SARA Library Catalog: New Book Lists

The BLS Library catalogers, Maria Okonska and Jeff Gabel, as part of their commitment to library patrons, periodically compile a new book list by subject. The new book list is accessible from SARA, the library’s public access catalog, using the link New Book Lists at the bottom of the page. The catalogers have also added to SARA a feature called Selected New Titles where library users can view images of book covers which link to the corresponding book record in the online catalog. As the law school moves to its new portal site, BLSConnect, the BLS library catalogers have now included the New Titles list there under the Library tab. Users of the portal can click on any book cover image to go to the corresponding book record in the library catalog.

One item of interest in the most recent new book list for August 13, 2009 is an appealing book in the ABA “little books of”series, The Little White Book of Baseball Law, by John H. Minan and Kevin Cole. This brief book is an enjoyable, short read that may be of interest to fans of America’s favorite past time as the major league season winds down. The book, divided into innings as opposed to chapters, discusses cases (with citations provided) relating to new stadium construction, ownership of baseball memorabilia, injured spectators, media contracts and even cases about rules of the game of baseball.

The publisher states that the book “is written in a short-story format with additional references to movies, songs, history, and other asides that will add to the reader's enjoyment.” For example, there is a reproduction of the indictment against Barry Bonds for steroid use included to stress the point that the market value of baseball memorabilia is tied to the reputation of the player to whom the memorabilia is related.

Another book from the series that is part of the BLS collection is The Little Red Book of Wine Law. A review of this book by Heather A. Phillips is available at the LLRX, the free Web journal dedicated to providing legal and library professionals with up-to-date information on Internet research, resources and tools. One additional book in the series that is not part of the BLS collection is The Little Green Book of Golf Law.