NEWSLETTER Fall 2007

5TH ANNUAL OPEN HOUSE Friday, September 14, 2007 2:30 - 4:30 p.m. Please join the Law Library staff for our 5th Annual Open House on Friday, September 14, 2007. We will be offering physical and virtual tours of our facility, collection, databases and services, as well as hosting our annual mini-golf tournament for prizes. (Light refreshments will be served.) FROM THE DIRECTOR’S DESK LAW LIBRARY TASK FORCE UPDATE: WE ARE STILL WAITING... Executive Summary: We are still waiting for the Legislative Service Commission to draft proposed legislation based on the Task Force Report. The OSBA has said that we should receive a copy for review soon. When we do, we will make a copy available on our web site. More Detailed Explanation: As you already know, Ohio’s county law libraries are fighting for their collective life. In February of 2005, the state budget bill (HB 66) contained a proposed section that would have begun to phase out county support for our staff and operations upon passage of the bill. However, with the help of the Ohio State Bar Association (OSBA), we were able to convince the Legislature to create a county law library task force to study our funding and operations and postpone the cuts. Unfortunately, the cuts have caught up with us, and we are now suffering a 20% reduction in county funding for the wages and benefits of our three (3) county librarians. However, the Task Force issued its Final Report in March of 2007 and recommended various changes in the structure and management of the county law libraries. This Report is available on our website at the following link: clevelandlawlibrary.org/public/misc/Final_Report.pdf The Legislative Service Commission was supposed to draft the Task Force Report into a proposed amendment to the recent biennial budget bill that was passed at the end of June. However, we have not yet received that draft, and the budget process is over. The OSBA has told us that the proposed legislation is still being drafted and that it should be available for review soon. When we receive a copy of the proposed legislation, we will make a copy available on our web site. As Chair of the OSBA Law Libraries & Legal Information Services Committee, I will also schedule a committee meeting to discuss and debate the proposal. If you have not already done so, now would be a great time to join this committee and help the Law Library. If you are interested or would like further information, please contact me at 216-861-5070 or ksasala@clelaw.lib.oh.us. Kathleen M. Sasala, Esq., Director PRACTICAL TECHNOLOGY FOR THE PRACTICAL ATTORNEY (2.0 hours of CLE Approved) Thursday, October 18, 2007, 2:00 - 4:00 pm Click Here For Details or Click Here To Print OHIO LAW LIBRARY CONSORTIUM ANNIVERSARY Happy Anniversary! In just over a month, the Ohio Law Library Consortium (OLLC) will celebrate its 1st anniversary. Just over a year ago, a few of my colleagues and I created OLLC to offer various benefits to Ohio’s county law libraries and the Ohio Supreme Court. Today, we can count 22 libraries on our membership rolls, and the Cleveland Law Library was one of the founding members. With a lot of elbow grease this past year, we have been able to realize all four (4) of our initial goals: 1st Website: As a starting point, we created a web site with news and information relevant to our members and patrons at www.ohiolawlibrary.org Cross-Library Searching: We also created a Cross-Library search by which you can conduct a basic search of our online catalog and up to 8 other online library catalogs all at the same time. Six (6) key libraries whose catalogs are searchable through this new tool include the Akron Law Library, the Cincinnati Law Library, the Columbus Law Library, the Lake County Law Library, the Stark County Law Library, and the Library of Congress. Additional information about this new service can be found at www.ohiolawlibrary.org/ under the topic of Cross-Library Search. * 2nd Pocket Part Exchange: We established a highly functional pocket part exchange through which we share our ‘hand-me-down’ pocket parts with other consortium members who have had to cancel some of their books. 3rd Interlibrary Loan Program: We designed and created a successful interlibrary loan program for the exchange of resources among our members. This system directly benefits you...our members. 