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An Overview of Selected Legal Digital Libraries

Article by Kristyn Helge and George Butterfield in the June 2007 issue of LLRX.com (Law Library Resource Xchange), the free online journal for legal information professionals. The authors review the following online libraries: the Avalon Project at Yale Law School; the British Academy Digital Library; Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates digital law library, Malta; Cornell University Law Library; FindLaw; LawGuru.com's Internet Law Library; LawMoose; Kappler's Indian Affairs Digital Law Library; the Library of Congress' Thomas; and the Nevada Law Library.

Bar Association for Commerce, Finance and Industry

The Bar Association for Commerce, Finance and Industry (BACFI) represents barristers employed in a commercial environment in England and Wales, as well as non-practising barristers, self-employed barristers, students, overseas lawyers working in the UK and retired barristers. The Association's website gives details of officers and members of the General Committee and contact details of BACFI members from a range of industries who are able to provide careers advice to other members.

KC Appointments

Website providing information about the process for the award of King's Counsel, the mark of excellence for advocates in the higher courts of England and Wales. Includes a description of the selection process and guidance for applicants and referees, along with practical information such as a timetable and fees. There are profiles of members of the King's Counsel Selection Panel and a copy of the competency framework against which applicants are considered.

Copyright & Fair Use

Website providing information about copyright and fair use for librarians and academics, run by Stanford University Libraries. Includes copyright FAQs, guidance on copyright research and information about permissions, the public domain, fair use and releases. There is a  Law section with US legislation and cases as well as international treaties. A collection of tools includes a copyright flowchart, a digital copyright slider, a digital image rights calculator, a fair use evaluator and many more practical resources.

Free Culture

Website devoted to the book 'Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity' by Professor Lawrence Lessig of Stanford Law School. Published in 2004, it is available here under a Creative Commons licence. The book covers the effect of the internet on commercial and non-commercial culture and the increasing regulation that comes with the digitisation of culture. There are sections looking at the concepts of piracy and property and a discussion of the Eldred v. Ashcroft case with which Prof. Lessig was involved.

New skills, new learning: legal education and the promise of new technology

Article published in 2007 by Gene Koo, a Fellow of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. Covers survey of US lawyers by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society and the LexisNexis Group focusing on technology skills required by lawyers that are not covered by the traditional law school curriculum. Covers the use of the internet for information gathering, technologies such as email and video conferencing, and automated knowledge management systems. The article can be downloaded from the Social Science Research Network (SSRN).

VOTA

The VOTA database is produced by the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) and managed in cooperation with the Mexican Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary (TEPJF). VOTA contains national electoral legislation of Council of Europe member states, covering topics such as universal suffrage, political parties, electoral systems, referendums, voter registration, frequency of elections and polling stations. Materials provided include laws, constitutions and opinions.

CODICES

The CODICES database was created by the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission). It provides key judgments from the constitutional courts of European countries, the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union. There is background information on each constitutional court, with details of powers, composition and organisation, as well as basic texts relating to the court. The constitutions of all member states of the Council of Europe and national laws relating to constitutional courts are also given.

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