Wisconsin State Law Library

Research with BadgerLink - Amy Crowder

BadgerLink is Wisconsin's online library of magazines, journals, newspapers, and scholarly articles. Our Articles & Journals page contains direct links to several of its databases. We also feature law-related titles in our library catalog. A boon to researchers needing to search literature from multiple disciplines, BadgerLink also provides several subject-specific databases to Wisconsin users.

In addition to over 2,300 academic journals and trade magazines, BadgerLink's Business Source Premier offers over 10,000 MarketLine company profiles and 2,400 industry profiles covering the consumer, financial services, technology, healthcare, automotive, and energy sectors. This database also provides market research reports and annual SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) company analysis.

BadgerLink offers health and medical related sources through several databases. Health Source: Nursing/Academic and Consumer editions includes full-text of peer-reviewed journals, health magazines, and reference books. Medline indexes over 21 million citations and abstracts to biomedical, health, and life sciences journals. BadgerLink's EBSCO Health Resources is a one-stop access point to simultaneously search the above databases and others including AHFS Consumer Medication Information and Consumer Health Complete.

To learn more, BadgerLink provides information sheets, videos, and other learning opportunities about each of the databases, including methods to refine your search techniques. Browse available instruction sources by format, subject, and type of training.

Enhance your legal research by searching BadgerLink. Wisconsin State Law Library card holders can use their library card barcode number to log in. Apply for a library card on our website. The BadgerLink database may also be available through your local Wisconsin public library or Wisconsin internet service provider's network.

Up to Top

New Books - Kari Zelinka

New Edition! Quick and legal will book, 9th edition, by Dennis Clifford, 2020
Call Number: KF 755 .C55 2020

Dennis Clifford's Quick and Legal Will Book covers basic estate planning and steps that will help your clients avoid probate court. The 9th edition includes the latest changes in federal estate tax law. If you are looking to draft a will, this book will provide a template and all the necessary forms and instructions.

Topics include:

• Naming beneficiaries
• Guardians for minors
• Trusts for minors
• Naming an executor
• Choosing witnesses
• Revoking or making changes to a will

New Edition! Chapter 13 bankruptcy: keep your property and repay debts over time, 15th edition, by Cara O'Neill, 2020
Call Number: KF 1524.85 .E45 2020

If you've finished the Chapter 13 bankruptcy book we featured last month, we have another new edition for you. Cara O'Neill's Chapter 13 Bankruptcy has been updated to the 15th edition and includes updated state exemption tables, the latest bankruptcy forms, and instruction on how to use them. Chapter 13 bankruptcy sets up a payment plan where the payments are applied to mortgages, car loans, support obligations, and taxes. If this option is one you're considering for clients, read up on the details in this book.

Topics include:

• Chapter 13 eligibility
• How to avoid vehicle repossession
• How to estimate your monthly payment plan
• Avoiding foreclosure
• Keeping all your property
• Automatic stay

See our latest New Titles list for a list of new books and other resources.

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

Up to Top

Tech Tip - Heidi Yelk

Fastcase 7: the new default

Many State Bar of Wisconsin members rely on Fastcase, a membership benefit, for legal research. Earlier this year, Fastcase announced that Fastcase 7 will become the new default interface starting September 2020. Although this change will be for all users, Fastcase 6 is not going away. You'll still be able to toggle back to Fastcase 6 under the Account menu.

If you are ready to dive in to Fastcase 7, here are a few simple tips to make the transition a little easier.

1. Set a default database to start each search session. Initially, the Fastcase 7 search will default to "everything." The "Jurisdiction and Sources" option (to the right of the search box) allows you to choose the jurisdiction you wish to search. For many users, that will be Wisconsin case law.
   
   Click the Jurisdiction and Sources option and choose Wisconsin Supreme Court and Wisconsin Appellate Court and then save the search options.

   

   Under the search box, WI Cases All will appear in a blue box. Don't stop there! To the left of the blue box, click the STAR to "save source."

