Law Library Newsletter

Witkin Award Dinner Rescheduled Due to the recent fires in San Diego County, the Law Library has resheduled the annual Bernard E. Witkin, Esq. Award Dinner to March 6, 2008. The event will take place at the El Cortez Hotel at 5pm. For more information and to register for this event, visit the Law Library Justice Foundation webpage.

Fee Based Librarian Mediated Services replaced by Online Databases The Law Library offers several databases free to the public. These databases, available at all of our locations, include Lexis, Westlaw, CEB OnLaw, Hein OnLine, Legal Trac, LLMC Digital, CCH Health & Human Resources and CCH Tax. Because the Law Library offers so many free databases, fee based librarian assisted mediated searches will no longer be offered. This means that we will no longer be offering librarian assisted searches, where the librarian uses your search terms to do the search for you for a fee. To assist you in performing your own searches, the Librarians at each branch will be happy to instruct you on the use of our many databases. The library continues to offer Document Delivery Services for retrieval and delivery of specific documents when provided with a proper citation.

East County and South Bay closed for lunch 1-2pm As of October 19th our East County and South Bay locations will be closing from 1-2pm for lunch. Hours of operation for both locations are 9am to 4pm with a lunch closure from 1-2pm.

Resources for Fire Victims To help the community recover from the recent wildfires, the Reference librarians have put together a Research Guide with useful web links and print resources available at the Law Library. This Research Guide contains local, state and federal resources to assist with legal issues and basic needs for fire victims.

MCLE Cram Series in December & January We have many exciting participatory MCLE classes scheduled for our December and January cram series, these include live speakers and showings of DVDs. This coming year, Group 3 is due for compliance (2/1/05-1/31/08). If your last name begins with N - Z, this means that your MCLE deadline is February 1, 2008. In addition to our many participatory MCLE credit classes, we also offer a variety of CDs on mandatory subjects (ethics, elimination of bias, prevention of substance abuse) and general subject CDs for self-study credit at our Main and North County branches. MCLE self-study CDs can be checked out by Library Members for a period of 3 days. Be sure to check our website frequently for a listing of all MCLE classes. See below for a listing of events currently scheduled at our Main and North County locations.

MCLE Events At Main Due to the popularity of our MCLE crunch time events, only attorney and paralegal Library Members may attend. These events are offered for FREE as part of your library membership. Please call 619-531-3900 to register, as seating is limited. All of these events (including the DVDs shown at the Library) qualify for participatory MCLE credit. The following events will be held at the Main Law Library at 1105 Front Street. Wednesday, December 5th 12-1pm 2007 Developments In Legal Ethics by David Cameron Carr Wednesday, December 12th 12-1 pm Ethics: Top Ten State Bar Complaints & How To Avoid Them by David Cameron Carr Thursday, December 13th 12-1pm Substance Abuse: What to do when a Colleague is Struggling by Moira Brennan Tuesday, December 18th 12-1pm Possession, Intent, and Credibility: Defending Against Computer Forensics by Ed Pscheidt Thursday, December 20th 12-1pm Substance Abuse: Helping Clients and Colleagues (DVD) Friday, December 21st 1-5 pm Ethics: Traps, Snares and Pitfalls (DVD) Friday, December 28th 9-12:15 pm Powerful Trial Techniques (DVD) The San Diego County Public Law Library is a State Bar approved MCLE provider.

MCLE Events at North County Due to the popularity of our MCLE crunch time events, only attorney and paralegal Library Members may attend. These events are offered for FREE as part of your library membership. Please call 760-940-4386 to register, as seating is limited. All of these events (including the DVDs shown at the Library) qualify for participatory MCLE credit. The following events will be held at the North County Branch at 325 S. Melrose Dr., Suite 300, Vista. Thursday, November 29th 12-1pm Bias Elimination in the Legal Profession (DVD) Tuesday, December 4th 12-2pm ABA Model Rules 1.12-5.5 (DVD) Thursday, December 6th 12-2pm Ethics Traps - Part One (DVD) Tuesday, December 11th 12-2pm Ethics Traps - Part Two (DVD) Friday, December 14th 12-2pm Powerful Trial Techniques - Part One (DVD) Tuesday, December 18th 12-1:30pm Powerful Trial Techniques - Part Two (DVD) The San Diego County Public Law Library is a State Bar approved MCLE provider.

No Smoking in Vehicles With Children California drivers will risk fines of up to $100 starting in January of next year if they are caught smoking in cars with minors. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a cigar smoker himself, signed a bill that will make it an infraction to smoke in a vehicle if someone under the age of 18 is present. However, the traffic stop would have to be made for another offense, such as speeding or an illegal turn, before the driver could be cited for smoking. "Protecting the health of our children is among government's highest responsibilities," said the bill's author, state Sen. Jenny Oropeza. "It is clear that increasing public awareness about the dangers of secondhand smoke is the right thing to do." A Harvard School of Public Health report issued last year said secondhand smoke in cars can be up to 10 times more of a health risk than secondhand smoke in a home. California is the third state to protect children in vehicles from secondhand smoke. Arkansas now bans smoking in cars with children age 6 and younger, while Louisiana has limited it when children 13 and younger are in the vehicle. Maine lawmakers will take up the issue in January.

