Cleveland Law Library Weblog

TECH THURSDAY: SECURING YOUR EMAIL

Email is an important part of any business. Making sure it's safe, especially the emails you receive, should be a top priority. In his Law Technology Today article "Email Security Tips For Lawyers" Justin Havre gives you several tips to help you secure your email. You can read his article here.

🏛 Emojis & the Law

Happy World Emoji Day! 

Here at the Cleveland Law Library we love our emojis!

However, with emojis becoming more commonplace with each passing day, we wanted to share a few articles of interest with you regarding emojis and their place in the law.

One article from Thomson Reuters discusses the implications and interpretation of emojis, even delving into emojis and their place in contract law. 

Another article, from Hein Online, reminds us that  "among its many functions, an emoji could be used to emphasize the meaning of accompanying text, to apply an emotional quality to the text, or even to substitute for text entirely" (Hutchinson, 2019). 

These articles provide valuable insight on how something as small as an emoji can affect an ongoing case, the perception of an involved party or the implied intent. 

TECH THURSDAY: TURN YOUR PHONE INTO A WI-FI HOTSPOT

Have you ever been out and found that there is no Wi-Fi signal available? No worries, you may be able to turn your phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot that laptops, tablets, and other phones can use. Jason Cohen and Sascha Segan's PCMag article "How to Turn Your Phone Into a Wi-Fi Hotspot" takes you through the steps to set up your own Hotspot. You can read their article here.

TECH THURSDAY: SENDING LARGE FILES OVER THE INTERNET

Have you ever needed to email a file larger then your email account allows? It can be done. PCMag's Lance Whitney's article "How to Send Large Files Over the Internet" explains how to accomplish that. You can read his article here.

TECH THURSDAY: COLLECTING & PRESERVING SOCIAL MEDIA EVIDENCE

Social Media is everywhere today. There is a good chance that your client is on one of the many sites available today. Collecting the data from these sites can be daunting. Eric Pesale's article "4 Tips for Collecting and Preserving Social Media Evidence" gives you a few ideas that can help you with that process. You can read his article here.

TECH THURSDAY: PRACTICING LAW WITH A TABLET

Is it possible that your tablet will be able to replace your desktop or laptop? Some people think so. Click Here to read Findlaw's article "Is Your Computer Still Necessary? Practicing Law with a Tablet".

Earth Day 2019

"In nature, nothing exists alone." -Rachel Carson, 1962

Today we celebrate Earth Day, which began 49 years ago in response to pollution and growing ecological awareness. This year's theme- Protect Our Species- focuses on, "the unprecedented global destruction and rapid reduction of plant and wildlife populations directly linked to causes driven by human activity: climate change, deforestation, habitat loss, trafficking and poaching, unsustainable agriculture, pollution and pesticides to name a few" (www.earthday.org).

The Cleveland Law Library has made an effort to cut back and reduce our footprint, becoming "Green Certified" through the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association's Green Certification Initiative in 2009. Over the years, the following practices have been implemented at the library to support this initiative: 

• Recycle or re-use all non-confidential paper
• Provide subsidized bus passes to employees
• Recycle books that we are discarding
• Less printing, more emailing
• Purchase of Energy Star office equipment
• Provide policies via library intranet rather than in print
• Use of recycling bins for paper, aluminum and plastic
• Unplug office equipment at the end of the day
• Turn off all non-essential lights and computers at closing

Although these practices may seem small, or sometimes even impossible, recycling and remaining conscious as to our consumption of energy and production of waste can make all the difference. If you have any suggestions for green initiatives that we can implement at the Cleveland Law Library, please reach out to us. We are always considering additional ways to improve our practices and better the Earth. 

TECH THURSDAY: CHOOSING THE RIGHT TECHNOLOGY

The amount of technology available today is staggering. Because of that, choosing what works best for you can be overwhelming. Nicole Black's article "Choosing Technology For Your Small Law Firm: A How-To Guide" gives you some suggestions on sifting through the many types of tech available today. You can read her article here.

Libraries=Strong Communities

National Library Week, first sponsored in 1958, is an annual celebration that recognizes the valuable role libraries, librarians, and library workers play in our lives and in our communities. This year's theme is Libraries=Strong Communities, which is very fitting for the Cleveland Law Library, as we will celebrate 150 years of service to the greater Cleveland legal community on December 18, 2019!

The Cleveland Law Library Association (CLLA) was founded on December 18, 1869 by sixty-six local attorneys and judges who recognized the need for a local law library dedicated to legal research, education and the “promotion of the science of the law.” Since its inception, the CLLA has provided legal reference and research services to the local bar. Over the course of time, Ohio statutes carved out an additional role for the CLLA as a county law library to serve the local judiciary, elected officials in Cuyahoga County, and members of the Ohio General Assembly. When Ohio legislation was passed in 2009 that shifted the responsibility for serving local courts and governments to a new entity called the Cuyahoga County Law Library Resources Board (CLLRB), the CLLA partnered with the CLLRB to provide a joint law library in the Courthouse called the Cleveland Law Library that continues to benefit the members of both organizations. The Cleveland Law Library is open to members every week from Monday through Friday, and members of the public are welcome every Wednesday.

The Cleveland Law Library strives to provide the best services possible for county officials, our members, and members of the public. Our 150 year anniversary, or sesquicentennial, is not just a testament to our tenure, but to the strength of the legal community here in the greater Cleveland area. We are eternally grateful to our members, the members of the public, and Cuyahoga County for their patronage, as well as the support system we have built amongst ourselves over the last 150 years. 

Thank you all for your continued support and happy National Library Week! 

TECH THURSDAY: TUNE UP YOUR WINDOWS 10 PC

Has your Windows 10 PC started to run slowly? PCMag's Jeffrey L. Wilson shows you how to get it back in shape in his article "How to Tune Up Your Windows 10 PC for Free". You can read his article here.