Watching the Polls

As Americans move into another election cycle, public opinion polls will become hot topics for the media, the candidates and the voters. Opinion polls also provide excellent background and statistical information for law-related research papers and articles. LexisNexis Polls & Surveys (part of LexisNexis Academic Universe--Reference) is a subscription database provided to all Hofstra students through the Axinn Library. It offers searchable full-text access to the comprehensive collection of United States public opinion sources maintained by the nonprofit Roper Center for Public Opinion Research. LexisNexis Polls & Surveys is the place to find polls conducted by sources such as Harris, Roper, network television and cable news organizations, and major American newspapers such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. Topics range from politics and government to business, international relations, social affairs, and consumer behavior and preferences. Search criteria include keyword, survey sponsor, U.S. adults or registered voters, and survey date. A direct link to LexisNexis Polls & Surveys is provided on the Hofstra “Libraries” page, under “Research Databases.” For off-campus access, a network user name and password are required.
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Money in Politics

Want to know who contributes to your favorite (or least favorite) politician? Wondering how much was spent to influence Congress either pro or con on Net Neutrality, Social Security or other issue? The place to go is the Center for Responsive Politics' Opensecrets.org - "Your Guide to Money in the U.S. Elections." Look at "who gives", "who gets" and the corporate connections of the White House officials. Just be ready for lots of $$$ .

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User Manuals and Guides

It can be very frustrating when you can't find the user manual that came with a product when you finally need to consult it. UsersManualGuide.com is here to help. This web site provides user manuals, operating instructions and user guides for most products available from Panasonic, Sharp, Casio, Yamaha Audio, Funai, ICOM, Phillips, Motorola and Samsung. Manuals are even available in many different languages.

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European Legislative resource

Trying to track down foreign legal documents in English from a reliable source is tricky. So finding a site like Legislationline is always welcome. It calls itself a free online legislation database, and so it is for its designated purpose.

Legislationline is hosted and maintained by the ODIHR (Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights) a specialized institution of the OSCE (Organization for Security in Co-operation in Europe). Coverage is limited to Europe for the subjects of elections, human rights and democratization. Actually alot is covered by these subjects: immigration, death penalty, citizenship, etc. In addition to Germany, France, the Russian Federation; nations such as Turkey, Croatia, Armenia, Finland are represented. When they say "Europe" they mean all of Europe.

The translations are not official, but considering the source are more trustworthy than might be found - if found - on other sites. They also engage in analysis of legislative activities and these are available. Depth and breadth of coverage varies from country to country and by subject.

The site has been redesigned, so at this time content is being checked and the navigation system tested, but it is still worth checking out. Look forward to visiting there again when the redesign is final

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FactCheck.org - Annenberg Political Fact Check

This wonderful resource is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. As a nonpartisan, nonprofit, "consumer advocate" for voters its mission is to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. It does so in a most unique way, by monitoring the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases. Take a look.

The analysis of the above materials is meticulous, citing to sources used to confirm or question accuracy of information. This is a wonderful tool for your arsenal when trying to determine accuracy or bias of information you may be relying on in both your personal and professional lives.

The subtitle on their homepage is a quote from former Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan:

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, not their own facts".


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Out to the...Baseball Hall of Fame

Even cats can't help noticing crowds of human baseball fans all over Long Island and the entire New York City area at this time of year. Whether you are an avid fan of the game or not, take a few minutes out of your study or work routine to visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Visitors to this wonderful Web site of sports and social history can spend as much or as little time as they wish with facts, photos, and fun features about the national pastime. My favorite sections include the Baseball History page--with "This Day in Baseball History," interviews and chats with famous players, and game capsules--and the "Dressed to the Nines" baseball uniform exhibit. The Hall of Fame's research library staff has also compiled some great articles and entertaining stories about the "best players and teams in their best seasons" and lesser-known baseball characters. Enjoy!

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Keeping Current

Keep up with this and your other favorite blogs and websites all in one place. My Yahoo and My Google are really easy-to-customize pages (aka RSS newsreaders for you techies out there) which allow you to read your favorite blogs and news services all on one page! You can even set up your page to get other information such as movie times, stock trackers, comics and the local weather.

If you need help, either respond to this posting with your email address or come visit your favorite Reference Librarian.

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Official Time

Everyone, including busy and time-conscious Bar review students, who would like to know and set his or her timepieces to the official U.S. Time will find the solution here. The online clock is accurate to within 0.2 seconds.

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I do share library space with humans

We cats do not like to be taken for granted. One of my brethren in NJ took action against a bear that did not know his place.

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The Avalon Project at Yale Law School

The Avalon Project is a massive collection of digital documents from the 18th century through today in the areas of law, history and diplomacy. There are many ways to search or browse. The site begins with a single top level Homepage. From there you can move to lists of documents organized by centuries, alphabetically by author/title or by subject or event. You can also move to a Search Page from the Homepage. Within the documents, many links have been added to take you from one document to another.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat