Welcome back and Happy New Year

Welcome back to all those who went away for the vacation and Happy New Year to everyone.  Below are some updates from databases.

There will be some changes this year to Justis for all those that use the database.  The bad news is that The Law Reports, Weekly Law Reports and Industrial Cases Reports will no longer be available through the database due to ICLR withdrawing the licence.  The good news is that these are available electronically elsewhere.  We will be publishing another blog nearer the time to let you know how to access these in the future but if you have any questions then don’t hesitate to contact Kate Jackson at katharine.jackson@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

A reminder that Westlaw now has a ‘My Westlaw UK’ function which allows you to set up a profile, create alerts and save searches.  If you want to know more about it then take a look at our previous blog or go to the Westlaw information page.

Lexis Library will be changing the way the results page will look.  At the moment this is scheduled around Easter but we will blog with further details nearer the time.    They have also changed the default when you search using the journals tab.  It will now default to the journals index and not ‘all subscribed journals’ and so be aware that if you want to search as you did before you need to choose  the ‘journals’ link on the left hand side.

The SOLO interface has changed slightly in design, although you will still find all the functions in the same place.   There are added guides on the right hand side.   The SOLO live help is now a pop up window so if you need help with SOLO then click on the link  and look out for the box (it should pop up on your screen but check your tool bar!)  This means  you will not lose your conversation with the member of staff if you do a search on SOLO.

If you have any questions about the databases or want any training then contact Kate Jackson at katharine.jackson@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

Classes and drop in sessions

We are running a number of classes and drop in sessions throughout Hilary – take a look at the classes page for details.  We also run the Book a Librarian Service.

 

Smartening up for the New Year

Monday 19 December

Work affecting USA has finished – open access to shelves again.
Graduate Reading Room is open – but some varnishing remains to be done. (Talk of this happening overnight – but not sure that it will happen this year!)

Wednesday 14 December
Peace and quiet now as we wait for both plaster and tile glue to dry. The painting and varnishing is scheduled to be done by the end of this week – should be quiet but I know some people are unhappy with the smell of paints and varnishes.  If  you are then probably the Gallery Wing and the computer rooms will probably be the best places to try.

Friday 9 December
Spurt of activitiy now – plasterers working on the ceiling above the USA collection and tilers working on the Lower Floor outside the Graduate Reading Room.  Access to Graduate Reading Room will probably not be possible till Saturday 10 at the earliest … Access to Official Papers is via the small staircase that runs up/down near the Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer IT Room. Staff will be happy to point the way.

Do remember that free ear plugs are available from the Law Library main desk!

Thursday 8 December
Proof -  if any were needed -  of the importance of testing flood defences on a roof  was demonstrated today! Happy to report no inconvenience to readers  and no  lasting damage to our stock – thanks to the speedy reactions of both library staff and builders.
Sensibly, the plastering of the ceiling has been delayed while the last bit of roof work continues.

The builders are  gradually removing their encampment from the car park around the LawBod – and I am happy to report that the disabled access to the library is back to normal again now.

It is certainly lovely to have the scaffolding gone from all the windows !

Wednesday 7 December UPDATE
Today our new and improved roof will be undergoing testing, so seating in some areas around the library will not be available – it is taped off, so clearly visible.

Tuesday 6 December UPDATE
Today we are expecting some mobile scaffolding to be installed in the USA section (gallery) of the library, so that plastering can begin.  So please contact staff at law.library@bodleian.ox.ac.uk if you would like us to get USA books off the open shelves for you before this area goes – literally- under wraps for the rest of the week.
The new tiles are down in the GRR – but will have to be varnished in due course. And we expect work to start on the floor outside the entrance to the GRR . We have been assured that access to the room will still be possible – but you may have to ask the workmen which way

Monday 5 December UPDATE
As per schedule, the work has started on the floor of the graduate reading room. Most of the time it is just gentle tapping – but there are brief bursts of drilling/sanding tools. So though you can access the room would recommend working elsewhere in the Library.

With the ending of  Full Term various teams of workmen will be working inside and outside the Law Bod doing some final  brush up and polish jobs required after the complete overhaul of our roof and the remodelling of the Graduate Reading Room. 
These works will start on the  afternoon of Monday 5 December  – and should be over within a fortnight.

Below is some  detail as to which parts of the library will be affected – and how the Library Staff hope to minimise the impact on readers.  This Blog will also be used to monitor progress for you.

