Cleveland Law Library Weblog

Cleveland Law Library Reopening to Patrons Monday, February 1, 2021

Dear Members,         

Happy New Year! I am hopeful that we can soon put the pandemic behind us and return to a sense of normalcy by the time we can plant our gardens and flowers and watch baseball in Cleveland. Now that the holidays are over, and vaccines are being distributed, we are reopening the Cleveland Law Library to patrons effective on February 1, 2021. Our theme for this year will be ‘One Day at a Time.’

Once we reopen, you are welcome to visit us Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. We are also always available for virtual reference and research service from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. every weekday.

In addition to following all of the safety protocols that we implemented last year, we are enhancing our procedures so that you can resume utilizing all of your full Law Library privileges on-site again. We will continue to practice social distancing, sanitize all computers, desks, chairs, and conference rooms in between uses, and regularly disinfect all common surfaces every day. We also have the County to thank for automating both of our restrooms. In addition to wearing masks at all times, our staff will add protective shields when we provide you with direct assistance and employ a combination of remote desktop applications and laser pointers to help you conduct online research. We also request that you ring our new bell  when you arrive at the Front Desk so that we can sign you in and provide you with entry and assistance.

If you have not been to the Law Library in a while, you will also notice that we installed plexiglass partitions at our front desk, created space between our patron computers, purchased keyboard and mouse covers,, and reduced seating in the Main Reading Room. We are also still quarantining our books for at least 72 hours before they can be returned to the shelves or circulated to a new patron, and we are continuing to offer curbside pick-up and drop-off of books. Just call ahead to arrange a mutually convenient time with our staff.

If you were wondering, the County is also still screening everyone who enters the building with temperature checks, a series of questions, and wristbands, but even some of these functions will become more automated very soon. Face coverings are also still required at all times, and there is a great deal of directional and health care signage throughout the building. Finally, all three of the Courts maintain concierge desks in the Rotunda, and their staff may want to check you in before you take an elevator to visit us on the 4th floor.

Welcome back, and we look forward to providing you with service again in person.

Kathy Dugan

Cleveland Law Library Reopens Today, June 8, 2020

Dear Members:
Welcome back today. The Cleveland Law Library will be open for business at the Cuyahoga County Courthouse starting today, June 8, 2020. Our temporary hours will be 9:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday. Although we will not be open on the 4th floor of the Courthouse on Fridays for a while, our reference librarians will be available to assist you with your reference and research needs by phone at 216-861-5070 and email at lawlib@clelaw.lib.oh.us.
Kathy Dugan, Director

Cleveland Law Library Closed June 1st

Dear Members:
Please accept my apologies, but we will not be able to reopen tomorrow on June 1st. Due to events which occurred downtown over the weekend, we have decided to remain closed on Monday for the safety of our staff and patrons. We will take this new challenge one day at a time, re-evaluate on a daily basis, and decide to reopen when it is safe for everyone involved. Please check our blog at clevelandlawlibrary.org for updates, and stay tuned for another email indicating when we will reopen. In the interim, please continue to utilize our virtual reference and research services and databases as you have done since mid-March.

Thank you for your continued patience and understanding.
Kathy Dugan, Director

 

Welcome Back to the Cleveland Law Library Starting June 1st

WELCOME BACK!

I have some very good news to share. The Cleveland Law Library will be finally reopening on the 4th floor of the Cuyahoga County Courthouse on June 1st. Beginning on that day, members will be able to utilize their full library privileges on-site again, including accessing all of our databases and books, requesting assistance from librarians in person, and checking out books.

You may, however, notice a few changes when you return. Everyone who enters the Cuyahoga County Courthouse will be screened, and face coverings are going to be required at all times. Screenings include having your temperature taken, answering a series of questions, and receiving a wristband. In addition, for those who do not have a face covering, a mask will be provided. The County is also posting safety and directional signage throughout the building and stationing concierges in the Rotunda to direct people to their destinations and check people in for court appointments. In addition, only two people will be allowed to use an elevator at one time.

In addition, we have implemented a number of specific safety measures on the 4th floor. In the spirit of 6' social distancing, we have installed plexiglass partitions at our front desk, segregated our patron computers, removed some of the chairs in our Main Room, reduced the occupancy of our conference rooms, and created directional traffic patterns throughout the Law Library. Our staff will also be wearing masks at all times, and they will observe the 6' rule when providing you with assistance. We will be utilizing disposable keyboard and mouse sleeves at all of our patron computers, sanitizing all workstations and conference rooms between uses, and regularly disinfecting all common surfaces every day. There are also multiple hand sanitizing stations located in the Law Library lobby and bathrooms for your use. We have also implemented safety protocols for our books that involve quarantining them for at least 72 hours before they can be returned to the shelves or circulated to a new patron. For at least the first few months of our reopening, we will also be offering curbside pick-up and drop off of books for those who do not otherwise need to enter the Courthouse. Just call ahead to arrange a mutually convenient time with our staff.

In addition, to help all of us transition to this new business normal and ensure time for cleaning, we will be temporarily reducing our hours. For at least the first month through the end of June, we will only be open to patrons on the 4th floor of the Courthouse from Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. However, our staff will still be available by phone and email on Fridays when our offices are closed to patrons. Only time will tell, but I am hopeful that we can resume full operating hours this Summer.

On behalf of our Board members and staff, I would like to thank you very much for your patience and understanding while our law library was closed in the Courthouse, and we were staying home to stay safe. We welcome you back in person and look forward to providing you with reference and research assistance once again.

