Reference Tidbit - Using Google Scholar for Combined Search of Texas State Court Opinions

By Jessica R. Alexander, J.D., M. L. S., Reference Librarian

The official web sites of the courts in the Texas Judicial system are not integrated when it comes to case and opinion searches. See Texas Courts Online. Thanks to the Google Scholar search this problem is solved to some degree.

Obviously Google has a search algorithm that extracts Texas appellate opinions from the official websites. Google overlays them with a Southwest Reporter citation. Of course the search is limited by the date spans of the loaded opinions.

To perform a search, go to the main Google page and click More and click on ScholarYou can search from that page by clicking the button Legal opinions and journals, or, even better, click on the Advanced search button. Put in your search terms and go to the bottom of the search form and specify the courts (either state or federal) that you want to search. Note there is also a link to a menu of combined searches. You can search any or all of the state or federal courts in a particular jurisdiction. The images below depict a sample search. Click on the images to enlarge them.





Columbus Day Holiday Party to celebrate the New World

Nostalgia in the United States is increasing, which means that holidays like Columbus Day are as relevant as ever for the Americans. The discovery of our great nation by Christopher Columbus along with the rest of the Americas is an occasion worth celebrating. Interestingly, we are not alone in our celebration of this day - several Latin American nations celebrate October 12 as the day of discovery and rejoice in it. Between 1492 and today is a day that comes to mind as the birth of our land.

Like any historical celebration, there are lessons to be learned and remember when you think about the meaning of Columbus Day. But a nation like ours, based on tolerance and open to immigrants to this day, is worthy of a match. Having a fall festival with a lot of memories of the glorious past. Think of the New World, its wilderness and beauty to adorn your home. Bring a few plants in pots and put candles. Dressed in vintage clothing, if you have or can hire anyone.

Ask your friends to play along with the subject. Include your children because it is a holiday that will grow to love and appreciate. Offering traditional food, but simple, so you can join the Columbus Day holiday as well.

Columbus Day is an occasion that deserves to be marked with a party. Have fun with your loved ones is certainly time well spent. With some ideas, you can plan a party well and truly to be remembered.

Welcome

Alhamdulillah

The Fred Parks Law Library is pleased to announce our acquisition of four rare fifteenth century legal works.

by Heather Kushnerick, Special Collections Librarian

In honor of our 10th anniversary, the Fred Parks Law Library has purchased four 15th century legal works. These books are important not just because of their rarity and subject matter, but because of their age and condition.

Paul de Castro’s Super primo, Secundo et Tertio Libro Codis... is a Commentary on the Code of Justinian printed in Venice in 1495. The Fred Parks copy is one of only two copies in the Western hemisphere. Jean Barbier’s Viatorium Utriusque Iuris is a legal handbook. printed in Strassburg in 1493. It combines elements of Roman and canon law with the legal customs of southern France. Jodocus of Erfurt’s Vocabularium Iuris Utrius(que) is a work of great authority. This early law dictionary went through more than 70 editions. The Fred Parks copy was printed in Nuremburg in 1481, a mere 29 years after the invention of the printing press, making it the oldest book in the library's collection. Finally, we have a first printed edition of Nicholas Statham’s [Abridgement of Cases], printed in 1490. Covering the reigns of Edward I through Henry VI, it was considered the standard abridgement until the publication of Sir Anthony Fitzherbert's Le Graunde Abridgement in 1514.

Early printed books, dating from 1492, when movable type was invented, to 1500, are called incunabula. Due to their age and the impact of constant warfare in Europe, they are very rare and often incomplete. It is not unusual for incomplete, or alas, even complete works, to be sold leaf by leaf in order to make the most profit.

The process of printing a book developed by Gutenberg in 1452 was much faster than hand copying, but it was still a laborious endeavor. Each letter of each word was hand-placed by a workman, called a compositor, into a small tray. Each line was carefully placed to form to an even margin, and when the tray (called a compositing stick) was full, the workman transferred it to another tray called a galley. The galley was large enough to hold an entire page, and when the page was complete, the workman set the tray aside to begin work on the next one. He did not go leaf by leaf but rather section by section. Large sheets of paper would be printed with multiple pages on each side; they were then folded into what we would recognize today as a section of a book. As a result of this process, not all the type was facing the same direction. On one sheet of paper there could be as many as 24 leaves, or pages, of a book on each side.

Once all the type was laid out correctly and was in the printing press, it would be covered in ink and paper would be pressed onto it. The paper would be removed, more ink would be applied, and another sheet laid on top to be pressed. And so it went until the workman had the total number of sheets needed for the edition he was preparing. Then the letters were returned to their individual bins, and the next section in the book was prepared and printed. The books were then assembled (hopefully in the correct order), and delivered to the binder, who would sew them together and bind them in paper, wood, leather or in a custom design for a specific buyer.

The four works now in our collection are in remarkable condition for their age, and will be on display in the library lobby now through the end of November as we celebrate our 10th anniversary.