1. USA Collection  The ceiling is having damaged plaster removed, new plaster and then new paint.  If you know that you will be using the hardcopy USA collections on the upper floor over the next two weeks, please get in touch with us, as soon as possible.  These collections will be covered with sheeting while the ceiling is repaired, and so we should like to retrieve any books that you know you will be using beforehand.
2. Carrels beside USA collection If you have a carrel on the East side (alongside the Manor Road Building), you will still be able to access it.  However, you may be disturbed by noise (although this will be kept to a minimum).  If this will be very disruptive to you, please come and talk to the staff, so that we can find you another place to sit.
3. Graduate Reading Room If you usually sit in the Graduate Reading Room, this will still be open, but some of the floor tiles will be replaced on Monday and Tuesday.  There is bound to be some disturbance, although they will be as quiet as possible, and if you dislike the smell of glue or varnish, I suggest you sit elsewhere.  Again, if you have difficulty finding somewhere to work, please ask the staff.
4. Main Reading Room On Wednesday 7 December, there will be workmen present in the Library carrying out floodwater testing.  They have promised to be as quiet as possible, but it will not be silent.

We are very sorry about the disturbance:  if you would like some ear plugs, please ask at the Enquiry Desk, and please do talk to the staff about any problems associated with the works.  We shall do all we can to help.

 

IFLP Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals

IFLP is moving home!

From now, and for the foreseeable future, IFLP will be available to OU members via HeinOnline.

For the moment IFLP will remain available on the Ovid/Wolters Kluwer Health platform but not for much longer. So our advice is to get used to going to HeinOnline now.

Certainly the search screen looks more intuitive – with instructions at the foot. Do note that if you wish to search the records from 1960-1984 you have to click on the special button called Print Edition.

 

Mac/Lion wifi issues with Safari

Recently, some Mac users in the library who’ve upgraded to the latest system software, Lion, are finding that they can’t log in to Bodleian Libraries wireless using the Safari browser. The symptom is that Safari attempts to connect to https://earwig.bodleian.ox.ac.uk, but it never loads and the window remains blank. One workaround has been to use a different browser like Firefox or Chrome, which don’t seem to be affected.

I think I’ve found a solution, at least it works on my Lion MacBook: reinstall Safari using the standalone installer available at http://www.apple.com/safari. After I did this, I was able to load the login page in Safari without a problem. I’d be interested to know if this works for you – if you try it, please let me know how you get on at penny.schenk@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

Update: I’ve had good luck with installing the latest version of Firefox for the Mac on these machines, it does not seem to have the same issue loading the login page as Safari and (in some cases) Chrome. I have the installer on a USB key, just ask for me at the front desk if you’d like to borrow it.

Another Update: I can’t vouch for the solution described in this youtube video, but it seems plausible and several commenters said it worked for them. Please let us know in the comments below if it helps you!

 

Attention all DPhil writers

Please consider attending the following session:

WISER: Your thesis, copyright and ORA (Monday 21 November 9.30 – 10.30am and repeated Friday 25 November 12.30 – 13.30pm) – Oxford DPhil students are required to deposit a copy of their thesis in ORA (Oxford University Research Archive).  This session will focus on copyright and other issues that DPhil students need to take into account when preparing and writing their thesis so that they do not encounter problems when they deposit.
DPhils are encouraged to attend this session early so that they can make sensible decisions regarding rights from the start of their research.

Online booking is available on the OUCS site.

The sessions are held OUCS, 13 Banbury Road.

 

JustCite – new developments

It’s been a year since the new JustCite was launched and in light of some new developments we thought we would remind users about how JustCite can help you in your research.

Just Cite is a citator tool with abstracts of cases, articles and legislation but which helpfully contains links to other databases (including Westlaw, Lexis Library, Justis and Bailii) where Oxford has subscriptions to the full text.  As a case citator it is a useful tool to help build up a picture of the most important case law precedents and to keep up to date.  There is more information about what JustCite does in the post from last year but here are a few of the most important features and  newer features.

Precedent Map

If you prefer to see the way a case has been treated in pictorial form rather than a list of cases then JustCite precedent map is the tool to use.  For any given case there is a wagon wheel of cases cited within the case and cases subsequently cited with the most cited cases having a bigger ‘sphere’.  The relationships can been seen quickly, with green ‘spokes’ indicating positive treatment,  red indicating negative and orange is neutral.   You can also see how relevant the cases are by hovering over the sphere and seeing how many other cases they have in common. Have a look at an example here.  There is also a training video available from the main JustCite page.

My JustCite

My JustCite is a way of tracking the research you do on JustCite.   You can look at previous searches and amend them which means that you are not duplicating searches and reinventing the wheel.    Users of JustCite at Oxford University are automatically recognised as subscribers but not individually and so if you want to use this facility then contact Kate Jackson at katharine.jackson@bodleian.ox.ac.uk to ask for your email to be recognised so that you can log in.  Help on how to use My JustCite can be found here.

 

Royal succession laws changing

She can rule – if she comes first .. read the BBC announcement of Commonwealth Leaders’ Agreement  or The Guardian online article.

Neither will marrying a Roman Catholic be a bar to the throne.

