Law Library E-Newsletter

Renew Library Materials Online Members can now renew Library materials online from their home or office, 24-7! The Library home page offers a link called "Renew Items". You will be able to view your checked out items after logging in with your name and patron barcode number. The barcode number is printed on the back of your borrower card. (Contact the Circulation Desk at any of our four locations for assistance if you've lost your card.) 5 Easy Steps 1. Visit our home page (http://www.sdcpll.org). 2. Click the Renew Items link. 3. Enter your name and barcode number. 4. Renew some materials: Check the boxes next to the materials you want to renew and select "Renew Selected" -or- Renew all materials: you do not need to check any boxes if you want to renew all of your materials - just click the "Renew All" button. 5. Check the status column to make sure your materials renewed & logout of your account. The new due date and occasional messages to the member about inability to renew will appear in the status column. This might happen if there are holds on materials, the maximum number of renewals has been reached, or if the member's fine limit has been reached. We hope this will be a great new service for our members.

MCLE Deadline for Group 3 (N-Z) The MCLE deadline for Group 3 (N-Z) is February 1, 2008. In addition to our many participatory MCLE credit classes, we also offer a variety of CDs on mandatory subjects (ethics, elimination of bias, prevention of substance abuse) and general subjects for self-study credit at our Main and North County branches. MCLE self-study CDs can be checked out by Library Members for a period of 3 days. See below for a listing of events currently scheduled at our Main and North County locations. Be sure to check our website frequently for a listing of all MCLE classes.

January MCLE Events at Main Due to the popularity of our MCLE crunch time events, only attorney and paralegal Library Members may attend. These events are offered for FREE as part of your library membership. Please call 619-531-3900 to register, as seating is limited. All of these events (including the DVDs shown at the Library) qualify for participatory MCLE credit. The following events will be held at the Main Law Library at 1105 Front Street. Thursday, January 10th, 12-1pm Identity Theft: Avoid Being a Victim by Special Agent Lamont Siller with the FBI - 1hr General Tuesday, January 15th, 12-1pm Elimination of Bias: It's Harder in Heels by Professor Jacquelyn H. Slotkin - 1hr Bias Wednesday, January 16th, 12-1pm Collecting Fees Ethically By David Cameron Carr - 1hr Ethics Thursday, January 17th, 12-1pm Substance Abuse: What to do when a Colleague is Struggling by Guest Speaker, Moira Brennan, Esq. - 1hr Sub. Abuse Tuesday, January 22nd, 12-1pm Elimination of Bias in the Legal Profession (DVD) 1hr Bias Thursday, January 24th, 12-1pm Substance Abuse: Helping Clients and Colleagues (DVD) 1hr Sub. Abuse Monday, January 28th, 12-1pm Elimination of Bias in the Legal Profession (DVD) 1hr Bias Tuesday, January 29th, 2-5:25 pm Powerful Trial Techniques (DVD) 3.25 hrs General Wednesday, January 30th, 12-1pm Lawyers, Substance Abuse and Depression By David Cameron Carr - 1hr Substance Abuse "CRAM DAY" Thursday, January 31st, 8:30-10:30am Ethics: Important Developments (DVD) 2hrs Ethics Thursday, January 31st, 10:45 -11:45am Bias Elimination in the Legal Profession (DVD) 1hr Bias Thursday, January 31st, 12:30-4:30pm ABA Model Rules 1.12-5.5: A Helpful Explanation (DVD) 4hrs Ethics Thursday, January 31st, 4:45 -5:45pm Substance Abuse: Helping Clients and Colleagues (DVD) 1hr Substance Abuse For more information on these events, go to our MCLE Information page. The San Diego County Public Law Library is a State Bar approved MCLE provider.