4th Consortium Discounts: Although we were not sure we could do it, we were also able to obtain discounted consortium pricing from several vendors for various legal research products, including Ohio Capital Connection from Rotunda, Inc. and Legaltrac from Thomson/Gale. For our second year, we hope to be able to work with additional vendors, expand our membership, and add additional programs and services to those that OLLC offers. If you would like additional information on the consortium, please contact the Director at 216-861-5070 or ksasala@clelaw.lib.oh.us * For techies out there, Cross-Library searching is made possible by the Z39.50 Internet protocol. Cross-Library searching is available at the following sites: • Akron Law Library: 207.67.203.35/A10048/Search/z39Search.asp • Cincinnati Law Library: www.hamilton-co.org/cinlawlib/catalog/ • Columbus Law Library: 69.63.217.26/C10115Staff/OPAC/Search/Z39Search.asp ETHICS, PROFESSIONALISM AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE CLE program on Nov. 30, 2007, 1:00 - 4:15 pm (2.5 hours of CLE credit will be sought) CLEVELAND LAW LIBRARY CREATES PODCASTING NETWORK On August 17th, the Cleveland Law Library launched its first program in a series of podcasts that will address a variety of issues that are important to the local legal community. For our inaugural podcast, we decided to start off easy by discussing the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court’s specialized docket for asbestos cases. To help reveal its closely guarded secrets, we interviewed Brendan Doyle, Esq., who is one of the Staff Attorneys for the judges assigned to adjudicate local asbestos cases. If you can spare about 7 minutes, Mr. Doyle’s interview is well worth the time. We hope to be able to create and post new podcasts to our website every 4-6 weeks. With this new venture, the Cleveland Law Library becomes the first county law library in Ohio and one of only a handful of law libraries in the country that are offering law-related podcasts. Our podcast can be found at clevelandlawlibrary.org/Public/Misc/Podcasts.html TO OUR NEW STAFF MEMBERS For those of you who have not met our new staff members yet, we recently welcomed 2 new part-time Reference and Research Librarians to replace Sue Altmeyer, who left in May to become the Electronic Services Librarian at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. Joining Anne McFarland, Esq. on our research desk are Nancy Schieman, Esq., who came to us with 11 years of experience as a Staff Attorney for Ohio’s appellate court system, and Michael McFarland, Ph.D., who has an undergraduate degree in History, a Masters degree in Conflict Resolution, and a Ph.D. in Peace Studies. MORTGAGE FORECLOSURES CLE on December 13, 2007, 1:00 - 4:45 pm (3.0 hrs. of General CLE will be sought) SPOUSAL SUPPORT CALCULATIONS AT THE LAW LIBRARY In making an award of spousal support, Ohio courts are supposed to utilize the statutory factors contained in ORC § 3105.18(B). However, neither the courts nor attorneys possess tools that can calculate spousal support like the guidelines and worksheets can for child support. To try and help our members calculate baseline figures for spousal support, we recently purchased a software program from Puritas Springs called “Ohio Spousal Support Calculator Pretrial & Trial Preparation Tool,” also called MA (Marital Aid). According to Puritas Springs, this program not only calculates proposed spousal support, but it also addresses tax issues and analyzes family budgets. This product complements the Revised Child Support Guidelines product that the Law Library already purchased from Puritas Springs last year. We hope that you will take advantage of both products as part of your membership in the Law Library. SELECTED NEW ACQUISITIONS • Anderson’s Ohio Consumer Law (LexisNexis, 2006) • New Ohio Rules Of Ethics For Lawyers (OSBA) • What’s New In Adoption Law (OSBA) • High Octane Internet Legal Research (OSBA) • Standards For the Provision Of Civil Legal Aid (ABA) • Compendium Of Client Protection Rules (ABA) • Judicial Opinion Writing Handbook (Hein) • Invention Analysis and Claiming (ABA) • Lawyer’s Guide To Modern Payment Methods (ABA)

