Pew Internet report on Generational Use

The Pew Internet & American Life Project has just released its latest report which surveys generational use among internet users (Generations Online in 2009). Briefly:

Teens and Generation Y (internet users age 18-32) are the most likely groups
to use the internet for entertainment and for communicating with friends and
family. These younger generations are significantly more likely than their
older counterparts to seek entertainment through online videos, online games,
and virtual worlds, and they are also more likely to download music to listen
to later. Internet users ages 12-32 are more likely than older users to read
other people's blogs and to write their own; they are also considerably more
likely than older generations to use social networking sites and to create
profiles on those sites.

Compared with teens and Generation Y, older generations use the internet less
for socializing and entertainment and more as a tool for information searches,
emailing, and buying products. In particular, older internet users are
significantly more likely than younger generations to look online for health
information. Health questions drive internet users age 73 and older to the
internet just as frequently as they drive Generation Y users, outpacing teens
by a significant margin. Researching health information is the third most
popular online activity with the most senior age group, after email and online
search.

I would guess that not many librarians are part of the survey groups since we all know that librarians are usually on the cutting edge of many of the new technologies. As is evidenced by several of our recent programs at our Spring Institutes and Annual Meetings, ALLUNY certainly has quite a few members who are actively involved in the various forms of communication mentioned above. And I would hazard a guess that our average age is probably considered part of the Boomer generation.

Not only do we have a presence on MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and Second Life, some of us have the latest gadgets be they MP3 players, iPods, Blackberries, or iPhones (does anyone have a Kindle yet?). Still others follow many blogs and engage in podcasting. Exciting times and we as a group - as well as individuals - are not only ahead of the curve but embracing the new technologies as fast as we can get them.

Good ideas for technology surveys

I'm scooping Laura, here, on her own recommendation, gleaned from one of her tweets. I'm finding the suggestions for technology surveys (for lawyers and clients) here: http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/a_powerful_little_tool_you_must_use/ very interesting. I'm thinking about how to adapt these ideas for students and faculty -- and also wondering about drafting such a survey for ALLUNY. Fun?

News from the Historical Society

In conjunction with the State's celebration of the Henry Hudson quadricentennial, the Historical Society of the Courts of the State of New York is running an essay competition for community college students. As a resource for that, the Historical Society has produced an article on the legal history of New Netherland which is available on their website: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/history/

I think ALLUNY members will very much enjoy this illustrated essay. (And please share the contest with any interested community college students!) Many, many thanks to Frances Murray for sharing the link.

New Lexis Web beta

http://kmspace.blogspot.com/2009/01/lexis-web-search.html

Two neat web resources from Tom Mighell at Internet Legal Research Weekly

If you're not already a subscriber, here is the address for Tom's web site and blog: http://www.inter-alia.net/

Two good finds from his recent issue:

TradeAgreements.gov
http://www.tradeagreements.gov/

This site represents an interagency effort by the United States to provide
the public with the latest information on America's trade agreements.
You'll find links here to learn more about free trade agreements, including
news, speeches, press releases, and fact sheets. And of course the site has
information on pending and existing free trade agreements, which you can
browse by country.

Reprinted from LLRX:

Researching Medical Literature on the Internet
http://www.llrx.com/features/medical2008.htm

I haven't mentioned anything from the great legal research site LLRX in a
while, so I'm glad to talk about this article. It's published by Gloria
Miccioli, a law librarian for Manatt Phelps in Washington, D.C. She
provides a great listing of sites that will help you research medical
literature on the Internet. Much of the article is taken up talking about
the fantastic National Library of Medicine databases, but you'll also find
other U.S. government sites, medical metasites, medical libraries and
librarians, drug information, journals and textbooks, visual information,
medical search engines, and a lot more. This is a terrific resource

New Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys

I found out today there will be new rules governing attorney conduct in New York State. A New York Law Journal article dated Dec. 17, 2008, gives the details; the rules, effective April 1, 2009 (sigh - some breathing room) will replace the good ol' New York Lawyer's Code of Professional Responsibility. The state bar association's web site has no information about this change, but the state court's and the ABA's web site include this news, along with the text of the new rules.

I found out about the rules because one of this firm's attorneys is seeking a correlation table between the old and new rules, along with a 'black-lined" version of the to-be-replaced (to-be old?) rules. Good luck, I say. Perhaps a publisher will make this information available when the rules are published in print format. Any news - please send it my way, or better yet, share it here.

The LinkedIn Lawyer: The Tao of Twitter: An intro guide

The LinkedIn Lawyer: The Tao of Twitter: An intro guide