The House of Commons Library has a Note on the Bill of Rights 1689 (which you can download as pdf) giving some historical background.
The Act of Settlement (1700, c.2) on Legislation.gov website has a banner saying  “There are outstanding changes not yet made by the legislation.gov.uk editorial team to Act of Settlement (1700). ” (The italics are mine.)

 

Act of Settlement (1700)

You are here:

• 1700 c. 2 (Regnal. 12_and_13_Will_3)
• Table of Contents

Commonwealth Secretariat website

 

UK Supreme Court on cusp of tradition and modernity

 So reads the headline of the article published in The Guardian newspaper on 25 October 2011 to mark the first two year of the Court’s existence.(Authors :  Owen Bowcott and Maya Wolfe-Robinson). The article is freely available to read online.
Or you can just watch and listen to an 11 minute video of  Owen Bowcott’s  interviews with Supreme Court justices “about their decisions, their democratic credentials, and whether or not they represent modern British society.”

A few days earlier – in response to the announcement that Lord Phillips (the first president of the Supreme Court) would retire in summer 2012 – the BBC had down a quick sketch of the court and the sometimes contentious issue of Human Rights.

 

My Westlaw UK and other developments

Below is the update on what has been happening in Electronic Sources during the summer.  It is mostly Westlaw and their new service My Westlaw UK (with a little bit of JustCite).

Westlaw UK

My Westlaw UK

Westlaw have launched an exciting new feature for Westlaw UK users.  My Westlaw UK will allow users to set up an individual profile that allows you receive customised alerts, subscribe to RSS feeds and to see your research trail.

From today you should see a pop up box when you go into Westlaw UK that looks like another log in.  To create a profile then just click on ‘Create Profile’ at the bottom of the box and follow the steps.  There is more guidance here (and better pictures!):  Fact Sheet on how to use My Westlaw UK.

If you do not want to create a profile or you are in a hurry and just want to access the database then you can choose the ‘Skip’ option.  If you never want to see the pop up box again you can tick the box that says ‘Don’t show me this page again’.

Any questions then let me know at katharine.jackson@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

Two new journals

There have been 2 new journals added to Westlaw, The European Constitutional Law Review and Hague Journal on the Rule of Law.  You can access and search these in the usual way through the journals tab on Westlaw UK.

Appeal Cases Tracker

This new service will enable you to track cases on appeal to the Court of Appeal, Civil Division or to the Supreme Court. This symbol  will appear next to any case where there has been an appeal lodged with basic information at the bottom of the case analysis for the case.  You can also get a graphical history of the case which shows the appeal for the case in a flow chart.  This can be quite useful for cases that have been joined or have a number of different strands.

English Reports

The English Reports are now available as a PDF, this feature has been available for The Law Reports for a number years but has now been extended to the English Reports.  It appears on the top right hand side next to print/email/save icons and allows you to view the report as it appears in the hard copy version of The English Reports.

New search box for cases

There has been a new search box added for the case law section.  Under the basic search you can now search for cases where words have been judicially defined.  The box is called ‘Term Defined’.

Images in documents

Westlaw have included images wherever they appear within a case report or journal article. This will be shown in line with the text of that document on Westlaw UK.

Westlaw AU – Australia Law Online

Thomson Reuters have combined the service we had available under Legal Online and Australian Law Online and added a number of other journals, reports and commentary under the platform Westlaw AU.  At the moment the services are being combined and so you can still access  the materials in the usual way and this will carry on for a couple of months.  But to get the extra materials and to get used to the new platform go to Westlaw AU on the legal databases page  or search Oxlip+.

JustCite

If you use JustCite you may notice that there is now no need to go through the sign in box at the beginning of the session.  To check that you are signed in if you look at the top of the screen it should say “University of Oxford”.  If it doesn’t then contact me at katharine.jackson@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

If you want any training on any of the legal databases then look for sessions this term on the classes page or contact me at katharine.jackson@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

 

IIAPP: International Investment Arbitration + Public Policy

Professor Gus van Harten of the Osgoode Hall Law School   

has made a new resource freely available online: IIAPP

“The site offers open access to research and data on international investment arbitration. This powerful form of international arbitration has become a matter of public debate and research interest as more countries have been sued, especially in the developing world, by companies under investment treaties.

The site offers:
–access to a database of known arbitration cases decided under investment treaties
–organization of investment arbitration cases by policy area (e.g. agriculture, environmental protection, taxation)
–compilation of the appointment records of individual arbitrators who have sat in investment arbitration cases
–other information and commentary on the system of international investment arbitration.

The data provides important insights into the system. For example, of the 247 individuals appointed in known investment treaty arbitrations to May 2010, just 10 were women.

The site is open access and non-commercial. Unlike many other online resources in the field, no one who earns income as a lawyer, arbitrator, or expert witness in investment arbitration played any role in developing the site.

I hope the site will be useful and, especially, that it will provide a window for non-specialists who encounter the system in their particular policy-making or research field.”