1. No category

Spring 2014
Newsletter of the Oregon Council of
County Law Libraries (OCCLL)
Dialogue
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Listening to Landau by Neil
Miller
OCCLL Welcomes
Library Updates
P. 2
February 14, 2014 by Peter Howard
P. 3
P. 4
Special Interest Sections
Trivia Quiz
p. 5
On the Brink
p. 6
Book Reviews
p. 7
Trivia Answers
p. 6
You are cordially
invited to attend the
Spring 2014
OCCLL Meeting
in Albany
Saturday,
May 17, 2014
9:30 a.m.
Linn County
Law Library
304 Broadalbin, SW
Albany, Oregon
541-924-6902
Oregon Supreme Court Building 110th Anniversary Ceremony
February 14, 2014 marked the 155th
birthday of our state, but also the
100th birthday of the Oregon Supreme Court Building—the oldest
state government building on the
Capitol mall and one of the oldest
state government buildings in Oregon. The second-floor of the Building has been home to the State of
Oregon Law Library since opening in
1914.
Visitors gathered in the third-floor
courtroom to enjoy a 100th Anniversary Ceremony program that included Chief Justice Thomas A. Balmer
and State Law Librarian Cathryn
Bowie, along with guests, Former
Chief Justice Wallace P. Carson, Jr.,
Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum,
Senator Peter Courtney, and Representative Tina Kotek. Architect Troy
Ainsworth, whose firm is currently
handling preservation and restoration projects for the Supreme Court
Building, also spoke briefly about
some of the Building’s unique architectural elements. A recording of
the full Ceremony program is available on the Oregon Courts Mediasite
page in the “OJD Events” folder.
After the program, attendees were
taken on guided tours of the Building. Tours included areas rarely-seen
by the public, such as the justices’
third-floor chambers and the attic
where all the fun old Law Library
stuff is. Guests enjoyed birthday
cake and sparkling cider in the lobby
while sharing stories about their
connections to the Building. This
was a great event for exploring Oregon’s history and enjoying a wonderful old building. A photo gallery
of the celebration is available on the
Statesman Journal’s webpage.
For more information and fun facts
about the Supreme Court, visit
http://www.lanecounty.org/Departments/
CAO/LawLibrary/Documents/
OCCLL2014Article.pdf
OCCLL membership is open to Oregon librarians and staff of county law libraries, although anyone with an interest in law libraries is invited to attend the biannual
Page 2
Listening to Landau: Oregon Law in Non-Traditional Places
By Neil Miller
I recently had an attorney ask if we had more Oregon
materials on trusts than was in my “Oregon Collection”, I
offered some suggestions (among them, 42 WLR 187;
unfortunately this link is just the introduction but it’s a
great review of the Oregon Trust Code), and then pointed him towards our treatises. “They aren’t Oregon specific though?” he responded. I admitted, that no they
were geared more generally and he went on his way. But
I was a little disappointed. As another librarian and I discussed, sometimes you just feel compelled to help everyone and certainly I think he would have found use in
some of our treatises.
I think those treatises would have been of help because
Oregon is one of many states which has adopted the Uniform Trust Code. So to say the materials weren’t Oregon
specific was a part truth, our treatises have significant
discussion on the Uniform Trust Code and Oregon has
adopted it mostly verbatim. With only one case citing
our Trust Code and the WLR I offered first, I felt he was
almost certainly destined for some sort of secondary materials if the statute was not clear enough.
This interaction led me to wanting to post something
reminding attorneys to consult our treatises particularly
in the case of uniform laws, and I knew the exercise
would help me be better geared to consider them when
helping patrons. As I was finishing up my document to
post in the library, a case was published from the Oregon
Supreme Court which made the argument, that sometimes “Oregon-law” comes from a lot of non-Oregon
sources, better than I ever could have: Wright v. Turner,
354 Or ___. Wright is a case which revolves around
whether two slightly separated successive car accidents
are two accidents for the purposes of motorist insurance.
Understandably, the plaintiff wanted to recover the policy limits twice, one for each collision, instead of once as
happened at trial.