Upcoming Classes for November & December Members of the general public may sign up for these classes by calling (619) 531-3900. The classes are free to Law Library members and are $5 for non-members. Participants may bring lunch. Pre-registration is required, as seating is limited. For a complete description of the classes, go to: www.sdcpll.org/calendar/calendar.html. All classes are at the Main library, unless otherwise noted. Saturday, November 10th 2-4 pm Practical Legal Research Friday, November 30th 12-1pm (North County Branch) How to Make Ethical and Winning Use of Legislative History In Construing the Intent of a California Statute* By Carolina Rose, Legislative Research, Inc. 325 S. Melrose Dr., Vista, call 760-940-4386 to register. Friday, November 30th 3:30-4:30pm How to Make Ethical and Winning Use of Legislative History In Construing the Intent of a California Statute* By Carolina Rose, Legislative Research, Inc. Tuesday, December 4th 12-1pm Using Lexis* Saturday, December 8th 2-3 pm Law Made Public * MCLE Credit is available for these classes. The San Diego County Public Law Library is a State Bar approved MCLE provider.

Tips For Searching The Library's Online Catalog: Part 1, Subject Searches The subject index is the most powerful index in the library catalog. A subject search will bring together records for all of the works a library has on a particular topic. To perform a subject search in our library catalog, go to http://millennium.sdcll.org/, on the left side of the screen under "Search the Catalog," click on "Subject." The following subject searches can be used to locate primary and secondary legal resources in the library's collection. To search for codes and session laws use: "Law" To search for administrative regulations use: "Delegated legislation" To search for municipal codes use: "Ordinances, Municipal" To narrow your search by jurisdiction add a geographic subheading (e.g., Law?California, Delegated legislation?United States, Ordinances, Municipal?California?Chula Vista). There are a number of subject headings you can use as a search term. Some examples include: Corporation law, Emigration and immigration law, Environmental law, Military law, Narcotic laws, Zoning law. These searches can also be narrowed to a specific jurisdiction (e.g., Corporation law?Delaware). To locate works that are not inherently a legal topic use the subheading "Law and legislation." Some examples include: Abortion?Law and legislation; Animals?Law and legislation; Divorce?Law and legislation; Fire prevention?Law and legislation; Marijuana?Law and legislation. Like the other headings these can be narrowed geographically (e.g., Fire prevention?Law and legislation?California). For more help on searching the library catalog ask a reference librarian!

Saucy Holiday Trivia Yum. Thanksgiving. It's the time of year when all red blooded Americans overeat and watch football to the point of unconsciousness. Everyone has her own favorite way of preparing turkey, gravy, and green bean casserole. But did you know that one of our favorite holiday staples, cranberry sauce, was first concocted by a lawyer? In 1930 three U.S. cranberry growers wanted to expand the market for their favorite, most healthy, fruit. Led by attorney Marcus L. Urann, they organized Ocean Spray and a number of innovative cranberry based products resulted. In that year, cranberry juice cocktail and cranberry sauce hit the market, and our winter holidays gained a delightfully sour and healthy garnish. So whether you like your cranberry sauce jellied, crushed, or whole berry, eat up this year and remember our little legal cranberry trivia. And for a look at a live bogcam, go to www.oceanspray.com

New Books Added To The Collection The following is a selection of books or new editions recently added to our collection. Click on the titles to see the record in our online public access catalog. CLINICAL MANUAL OF PSYCHIATRY AND LAW By Robert I. Simon, Daniel W. Shuman. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Pub., c2007. RA1151 .S56 2007. Available at the Main Library FORENSIC DNA EVIDENCE INTERPRETATION Edited by John Buckleton, Christopher M. Triggs, Simon J. Walsh. Boca Raton: CRC Press, c2005. RA1057.55 .F667 2005. Available at the Main Library GRANDPARENTS' RIGHTS : YOUR LEGAL GUIDE TO PROTECTING YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR GRANDCHILDREN, 4th ed. By Traci Truly. Naperville, Ill.: Sphinx Pub., 2005. KF547.Z9 T78 2005. Available at all locations HANDLING MOLD LITIGATION IN CALIFORNIA: HERE'S HOW AND WHEN TO DO IT By Karen H. Kahn, et al. Oakland, Calif.: Continuing Education of the Bar, California, c2007. KFC641.5.M6 K3 2007. Available at all locations JUVENILE DEPENDENCY DISPOSITION HEARING San Francisco, Calif.: California Center for Judicial Education and Research, c2007. KFC130.Z9 J86 2007. Available at Main, East County and North County LAND USE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT REGULATION LAW, 2nd ed. By Julian Conrad Juergensmeyer and Thomas E. Roberts. St. Paul, MN: Thomson West, c2007. KF5698 .J84 2007. Available at Main and North County MOTOR VEHICLE COLLISION INJURIES: BIOMECHANICS, DIAGNOSIS, AND MANAGEMENT, 2nd ed. By Lawrence S. Nordhoff, Jr. Sudbury, Mass.: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, c2005. RZ275.W48 N67 2005. Available at Main PRINCIPLES OF FORENSIC TOXICOLOGY, 2nd ed. Edited by Barry Levine. Washington, DC: American Association for Clinical Chemistry, c2006. RA1228 .P75 2006. Available at Main UNMARRIED PARENTS' RIGHTS (AND RESPONSIBILITIES), , 3rd ed. By Jacqueline D. Stanley. Naperville, Ill.: Sphinx Pub., 2005. KF547.Z9 S73 2005. Available at all locations

Cartoon by Stu Rees Stu's Views are "Cartoons About Law and Lawyers." Stu Rees is a local entertainment lawyer who represents mostly visual arts creators.

We hope you've enjoyed our newsletter! If you are a guest and would like to subscribe, please click here. We're hard at work on the next edition. In the meantime, please see us online at www.sdcpll.org or visit us at one of our four locations. For more information, or to send comments about this newsletter, contact Gina S. Catalano, Senior Reference Librarian & Media Coordinator.