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Archive for January 2014 (13 posts)

Stereoview of the Madison Building Closed Stacks

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The Law Library of Congress is the largest law library in the world, and much of its vast collection is housed in the Madison Building’s sub-basement stacks. Whenever a patron requests an item that does not have “RR” at the end of the call number, our expert staff combs through our vast collection of over 2.5 million volumes to locate the item and fulfill the request. The stacks are equivalent to one and a half football fields in length, and hopefully this stereoview, which depicts just one quadrant, will give you some sense of how truly enormous this space is.

Stereoview of the Madison Building Closed Stacks

Stereoview of the Madison Building Closed Stacks. Stare through the images until they combine to form one, three-dimensional photo. [Photo by Robert Brammer]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Guide to Chinese Legal Research: Who Makes What?

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With this post, we at the Law Library of Congress wish you a happy Year of Horse, which starts from tomorrow, January 31!    Many of the people coming to us for help with Chinese legal research have had the experience of being confused by the titles of the various legal documents.  “Regulations,” “measures,” “provisions,” “opinions,” “decisions…”  What are they?  […]

It’s Official! Online Versions of New Zealand and Australian Legislation are Authoritative

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It’s been a couple of years since I wrote about the two websites that I use most frequently in my research: the Australian federal legislation website, ComLaw, and the New Zealand Legislation website.  Earlier this month I saw announcements about an exciting development regarding the New Zealand site, so I thought I’d provide an update […]

French Law – Global Legal Collection Highlights

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The following is a guest post by Nicolas Boring, Foreign Law Specialist for France and French-speaking countries in the Law Library’s Global Legal Research Center.  Nicolas has previously written a post for In Custodia Legis on the history of subsoil rights in France titled Napoleon Bonaparte and Mining Rights in France.  As one might expect, […]

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2014

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  Martin Luther King, Jr. Day will be observed as a federal holiday this year on Monday, January 20.  Christine wrote about Martin Luther King, Jr. Day back in 2011.  That post remains one of the most-visited pages on our blog.  Recently, Jeanine interviewed Chuck Verrill, who was present at the March on Washington in […]

“I’ll be damned if I don’t do it!”: The Failed Assassination Attempt on President Andrew Jackson

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On January 30, 1835, an unemployed painter by the name of Richard Lawrence made the first attempt on the life of a sitting U.S. President. That damp, misty day, President Andrew Jackson had traveled to the Capitol Building to attend a Congressional funeral in the House Wing. As the President exited the funeral, he approached […]

An Interview with Eduardo Soares, Foreign Law Specialist

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This week’s interview is with Eduardo Soares, a foreign law specialist at the Law Library of Congress who covers Brazil and Portuguese speaking jurisdictions. Describe your background. I was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  I started working at a law firm after entering high school, which most likely influenced me to pursue a […]

The Law Library Marks Humans Rights Day with a Discussion of Refugee Rights

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This post was co-authored with Constance A. Johnson, a senior legal information analyst at the Law Library of Congress.  Connie is chair of the Law Library’s planning committee for Human Rights Day and has previously blogged about Law Relating to Refugee Rights – Global Legal Collection Highlights, Law and Longitude, Water Rights at Star Island, and our Guide on Legal […]

How to Trace Federal Legislation – A Research Guide

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Any given provision in the current U.S. Code may be the product of multiple acts passed over a long period of time. So, how do you unpack the provision and discover the different acts that gave rise to a particular section of the Code? Tracing legislation from the Code back to the bills, public laws, and Statutes at Large that created it […]

Rugby, Apartheid, and the Law

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The recent passing of Nelson Mandela saw much sorrow expressed around the world, as well as a great deal of reflection and celebration of his life.  Many articles were written from a wide range of angles and perspectives.  And many people related their personal experiences of how the events and achievements of Mandela’s life had […]