The court consulted the following sources on its way to
interpreting a 63 year old Oregon statute:
· Webster’s Second New Int’l Dictionary,
· Black’s Law Dictionary,
· A digest and article regarding the model bill from which
the statute was adopted,
· Numerous law review articles and,
· Case law from the Fifth Circuit, California, Georgia,
Washington and Illinois courts.
The court in Wright v. Turner methodically went down
the line of sources, many of which, we tend to consider
“non-Oregon”. Those sources include dictionaries, legislative history (admittedly an Oregon source), uniform law
materials and prior court interpretations of the same law
from other jurisdictions. If you want to understand the
basis for when Oregon Courts look to alternate sources
and jurisdictions, it comes up as a part of statutory interpretation and is discussed in the bar book Interpreting
Oregon Law § 2.18—2.19 (OSB Legal Pubs 2009).
The Cornell Legal information Institute can be an excellent source for finding most of the uniform laws but certainly some easy ones to remember are (1) Uniform
Commercial Code, (2) Uniform Partnership Act, (3) Rules
of Evidence, and as mentioned, (4) Uniform Trust Code.
In addition, Oregon Courts regularly look to similarly
phrased Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and apply the
same analysis that we see on interpreting Oregon law
from other jurisdictions.
It wouldn’t be a proper legal discussion if I didn’t warn
you that the Cornell website, although good, does lack
some accuracy in identifying which state is on which version of some uniform laws, so verify any research accordingly.
We wouldn’t undertake a whole host of statutory interpretation research for a patron. And this line of research
is one I would be much more likely to suggest to an attorney than a pro per, except the dictionary, everyone
should use a dictionary. It might be nice to be armed
with the phrase, “have you considered if the law is a uniform law?” Or better yet, “Oregon’s ________ code
comes from a model statute that is well covered in our
______ treatises from including before Oregon adoption.” You might still get disgruntled responses from
your attorneys but at least you tried to help.
Page 3
OCCLL Welcomes...
Neil Miller by Amber Boedigheimer
On January 13th, 2014, I had the pleasure of interviewing Neil Miller, a
current employee for the Lane County Law Library in Eugene, Oregon.
Neil maintains strong professional experience and has a unique educational background. He earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Political
Science, earned from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse. Shortly
after Neil earned his BS Degree, successfully completed a paralegal program at Minnesota Paralegal Institute in 2006 and a few years later enrolled in the University of Oregon’s School of Law where he graduated
in 2012. Following graduation from Law School, he worked for a contract attorney before landing a position as a “manager” for the Lane
County Law Library. Among many accomplishments, Neil has experience
working with computers, troubleshooting hardware and software issues
while serving basic IT needs. Upon deciding to attend law school, Neil
held a research assistant position and became an Intern for Legal Aid,
before pursuing a position with the Lane County Law Library.
Neil has a plethora of patrons he serves including local attorneys, home
owners and those fighting debt collection as well as those with a whole
host of other personal legal problems. In July of 2013, Lane County
chose take over the sale of Stevens Ness legal forms through the Deeds
and Records department. The result: Now there are a larger number of
individuals living in Lane County that are diverted from the library and
pay for their legal forms without visiting the library. According to Neil,
his research focuses on civil litigation cases, landlord-tenant rights, and
real estate law. Upon asking Neil what proficiency he had with computers, he explained he came into the position with skills in troubleshooting
hardware and software issues, some programming and prior web page
development experience. Neil admitted that while cataloging is a challenge for him, he would like to strengthen this skill. One of Neil's areas
of strengths is knowledge of Civil Litigation. As far as online subscriptions are concerned, Neil commented that he prefers to use Westlaw
Next to help him gather information. Neil uses Google Scholar when
possible. Neil explained his prior employment experiences, including his
transferable skills including, but not limited to balancing petty-cash, shipping and receiving (which he found helpful in learning how to catalog),
and immersing himself in accounts payables and receivables.
