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Archive for the ‘Ask A Librarian’ Category (10 posts)

This is an interview with Colin Hess, currently an intern at the Law Library of Congress Information Technology Office providing Geographic Information System support. Describe your background I am from Chesterfield, Virginia and am a senior at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia (UMW).  I am a Geography major, with a concentration on …

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Today (currently Saturday, November 26 in New Zealand) is election day in New Zealand.  In addition to voting for a candidate standing in their district (“electorate“) and for the political party that they want in Parliament, voters will be participating in a referendum on whether the electoral system should be changed. The current electoral system …

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The following is a guest post by Megan Lulofs, a Legal Information Analyst in the Public Services Division. About a month ago, I received a seemingly simple question through our Ask A Librarian service: was there ever a New York court case between a Barnum and a Hannum in 1869 or 1870, and if so, …

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We’re Here to Serve

The following is a guest post by Megan Lulofs, who works as a contractor from CGI in our Collection Services Division, and as an independent consultant in our Public Services Division of the Law Library of Congress. Just last week I started answering questions from our Ask A Librarian service–and I love it. I’ve been looking forward …

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I’ve previously shared some of the questions that have come in through our Ask A Librarian service, but I have not yet blogged about some of the questions we get in person in the Reading Room. Recently, a patron* asked for assistance in researching a U.S. Supreme Court case about her grandfather: Watkins v. U.S., …

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Sometimes, the online questions we get through “Ask A Librarian” are harder to answer than others, as my previous posts can attest.  A couple of weeks ago, someone* inquired about a reference notation in the Internal Revenue Code of 1939, Public Law 76-1, 53 Stat. 1.  At the end of Section 22 on page 9, …

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My 11th grade English teacher* sent me a Facebook message a couple of weeks ago asking for assistance in locating the records and briefs from Brown v. Board of Education.  I replied with a list of resources, including exhibits at the Library of Congress and the National Archives.  In answering his question, I realized that …

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Shanghaied!

As you can see from my previous post on researching Al Capone’s jury, some of the questions that come through “Ask A Librarian” can be quite fascinating. Some on their face appear simple, but upon further research, reveal hidden depths. A recent question involved a private law from the 71st Congress (1929-1931).*  Private laws affect …

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As you saw from Kelly’s post, we have quite a group of foreign legal specialists working for us. She mentions the legal reference librarians that work at the Law Library and you may have found yourself asking “what is a legal reference librarian?” and “how does someone become one of those?” The answer to that, …

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A few weeks ago my mother asked me to research a bit of family lore. Like a good daughter sometimes does, I forgot. But then! Then I saw the exact same question in our “Ask A Librarian” service! (For background, patrons may send a question through the Library of Congress “Ask A Librarian” service. These …

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