The 2011 Rugby World Cup kicked off in New Zealand on September 9th with a glittering opening ceremony followed by the first match between New Zealand and Tonga. (Note that the New Zealand national rugby team is commonly called the “All Blacks.”) I’ve had a couple of very busy weekends watching a number of the …
The following is a guest post by Francisco Macías, Senior Legal Information Analyst. The 18th Annual Global Legal Information Network (GLIN) Directors’ Meeting took place at the Library of Congress last week on September 7 and 8. The representatives from the 24 jurisdictions (including the United States) that attended the meeting are pictured below. The …
The following is a guest post by James Martin, a Collections and Outreach Specialist, in observation of Constitution Day on September 17, 2011. The need for a united policy during the War of Independence led the thirteen states to draft and approve an organic document for a national government. In 1776, the Continental Congress created …
The following is a guest post by Karla Walker, Special Projects Researcher for Collections, Outreach, and Services. The Law Library of Congress will host Dahlia Lithwick of Slate Magazine this Friday, September 16th at 4 p.m. Lithwick’s lecture titled, The Supreme Court and Free Speech, will explore the implications of the Supreme Court’s conflicts over …
In my recent last post I discussed the social protests in Israel and Israel’s balanced budget legislation. Although a popular protest, it was undoubtedly controversial. Some question whether the protesters’ call for “social justice” is directed at the middle class instead of promoting the interests of the “weaker populations,” especially those residing outside of metropolitan …
This week’s interview is with Frank Herch, a Legal Reference Consultant in the Public Services Division. Describe your background. I grew up on the far South Side of Chicago and became a Californian, circa Oakland, in my teen years in the early 1960’s. My love of law librarianship and passion for music, especially jazz, are …
Judith Gaskell, Librarian of the Supreme Court of the United States, who will be retiring soon, was our guest and presenter at a recent Law Library of Congress Power Lunch. She discussed the history of the Supreme Court Library, the history of the Office of the Librarian of the Supreme Court, and her role as …
This month marks the ten year anniversary of Italian scholar Barbara Frale’s discovery of lost medieval documents relating to the trial of the Knights Templar. Frale, a scholar of medieval paleography, was doing historical research at the Vatican Secret Archive when she uncovered a fourteenth century manuscript which recounts a previously unknown chapter in the history …
We may celebrate the 4th of July as America’s birthday but September 9th marks the anniversary of the name “United States”. While this term had been used previously, it was on this day in 1776 that the Second Continental Congress officially agreed to change the name of the new country from the United Colonies to …
When I last wrote about Happy Feet (the intrepid emperor penguin who took an extended vacation in New Zealand while recovering from a very long swim and a belly full of sand and twigs), he was being pampered at the Wellington Zoo while fans from around the world watched and waited to see what would …