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The Law Library of Congress: Overview for the ABA 2011 Annual Meeting

The Law Library of Congress: Overview for the ABA 2011 Annual Meeting. Matthew E. Braun, Legal Reference Specialist Law Library of Congress August 5, 2011. Today’s Presentation. The Library of Congress Mission Overview The Law Library of Congress Mission Overview Digital resources

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The Law Library of Congress: Overview for the ABA 2011 Annual Meeting

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  1. The Law Library of Congress: Overview for the ABA 2011 Annual Meeting Matthew E. Braun, Legal Reference Specialist Law Library of Congress August 5, 2011

  2. Today’s Presentation • The Library of Congress • Mission • Overview • The Law Library of Congress • Mission • Overview • Digital resources • Foreign legal resources • U.S. legal resources • Ask a Librarian • Social Media • Other Legal Resources • Questions

  3. The Library of Congress Mission To support the Congress in fulfilling its constitutional duties and to further the progress of knowledge and creativity for the benefit of the American people.

  4. The Library of Congress Overview • Oldest U.S. federal cultural institution • Serves as the research arm of the U.S. Congress • Has a permanent staff of about 3,600 employees • Largest library in the world • Contains more than 144 million items in 420 languages including: • 22 million books • 3 million sound recordings • 12.5 million photographs • 5.3 million maps • 64 million manuscripts

  5. The Library of Congress Online Resources • General information • Resources for specific audiences • Digital Collections • World Digital Library • Online Catalog • Inter-Library Loan

  6. www.loc.gov

  7. www.loc.gov

  8. www.loc.gov

  9. The Law Library of Congress Overview • Established by law in 1832 as aseparate department of the Library of Congress • Largest law library in the world • Over 2.78 million volumes that include U.S. state and Federal materials, foreign codes, constitutions, official gazettes, law reports, treatises, serials, and laws from all historical periods • Covering some 267 existing nations and jurisdictions • Working reference collection of approximately30,000 volumes in the public reading room • Global Legal Research Center – staffed by foreign law experts who do foreign law reference and research and help build the foreign law collections

  10. The Law Library of Congress Mission The mission of the Law Library of Congress is to provide research and legal information to the U.S. Congress as well as to U.S. Federal Courts and Executive Agencies, and to offer reference services to the public.

  11. Public Services Division

  12. Collection Services Division

  13. Global Legal Research Center

  14. Global Legal Research Center Foreign Law Specialists, Principal Jurisdictions • Argentina • Brazil • Canada • China • Eritrea • European Union • France • Germany • Greece • India, Pakistan • Israel • Japan • Lebanon • Mexico • New Zealand, Australia • Nicaragua • Russian Federation • United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Augmented by Contract Foreign Law Specialists and Senior Legal Research Analysts

  15. Global Legal Research Center Sample of Secondary Jurisdictions • China • Hong Kong • Eritrea • Ghana • Nigeria • Botswana • France • Belgium • Haiti • Germany • Austria • Liechtenstein • Switzerland • European Union • Greece • Cyprus • India • Pakistan • Nepal • Sri Lanka • Japan • North and South Korea • Russian Federation • Armenia • Azerbaijan • Bosnia and Herzegovina • United Kingdom • Channel Islands • Isle of Man • British Virgin Islands • Malta

  16. The Law Library of Congress Online Resources • Current Legal Topics: www.loc.gov/law/help/current-topics.php • Guide to Law Online: www.loc.gov/law/help/guide • Global Legal Monitor: www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news • Global Legal Information Network (GLIN): www.glin.gov • THOMAS: www.thomas.gov • A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw

  17. www.loc.gov/law

  18. www.loc.gov/law

  19. Current Legal Topicswww.loc.gov/law/help/current-topics.php • International Issues • Legal commentary • Historical Events • Commemorative Observations • Bibliographic resources

  20. www.loc.gov/law

  21. Guide to Law Onlinehttp://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide.php • Legal Portal of over 9,000 links • Annotated compilation of Internet links • Organized by jurisdiction and topics • Multinational, international, U.S. and state materials • Full text of laws, regulations, and cases • Legal commentary

  22. www.loc.gov/law

  23. Global Legal Monitorwww.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news • Launched in May 2006 • Worldwide legal news • Frequently updated • Can be searched by topic, country, keyword, author or date • Persistent URLs

  24. www.loc.gov/law

  25. Global Legal Information Network www.glin.gov • A cooperative, not-for-profit federation ofgovernment agencies and institutions that contribute national legal information to the GLIN database • Database contains statutes, regulations, and related legal materials that originate from countries around the world

  26. Global Legal Information Network • Authoritative – Official – Current – Complete • Four modules: statutes, regulations, and ordinances; legal writings; judicial decisions; and legislative records • Full text of 180,000+ legal instruments from 50jurisdictions • Searchable by subject terms and legal conceptsthrough the use of a centralized thesaurus

  27. GLIN Guiding Principles • Governments have the duty to make their laws accessible to their citizens • Law is one of the best instruments for balanced, peaceful, and productive relations among peoples and nations • Nations share common areas of interest and are aware of a mutual interdependence • The texts of laws must be delivered according to the highest standards of reliability

  28. GLIN Characteristics • Global • Inter-governmental • Non-profit • Multilingual • Cooperative • Standards

  29. GLIN Reliability Standards • Official • Authentic • Current • Complete

  30. GLIN Database Elements • Full Text of Original Sources (original language) • Summary (English & original language) • Legal Thesaurus (English & original language)

  31. GLIN Benefits • For countries without national legal information systems: • GLIN can serve as the primary repository for legal information (e.g. GLIN is the only online source of law for Dem. Rep. of Congo and Saudi Arabia) • GLIN itself is a resource for additional information and advice • GLIN offers samples of legislation from various countries for those considering legislation on new topics

  32. GLIN Benefits • For countries with existing legal information systems: • GLIN complements the efforts of nations by offering another tool for them to disseminate their laws through a system that allows multilingual access and facilitates comparative legal research • Facilitates transparency • Provides models for other countries • GLIN itself is a resource for additional information and advice • GLIN offers samples of legislation from various countries for those considering legislation on new topics

  33. Democratic Republic of the Congo Tunisia Russia Brazil

  34. GLIN Contents Statutes Regulations Ordinances Judicial Decisions Primary Sources Legislative Records Legal Literature Secondary Sources

  35. www.glin.gov

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