As I was checking out the news about Microsoft’s new “Bing“ search engine (which is pretty slick, as you’d imagine), I came across the latest from Google - Google Squared, “a search tool that helps you quickly build a collection of facts from the Web for any topic you specify.” The concept is kind of cool: you put in some terms and get a grid that includes various information related to the topic entered. Works pretty well for some of the suggested searches, such as “precious gems.”
Things get a little weird when you start ranging beyond the canned searches. For instance, put in “Harvard” and get - in the ten items that make up the initial “square “- George W. Bush, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Daniel Ellsberg (of Pentagon Papers fame) and Peter Benchley (author of Jaws), along with their dates and places of birth, spouses (if any) and an image. The University itself does not appear. Change the search to “Harvard University.” You still don’t get Harvard University, but now you get a different cast of characters including John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Conan O’Brien. Okay, I know - it’s beta. No doubt Google Squared will improve or die - but while it’s still weird, I can see how it could be hours (or at least half-hours) of fun!
“The real allure of Nancy Drew is that, almost uniquely among classic or modern heroines, she can follow — is allowed to follow — a train of thought,” wrote Sandra Tsing Loh, reviewing Melanie Rehak’s “Girl Sleuth,” a biography of Nancy Drew’s creators, in The Atlantic. “The plot opens ever outward for her, her speeding blue convertible a metaphor for the sure-shot arrow of her intellect, the splendidly whizzing shaft of the maiden huntress Diana.”
It is not often that the Library has an opportunity to acquire a book or pamphlet about the Harvard Law School that it doesn’t already own. Such an occasion occurred this week when we purchased a pamphlet that not only did we not own but apparently exists only in this copy.
The Harvard Manual. Contents: Historical Sketch; Law School Manual; Directory of Students, 1877-78 is an unofficial guide to the School with information on admission, courses offered, expenses, scholarships, and a directory of students.
One section describes the law clubs “organized by the students, and under their control, constitute a prominent feature of the work of the school….. The object of all the Clubs is to accustom members to the drawing of pleadings, and the argument and decisions of points raised thereby” (p. 21).
Written by “The Editors,” the publication was generously supported by advertisements, the contents of which provide a glimpse of law student life in Cambridge nearly a century and a half ago.
Post contributed by:
Dave Warrington
Head, Special Collections
Some of the HLSL librarians joined the Harvard University Library’s Communications & Orientation Committee on a tour of historic Mount Auburn Cemetery earlier this week. One of our team members brought along a special guest who traveled all the way from Springfield, VA: Flat Stanley. He is part of the Flat Stanley Project, which is designed for elementary school students who can send their version of Flat Stanley to friends and family. In turn, Flat Stanley’s hosts will photograph Flat Stanley in different locations and write journal entries about their adventures with Flat Stanley. Below is the letter that accompanied Flat Stanley through the mail.
Pictured here, Flat Stanley visits Christopher Columbus Langdell’s grave. Perhaps this interaction will inspire Max, this Flat Stanley’s creator, to become part of the HLS class of 2025?
Saturday, May 23
Sunday, May 24
Monday, May 25, Memorial Day
Saturday, May 30
Sunday, May 31
During the Recess Hours, May 18 - May 31, Langdell Hall is open Monday - Friday 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m. International Legal Studies (ILS) is open Monday - Friday 9:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
To be sure such reading as I have done - e.g. the Banquet of Plato a few years ago, or the Oedipus last summer, or a little Homer - has given me interesting reflections, but the interest is apt to be more in the reflections than the thing. I want to read what bears in a general way on my path and I want the feel of a certain tension.
from
The Essential Holmes: Selections from the Letters, Speeches, Judicial Opinions, and Other Writings of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
By Oliver Wendell Holmes, Richard A. Posner
The Harvard Law School Library is in the midst of a period of reorganization to align our staff with our present needs and strategic priorities for the future. As part of this process, we have been examining the effectiveness of our various library service points. In the past few years, foot traffic at the circulation and reference desks in the ILS portion of the library has significantly decreased. We are considering relocating staff at these two ILS service points to the Langdell circulation and reference desks areas. As part of this plan, we would then convert this space to something more functional for the ILS community. Please note that this change would only affect the 2nd floor area of Lewis; the ILS collection would remain in its current location in Lewis.
We are hosting a meeting to solicit input on this plan. We intend to discuss ways we can mitigate any impact on service and to hear ideas for alternative uses for the space. The meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 20th from 4-5 p.m. in Pound 100. Please come help us discuss the important topic of how the library supports the study of international and comparative law.
For this year’s graduates whose law firm start-date has been deferred and who are working in public interest during the deferment period, LexisNexis is offering free access to its databases of case law, statutes, regulations, and law review articles.
Read details about the offer here, and sign up for access here.
Worry no more about whether it’s okay to put your empty juice bottle in the recycling bins when here you’re studying. Single-stream recycling has come to Harvard Law School, including the Library. This means you can put your paper, cans, bottles, etc. all in the same bins. Over the next few weeks we’ll be putting stickers on the bins to remind you. Watch this space for future green initiatives!
Thanks to manuscript processor extraordinaire Margaret Peachy for being our hand model!
If you like to be up to the minute on what’s up inside the Beltway, you can now subscribe to the Congressional Record Daily Digest’s RSS feed, one of five RSS feeds offered by our friends at the Law Library of Congress.
The Daily Digest summarizes the most recent actions in Congress, along with links to bills, Congressional Record pages, and more. RSS not speedy enough for you? You can subscribe to tweets emanating from the halls of power - a list of at least some of the twitterers is here.
Did you write a great paper for class or get a case comment published in one of the HLS journals? Now you can share it in the same open access repository that faculty use. DASH (http://dash.harvard.edu), the repository created as part of the law school’s new open access policy, has a new HLS Student Papers Series.
DASH is currently accessible only to the Harvard University community, but we expect to make it public and discoverable by search engines in June. If you prefer, you may also post just a description rather than full text of your work. Either way, it’s a great option for achieving greater visibility and sharing your work beyond the Harvard community.
P.S. If you’re interested in the issue of open access, you won’t want to miss the talk at noon on Monday May 11 by Kenneth Crews, Director of the Copyright Office at Columbia University. There’s still room to sign up, so check out the Berkman Center event page (http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/2009/05/crews) for RSVP and other details.
If that’s a question that interests you, you’ll want to check out The Twenty-First Century Law Library [pdf], in the latest issue of Law Library Journal. The article is an edited version of a discussion that took place at the celebration of the renovation and expansion of Duke University’s Goodson Law Library in November 2008. Richard Danner of Duke, Blair Kauffman of Yale, and our own John Palfrey bring their different backgrounds together for a thoughtful exploration of questions about the concept and role of the law library as it continues to evolve to meet the needs of our users.
Access to the Harvard Law School Library will be restricted to Law School faculty, staff, and students from April 26 - May 15, 2009 during our reading and exam periods.
The library will continue to be available to other Harvard ID holders who need to check out a book in the collection, and to collection users needing unique materials available only at the Law School Library. Anyone needing to use materials in the collection can check in at the Langdell Circulation desk. However, the library is only available as a study and exam area for Harvard Law School students.
And while taking your exams, remember: Be objective and specific, detailed yet brief. Most of all, have fun.
As I was checking out the news about Microsoft’s new “
If you like to be up to the minute on what’s up inside the Beltway, you can now subscribe to the Congressional Record Daily Digest’s RSS feed, one of 
