What about the silver rat thing?
My quick status post
Working on some changes to the blog. At some point I have to decide if this is enough of a change to kick it to v.6.
links for 2011-08-23
Drawing circles in the sand
I spent some time today sorting out my personal Internet space from my professional Internet space. I know this sort of thing puzzles some folks who don’t really draw those sorts of lines, but I do. My family and friends are important to me and generally separate from my professional colleagues. Yes, there is some overlap between these groups, but not much and I am more comfortable keeping them separate.
I now consider Facebook and <CONTENT />, my blog, as personal space. I will use Facebook to stay in touch with family and friends. My blog, which dates back to October 2000, will be recast a bit to focus on things that interest me personally. That may include a bit of tech here and there, but is more likely to include family, photos, food, movies, music, and even a bit of politics.
My professional space includes Twitter, LinkedIn, and a shiny new blog on Teknoids. I will use LinkedIn to build my professional network and Twitter to share and discover information useful to me professionally. My Teknoids blog will be used to write about my professional interests in legal education technology in law schools. In addition stuff directly related to work will appear on the CALI Spotlight and Classcaster blogs.
My hope is that this division of space will help clarify a picture that has become increasingly murky to me.
State of Delaware Offers Authenticated Regulations Online
The Office of the Registrar of Regulations, publishes various documents which conform to accepted standards regarding authenticated digital content. The Office certifes the authenticated documents published on this website and assures the authenticity of the author, source and origin of the authenticated documents when such document bears the following emblem:
via State of Delaware – Delaware Regulations – Home Page.
This is important stuff. By adding this digital signature to the electronic copy of the Delaware Regulations viewers of the the documents can rely on them as accurate and authentic. That means that there is no need to refer to any other copy of the regulations. This pronouncement of authenticity of the digital copy is something that is key to the success of the open access to law movement. Until the bodies that generate the law authenticate the digital copies that are available using them is risky.
For example, look at this disclaimer from the Delaware Code website:
DISCLAIMER: Please Note: With respect to the Delaware Code documents available from this site or server, neither the State of Delaware nor any of its employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately-owned rights. This information is provided for informational purposes only. Please seek legal counsel for help on interpretation of individual statutes.
In a nutshell it disclaims authenticity in the online version of the code making it effectively useless without reference to the authenticated (presumably) print version. You cannot legally rely on the electronic copy of the Delaware Code.
It is worth noting that starting with the 2009 – 2010 session, volume 77, Laws of Delaware are also authenticated with digital signatures. These are the session laws of the Delaware General Assembly.
I’m not sure if any other states are making authenticated copies of regulations or codes available or if any courts are offering authenticated opinions but it is something that needs to be done. In order for the open access and law.gov movement to really work there needs to be open access to authenticated copies of the law. Simply having access to the raw data, or to unauthenticated copies is a fine first step, but is really only useful for research and information. After all, the law belongs to all of us, we have a right to open access to authenticated copies of the law.
HT to Law Librarian Blog for the pointer to the beSpecific link to Delaware Regulations.
Should e-Books be Dumb?
Universalis is an e-book. It gives psalms, prayers and readings for the seven daily Hours of the Catholic Church, plus Mass readings and a couple of other goodies. These all change every day, so the table of contents is a calendar. Tap on the date you want, select an Hour, and start reading. Obviously an e-book.
The new definition of an e-book is “something that comes in an ePub file” (or .mobi, or AZW, or PDF – it doesn’t change the argument). No-one notices the change, because all e-books come as files anyway, don’t they?
No. They don’t. They can’t. Universalis is the example I know best but I’m sure it isn’t the only one.
via e-books that aren’t | TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home.
This article raises and interesting and important question. Appliances like the Kindle and the Sony e-Readers are really just substitutes for books, presenting a linear artifact in a digital form. Yet there is so much more possible that is just ignored by the Kindle and its ilk. Authors have at their finger tips great power in creating engaging interactive works that can draw a reader into the core of the story (or event, or idea). Simply dumping the latest best sellers into a locked-down markup and loading them on a screen in dazzling gray scale doesn’t really represent what e-Books should be.
For my part, I plan on providing law faculty and, later, students with a tool set in eLangdell that will allow for the creation of highly interactive course materials and case books which will not have direct print counterparts.
links for 2009-08-06
Blackboard Loses Patent Appeal, Again.
A federal appeals court has found all 38 of Blackboard Inc.’s contested patent claims to be invalid in ongoing litigation between the D.C.-based education software company and its Canadian competitor, Desire2Learn Inc.
This is the second time in the course of the three-year lawsuit that courts have poked major holes in Blackboard’s patent.
“Blackboard is obviously disappointed with the Federal Circuit’s decision and will seek further judicial review,” said Matthew Small, chief business officer for Blackboard (NASDAQ:BBBB). “Meanwhile, claims 39-44 of the 138 patent remain valid and enforceable. These claims were not at issue in the appeal.”
via Court rules against Blackboard in patent case – Washington Business Journal: .
Full text of the decision is here (PDF).
Barnes & Noble to Offer Free AT&T WiFi At All Stores
A week after announcing that it was starting its own electronic bookstore, Barnes & Noble, the world’s largest chain of bookstores, said it would be offering free Wi-Fi in all 777 of its stores throughout the United States.
This seems like a really good idea for B&N, a way to lure folks into the store. The article notes that the service will be used to push various ads and offers to visitors on an opt-in basis.
RFP: Enhanced Code of Federal Regulations Needs Your Help
This RFP is a call for assistance from librarians and other civic-minded individuals. In 2008, Public.Resource.Org, with the assistance of a variety of parties including the Sunlight Foundation, GovTrack.US, Stanford University, and Google, purchased a bulk feed of the Code of Federal Regulations, a product sold by the Government Printing Office.[1] This RFP details the second stage of this program.
via RFP: Enhanced Code of Federal Regulations – Open Government | Google Groups.
What Carl and the folks at public.resource.org want to do is create version of the CFR that will pull all the various technical standards that are included by reference into the an online version of the CFR, actually including the standards in the body of the CFR. And they’re looking for help from the library community. If you can help Carl and p.r.o get these standards, let him know. Remember that by including the standards through reference, they become part of the CFR and should be available to the public.