Library patrons who regularly read the Law Library’s collection of newspapers and weekly news magazines will soon start to notice that many are no longer subscribed to by the Law Library. Severe budget cuts have forced the Library to cut many non-essential titles – newspapers and news magazines have been some of the first to go. Among the titles cancelled to date are:

Courier-Journal
The Economist
Financial Times
Fortune
Herald-Times
Indianapolis Star
Nation
National Review
New Republic
New York Times
Newsweek
Sports Illustrated
Time
U. S. News and World Report
USA Today
Wall Street Journal
Washington Post (daily and weekly editions)

Many of these titles are available online or elsewhere on campus. If you have questions or concerns about these or other cancellations, please contact Keith Buckley, Collection Development Librarian (buckley@indiana.edu).

The initial release of the electronic version of the Brevier Legislative Reports is now available through the Law Library’s website. To access the set, go to the Digital page under Collections on the Law Library website. The Brevier Legislative Reports are a verbatim report of the proceedings of the Indiana General Assembly from the Special Session of 1858 to the Regular Session of 1887. This project was supported with a grant by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the Indiana State Library.

Have a safe and happy Halloween this year!  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Americans consumed 24.5 pounds of candy in 2007, and this is the time to do it!

Welcome back from break!  We hope that you had a nice one.  Now that you are back, and spending time in close company with many different people, you might be thinking about the flu, both seasonal and the H1N1 strain.  Trends in Google searches show that interest in the flu has been intense in Indiana and in the United States in general.  There are several good places to go for flu information, but the federal government’s website, www.flu.gov , is probably one of the best.  It includes information on the flu itself, a little quiz to help you tell if you have the H1N1 flu, and also lots of information about flu vaccination.  It will also help you find a place to get your vaccinations.  The American Lung Association is keeping track of where to get seasonal vaccinations, and the Indiana State government website is the place to go to find out about H1N1.  Stay healthy this season!

This month’s National Jurist includes an article on the 223 U.S. LLM programs.  The magazine has compiled information on subject matter, application deadlines, and tuition fees, both in and out of state. Are you interested in continuing your legal education?  There are some subjects that really benefit from further, more targeted instruction.  Thanks to the TaxProf Blog for throwing this our direction, and for compiling a second ranking of tax LLM programs.

How far can a lawyer go in criticizing a judge or a fellow attorney? A recent article on Law.com asks just that.  Lots of lawyers can get into trouble by complaining about biased judges in the age of mass media, but what about over beers after the case?  The article points out that an advocate can really hurt her client if she doesn’t find out everything that she can about the judge and the opposing counsel before she goes to court.  In the end, the article concludes that it is not only the right, but the duty of lawyers to speak out about judicial foibles and biases.  Do you think that this is the case?  Certainly if there is explicit misconduct or bias then something needs to be changed, but where on the scale of preferences and idiosyncrasies does a judge or lawyer become open for criticism? Where does a lawyer’s duty to professional tact and courtesy end, and his duty to criticize begin?  Let us know what you think.

It’s that time again—time to vote for your favorite blawg on the ABA Journal’s list of the top 100 legal blogs.  Is there a particular blawg that you just can’t live without?  One that gives you all the right information and commentary?  If there is, the ABA Journal wants to know about it.  Tell them why your favorite blawg deserves to be in their top 100 Blawgs for 2009 in 500 characters or less, and they just might add it to the list.  You can fill out the form here.  You can also check out last year’s top 100 Blawgs if you need inspiration.

The ACLU has just released a new quiz on Facebook—which tells you how much of your personal information is being collected when you take quizzes on Facebook.  (They recognize the irony.) According to the quiz, you might be unknowingly sharing your personal information every time you take a quiz. In fact, your information can be retrievable when your friends take quizzes.  For more, look at the SiliconValley.com report.

Thanks to the Law Librarian Blog for the heads up!

Next week students will have the opportunity to sign up for a carrel in the library.  SJDs may have their own carrels, however all of our other students will share—you can either choose a friend in advance or just be assigned a carrel partner.  You can come to sign up for a carrel Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, depending what year you are.

Monday, August 31—3L, SJD, LLM, MCL

Tuesday, September 1—2L

Wednesday, September 2—1L

If you want to be sure to get the carrel of your choice you should show up early.  Sign up is from 8-12 and 1-5 each day.  And don’t forget to bring your University ID with you!

The Wells Library has established an institutional repository for research by IU students and faculty. Papers submitted to IUScholarWorks will be freely available to researchers worldwide. Law Students may now place the following categories of student papers in IUScholarWorks:

• Student notes that have been published in one of the Maurer School of Law journals – the Indiana Law Journal; the Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies; or the Federal Communications Law Journal

• Student papers that have won an external scholarly competition

• LLM and SJD theses/dissertations that have already been approved by the thesis/dissertation advisor

Law Students who are interested in submitting papers that fit one of these categories should contact Amanda McKinney in Room 300 for law journal notes or award winning papers and Lara Gose in Room 220 for LLM or SJD theses/dissertations.

For more information about IUScholarWorks, go to http://scholarworks.iu.edu/.