If you wonder why you get no response to your emails, it may be that fewer people are reading them. Measuring the U.S. digital media, a recent study, the 2010 U.S. Digital Year in Review, recaps key trends in e-commerce, social networking, online video, search, online advertising and mobile. (Download a free copy at this link.) This chart shows the trend that teenagers are using email less and relying more on social networks and text messaging:

The biggest decline in e-mail usage was among teenagers (down 59%). They are not alone. Total web-based email usage declined 8% in the past year. Usage marginally among 18-24 year olds, with more noticeable declines among 25-34 year olds (down 18%), 35-44 year olds (down 8%) and 45- 54 year olds (down 12%). The group where usage actually gained was among 55-64 year olds (up 22%) and among those age 65 and older (up 28%), most likely because of continued Internet adoption by these age groups.

But even older users are using social media more. Last year’s Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project report (at this link) shows that use of social platforms has grown among those aged 50-64. Mary Madden author of the report explains “Young adults continue to be the heaviest users of social media, but their growth pales in comparison with recent gains made by older users. Email is still the primary way that older users maintain contact with friends, families and colleagues, but many older users now rely on social network platforms to help manage their daily communications.”

The 2010 U.S. Digital Year in Review study shows that the decline in email use carries all the way from ages 12-54 largely as a result of the fact that in 2010, Facebook surpassed each of the top three largest web platforms for share of time spent, capturing the #1 ranking in August as shown in this chart.

Law students in the future are less likely to check their email and more likely to user text messages or tweets. Social media is increasingly a vital part of our futures. Texting and social media are much faster than traditional email which is quickly becoming outdated.

The Brooklyn Law School Library’s collection includes Social Media for Lawyers: The Next Frontier by Carolyn Elefant and Nicole Black (Call #KF320.A9 E44 2010) which says that lawyers who dismiss social media do so at their peril and shows lawyers how to use a practical approach to social media. Written by two lawyers, this book is designed for novice and advanced users.

The Brooklyn Law School Library has in its collection 20 separate parts of Kluwer Law International’s International Encyclopaedia of Laws. The IEL series provides detailed coverage of major areas of foreign law. Each part has expert commentary on a particular country’s law relating to that subject. Continually updated, each IEL set includes different countries. The list of “Published Monographs” indicates which countries are in each IEL set. The International Encyclopaedia of Laws is a great starting point for comparative law research. The Law Library collection of the series is in electronic format (accessible to the current BLS community either on campus or via remote access restricted with use of proxy instructions) for these titles:

• IEL Civil Procedure
• IEL Commercial and Economic Law
• IEL Constitutional Law
• IEL Contracts
• IEL Corporations and Partnerships
• IEL Criminal Law
• IEL Cyber Law
• IEL Environmental Law
• IEL Family and Succession Law
• IEL Insurance Law
• IEL Intellectual Property
• IEL Intergovernmental Organizations
• IEL Media Law
• IEL Medical Law
• IEL Migration Law
• IEL Private International Law
• IEL Property and Trust Law
• IEL Social Security Law
• IEL Tort Law
• IEL Transport Law

A detailed description of the print version for these products is on the publisher’s website along with a more fully descriptive 53 page PDF brochure from the publisher which shows the depth of covergage of IEL and the countries covered for each topic.

When it comes to deciding on a topic, for a note or a seminar paper, legal news blogs, otherwise known as blawgs, are great sources for inspiration.   There are several websites which aggregate legal blogs and allow a user to browse the blogs by topic.  Some of these sites also vet the blogs for you, describing who the author of the blogs is and what the purpose of the blog is.  Listed below are three of these blog aggregators along with tips on how to access them.

ABA Journal’s Blawg Directory provides a comprehensive of list of continually updated blawgs.

Tip: View by Topic, Region, Author, or Law School

Blawgsearch is a directory of legal blogs.

Tip: Browse by category, jurisdiction (U.S. States/International) or Law Schools

Lexmonitor is a blawg directory which allows you to “channel surf”.

Tip: Browse Practice Areas

The American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom designated this past Friday, January 28, 2011 as Data Privacy Day. The second annual Choose Privacy Week is scheduled for May 1-7, 2011. This website developed a resource for libraries called Data Privacy Day: Our Shared Responsibility — What Libraries Can Do, a tip sheet developed by Data Privacy Day and the National Cyber Security Alliance’s Stay Safe Online. This 23 minute film on privacy issues has “man on the street” interviews and features Neil Gaiman, Cory Doctorow, Geoffrey Stone, and ALA President Camila Alire discussing privacy.

News from the Congress and law enforcement raises concerns about data privacy as the Department of Justice has renewed calls for legislation mandating that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) retain certain customer usage data for up to two years. On Tuesday, January 25, the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security’s hearing on Data Retention as a Tool for Investigating Internet Child Pornography and Other Internet Crimes chaired by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R. WI) had testimony from Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein that data retention was crucial to fighting Internet crimes especially online child pornography. Current policies that only require ISPs to preserve usage data at the specific request of law enforcement authorities are just not sufficient, Weinstein said.

It is unclear if the hearing is a sign that a data retention bill is imminent, said John Morris, the general counsel for the Center for Democracy and Technology, who also testified. It is also uncertain whether only ISPs will be required to retain data, or whether services such as e-mail providers might be included, said Morris. Regardless of the scope, mandatory data retention laws raise important privacy and free speech concerns. “In the privacy realm, the bottom line is that law enforcement is talking about having a massive amount of information on 230 million presumably innocent Americans using the Internet, being tracked and retained,” he said.