   

   Then, choose "Save as Default." You have now set a default database for every time you log in.
   
   
2. Review settings in the Advance Search Options. From the main search screen, click on the gear symbol on the far right, then choose Advanced Settings.
   
   The first section under advanced settings is "Search Scope Settings." Making changes to these settings can help cut down on items in search results. You may wish to uncheck "view purchasable content" to avoid books and materials outside of your subscription. You'll also want to pay attention to the last option, "start each search session with..."  Choosing "default scope" will ensure you start with the database you've set. You can also choose "last used" or "none." To verify which database is your default, choose "saved sources" from the left of the "advanced settings" on the menu. Your default search source will be at the top.
   
   
3. Use the "type ahead" feature. Type ahead provides suggestions as you type. This is useful if you simply need to access a case by party name. Slowly type the case name in the search box and watch for the case to show up in the "suggested documents."
   
   
4. Don't forget the law journal integration! Fastcase is integrated with the HeinOnline law journal library, where hundreds of law journals are available in PDF format. To find law review articles, use the "Jurisdiction and Sources" to choose Law. J. (choose Federal and States to ensure your search covers all law reviews).

   

5. Use the Help and Support feature (upper right) to find user guides, tutorials, hotkeys, and a webinar schedule. Throughout the summer, Fastcase has been offering regular webinars to introduce users to Fastcase 7

Up to Top

State Law Library Art Tour (Part Three) - Jaime Healy-Plotkin

The David T. Prosser Jr. Library walls are decorated with purchases and borrowed items, including several portraits. Several of the prominent figures featured in Library portraits are buried in the Forest Hill Cemetery located to the west of Camp Randall and the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.

During this time of social distancing we connected the artwork in the library to the gravesites of prominent figures of law and Wisconsin and Madison history. This series walks you through the halls of the Wisconsin State Law Library and amongst the graves in the Forest Hill Cemetery.

Gilson Glasier

A tribute to Gilson Glasier, State Librarian, sits in the David T. Prosser Jr. Library's conference room. According to the Wisconsin State Journal obituary on Friday, March 3, 1972:

"Gilson Glasier, 98, a state librarian for more than half a century and the last charter member of the American Society of Law Librarians, died Wednesday (Mar. I, 1972) in Tucson, Ariz. ... Mr. Glasier was appointed state librarian in 1906 when the Wisconsin State Law Library in the State Capitol held 30,000 volumes. He retired from the post six days short of 51 years at the job in 1956, when he was 82. At that time the library had about 125.000 volumes. The library is a source of information for state officers, Supreme Court justices, the attorney general's office, and other judges and lawyers. In 1906 when Mr. Glasier was appointed state librarian, he helped to found the American Society of Law Libraries. He was president of the organization in 1920. Before his appointment to state librarian, Mr. Glasier was secretary to the late Justice R.D. Marshall of the State Supreme Court. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1900 and practiced law in Wauwatosa for a short time. Mr. Glasier was a former secretary of the Wisconsin State Bar Assn. and was an editor of the Wisconsin Bar Bulletin. He also was an organizer and first editor of the Index to Legal Periodicals."

Gilson Glasier is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, however his gravesite in Section 30 does not contain a monument.

Up to Top

Library News - Carol Hassler

Labor Day Closures

Labor Day is Monday, September 7 and our libraries will be closed for the state holiday. The David T. Prosser Jr. Library and Dane County Law Library will respond to phone calls and emails on Tuesday, September 8. The Milwaukee County Law Library will be open by appointment on Tuesday, September 8 for their current hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

To ask a question while our libraries are closed, call and leave a voicemail at 608-267-9696 or ask a question over email.

Up to Top

September Snapshot

Sparta Free Library
Photo by Laura L. Endres

This beautiful photo of the Sparta Free Library was taken from the Monroe County Justice Center. Thank you for sharing!

We are accepting snapshots! Do you have a photo highlighting libraries, attractions or points of historical interest? Send your photo to the editor at carol.hassler@wicourts.gov to be included in a future issue.

Up to Top