Neil was born in Anoka, Minnesota and currently lives in Eugene, OR
with his wife and is currently expecting his first child. In addition to serving as a Librarian for the Lane County Law Library, Neil said that he
enjoys triathlons, camping, and listening to music which ranges from folk
to rap.
Amber Boedigheimer by Neil Miller
Amber brings a great background of library and information science to
her position with Marion County. Having worked for government agencies, and in school, science and private libraries, Amber brings diverse
experience to her position.
Amber was originally brought to libraries as a volunteer at Garfield Elementary School and the Corvallis-Benton County Library, while working
for the Benton County Building Permits Department. As a volunteer for
two libraries, she loved working with children and encouraging information literacy. From her volunteer position(s)) Amber landed a job with
ATI Wah Chang in their library and was trained to know their information and materials. Amber’s supervisor encouraged her to seek a library sciences degree. Despite some hesitancy, Amber enrolled in Emporia State University. Regardless of an intense time period being enrolled
in ESU, while also working, Amber received her MLS in May 2004.
After earning her MLS, Amber worked at the libraries for both Jefferson
Elementary School and Crescent Valley High School, allowing her to
once again focus on information literacy. In between the school library
positions and her position at Marion County she also worked as a library
tech for the EPA in Corvallis.
Amber has now been with Marion County for 10 months. Marion County, and Amber in particular, is currently cataloging away and Amber loves
it. She both enjoys the work of cataloging, and it also allows her to better
serve her patrons with reference questions -she is rapidly learning their
collection.
Amber enjoys the discovery that comes along with researching in her
new role. She enjoys helping people with family law questions and feels
she is catching on to that area of law quickly. She clearly has a passion for
helping people and she says her customer service is one of her strengths,
from young people to adults.
In her free time Amber enjoys puzzles, reading and helping people. She
is currently reading the Sleepy Hollow series. She lives in Corvallis, Oregon near her family.
Paula Smith by Neil Miller
Paula joined Washington County this January. Paula was gracious enough
to talk with me as she staffed the desk at her library.
Paula has been an Oregonian for the past twenty years, but prior to her
time in Washington county she has lived in Washington, D.C., Arizona,
Texas, and Ohio. Her most recent job before starting at Washington
County was working at Pacific University in Student Affairs as an Officer
Manager/Assistant, dealing with housing and residential life. She also
recently completed an online paralegal certification program. She entered
this program or her own enlightenment but was happy to have taken it
when she applied for her position with Washington County.
Paula has no shortage of history with libraries either. She has worked as a
library tech assistant at PCC and ASU, temporarily with government
organizations in Washington, D.C., and as work study going back to
college.
Laura and Sue have been without an assistant, so Paula has had some
catching up to help them with loose leafs, but also learning their system,
where materials are, and the circulation system.
Paula is interested in science fiction, British and Canadian comedies, and,
of course, reading. She is also interested in Chinese culture, films, and
literature. She runs a website called HKfilmfan.com (she says it hasn’t
been updated in some time, but who doesn’t like a plug).
Page 4
Library Updates
Benton
The Benton County Law Library has just replaced both of its
computers. This is the first time in 15 years that we have had
new equipment. In prior updates, our “new” equipment was
previously used and at least 4-8 years old . I’m loving my new
22” monitor and the faster processing speed. We are running
Windows & so no XP problems here!
Clatsop County
Ryan Moore is the new law librarian there. They are currently
closed for a few weeks due to a cracked steam pipe but will be
open again soon.
Deschutes County
Not much news from Deschutes, there is a new backup for
when Carol is away (like in April), and she is currently in the
midst of budget planning.
Douglas County
Things are status quo here in Douglas County. The law library
board just voted to keep Diana’s hours the same. She is still
looking for full time work in Oregon & SW Washington, but it is
a nice vote of confidence. The print/database contract Diana
worked out with West last year has saved the law library a
tremendous sum of money & the lawyers & judges like
WestlawNext. This particular contract has some information
which the Judicial Dept. cannot access with their subscription,
which makes it particularly appealing. It has also been decided
not to renew the LexisNexis database contract which expires in
June as it was never used.