Episode 061 – Conversation with Serge Krimnus, Class of 2010.mp3

In this podcast, Serge Krimnus, Brooklyn Law School Class of 2010, talks about his career in patent law. He also discusses his article, The Doctrine of Foreign Equivalents at Death’s Door, 12 N.C. J.L. & Tech. 159 (2010), which he wrote with guidance from BLS Professor of Law Derek Bambauer. This semester, Brooklyn Law School offers a course in Patent Prosecution which Adjunct Assistant Professor of Law Serge Krimnus teaches. Serge talks about his work as a Patent Agent for The Farrell Law Firm located in Melville, New York. He also offers suggestions for students considering a career in patent prosecution.

This week, Jaime Lathrop, Brooklyn Law School Class of 2002, was the featured speaker at the New York State Bar Association’s General Practice Section’s Annual Meeting at the Hilton New York. Lathrop, who was was a Notes & Comments Editor of the Brooklyn Law School Law Review, is the director of the Pro Bono Foreclosure Intervention Program of the Brooklyn Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project. The program assists poor and low-income families facing foreclosures in Brooklyn’s neighborhoods. He also works on behalf of VLP in partnership with the South Brooklyn Legal Services Foreclosure Prevention Project, which staffs a walk-in foreclosure clinic at Kings County Supreme Court. Since March 2009, Lathrop has worked with a team of 80 lawyers doing pro bono work for homeowners facing foreclosure. “I recruit, train and assign volunteer lawyers who represent homeowners in settlement conferences, negotiate workouts and help with mortgage modifications for Brooklyn homeowners in foreclosure.” Lathrop feels for homeowners who face dire financial situations as a result of the subprime mortgage crisis. “We have a system of law in the United States that left unchecked will always favor the interests of the few over the interests of many,” says Lathrop. “It is important for attorneys to see that everyone gets equal protection under the law.”

Last year, aHuffington Post story called America Fights Foreclosure: Lifelines for People Fighting to Keep Their Homes featured the Brooklyn Volunteer Lawyers Project calling it a “lifeline for people trying to avoid foreclosure”. It matches up volunteer attorneys from private practice with people in need of critical legal services. Its mission is to “help people regain dignity and control over their lives”. VLP receives funding from the New York Bar Association as well as private donors.

An article in the Brooklyn Barrister, the publication of the Brooklyn Bar Association, reported that last October, the “Volunteer Lawyers Project was honored as one of the premiere pro bono programs of New York State. To celebrate National Pro Bono Week, the New York State Bar Association, the New York State Courts and the Office of the Mayor of the City of New York presented the VLP with a 2010 Pro Bono Service Award for its innovative programming to assist Brooklyn residents facing overwhelming legal issues related to consumer debt. CLARO, the weekly consumer debt clinic in Kings County Civil Court, which originated with the VLP in 2006 in partnership with a pro bono student action group at Brooklyn Law School, has now been replicated city-wide.”

The boilers that provide heat for Brooklyn Law School’s main building at 250 Joralemon Street will be shut down. This will allow contractors to upgrade the heating system for this building.

“We expect there will be a loss of heat for approximately 3 to 4 hours. We apologize for the inconvenience.” Beryl Woodin-Jones said in a campus wide email.

This cold shoulder will affect our library users. So bundle up and drink hot liquids.

BLS Library provides many resources to research the World Trade Organization.

For information about upcoming WTO conferences and summaries of recently issued WTO panel/appellate body reports, subscription BNA-ALL database provides the WTO Reporter.  Link “Recent Topics” categorizes articles in WTO Reporter by subject.  One can also search for articles in WTO Reporter by keywords.  Articles in WTO Reporter sometimes link to the text of WTO reports, agreements or jurisprudence.

Trade law experts also discuss WTO developments in International Economic Law and Policy Blog.  Justia Blawg Search links to many other international trade blogs.

The WTO’s website provides a free Trade Topics Gateway which contains overviews of subject areas ranging from anti-dumping to TRIPS and public health.  These overviews frequently link to full-text documents.  The WTO’s website also is useful if a researcher has a cite to a specific WTO document symbol.  One can search the Documents Online Gateway by WTO document symbol.  TIP:  Because the WTO uses “cookies,” one might need to click twice on my links to either Trade Topics Gateway or Documents Online Gateway.

The subscription component of WorldTradeLaw.net website offers helpful commentaries about WTO panel decisions, appellate body decisions and arbitrations.  WorldTradeLaw.net also provides a status table about ongoing WTO dispute proceedings and a subject index to WTO dispute proceedings.  The free component of WorldTradeLaw.net website provides the text of WTO panel decisions, appellate body decisions and arbitrations.

Subscription TradeLawGuide database is an excellent source of GATT and WTO agreements, as well as WTO jurisprudence.

Tab: “Documents” > subtab: “WTO Agreements & Instruments” includes the text of GATT 1994, WTO-era agreements and Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

Tab: “Article Citator” identifies the paragraphs or footnotes in WTO jurisprudence that discuss specific articles of WTO agreements.

Tab: “Jurisprudence Citator” accepts a citation to a specific WTO panel report (example: DS114) or appellate body report and identifies WTO jurisprudence that has cited to DS114.

The Bluebook (19th ed.) rule pertaining to the World Trade Organization is rule 21.11.  This semester, there are three copies of the Dictionary of International Trade Law in the Course Reserve bookcase behind the BLS Library’s Circulation Desk.

Jean Davis, Librarian and Adjunct Professor of Law