Kathy Dugan, Director

30 Days of Free LexisNexis for Cleveland Law Library Members-Offer Extended Through June 30th

Dear Members: Due to the impact of Covid-19 on regular business operations, LexisNexis has graciously extended temporary remote patron access privileges to members of the Cleveland Law Library. This option will allow you to log in from your home or office to use Lexis databases that the Cleveland Law Library is ordinarily only able to provide for members on-site at the Courthouse.

This program was set to expire at the end of May, but Lexis has extended it through June 30th. If you have not already taken advantage of this service, you can use it to obtain privileges that will last for 30 days or until June 30, 2020 (whichever is shorter). Your 30 days of access all depends upon the date when you sign up.

Registration is required, but the process is pretty simple. Members who wish to take advantage of this new benefit should follow these steps:

• Sign in to the Law Library's Members Only page at this link:
  • https://clevelandlawlibrary.org/Public/Misc/narrative.html
  (If you need your User Name and Password, please email the law library at lawlib@clelaw.lib.oh.us)
  Click "Electronic Resources Library"
• Click "New Version"
• Click the link in red at the top of the page to sign up for Lexis remote access.
• Start enjoying your new member benefit!

Thanks,

Kathy Dugan, Director

Temporary LexisNexis remote patron access is finally available to our members!

Dear Members:  Due to the impact of Covid-19 on regular business operations, LexisNexis has graciously offered temporary remote patron access privileges to members of the Cleveland Law Library. This option will allow you to log in from your home or office to use Lexis databases that the Cleveland Law Library is ordinarily only able to provide for members on-site at the Courthouse.

Registration is required, but the process is pretty simple, and privileges will last for 30 days or until May 31, 2020 (whichever is shorter). Your 30 days of access all depends upon the date when you sign up.

Members who wish to take advantage of this new benefit should follow these steps:

                    Sign in to the Law Library's Members Only page at this link: https://clevelandlawlibrary.org/Public/Misc/narrative.html

(If you need your User Name and Password, please email the law library at lawlib@clelaw.lib.oh.us)

Click "Electronic Resources Library"
Click "New Version"
Click the link in red at the top of the page to sign up for Lexis remote access.
Start enjoying your new member benefit!

Happy 150th Birthday to the Cleveland Law Library Association

Today is a day to celebrate at the Cleveland Law Library Association. One hundred and fifty years ago today on December 18, 1869, sixty-six local attorneys and judges met in a prior Cuyahoga County Courthouse to create a law library dedicated to legal research, education and the “promotion of the science of the law.” See our Charter. Five prominent attorneys named Jesse P. Bishop, John Hutchins, Seneca O. Griswold, William J. Boardman, and Samuel Williamson served as the CLLA’s first Board of Directors. The CLLA’s current Board has grown to include fourteen members that represent a cross-section of local practitioners at large and small law firms, as well as judges from the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas and Eighth District Appellate Courts. Since 1912, the CLLA has been located on the fourth floor of the Cuyahoga County Courthouse in downtown Cleveland.

The CLLA’s collection began with donations and purchases from its founding fathers. By 1901, the CLLA’s collection was growing by 1,000 volumes per year, and by its centennial in 1969, the CLLA could boast to owning substantially all of the world’s law available in the English language. Today, the Law Library’s print collection stands at 117,550 legal treatises, form books, practice guides, law journals, statutes, rules, and other materials. More importantly for modern attorneys, the CLLA maintains a large collection of online legal research databases in-house and over 1,100 eBooks that members can access anytime from anywhere.

Throughout its history, the CLLA has always embraced new, legal research technologies to enhance its patron services. Almost 50 years ago the CLLA installed its first stand-alone computer terminal from OBAR/Mead Data Central Inc., and in 1992, it purchased dial-up services and bar-coded all of its books so that they could circulate more efficiently to members. After creating a Local Area Network for its 125^th anniversary, the CLLA launched its first web page at www.clelaw.lib.oh.us in 1995. Before the end of the last Century, the CLLA had posted its first online Research Guide Series, purchased legal research CD-ROM’s from West (now Thomson Reuters), and created its flagship Members Only page. This cutting-edge portal offered members their first taste of remote access to online legal research databases and served as a model that other law libraries in Ohio have both envied and copied. Today, the Members Only page provides an online, self-serve gateway where members can access even more valuable legal research databases from their offices and homes.

Please join our staff for cup cakes today at noon to celebrate our 150th birthday!

Move Over Bluebook-There's an Indigo Book in Town

Every lawyer knows about The Bluebook, the gold standard in citation formats from the Harvard and Columbia Law Reviews. However, an NYU professor and a group of law students created a new citation manual called The Indigo Book. According to a recent Press Release, The Indigo Book was released in beta version in 2016, and it is free and "open" with "No Rights Reserved." Compared to The Bluebook, "The Indigo Book was created with a more flexible, arguably practical, citation system in mind." Check it out for yourself..

Law Librarians of Congress Post Information on Free Online Caselaw

In Custodia Legis, which is the blog run by the Law Librarians of Congress, just posted a notice about their new Research Guide to finding free case law online. The resources the Librarians curated include Google Scholar, CourtListener, FindLaw, Justia, and the Public Library of Law. As part of the Guide, the Librarians highlight the tools, coverage, and unique features of each of these online databases. Interestingly, they also pointed out that CourtListener "maintains the RECAP Archive, which includes selected case and docket information from federal appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts."

Legal World Buzzing with Announcement of new product: Westlaw Edge to replace Westlaw Next

The biggest news in the legal technology world today is the announcement of Thomson Reuter's new product called Westlaw Edge. According to the blog Dewey B. Strategic, Westlaw Edge is a new AI enabled platform to replace WestlawNext. It will apparently offer "a new search engine Westlaw Search Plus,  litigation analytics and an exciting new Keycite feature..." For more information on these new flagship products, click here.