January MCLE Events at North County Due to the popularity of our MCLE crunch time events, only attorney and paralegal Library Members may attend. These events are offered for FREE as part of your library membership. Please call 760-940-4386 to register, as seating is limited. All of these events (including the DVDs shown at the Library) qualify for participatory MCLE credit. The following events will be held at the North County Branch at 325 S. Melrose Dr., Suite 300, Vista. Tuesday, January 8th, 12-1pm Substance Abuse: Helping Clients and Colleagues (DVD) 1hr Sub. Abuse Tuesday, January 15th, 12-2pm Ethics: Important Developments (DVD) 2hrs Ethics Thursday, January 17th, 12-1pm Reverse Mortgages: Simple Answers to Your Client's Questions By Frank Butts -1hr General We are currently adding more dates for January, so be sure to check our MCLE Information page for the most up to date schedule of MCLE classes. The San Diego County Public Law Library is a State Bar approved MCLE provider.

New Westlaw Databases At All Branches We have added several new databases to our Westlaw subscription. Westlaw can be accessed for free at all of our branches at any patron computer. The following is just a sampling of our new Westlaw resources. The ALL FORMS database combines all Westlaw national and state-specific forms databases, including legal and business, transactional, litigation, pleading and practice and statutory forms. The CRIMINAL LITIGATION SPECIALIST database contains treatises, practice guides, forms, journals and law reviews covering all aspects of criminal practice. Resources specific to California law include: California Confessions Law, California Search and Seizure, Witkin California Criminal Law and Rucker & Overland's California Criminal Practice: Motions, Jury Instructions and Sentencing. Federal materials contained in the new database include the Federal Postconviction Remedies Handbook, Federal Trial Handbook: Criminal, Federal Practice and Procedure: Criminal (Wright & Miller) and Federal Sentencing Law and Practice. The CALIFORNIA TORT PERSONAL INJURY LIBRARY database includes California Civil Practice Torts (a 5-volume litigation forms set), California Medical Malpractice: Law and Practice, and Rutter Group's California Practice Guide: Personal Injury. The CALIFORNIA FAMILY PRACTICE ANALYTICAL database includes, California Civil Practice: Family Law Litigation, California Community Property Law, California Family Law: Forms, Clauses, and Checklists, California Transactions Forms: Family Law and Rutter Group's California Practice Guide: Family Law. The CALIFORNIA STATE COURT DOCKETS database contains docket information on active and inactive cases filed in the Courts of California for the following courts: California Supreme Court, California Appellate Courts, and the Superior Courts in Alameda, Butte, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Ventura Counties. Be sure to check out these and many more new Westlaw databases at any of our four locations.

Amendments to California Rules of Court for 2008 The Judicial Council has adopted amendments to the California Rules of Court that take effect January 1, 2008. Areas that are changing include: judicial branch educational requirements; citation and formatting; electronic service and filing; case assignment, voir dire and sentencing issues in criminal cases; education and qualifications of court investigators; and probate attorneys and examiners. For a complete list of all the rule amendments, go to the California Court's website at http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/rules/amendments.htm. The website contains short summaries of all the rule amendments adopted by the Judicial Council from 2005 to the present.

Upcoming Classes for January & February Members of the general public may sign up for these classes by calling (619) 531-3900. The classes are free to Law Library members and are $5 for non-members. Participants may bring lunch. Pre-registration is required, as seating is limited. For a complete description of the classes, go to: www.sdcpll.org/calendar/calendar.html. All classes are at the Main library, unless otherwise noted. JANUARY Saturday, January 26th, 2-4pm Practical Legal Research FEBRUARY Wednesday, February 6th, 12-1pm Google and Beyond by Betsy Chessler* Wednesday, February 20th, 12-1pm Legal Research Using Free Websites* Friday, February 22nd, 12-1pm Using Lexis* Saturday, February 23rd, 2-3pm Law Made Public * MCLE Credit is available for these classes. Be sure to check our "Classes" page for the most up to date schedule. The San Diego County Public Law Library is a State Bar approved MCLE provider.