Lane County
Lane County continues pushing ahead, Neil has advocated for
a longer term plan for the library within Lane County. Print
materials are slowly being updated and out of date resources
are being revived.
Lincoln County
The only news from here is the library is still open, still functioning. The county only took 10K for the courts so no capital
improvements but no reductions either. I did get some hand
me down PC's so I will be upgrading the computers.
Linn County
Amber Boedigheimer has been added to the list of substitutes.
Peggy recently designed a bookmark for the Linn County Law
Library that includes a QR code and distributed them to both
public libraries in Albany, the court clerk’s office and legal aid.
Additional bookmarks will be produced and mailed in the near
future to other public libraries in Linn County.
Marion County
Amber completed her temporary status with the Marion County Law Library this month. Marion County test drove a trial
version of the Oregon Trial Court documents database, which
allows users to search documents by keyword, view and print
materials. Contrary to what you may have heard, the Marion
County Law Library is NOT moving! There have been some
technological changes around here recently, but MCLL staff
has continued to push forward.
Tillamook County
Housed in the upstairs of the Tillamook Library at 1716 3rd
street, they are open 9am-9pm Monday through Thursday and
9am—5:30pm Friday—Sunday.
Washington County
Laura and Sue welcome Paula Simon, our new Law Library Assistant. In addition to having a full array of library, public service, and administrative assistant skills and experience, Paula
is patient, smart, funny, and a geek! Sue and I might just be
able to start dreaming about catching up on our backlog of
projects.
We have completed our 1953-93 ORS imaging project and all
images have been sent to Legislative Counsel, which will host
them at the Legislature's website. We have also sent a set of
the images to the State Library, which will keep it for archival
purposes and possibly post the images to their Historic Oregon
Revised Statutes website: http://oldors.blogspot.com/
Laura and Sue have presented several outreach programs
these past few months. Our Small Claims Court programs and
our public library reference staff trainings were well attended.
You can find our latest public library training materials at our
website: http://is.gd/Le4IYI
Page 5
Trivia Questions
by Amber Boedigheimer
1.How many Presidents have libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)?
2.What is the best known naturally occurring
thermal conductor?
90 degree angle in a day?
23. Known as the "King of Motown,” which male
singer was born in Detroit, Michigan?
Answers on Page 7.
3.Which coastal state has the shortest coastline?
4.How did B. F. Goodrich Company first use the
zipper?
5.What is the biggest gold nugget ever found?
6.What is the most populated Country in Central America?
7.What does PVC (the plastic) stand for?
8.What is the longest continuous truss bridge in
North America?
9.What are Switzerland’s four national languages?
Oregon Libraries
Networking Tip
10. Who invented the mercury thermometer?
11.What are the Olympic ring colors associated
with?
12. When does the US first use DST?
13. What is a dibber?
14. Who are Jasper and Jinx now known as?
15. What are the 4-Hs in 4-H?
You do not need to be a member of the Oregon Library
Association (OLA) to subscribe to their listserve—libsor. When you subscribe, you can specify the “Daily Digest” format for your preferred method of delivery. You
will then get your messages in batches rather than individual emails—a real time saver!
16. What is a Brannock Device®?
Here’s the website with more information and a fill-inthe-blank form (yeah-one of those!):
17. What was "victory cabbage"?
http://listsmart.osl.state.or.us/mailman/listinfo/libsor/
18. What country has loonie money?
The listserv is a great place to learn what other Oregon
libraries are doing and to view library job postings. It is
also a great place to seek solutions to your own library
problems and to help other library employees solve some
of their library work place issues.
19. What is an oenologist?
20. How many bones in each foot?
21. Which American city invented plastic vomit?
22. How many times do the clock hands form a
Page 6
On The Brink (Or, Possibly, Over The Edge)
Don’t Bogart That Book, My Friend: I guess they take libraries seriously in Texas. Just ask Jory Enck. Jory is a resident of Copperas
Cove, Texas. By the way, be careful how you pronounce the name
of that town. Anyway, Jory checked out a GED study guide from his
local library. Allegedly. He also neglected to return it. Allegedly.
