Vol. 2, No. 97

There’s been plenty of discussion and news in library circles on the topic of open access including the following three – an article, press release and product news:

• The Perfect Storm of Open Access – John Willinsky, Slaw
• Copyright Clearance Center joins Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association – Library Technology Guides
• IEEE Introduces Open Access ‘Mega-Journal’ – Information Today

Vol. 2, No. 97

Are you thinking you need to improve your customer service but you’re not sure where to start? There are lots of books and articles out there on the topic but the following Hildebrandt Institute Blog post, Monday Clicks: Put the ‘Service’ in ‘Customer Service’, brings some great articles/posts together for you to get started. Even if you have what you think is good customer service, it wouldn’t hurt to review what they have to offer.

Vol. 2, No. 97

Before I became a Whovian (Dr Who fan), I was a Star Trek fan. As a kid, I didn’t realize that James T. Kirk was the product of overacting. I have an older sister so I’m used to drama, but I am getting off point. I ran through some Kirk quotes hoping to make the point that Kirk could paint beautiful pictures with his overstated speaking style.

Instead I found a quote that sounds a bit more like Spock, “Intuition, however illogical, is recognized as a command prerogative,” who is the subject of this post. Thanks to Joe Hodnick, Law Librarian Blog, for asking a good question in his Friday Fun post, “How Many Times Has Star Trek’s Mister Spock Been Quoted in Court Opinions?”

Vol. 2, No. 99

Genetic Discrimination

Here is a really interesting EEOC action: the agency has filed a ‘Class Genetic Information Discrimination Suit Against Corning Rehab Center’.

‘According to the EEOC’s suit, Founders conducted post-offer, pre-employment medical exams of applicants, which were repeated annually if the person was hired. As part of this exam, Founders requested family medical history, a form of prohibited genetic information. Such alleged conduct violates the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), passed by Congress in 2008 and enforced by the EEOC.’

‘ Read about it.

Vol. 2, No. 99

You’ve got it all wrong

Thanks to the folks at Hildebrandt for covering an interview with Trevor Faure, global leader of legal services at Ernst and Young. He discusses what’s wrong with current law firm marketing to corporate counsel. Read about it.

Vol. 13, No. 98

Star Trek fans are everywhere. Some are even sitting judges. So whether you are a Trekker or Trekkie, have some fun, live long and prosper, and read more at Law Librarian Blog: Friday Fun: How Many Times Has Star Trek’s Mister Spock Been Quoted in Court Opinions?

Vol. 13, No. 98

Google and NASA are teaming up on AI with a quantum computer. “The machine Google and NASA will use makes use of the interactions of 512 quantum bits, or qubits, to determine optimization. They plan to upgrade the machine to 2,048 qubits when this becomes available, probably within the next year or two. That machine could be exponentially more powerful.” Wow! So does quantum computer + AI + cloud computing = SkyNet? Read more at The New York Times: Google Buys a Quantum Computer

Vol. 13, No. 98

Trevor Faure, global leader of legal services at Ernst and Young, has some very high expectations of private law firms – telepathy. And while my son and I were watching X-Men: First Class yesterday, to my knowledge there are no mutants in the AmLaw 100. Perhaps law firms should begin recruiting from the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning? Seriously, Trevor has some great commentary in his Bloomberg interview (and he’s got a great British accent). Read and watch more at The Hildebrandt Institute Blog: GCs Want ‘Professional Telepathy, Prescience’ From Firms

Vol. 2, No. 96

Librarian Rita Meade, Huffington Post’s Libraries in Crisis, is just a little annoyed with Michael Rosenblum. No, make that a lot. So much so that she’s suggested he needs to write about what he knows rather than what he thinks he knows. I think most librarians would agree. It begs the question, “Don’t you have to do research before writing – or at least, check your facts?” A Librarian’s Response to ‘What’s a Library?’.

Vol. 2, No. 96

The Law Watch Managing Partner Confidence Index from the Citi Private Bank’s Law Firm Group doesn’t seem to paint a picture that is consistent with the past. In other years where the confidence in the overall economy increased, the confidence that legal work would follow did also. Not this time. Read more: Citi Survey: Firm Leaders’ Confidence Off as 2013 Begins.