WSLL at Your Service: May 2012

The May issue of the WSLL @ Your Service newsletter has been published. 

Contents include: 

• What's New: Law Day events; upcoming classes; new look for public computers; National Library Week wrap-up; WSLL speaking engagements; and upcoming holiday closures;
• This Just In…: Newly received and updated books and other materials;
• Click to It: Logging into HeinOnline: Quick tips for using this valuable resource from your home or workplace with a State Law Library card;
• Tech Tip in Brief: How to deal with user tracking and targeted ads online;
• WSLL Recommends: Wharton's Criminal Law
• Odds 'n' Endings: Miscellaneous news and May events.

Law Day at the DCLRC

Tuesday, May 1 is Law Day - the annual celebration of the rule of law created by President Eisenhower in 1958. In recognition of Law Day 2012, the Dane County Circuit Court and the Dane County Bar Association have planned events from 3-4:30 p.m. in the Dane County Courthouse.

The Dane County Legal Resource Center (Dane Co. Courthouse Rm L1007) will host volunteer attorneys providing free consultations in English and Spanish from 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. This service is only available in person on a first-come, first-served basis. No appointments will be taken.

Consultas gratuitas con un abogado voluntario; Ayuda disponible en inglés y en español. Martes, 1◦ de mayo, 2012, 10 am – 4:30 pm. Centro de Recursos Legales (Legal Resource Center), cuarto L1007, en La Corte del Condado de Dane. Se atiende por orden de llegada - no aceptan citas!

Greeters will be in the lobby of the building handing out guides to the afternoon's activities, which will kick off with remarks from Chief Justice Abrahamson at 3 pm in the Themis Cafe (LL1), followed by cake and refreshments, "open" courthouse stations on the various floors of the building, a mock trial, and tours. People interested in courthouse tours or middle and high school students who want to be jurors for the mock trial should register by contacting Bob or Le Jordan from the Dane County Bar Association (law@dcba.net or (608) 848-1950).

For more information about Dane County's Law Day events, see:

Courts Open to Citizens – Dane County Law Day 2012 

"No Courts, No Justice, No Freedom."

New Lobbyist and Campaign Finance Website

As part of the Data.gov open government data initiative, Federal ethics information is now searchable at https://explore.data.gov/ethics/.  

This site is the central source for United States government data on topics like lobbyist disclosures, campaign finance, and more. In addition to the prominent search box, visitors to this site can opt to browse the datasets by main category, like "Lobbying disclosure reports," or by type of information, agency, or category. 

This page is included on our Politics and Elections, as well as our Ethics and Professional Conduct legal topic pages.

WSLL Recommends: Whartons Criminal Law

This month the State Law Library recommends Whartons Criminal Law. This 4-volume set is published by West. It was last updated with 2011-2012 supplements and is supplemented annually. The author, Charles E. Torcia, has been a law professor at Dickinson School of Law, the Marshall-Wythe School of Law of the College of William and Mary, and New York University School of Law.

This respected resource is a great starting place for criminal law research, as it covers the history of various criminal law principles, developments, and the present status of the law. It also contains an extensive list of defenses - both generally and as they apply to specific offenses such as burglary, forgery, libel, homicide, and more. One of the assets of this set is the thorough primary and secondary law annotations, with a particular focus on A.L.R articles. It also provides both state and federal analysis, as well as an in depth look at the Model Penal Code.

Happy National Library Week!

This week we are celebrating National Library Week, complete with online and in-person games. The library will also be decorated with baseball-themed displays, so come on in!

Hit a grand slam with our online quizzes, learn about our WSLL Recommenders All Star Team, and don't miss our spring training class on April 12th: Advanced Westlaw.

Revised Tenant Sourcebook Available

A new version of the Tenant Sourcebook, published by Legal Action of Wisconsin, was just released on April 3, 2012. The revisions include changes made by 2011 Wis. Act 32, 2011 Wis. Act 69, 2011 Wis. Act 92, and 2011 Wis. Act 143.

We link to the Tenant Sourcebook along with other guides on our Landlord/Tenant legal topic page.

Also included on our Landlord/Tenant page is a link to a new article published in the State Bar of Wisconsin's InsideTrack: Landlord-tenant law: Rights, remedies, and changes under new Act 143.

WSLL at Your Service: April 2012

Read about National Library Week plans, Milwaukee Legal Resource Center updates, and get tips for your smartphone - all in our April issue of WSLL @ Your Service, now online. 

In this issue: 

• What's New: National Library Week - Spring Training; Law Day is May 1; WSLL staffer attends Library Technology Conference 
• This Just In...: New and updated library materials; monthly new titles list 
• MLRC News: Milwaukee County legal-related service programs expand to meet need 
• Tech Tip in Brief: Springtime ideas for your smart phone 
• WSLL Recommends: Banking Crimes 
• Odds 'n' Endings: Food, fools and libraries - an interesting combination?!

As always, your comments are welcome. Please direct them to the editor Connie.VonDerHeide@wicourts.gov

New April CLE Class (new date)

Sign up for our latest April class, part of our National Library Week Spring Training celebration. 

Advanced Westlaw 
Thursday, April 12, 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. 

Ready to move beyond basic Westlaw searching? Learn power-searching techniques using both Natural Language, Terms and Connectors and field restrictions; discover the power of Key Number searching; and gain a better understanding of research via KeyCite.

Fee: $35. 1 CLE credit. Register online or print a registration form.

New April CLE Class

Sign up for our latest April class, part of our National Library Week Spring Training celebration. 

Advanced Westlaw
Wednesday, April 11, 1:30 - 2:30 p.m.

Ready to move beyond basic Westlaw searching? Learn power-searching techniques using both Natural Language, Terms and Connectors and field restrictions; discover the power of Key Number searching; and gain a better understanding of research via KeyCite.

Fee: $35. 1 CLE credit. Register online or print a registration form.

Free Landlord / Tenant Law CLE Opportunity

Brenda Konkel, Executive Director of the Tenant Resource Center, will be presenting a 2-hour session on evictions, security deposits, and landlord/tenant legislative changes. This presentation will be held on Tuesday, April 17, 2012, from 2:30-4:30 p.m. in the Jury Assembly Room (L1000) of the Dane County Courthouse.

If you are currently a volunteer with the Small Claims Assistance Program (SCAP), if you are interested in joining, or would simply like to learn more about landlord tenant law in Wisconsin, register to attend this free informative event. RSVP by Friday, April 13 to Lisa Winkler at lisa.winkler@wicourts.gov or (608) 266-4669. Two CLE credits will be applied for and refreshments will be provided.

This presentation is brought to you by the Dane County Legal Resource Center.