Date: May 13th 2009

King County Law Library E-News
Mary 2009 - Volume 7, Issue 5

Legal Eagle Video Collection now available for all subscribers!

The "Legal Eagle" video collection consists of movies or television shows written about lawyers, the law or the legal community. These videos may be checked out for your personal viewing pleasure. In the past, to subscribe to the Legal Eagle DVD collection, King County Law Library subscribers had to pay an additional fee.

Starting June 1, 2009, the DVD collection will be open to everyone who is a member of the Law Library's regular Subscriber Program at no extra cost. You can now check out these DVDs for a week just like most other items in our collection. So come in now check out the videos which include such classics as "A Man for All Seasons" and "Legally Blonde." For questions, please call 206-296-0940.

Tech Tip - A Word Cloud is Worth a Thousand Words

A word cloud is an image that visually represents relations between words in a document. At a free web site called Wordle - http://www.wordle.net - you can create a word cloud from any text block. Simply paste your text into the appropriate spot and in a moment you'll have a nifty visual representation that you can edit. The more often a particular word appears in the text you submit, the larger it appears in the image. Wordle-generated images look like HTML tag clouds but are simply static images. Why use Wordle to create a word cloud? If you have data that can be expressed in a text block, Wordle makes it very easy to create a snapshot to demonstrate relationships better. The word cloud image below was created with text from reference questions recently asked at KCLL:

Training Classes

KCLL is offering our popular two-part series, Legal Research for the Non-Attorney: Part 1 on Monday, May 11th, and Legal Research for the Non-Attorney: Part 2, on Monday, May 18th, both sessions are held from 12-1:30pm. We are also presenting our popular Skiptracing: Finding Business and Personal Information, from 12-1:30pm, on Wednesday, May 20th.

Our June training classes will include a basic class on Searching Westlaw, offered on Monday, June 8th, from 12-1:30 pm. Our second class in June will be Public Sleuthing on Social Networks, offered on June 22nd, from Noon to 1 PM. Join us for this session and learn how to find Internet-based social information from sites such as MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter.

Call us at 206-296-0940 to reserve your spot!

Check out our current training calendar for all scheduled classes. We hold all training in the Seattle KCLL location at 516 3rd Ave, Suite W-621. All classes are free-of-charge. If you want us to bring any class to your location, please contact us and we will see if we can accommodate you.

Podcast News

KCLL's SideBar, the library’s podcast service, has two new episodes online:

Episode 29: Copyright Law, features the Seattle University law librarians in “At the Reference Desk.” In this segment they discuss copyright law as it applies to music and to other works. Craig, in his “Reel Verdict” segment, discusses a musical copyright case along with a review of the movie, “Almost Famous.”

In Episode 28: Renters and Owners, Rita K. speaks with attorney Jerry Stimmel about the kinds of problems that may develop in the landlord/tenant relationship and ways to avoid these problems. In “At the Reference Desk”, the Seattle University Law School librarians discuss a typical tenant question. And Craig, in his “Reel Verdict” segment, gives us his view of some of the recent Oscar movies.

Bridge the Gap - May 20th and June 24th

Registration is currently open for the Bridge the Gap seminars – a free event designed to enhance the legal research skills of law students. Topics include:

Blog Post of the Month - Washington Real Property Desk book

KCLL Klues, our Washington state research blog, keeps you apprised of interesting legal news and great research links. Sign up for the RSS feed. During this last month we highlighted the news that the first two volumes of the new edition of the Washington Real Property Desk book has been published! The last update to this set was 2001. Vol. 1 covers parties to real estate transactions and basics of real estate transactions. Vol. 2 covers leasing, financing and remedies. The set is accompanied by a CD-ROM with forms and has its own index. Volumes 3 and 4 are expected later this summer. Volumes 5-7 will be published sometime in 2010. The Law Library has one copy of the desk book available for checkout as well as the CD-ROMs that accompany the set. Copies of this new edition are available from the Washington State Bar Association for $315.00 ($350.00 after April 30).

New Books in the Library

Civil Procedure:
Nine Principles of Litigation and Life
A Lawyer’s Guide to Understanding Earning Capacity Assessment and Earning Capacity Options
Litigating Animal Law Disputes: A Complete Guide for Lawyers

Constitutional Law:
Responding to National Security Letters: A Practical Guide for Legal Counsel

Corporations:
Model Nonprofit Corporation Act, 3rd Ed.

Criminal Law:
Crime, Incorporated: Legal and Financial Implications of Corporate Misconduct

Domestic Relations:
The Special Needs Child and Divorce: A Practical Guide to Evaluating and Handling Cases

Intellectual Property:
Marketing Your Invention, 3rd Ed.

Land Use Law:
RLUIPA Reader: Religious Land Uses Zoning and the Courts

Practice of Law:
Careers in Tax Law: Perspectives on the Tax Profession and what it holds for you
The Law Firm Associate’s Guide to Connecting with Your Colleagues
Preparing for Reentry: What Lawyers Need to Know to Navigate the Road Ahead After a Career Break

Plus, don�t forget to check out our Legal Eagle collection of DVDs.