That’s what led to the warrant for his arrest. No, I don’t make this
stuff up. Not possible. Jory Enck was arrested and jailed for
(allegedly) failing to return a library book.
Only human?: We sometimes imagine that our local communities
are the leading repositories of some particular brand of wingnut
looniness. Then something comes along to remind us that we are
not so unique, after all. Like the story of human. That’s right. human. His name used to be David Montenegro. But he changed it.
To human. human …. And here’s the thing. Even spellcheck
doesn’t like his name and keeps wanting to capitalize it… anyway,
human lives in New Hampshire, which emblazons its license plates
with the slogan “Live Free or Die.” That’s only a tiny bit ironic, considering where those license plates get manufactured, but then…..
Anyway, human wanted to have a custom plate that read
“COPSLIE.” Apparently, in addition to a thing about first and last
names, human has a grudge against police officers. All of them.
When the state denied his request for the custom plate, he sued.
And the NHCLU helped him. Not enough, because the final tally
was New Hampshire 1, human 0.
Was That You, Mr. Cheney?: Dick may not have been there, but he
would certainly understand. Seems this group of people were
hunting in Oklahoma. One of the intrepid hunters got spooked by a
“barking noise” according to Legally Weird, and shot his buddy in
the back. And here’s a surprising discovery; when you shoot your
friend in the back, bad things tend to happen. In the case of Omar
Pineda, the shooter, he was arrested for reckless conduct with a
firearm. His father-in-law, Perry Don James, was arrested for destruction of evidence because he threw the rifle Omar used in a
pond, forcing the cops to send in a dive team to recover it. Perry
Don was also arrested for being a felon in possession of a firearm
because, well, he’s a convicted felon, and he possessed a firearm.
Allegedly. Omar’s wife, Perry Don’s daughter, was arrested for
lying to the police about who did the shooting. And the hunters
never saw the game they were hunting. It was…. Sasquatch…
Bigfoot…the Abominable Snowman. Uh-huh. In Oklahoma. Lot of
weird stuff in the woods in Oklahoma, but Bigfoot ain’t one of them.
Criminal Masterminds: No issue of Brink would be complete without a story about a dumb crime/criminal. So here. According to
HuffPo, Mario Garcia and Domingo Garcia-Hernandez went to a
restaurant in the Chicago area and demanded food. One of the
men told the restaurant owner that they had a gun and would kill
him. Showing some ingenuity, the owner told them he was too
busy to serve them and that they should come back in an hour.
They did. He called the cops. The two would-be robbers went to jail
and their weapon was impounded. A water pistol. Squirt gun. For
squirts.
When You Gotta Go, You Gotta Go: To court, that is. As (almost)
everyone knows, when you are required to be in court and you
don’t show up, bad things happen. So when Michael Heller of
Redding, California had to go to court on a charge of stealing a car,
he had no transportation. What’s the logical thing? Steal a car. So
he did; allegedly. Michael told the cops who stopped him that he
had to steal the pickup truck that he was driving, because he didn’t
have any other way to make it to court on time. The cops gave him
a ride. Wasn’t that nice of them?
Remember Christmas?: You know, that holiday near the end of
the year, supposedly filled with peace and love, fruit cake and cookies? Not so much. According to Lowering the Bar, these happy
folks showed the Christmas spirit by attempting to kill each other,
on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day:
Krysta James allegedly
stabbed her fiancé after a dispute over the color scheme for their
upcoming wedding; Contisha Hayes allegedly stabbed her sister,
Tamara Delaney, after a Christmas dispute over apple fritters; Nadja Svenson was jailed after allegedly stabbing her father during a
dispute about the location of the Big Dipper (not, apparently, a
reference to a kitchen utensil); Bridget Putnam was arrested for
allegedly choking and stabbing a man who she said turned off her
crock pot; and finally, Helen Williams was arrested after allegedly
stabbing a man because he came home without the beer she wanted. What did she stab him with? A ceramic squirrel. Peace, love,
and ceramic critters.
