By Elisabeth McKechnie and Susan Llano
Elisabeth McKechnie is a Reference Librarian at the UC Davis Law Library.
She can be reached at .

Susan Llano is a Reference Librarian at the UC Davis Law Library.
She can be reached at .

“Introducing and Integrating Free Internet Legal Research into the Classroom” by Jootaek Lee, University of Miami Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2010-05, Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1509673
In this article, the author explores the pros and cons of introducing free internet legal research tools into the classroom. He discusses whether it is appropriate to introduce and encourage the use of these free resources to the students and also how these resources may be evaluated to justify their inclusion in the classroom.

“A Gentle Reminder to Special-Collections Librarians” by Tod Gilman, Chronicle of Higher Education, April 29, 2010
Available online to subscribers at http://chronicle.com/article/A-Gentle-Reminder-to/65235/ As the title of this article suggests, the author tries to remind librarians (in a gentle and humorous way) not to be so hyper-vigilant about protecting their collections that they deny access to them. He uses his frustrating experience with a special collections librarian in London as an example.

“I Patent Your Ass. And Your Leg. And Your Nostril” by Ben Goldacre, The Guardian, reprinted at Bad Science, April 2, 2010
Available online at http://www.badscience.net/2010/04/i-patent-your-ass-and-your-leg-and-your-nostril/ This article discusses a recent victory by the ACLU and the Association for Molecular Pathology against a company called Myriad which formerly had held patents for the breast cancer gene BCRA1. The effect of the patent was to limit testing for this gene to a single, expensive, test put out only by Myriad. The article goes on to discuss the recent trend of companies attempting to patent (and profit from) elements found freely in nature, including human genetics and the chilling effect it has on research.

“Bad Blogs? Lawyers Blast FindLaw Offerings as Spam” by Rachel M. Zahorsky, ABA Journal, May 1, 2010 Available online at http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/bad_blogs
When Findlaw launched 15 blogs, they were originally touted as sources of local legal news. Legal bloggers disagree, stating that the blogs are thinly disguised marketing tools to draw in business for lawyers who buy FindLaw marketing services and even the news posted is an inaccurate hash of local accident reports and cases written by non-attorney hacks.