electronic typewriters and computers, the QWERTY keyboard arrangement is unnecessary, yet it persists as the standard.

Delvin’s blog highlights the Dvorak keyboard and notes an interesting theory: the Dvorak keyboard arrangement is less likely to cause injury, such as carpal tunnel or repetitive stress injuries (RSI). Under the Dvorak arrangement, the most commonly used letters are located on the home row, shortening the distance fingers travel over the keyboard. While I found no medical studies on the Dvorak keyboard and RSI, personal success stories abound.

Changing from a QWERTY keyboard to a Dvorak arrangement is impractical for most users. But those who suffer repetitive stress injuries might find the change is worth it. Fortunately, converting a QWERTY keyboard to a Dvorak keyboard is fairly simple. A few clicks in the Control Panel is all it takes. As far as learning the new keyboard, Dvorak enthusiasts have posted several typing tutorials to help new users learn and practice the Dvorak layout.

Have a tech question? Want to suggest a future topic for this column? Please send it to the editor.

This month’s featured titles include:

NEW TITLE! Wisconsin Politics and Government: America’s Laboratory of Democracy / James K. Conant. University of Nebraska Press, 2006
Call Number: KFW 2801.5 .C6 2006

Throughout the twentieth century, Wisconsin won national visibility and praise for its role as a “laboratory of democracy” within the American federal system. In Wisconsin Politics and Government James K. Conant traces the development of the state and its Progressive heritage from the early territorial experience through contemporary times. Conant discusses the four major periods of institutional and policy innovation that occurred in Wisconsin during the twentieth century, and he examines the state’s constitution, legislature, office of the governor, courts, political parties and elections, interest groups, social welfare policy, local governments, state-local relations, and current and emerging issues.

NEW TITLE! Environmental and Real Estate Law / Michelle Behnke et al. State Bar of Wisconsin CLE Books, 2006
KFW 2754 .E48 2006

Produced by the Business Law Section of the State Bar of Wisconsin, this is the second in their projected nine-volume Wisconsin Business Advisor Series.

Focusing on attorneys representing business clients, Behnke et al address three major areas of interest. Chapter One, “Environmental Considerations for Business Organizations,” provides an overview of typical federal and state environmental laws that generally apply to businesses that conduct industrial, agricultural, or development activities that might affect the environment. Chapter Two focuses on the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). Commonly known as Superfund, CERCLA was enacted by Congress on December 11, 1980 to address environmental and health concerns surrounding inactive and abandoned hazardous waste sites. The third chapter, “Real Estate Law,” deals with the legal aspects of siting a business, such as ownership vs. leasing, and zoning and operational regulations. An appendix of environmental acronyms, a table of cases, and a table of statutes, regulations and rules are also included.

We also have volume one of the series, Securities, Mergers, and Acquisitions, call number KFW 2614.A1 W575 2006. Future titles are to include: Business Litigation, Business Organizations, Collections and Bankruptcy, Commercial and Consumer Transactions, Employment Law, General Business Issues, and Intellectual Property Law. Look for them at the State Law Library as they become available!

Check our library catalog for availability of these or other materials you may need. For additional assistance, please contact our Reference Desk.

Here’s our schedule of classes through December. Space is limited, so register today to reserve your seat. Additional information and registration forms are available on our Classes & Tours webpage.

25 Legal Tech Tips in 90 Minutes
Wednesday July 12, 2006 10:00-11:30 a.m.
During this fast-paced romp through technology tips for the law office, you’ll learn how to recover fast from a computer crash; discover a free tool to find lost client documents in a flash; see how to keep track of your legal research website passwords without post-it notes; learn an easy way to create fill-in legal forms; and more! And, bring along your computer questions and see if you can "Stump the Geek!" Don't miss this class - it might just change your relationship with your computer. The instructor is Art Saffran, technology consultant and former State Bar of Wisconsin IT Director. Fee: $50.00.

Using Loislaw.com @ the State Law Library: How Does It Work?
Wednesday, September 6, 2006 9-10 a.m.
Here’s an opportunity to become more familiar with the various Loislaw.com databases provided on our public access computers and how they can save you research time and money. Learn the basics of searching and printing while exploring everything from the primary law of all state and federal jurisdictions to the wealth of information in the State Bar of Wisconsin CLE books. Tired of slogging through print digests? There’s a better way! FREE Class. 1 CLE credit applied for.

Mining for Company Nuggets: Locating Corporate Information on the Internet
Friday, October 6, 2006 10:00-11:30 a.m.
Join guest instructor and law librarian Carol Bannen as she demonstrates the skills of finding company information on the Internet. Learn how to locate background information, financial data, litigation history, and more. Whether your law firm is courting new clients or investigating an opposing party, this class will help you find the facts you need. Learn how to access Securities and Exchange Commission filings, navigate the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institution's Corporate Records Information Service, uncover Standard and Poor's ratings, and discover corporate news sources. Fee: $50.00. 1.5 CLE credits applied for.

Introduction to Google Scholar and Google Book Search
Wednesday, November 1, 2006 9-10 a.m.
This one-hour class will explore new tools from Google: Google Scholar and Google Book Search. Learn searching techniques and discuss the pros and cons of using these tools for law related research. FREE Class.

Wisconsin Briefs Online
Wednesday, December 6, 9-10 a.m.
Streamline your search for briefs! This class covers Wisconsin Briefs available on the Internet. Learn how to access Wisconsin Briefs on the UW Law Library's website, and gain a basic understanding of how to best use WSCCA in your search for Wisconsin Briefs. FREE Class. 1 CLE credit applied for.