Nope, You’re Still Dead: Ya just gotta love the law, Anything that
stupid has to be lovable, right? In an item from Lowering the bar,
here’s the operative line: “Miller returned to Ohio in 2005, whereupon his parents informed him he was dead.” Yup. Been gone too
long, Mr. Miller; your wife done filed to have you declared legally
dead, got the order, and the government started paying out on your
kids’ Social Security claims. What do you do now? Go to court.
Get yourself declared legally undead; no, wait, that’s a TV show.
And anyhow, when you go to court, the judge tells you, just like it
says above, “Nope, you’re still dead.” So Donald Eugene Miller,
Jr., formerly among the living of Arcadia, Ohio, who disappeared in
1994, is not, repeat not, among the living. He’s dead. Just ask
the judge. You can ask Donald Eugene yourself, but you can’t rely
on what he tells you. After all, he’s a Dead Guy; no, wait, that’s a
beer.
Page 7
When We Have a Moment to Unwind, We Read!
By Diana Hadley
Janelle, from Columbia County shared
the following: “I have just started a
book about anger The Other Side of
Love by Gary Chapman. I am so far
finding it an interesting read. I am
waiting for the new book The First
Phone Call from Heaven. I have read
all of author Mitch Album books and
Miranda is reading The Unwinding: An Inner History of the
New America by George Packer for school & recently finished
Hamlet by Shakespeare & Fast Times in Palestine by Pamela
Olson (non-fiction). She reads way more intellectually than I
do….
they are great.”
Martha J is enjoying a series of mysteries by Rennie Airth
(Book Number 1 is River of Darkness). The series begins after
World War I and features Inspector John Madden. The books
are well written, with complicated plots that twist & untwist
in proper British mystery fashion!
Peggy truly loves the Pattersons – James & Richard North
(who, upon a quick Google search, are NOT related although
they write in similar genres). Their latest books, Alex Cross’s
Trial by James Patterson & Richard DiLallo & Conviction by
Richard North Patterson, are next up on her reading list. Currently, she is reading the Simple Truth by David Baldacci.
Down in Klamath Falls, which has had some extremely low
temperatures this winter & is already in drought conditions,
Amy is now reading (on her bedside) The Bookman’s Tale by
Charles Lovett. For work, Law Librarianship in the Digital Age
by Ellyssa Kroski, is taking her reading time. Amy thoughtfully
provided links to information on them for us!
Here in the land of the Umpqua, I am reading a variety of
things, as usual. The latest Marcia Muller/Bill Pronzini series
mystery, The Spook Lights Affair, is delightful with just enough
twists & history to make me want to jump in the car & visit
the City by the Bay, crossing the Golden Gate on the way &
discovering what used to be a suburb but has now been engulfed by the urban sprawl, Carville. Lost Lake is the latest
Sarah Addison Allen title about grief, love, & coming to where
you are meant to be which takes some longer than others.
She’s a Southern writer & a bit whimsical & just the right
touch of magic. I worked my way through most of Going Clear
by Lawrence Wright – an interesting & well documented book
on Scientology. I listen to audio books almost every night &
finished the entire available FBI Thriller series (read them
awhile ago) by Catherine Coulter in addition to several Kristin
Hannah titles.
Trivial Answers
By Amber Boedigheimer
1. 13
2. Diamond
3. New Hampshire
4. Gideon's fastener’s, renamed zippers, were used on a new type of
rubber boots or galoshes
5. Welcome Stranger was found at Moliagul, Victoria, Australia in
1869 by John Deason and Richard Oates
6. Guatemala
7. Polyvinyl chloride
8. The Astoria–Megler Bridge
9. French, German, Italian and Romansh
10. German physicist, Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit
11. The five rings symbolize the five significant continents
12. 1918
13. A pointed wooden stick used to plant crops
14. Cat's name is Jasper, and the mouse is officially known as Jinx.
15. Head, Heart, Hands, and Health
16. The Brannock Device is a measuring instrument used for measuring a person's shoe size.
17. Sauerkraut
18. Canada
19. Someone who studies the science of wine and winemaking
20. 26
21. Chicago
22. 44 times
23. Smokey Robinson