Nov 20
The Office of the Federal Register announced that it now has free electronic access to public documents. These are documents that have been filed with the Public Inspection Desk. While this may not be exciting news to most of you, I was thrilled when I saw the news release. In the “old days” the only way to see these documents was to physically visit the Office of the Federal Register in Washington, DC. I used to send messengers over to copy the files when a new regulation was about to be issued as we wanted to see it first and be prepared to advise our clients. So for me, this is terrific news!
Nov 19
There is still space in our Searching Lexis class this Friday (November 21) from 12-1:30pm. The class is free and held in the Legal Research and Training Center inside the library. Call (206) 296-0940 to sign up!
Nov 19
A recent post on the Law Librarian Blog featured a short video from Thomson West detailing the editorial process for taking a court opinion and preparing it for publication on Westlaw. If you’ve ever wondered about how the process works, check it out!
Nov 17
I came across this new search site directory while preparing my Social Networking Investigation class. It has been in beta in Europe for months, but expanded to the United States in October. It claims to search Internet-based information in real time, but is also a social site where you can add information to every search result.
The site includes results from social networking information posted on the Internet, telephone and email directories and more. It works best with unusual names rather than common names. If you do not already have some information on the person you are investigating, it is sometimes difficult to eliminate results. But it does include some data I have not seen elsewhere.
I have added it to the Public Sleuthing links on our web site.
Nov 12
Renewing Government: Recommendations to President-elect Obama
and the 111th Congress
As President-elect Obama’s transition team gets to work, OMB Watch has teamed with dozens of organizations
and individuals to provide key recommendations on government openness, reform of the regulatory process, and
government performance issues. Started well before the 2008 elections, the projects that produced these
recommendations brought together diverse groups of people to work on some of the most pressing problems and
concerns that will face Obama when he takes office in January 2009.
OMB Watch convened a group of hundreds of individuals and organizations from across the political spectrum
to put together recommendations on government openness, information, and other transparency issues. The
recommendations stress the need for the Obama administration and Congress to move the federal government’s
information disclosure and sharing policies and processes into the 21st century, which includes the efficient,
effective use of modern Internet technologies. The recommendations fall into three categories: National Security
and Secrecy; Usability of Information; and Creating a Government Environment for Transparency. The group has also
lifted up a number of the recommendations as issues the Obama administration should tackle during its first
100 days.(From OMB Watch’s website:)
Read the report here: 21st Century Right to Know Recommendations
Nov 10
With technology allowing for easier access to electronic opinions of the courts, some have had concerns as to the extent to which personally identifiable information is included in these opinions. Some of these fears center around the social security numbers of participants in legal cases and purchased by third parties. Recently, the Government Accountability Office presented a report on this topic through its website.
Here is an excerpt from the report:
“Various public records in the United States contain Social Security numbers (SSN) and other personal identifying information that could be used to commit fraud and identity theft. For the purposes of this report, public records are generally defined as government agency-held records made available to the public in their entirety for inspection, such as property and court records.
Although public records were traditionally accessed locally in county courthouses and government records centers, public record keepers in some states and localities have more recently been maintaining electronic images of their records. In electronic format, records can be made available through the Internet or easily transferred to other parties in bulk quantities.”
To read the rest of the report check it out here: Social Security Numbers Are Widely Available in Bulk and Online Records, but Changes to Enhance Security Are Occurring. This information comes from a fellow county law librarian Joe Hodnicki’s blog called “Law Librarian’s Blog.”
Nov 03
The Washington Office of Secretary of State’s Digital Archives, in a partnership with Microsoft Research, is making available over 30,000 cassette tapes of committee hearings of the State House of Representatives for 1973-2001. This partnership allows for an innovative way to search through the audio recordings of these hearings. Approximately 6,000 hours of hearings are currently searchable. Over the next two years, the House will add approximately 10,000 more hours. The search engine allows you to search testimony given during a hearing. You can narrow your search by selecting specific committees and by selecting a date range. To access these tapes, go to Washington State Digital Archives detalied search screen. In the drop down box titled Record Series, select Audio Recordings. A search on the word audit brings up about 40 entries from various committees.
This tool can be an important adjunct to your state legislative history research.
Oct 29
The Judges page at the King County Superior Court’s web site provides a wealth of court-specific information that will save you time and help you present your or your client’s case more effectively. In addition to listing the current sitting judges and commissioners for each courthouse, this page also has links to court-specific pages where the judge has provided practice and procedure information. If the judge you’re working with has provided this, his or her name will be an active hyperlink. For example, here’s the page provided by Judge Kimberley Prochnau. The information provided by each judge varies but you can find contact information for his or her courtroom, trial practice tips, references to specific local rules he or she wants to call to your attention, links to model forms and sometimes biographical information about the judge. Back at the Judges main page, you’ll also find a link to a document that describes how to use email to communicate with the court.
Oct 27
The November election is only a week away. Voter turn-out is expected to be high across the nation, with many voters submitting their selections via mail-in ballots. In Washington State, 37 of our 39 counties are now using voting by mail exclusively. Secretary of State Sam Reed is urging all voters, whether you’re voting by mail or in person at the polls, to carefully review the material in your voter’s pamphlet. If you are voting by mail, your completed ballot must be postparked by November 4. If you plan to vote at the polls, expect longer lines. For more information from the Secretary of State about this year’s election and our State’s voting procedures, see Sam Reed’s latest press release.
Oct 22
I have been teaching classes on investigating social networking information for a number of organizations outside the Library. I wrote a basic guide to Investigating Social Networks and decided that it might be useful for our Library patrons. I have posted the publication to our Research Guides on the web page. In addition, I am bringing a version of the class, called Public Sleuthing on Social Networks, to the Library Training schedule on November 17th. Call to register and come join us to learn how to search social sites such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter and more.