HeinOnline ScholarCheck

This is pretty cool (aside from CompoundNoun thing). You can link directly to material cited in the article you are reading. And you can link to material which cites the article you are reading - assuming that the cited or citing material is also in Hein. So pretty much a BriefCase/CiteCase approach to Hein's journal literature. And if you search the Hein Law Journal Library for articles by, well, anyone really, you can see at a glance how often their articles have been cited - potential here for PBRF.

More info about ScholarCheck here including a link to a webinar. Shame about the language but there we are.

Free (US) legal research guide

This is a great idea - something for (US) law students that more-or-less matches the material peddled by the big legal publishers. But in this case, both the guide and the research tools are free, and will continue to be free even after the students graduate. Chiefly a website, but it contains a short (3-page) PDF which is worth a look too.
If only we had an NZ equivalent, preferably put together by some Judi-like someone with a good grasp of freebie sources and how they can be used...

printing

Here's a quick guide to printing bits of the LexisNexis NZ version of Laws of New Zealand (or Halsbury's laws of England) - easy when you know how, frustrating when you don't!

General reading

In this week's display (in the Quiet Reading Room, remember?!) is the fourteenth edition of Glanville Williams: Learning the law, which contains (amongst many other worthy things) a chapter on general reading - fiction, biographies, trials, essays, jurisprudence and a few other categories. So, recreational reading related to law. The section on jurisprudence (we're still with recreational reading here) includes a reference to Tom Bingham's The rule of law, which was on display recently. Kind of cool.

Treaties

The World Treaty Index provides access to information on more than 50,000 bilateral and multilateral treaties formed between 1945 and 1997. When full coverage for the 20th century is complete, the database should feature in excess of 80,000 agreements. Though the WTI does not provide the full text of each agreement, it is an excellent resource for identifying when a state (or states) formed a number of international agreements of a particular type. With a list of relevant agreements (including their volume and page number), an end user interested in obtaining the full text can simply collect them using the primary source material (i.e. UNTS, LTS, etc.)
Next month look for an announcement about AustLII's new International Law Library - the highlights of which include
• Over 25,000 decisions from almost all significant International Courts and Tribunals Collection (38 databases)
• Over 30,000 documents in the Treaties & International Agreements collection (26 databases) including the League of Nations and UN Treaties Series (to 1960 so far) and the Australian Treaties Library.
• Other key international law materials such as 15,000 UN General Assembly and Security Council resolutions.
• Over 6,000 law journal articles and papers, and law reform reports relevant to international law.

New Zealand Law Style Guide

The New Zealand Law Style Guide is a wondrous beast. We're trying to tame it - with a mindmap. Here's a sneak preview - expect to see it on the Law Subject Guide soon.

New books display, all things new

Each week we put on display all the new books, journals and reports we received in the preceding week. It's a good chance to see what's new and interesting. And to relax, look at the big picture of legal literature, look out the window...
Normally you'd find the display just inside the main entrance but this month we've been trialling alternative locations. The display has just been up on the ninth floor but as of today you'll find it in the quiet reading room - 8th floor South Tower, just beyond the lift well.
Let us know what you think.
If you prefer an online experience, you can keep track of new books via the library catalogue's New Books facility. If you want to keep track of new journals (including those we only get electronically), you can set up saved searches or Table of Contents alerts - there are some tips for LegalTrac here . Detail on other options coming soon, but in the meantime, just ask. If you want to keep track of recent parliamentary business, the New Zealand Parliament website has an alert feature. If you want to keep track of recent case law, check the case law databases, or even better, just ask Judi.

Graduate research student seminars

The Library is running a series of seminars for post-graduate students. Details here. Ferret around long enough and you'll find that the seminars on the 12th, 19th and 26th are to be held in Committee Room 2, Central Library (Floor one) from 1-2pm.

Brookers trainer here this week

Allan Rowland will be here Wednesday and Thursday, based in the 6th floor seminar room. He's offering

• speed updating sessions - that's your chance to get to know Brookers, choose the database that's right for you, find what you're looking for... Fast, easy and free. Wed And Thurs, 1pm
• McGechan on procedure sessions. An in-depth look at the online Civil Procedure library. Particularly useful for Civil Procedure students but also a chance to see how to get the most out of an online looseleaf (as they are called by the New Zealand Law Style Guide). Wed and Thurs, 2pm