Law Library News

Law Library News Archive

May 2, 2005.
Kristy Moon, editor.

• Access to Japan's National Diet Library Materials
• Animal Law Research Sources
• Trial Ad Blog

Gallagher Law Library Offers Access to Japan’s National Diet Library Materials

--Rob Britt and Judy Davis

Gallagher Law Library has become a registered user of Japan's National Diet* Library (“NDL”). As members of a registered institution, the Law Library’s primary users (students, faculty, and staff of the UW Law School) may now borrow volumes or order photocopies of materials held by the NDL.

The NDL, similar to the U.S. Library of Congress, has extensive holdings in all fields, and in many Asian and European languages, including a very large and comprehensive collection of legal materials on Japan. NDL's holdings include over 2.6 million volumes of books and 110,000 magazine and newspaper titles in Japanese. NDL also holds over 280,000 doctoral dissertations.

Anyone can search the NDL's online catalog: http://opac.ndl.go.jp/index_e.html. Users can choose either the English or the Japanese interface. The NDL webpage also provides access to a very comprehensive index, produced by the NDL,to Japanese periodicals.

You will not be able to access the NDL catalog during their regularly scheduled maintenance times:

If you find items that you would like to borrow or would like to request a photocopy of, please enter information about the item(s) on the Law Library Interlibrary Loan (“ILL”) request form at http://lib.law.washington.edu/ill/borform.html, or contact:

Resource Sharing Office
W.H. Gates Hall Room L177
Phone: 206-543-4262
Email: lawlibil@u.washington.edu

NDL restricts users to borrowing no more than 10 volumes at a time. They also stipulate that the items borrowed must be used only within the borrowing library and that no photocopying of borrowed materials is allowed. The loan period is for a maximum of one month, not including the delivery time. Items are sent by registered airmail.

Photocopy requests are limited to no more than 30 items at a time. Copies are shipped about one week after a request is submitted to NDL.

* The National Diet is Japan’s legislature.

Animal Law Research Sources

--Jorge Juarez, Law Library Intern

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (“ASPCA”) designated April as the “Prevention of Animal Cruelty Month.” Additionally, May 1-7 is “Be Kind to Animals Week” in Seattle. The following sources are useful starting points for researchers interested in finding out more about animal rights and animal law:

Washington State

Every state has a statute prohibiting cruelty to animals. Washington’s can be found in the Revised Code of Washington § 16.52 - Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (KFW30 in Reference Area).

The Washington State Bar Association’s Animal Law Section put together a CLE seminar, Animal Law: A Bird’s Eye View, which includes information on a variety of topics such as animal issues relating to contracts, criminal law, and family law (KFW84.5 A5 A55 2003 in Classified Stacks).

Secondary Sources

• Animal Rights: Current Debates and New Directions, edited by Cass R. Sunstein and Martha C. Nussbaum (HV4708.A56 2004 in Classified Stacks), offers numerous perspectives on the campaign for animal rights from both its supporters and opponents. It also addresses ethical issues relating to ownership, promotion of animal welfare, and whether animals should have legal rights.
• Animals and the Law: A Sourcebook, by Jordan Curnutt (KF390.5.A5 C87 2001 in Classified Stacks), provides a wide overview of the legislation and the issues surrounding both domesticated and wild animals, as well as the roles of regulatory agencies and organizations that fight for proper treatment of animals. Other coverage includes landmark legal cases and well-known figures in the animal rights movement.
• Rattling the Cage: Towards Legal Rights For Animals, by Steven M. Wise (HV4708.W57 2000 in the Classified Stacks). The author, an animal-rights lawyer, legal scholar, and law professor has spent his career in courts across the United States, championing the interests of animals. This book is a thorough look at many of the legal and philosophical issues related to the treatment of animals by humans.
• Animal Law, a journal published by Lewis and Clark Law School (current issues shelved by title in Reference Area).

Websites

• The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals website, http://www.aspca.org. This is a great source for links to a variety of organizations, legal information, humane education, and publications focusing on fighting animal cruelty.
• The Seattle Humane Society, http://www.seattlehumane.org. A good source for information about local educational events and workshops.
• World Animal Net, http://www.worldanimal.net. An extensive database of animal protection societies with over 15,000 listings and more than 8,000 links to websites.

Trial Ad Blog

--Mary Whisner

Interested in trial practice? Thinking about becoming a litigator? Take a look at Trial Ad Notes, http://trialadnotes.blogspot.com. I put this together primarily for the students and faculty in the Trial Ad program, but anyone interested in trial practice (with a Washington focus) could find the news items, case summaries, and tips helpful. The blog is an experiment: in June we’ll decide whether to keep it up.