Throughout the month of December, Harris County Law Library has been celebrating Self-Help Resources Month and featuring publications that are designed to assist those who are representing themselves in legal matters. Following this theme, we are pleased to announce that the law library has recently acquired several new titles from the In a Nutshell® series. Published by West Academic Publishing, the In a Nutshell® books provide concise summaries and explanations of a particular area of law. Designed as study guides, these small books are loaded with cases and statutes to guide the reader to a better understanding of the topic at hand. Some of our recent acquisitions cover such topics as legal drafting, electronic discovery and digital evidence, mental health law, children and the law, legal malpractice law, Section 1983 litigation, and consumer protection law. Look for these and other titles of interest in our Self-Help Collection or browse our collection using our catalog.
Latest & Greatest – Essentials of Texas Water Resources
Edited by Mary K. Sahs
Published by the State Bar of Texas
KFT 1646 .A75 E87 2016
Water, it can be said, is our greatest and most precious natural resource. It is both life-giving and life-sustaining as well as the subject of a complex and, oftentimes, political area of law. Thanks to a project of the State Bar of Texas Environmental & Natural Resources Law Section, the field of water law can be more easily understood. Now, in its fourth edition, Essentials of Texas Water Resources provides an overview of the challenges the state will face as the population continues to grow and shift and water resources become more burdened. The book begins with an overview of the two systems of water rights: surface water and ground water, and the legislative oversight given to these two systems in the forms of water districts and river authorities and regional water districts. Key to this oversight are the protections afforded to water rights by the enforcement statutes set forth in the Texas Water Code. Using the lessons learned from the most recent drought here in Texas, the authors also address changes made to the state’s water planning laws and the evolution of the groundwater management as well as some water management strategies. Other issues include the effect of the Endangered Species Act on water rights, the economic value of water, and the governmental acquisition of water rights. Filled with many handy illustrations, this book is an invaluable resource for those new to the field of water law and for those who simply need a brush-up.
New Features on Lexis Advance Coming in January 2017
Today, the Legal Tech Institute at Harris County Law Library hosted a training session called Introduction to Lexis Advance. This Vendor Visit provided a nice overview of basic search functions within Lexis Advance and featured many tips and tricks for more effectively locating cases and statutes. The session also offered a preview of upgrades that will be added to the Law Library's Lexis subscription in January. Upgrades include:
- National Primary Plus - National cases, statutes, administrative and agency materials plus all law reviews and journals
- National Briefs, Pleadings, and Motions - includes documents from the most dynamic and high-stakes practice areas of litigation
- National Verdicts and Settlements - including IDEX and American Lawyer Media (ALM) VerdictSearch
- News - robust collection of all LexisNexis news sources
- Matthew Bender Federal Practice Forms - provides a complete range of litigation forms needed for practice in any federal court from federal district courts through and including the Supreme Court of the United States
- Lexis for Microsoft Office
The Legal Tech Institute will offer training sessions in the new year to introduce these and other features of Lexis Advance. Check the LTI Course Catalog for details about Vendor Visits and the rest of our legal tech CLE programs.
December is Self-Help Resource Month at the Harris County Law Library
Throughout the month of December, the Law Library will feature a number of self-help resources for pro se litigants. Handbooks, research guides, and concise legal treatises, including those in the Nutshell series from West Academic Publishing, will be on display in the library. We will also feature a number of do-it-yourself websites, including TexasLawHelp.org, on our blog.
As always, the Law Library staff is happy to help you identify resources from our collection that will meet your legal needs. Please stop by the reference desk for assistance. You may also consult our Community Legal Resources guide where we've provided contact information for a variety of legal assistance organizations in the greater Houston area.
Latest & Greatest – Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & Law
The Harris County Law Library is excited about the latest addition to its HeinOnline subscription database: Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & Law. Consisting of cases, statutes, scholarly articles and much more, this comprehensive library is a one-stop resource for legal and non-legal materials on slavery. Among the highlights are:
- the complete five-volume set of Judicial Cases Concerning American Slavery and the Negro
- United States Supreme Court cases from 1786-1880
- selected federal cases from the circuit courts
- anti-slavery periodicals covering topics such as abolitionist movements, black authors, colonization, emancipation, and politics
- records of Congressional debates
- slavery statutes from all states
- law review articles and legal commentary
- histories of slavery from UNC Press Publications.
There are also links to external sources and digital collections documenting American slavery from such institutions as the Library of Congress, the Law Library of Congress, and the University of North Carolina Greensboro.
As with the other libraries found on HeinOnline, Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & Law is fully searchable. Using HeinOnline’s “Slavery Quick Finder,” you can focus your search by selecting position, e.g. anti-slavery or pro-slavery, document type, jurisdiction, and topic. Document types range from biographies and pamphlets to cases and government reports. Jurisdictional choices include not only the United States and Great Britain but also Africa and Haiti. If you’re simply looking to browse the collection, just click on the category tabs at the top of the page.
The next time you’re visiting the Harris County Law Library, be sure to have a look at this historical collection detailing the history of slavery in America and abroad. Just ask a law librarian if you need assistance.
