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Archive for September 2013 (22 posts)

Book Festival Wrap-up – Pic of the Week

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The events of this past Saturday and Sunday were a booklover’s dream. Over a hundred authors – those normally reserved folks that a reader may only know through his or her words and a two-dimensional photo on the dust jacket – took to the stage to speak about their craft and also spent time signing hard-copy versions (yes, they do still exist!) of their work. If you attended either day of the National Book Festival, I hope you came away with the sense that reports of the demise of the book are an exaggeration.

I also hope you got a sense of the Library of Congress itself. Many of the volunteers and author introducers were Library staff. The Library had its own tent, where visitors could learn more about the Library’s divisions and programs. As we mentioned last Friday, the Law Library also took to the stage to talk about its collections, services, and products. Below are two shots from Sunday’s program. 

Andrew Weber, Legislative Information Systems Manger at the Law Library, spoke about Congress.gov as a resource for free legislative information. He talked about the latest enhancements and how to make the best use of the site. 

Andrew Weber explains how to use Congress.gov, the free legislative information website.

Robert Newlen, Assistant Law Librarian for Legislative and External Affairs, interviewed William C. Burton, author of Burton’s Legal Thesaurus – a reference tool of “legal terms, synonyms, definitions, and parts of speech.” Mr. Burton talked about his experience working with publishers and the publishing process. 

The Congress.gov September 2013 Update

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In addition to adding the Constitution Annotated (and app) to Congress.gov and prepping for redirecting THOMAS.gov and THOMAS.loc.gov to the new system, we are launching a new set of enhancements today. Several of the changes in this release come from our user feedback. Many people asked to have the current Congress set as the default […]

Law Library Report on Citizenship Pathways and Border Protection in Various Countries

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The following is a guest post by Eduardo Soares, our foreign law specialist for Portuguese-speaking countries.  Eduardo has previously written a post for In Custodia Legis on the legal history of capoeira in Brazil. Immigration, citizenship pathways, and border security are recurrent topics in the media.  You may have wondered:  How does immigration work in […]

Laws of Iran – Global Legal Collection Highlights

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The following is a guest post by Dr. Sanaz Alasti, an Iranian legal scholar who spent time with us this summer as a Scholar in Residence.  Dr. Alasti is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Lamar University.  She is the author of several books, including one that provides a comparative perspective on punishments under […]

The Transition from THOMAS.gov to Congress.gov

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We are hard at work preparing for the day that THOMAS will be retired and Congress.gov will be the system for everyone. We are really proud of Congress.gov.  So proud that starting in November, when someone types in the URL THOMAS.gov they will be redirected to Congress.gov.  THOMAS.gov will remain accessible from the Congress.gov homepage […]

Severe Weather

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This is a guest post by the Law Librarian of Congress, David S. Mao, who has previously written about state government contracts, Justifying Speed, and Food for Thought, among other topics. I recently visited St. Paul, Minnesota, and on the return trip to Washington, D.C., noticed the sign pictured below at the airport identifying a […]

Law Library Presenters at the National Book Festival – Pic of the Week

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Recognize these guys?  Well, you will after this weekend, if you come to the National Book Festival on the National Mall.  These Law Library staff will make the following presentations this Saturday and Sunday at the Library of Congress Pavilion: Saturday, September 21 at 1:40 p.m. Foreign, Comparative, and International Law Research at the Library of […]

A Helpful Finding Aid: Appropriation Bills

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Every year in September, school begins, the weather cools down, and the federal fiscal year comes to an end.  Congress must pass legislation before October 1 to continue funding the government for the next fiscal year.  Congress has a number of legislative vehicles they can use to fund the government, including appropriation bills, or omnibus […]