California DMV Goes Hi-Tech California's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has joined the online world in a big way. The DMV has developed a YouTube site, www.youtube.com/californiadmv, which aims to help drivers of all ages. There are some 55 videos available for viewing online, including the "Top 10 Reasons for Failing Your Driving Test," "Rules of the Road," "Sharing the Road," and "CA Driver License." The DMV has also started a MySpace page, www.myspace.com/californiadmv. Here, you can check out their blog, "Ask George Common DMV Questions." The blog answers real life questions about anything the DMV handles, such as: Is it illegal to drive under the speed limit on the freeway? What are the most current teen driving rules? Can you pay your traffic ticket online? The DMV's online efforts into MySpace and YouTube complement their motto, "Save Time. Go Online." There are links on both sites to the DMV's main website, www.dmv.ca.gov. This main site is available 24/7 allowing users to "renew driver's licenses and vehicle registrations, buy personalized plates, file change of address and vehicle transfer forms, request refunds, find nearby offices and hours of operation, make office and testing appointments, study testing materials, take interactive exams" and even pay traffic tickets online.

Website of the Month: Warning: This product is unsafe! Six federal agencies with vastly different jurisdictions have joined together to create www.recalls.gov , a "one stop shop" for U.S. Government recalls. This website helps you find recent recalls of consumer products, motor vehicles, boats, foods, medicines, cosmetics, and environmental products. You can also search for past recalls, sign up for email alerts, and report dangerous products.

Google-DoubleClick Merger Stirs Privacy Concern at FTC Hearings Consumer groups Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) voiced concern about the privacy implications of Google's acquisition of DoubleClick. The merger of Google and DoubleClick would combine the largest online search company with the largest online advertiser. EPIC and CDD warned about the combination of consumer and user information and data stores of the two companies. Senators Herb Kohl and Orrin Hatch and many House Republicans raised concerns over the privacy issues in antitrust hearings before Congress last year. Also, the groups have concerns over the potential conflict of interest due to the participation of FTC Chairman Deborah Majoras in the review process. Her husband is a partner in the law firm, Jones Day, representing DoubleClick in its antitrust hearings. She argued there was no conflict because the firm was only representing DoubleClick in their European Union antitrust hearings. EPIC and CDD believe her participation clearly violates Federal law and FTC guidelines and are considering a court challenge against Majoras' failure to recuse herself. EPIC gained information about Majoras' ties to Jones Day using the Freedom of Information Act. As part of the FTC approval for the merger, the groups want the FTC to require privacy protections to protect computer users' information gathered through searches and ad-tracking from being exploited by the combined business.

Improved United States Code Website Cornell Legal Information Institute (LII) has improved their U.S. Code Collection, returning it to the top of the list of free U.S.C. sites. The main change is a greatly improved update feature. The Cornell LII U.S.C. uses the official version of the United States Code. That means that as of today the text of each Code section is only current up to Jan. 2, 2006. Now, you simply go to your code section, then click the "How Current Is This?" link on the right. It will show you all of the changes to your section of the code made since the official version was released to within one business day, and includes links to the Public Laws affecting your statute from GPO Access. You can find the Cornell LII U.S.C. at http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/ Source: Lewis & Clark Law School Law Library blog http://lawlib.lclark.edu/boleyblogs/

New Materials Added To The Collection The Law Library adds numerous new materials to the collection on a monthly basis. New material includes new books, new editions/updates, MCLE CDs and DVDs, links to websites, and links to our database subscriptions. Thanks to a new tool in our online Catalog, we are able to create "Featured Lists." To see a featured list of new materials added to the collection within the last month, go to: http://millennium.sdcll.org/ftlist and click on "New Items -- December 2007". You can then browse through the list of new materials added to the collection. Click on the title to see all information in the Catalog record such as: location, call number, availability, publisher, notes on content and subject indexing terms.

Cartoon By Stu Rees Stu's Views are "Cartoons About Law and Lawyers." Stu Rees is a local entertainment lawyer who represents mostly visual arts creators.

We hope you've enjoyed our newsletter! If you are a guest and would like to subscribe, please click here. We're hard at work on the next edition. In the meantime, please see us online at www.sdcpll.org or visit us at one of our four locations. For more information, or to send comments about this newsletter, contact Gina S. Catalano, Senior Reference Librarian & Media Coordinator.