INDEX TO OHIO LEGAL PERIODICALS A Brand New Index Created By The Cleveland Law Library FREE To You • In-house on the Members Only Page under Periodicals and News • Search by author, title, journal or subject, and print your results • Coverage: Cleveland Bar Journal, Law & Fact, OBAR, Probate Law Journal of Ohio, Domestic Relations Journal of Ohio, Ohio Lawyer, Ohio Trial and 7 more journals • For more information, please contact the Director at: ksasala@clelaw.lib.oh.us or (216) 861-5070

Online Access: If you like to keep track of your public library account online, you can now do the same thing with your Law Library account. As part of a new service that we are offering, we recently enabled the “MY ACCOUNT” feature in our Internet catalog for all of our members. Now, you can check what books, CDs and videos you have out, renew items up to 5 times each, check what charges and fees you owe, place holds for Law Library items you would like to order and pick up here, and change your account PIN. To log in to your account, all you will need is your Law Library card number (without the letter) and your PIN. If we have a phone number on record for you, your PIN will be the last 4 digits of your phone number. If you need to find out what your PIN is, just contact our circulation staff by calling us at 216-861-5070 or e-mailing us at lawlib@clelaw.lib.oh.us. Renew Books, CDs & Videos Online: Although you can always renew your items in person or by phone, you can now also renew your books, CDs and videos online. All of our Ohio and other state materials as well as videos go out for a 1 day loan, and most of the rest of our collection circulates for a week. If you need to keep something longer than these initial loan periods, you can now renew your materials up to 5 times online. With just a couple of clicks, you can renew some or all of the items you have checked out. If you need our items longer than 5 renewals, you will need to call or come by in person. Order Books, CDs and Videos Online: One of the best features of MY ACCOUNT is that you can now order our books online for pick up at the Law Library. There are 2 ways to accomplish this. One way is to search our online catalog first and then click to place a hold, which will prompt you for your Library Card number (without the letter) and PIN. Alternatively, you can log in to MY ACCOUNT first and then search for a title that you would like to order and pick up. If someone else has already requested the same title, you will be put in a queue, with the ability to see your place in line. Please make sure that you only request titles that belong to the Law Library. Even though our holdings are part of the CLEVNET catalog, you will only be able to place holds for Law Library items with your Law Library Card number and PIN, and you will only be able to pick up those items at the Law Library. Unless you choose e-mail notification (see below), we will call you when your items are ready to be picked up. E-Mail Notices From the Law Library: One other new feature that goes hand-in-hand with MY ACCOUNT is that you can now receive e-mail notices when books you order become available. If you would like to receive e-mail notices from the Law Library instead of phone calls, please contact our circulation staff by calling us at 216-861-5070 or e-mailing us at lawlib@clelaw.lib.oh.us.

PRACTICAL TECHNOLOGY FOR THE PRACTICAL ATTORNEY (2.0 Hours of CLE Approved)

Date:	Thursday, October 18, 2007
Location:	Cleveland Law Library, 1 West Lakeside Avenue, 4th Floor Cleveland, OH 44113-1078      (216) 861-5070
Time:	Registration: 1:30 p.m.; Program 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Cost:	$50.00 members, $60.00 non-members (Registration must be pre-paid by cash, check, or credit card)
Contact:	Director, Kathleen M. Sasala, 216-861-5070, ksasala@clelaw.lib.oh.us

Name (please print) _______________________________ Atty. Regis. #.________________
Firm __________________________________________________________________________
Address _______________________________________________________________________
City, State, Zip ________________________________________________________________
Phone __________________________________ Fax __________________________________
Cash __________ Check ____________ Mastercard _____________ Visa _____________
Credit Card # ____________________________________________ Exp. Date ____________
Signature ______________________________________________________________________

Make checks payable to the Cleveland Law Library. Mail or fax reservation form.
Cancellations must be received in writing 1 business day prior to the program.
Refunds will be charged a $15.00 administrative fee.
PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES needing special arrangements to attend this program are asked to contact the Director of the Cleveland Law Library at (216) 861-5070, (fax 216-861-1606) or ksasala@clelaw.lib.oh.us at least 1 week prior to the program.