EDotW part 7

Another good legal database in OhioLINK is Legal Collection.
"Legal Collection is a collection of respected, scholarly peer-reviewed publications including law journals, documents, and case studies"
While Lecal Collection has American law reviews and journals in its database, it contains more than that. For instance, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms Quarterly Bulletin from 1990 - 2002 is included, as is Hospital Law Newsletter.
The default is to search all publications, but there is a way to search specific ones. If you click on either the "Basic Search" or "Advanced Search" tabs at the top, underneath them there is a link to "Publications" which will allow you to check a box to select specific ones. There is another tab at the top, "Choose Databases", which allows one to select databases such as Legal Collections. It is not for selecting various publications with Legal Collections.

As always, if you have any questions, please contact one of us librarians.

A Criminal Justice Story To Ponder

Here is an AP report out of Columbus, Ohio published last week. What is the moral of the story?

A Columbus, Ohio, man who couldn't find steady work came up with a plan to make it through the next few years until he could collect Social Security: He robbed a bank, then handed the money to a guard and waited for police. On Wednesday, Timothy J. Bowers told a judge a three-year prison sentence would suit him, and the judge obliged.

"At my age, the jobs available to me are minimum-wage jobs. There is age discrimination out there," Bowers, who turns 63 in a few weeks, told Judge Angela White. The judge told him: "It's unfortunate you feel this is the only way to deal with the situation." Bowers said he had been able to find only odd jobs after the drug wholesaler he made deliveries for closed in 2003.

He walked to a bank and handed a teller a note demanding cash in an envelope. The teller gave him four $20 bills and pushed a silent alarm. Bowers handed the money to a security guard standing in the lobby and told him it was his day to be a hero.

He pleaded guilty to robbery, and a court-ordered psychological exam found him competent. "It's a pretty sad story when someone feels that's their only alternative," said defense attorney Jeremy W. Dodgion, who described Bowers as "a charming old man." Prosecutors had considered arguing against putting Bowers in prison at taxpayer expense, but they worried he would do something more reckless to be put behind bars. "It's not the financial plan I would choose, but it's a financial plan," prosecutor Dan Cable said.

EDotW part 6

Whenever I cannot find a book in our library catalog, UTMOST, I usually turn to Worldcat. Worldcat is an OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) catalog of books and other items, such as articles or sound recordings, in libraries around the world. Worldcat is a great way to find out if an item exists. In addition to letting you know if an item exists, it will also list which libraries have the item.

Worldcat is accessible from our Legal Research Links page > to OhioLink Databases > to Listed by Name U-Z

Worldcat has recently become available via its own website as well, at Worldcat.org. The advantage of going through the OhioLink steps is that this way will highlight University of Toledo's collection, if we have the item. And if we don't have it, clicking on the "libraries world wide that own item" will start off with Ohio libraries that have the item. From there, it is easy to use OhioLink to ask for an interlibrary loan.