Voting Form: Zief Pets Winter-Themed Costume Contest

USF School of Law, many thanks to those who submitted to the Zief Pets Winter-Themed Costume Contest! It’s now time to determine first, second, and third-place costumes…

STEP 1: Visit the Zief Pets wall located on the first floor of the Zief Law Library to view this year’s talented pet contestants.

STEP 2: Fill out the Zief Pets Winter-Themed Costume Contest VOTING SURVEY.

Winners will be announced on Monday, December 11th, 2023. For community members still hoping to win, it’s not too late to fill out the Zief Pets Winter Costume Contest Submission Form! Visit the original ZiefBrief blog post, “Zief Pets Presents Winter-Themed Costume Contest!” for more information on the contest.

The image shows promotional material for Zief Pets Winter-Themed Costume Contest voting. The image imcludes a QR Code and a bitly link to access the voting Google Form.
Promotional material for Zief Pets Winter-Themed Costume Contest voting.

Zief Pets Presents: Winter-Themed Costume Contest!

Calling all pets! Celebrate the Winter season with Zief Law Library’s Zief Pets Winter-Themed Costume Contest! Submit pictures of your pets in their Winter-themed costumes or festive attire for your chance to win a special prize. Law school community members will vote on their favorite pets and prizes will be awarded to first, second, and third place. Outfits can include themes such as Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, Boxing Day, Lunar New Year, winter season, and more!

All submissions will be featured on the Zief Pets Wall in the Zief Law Library. To participate, please fill out the Google Form by Sunday, December 3rd, 2023, using the QR code on the image below or visit https://bit.ly/3SrYE30. Winners will be announced on Monday, December 11th, 2023. 

The image shows a promotional graphic for the Zief Pets Winter-Themed Costume Contest. The graphic shows a cartoon penguin and a cartoon polar bear. The penguin's speech bubble says, "Zief Pets Presents: Winter Costume Contest," with the Zief Law Library Logo. The text on the image reads: "Submit photographs of your pets wearing winter or holiday-themed outfits. All submissions will be featured on the Zief Pets Wall in the Zief Law Library. Prizes will be awarded to First, Second, and Third Place. To participate, fill out the Google Form using the QR Code or visit https://bit.ly/3SrYE30." The cartoon polar bear's speech bubble reads: "Submit by Sunday, December 3rd, 2023. Vote until Sunday, December 10th, 2023. Winners announced Monday, December 11th, 2023."
Promotional graphic for the Zief Pets Winter Costume Contest.

Zief Pets Presents: Halloween Costume Gallery!

Celebrate the spooky season with Zief Law Library as we introduce Zief Pets Presents: Halloween Costume Gallery! Whether a dog, cat, iguana, or even a pet rock, Zief Pets wants to see your pets’ best Halloween looks!

Submit pictures of your pets in their Halloween costumes or festive attire, and we will display them on the Zief Pets wall in Zief Law Library from Monday, October 30th to Monday, November 6th. To participate, please fill out the Google Form by October 30th, using the QR code on the image below or visit bit.ly/ZiefPetsHalloween23.

Advertisement flyer for Zief Pets with a cartoon cat and dog in ghost costumes.

 

 

UN World Day of Social Justice 2023

This week, ZiefBrief celebrates the UN World Day of Social Justice and reflects on our commitment to social development, well-being, equity, and equality. As part of the USF community, Zief Law Library shares in the university’s and law school’s Jesuit mission towards creating a more just world for everyone, which requires pursuing social justice from multiple angles and perspectives. Here, we take a look at how the law library contributes to social justice work, and invite you to consider how you might pursue social justice causes too.

What is the World Day of Social Justice?

In 2007, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted Resolution 62/10, declaring February 20th as the UN’s World Day of Social Justice, recognizing, among other things, that “social development and social justice are indispensable for the achievement and maintenance of peace and security within and among nations and that, in turn, social development and social justice cannot be attained in the absence of peace and security or in the absence of respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms.” Building on the 1995 World Summit for Social Development, which recognized social justice, equity, and equality as major development goals, this resolution ultimately invites the UN Member States to promote concrete national activities and greater international unity towards eradicating poverty, promoting work opportunities and gender equality, and increasing access to well-being and justice.

This year’s theme, “Overcoming Barriers and Unleashing Opportunities for Social Justice” aims at strengthening global solidarity and trust in government,  and initiating conversation on “actions needed to strengthen the social contract that has been fractured by rising inequalities, conflicts and weakened institutions that are meant to protect the rights of workers.” It hopes that this dialogue results in greater investment in decent labor opportunities for young people and in green, digital, and care economies.  It poses the following questions to consider:

  • What are the key bottlenecks and challenges to overcoming rising inequalities, decent work deficits, including lack of access to social protection, digital exclusion and disruption of trade?
  • What are the opportunities in the green and digital economy to reduce inequalities and promote social justice, in particular for youth?
  • What actions are needed by governments, the UN system, international financial institutions, employers’ and workers’ organizations, civil society and other stakeholders to increase investments for social justice?

Social Justice at USF, USF Law, and Zief Law Library

The USF Community, home to the Institute for Nonviolence and Social Justice and multiple public interest legal opportunities, is no stranger to social justice work. The law school’s clinics, for example, allow students to participate in social justice-related legal work across various practice areas, such as racial justice, immigration, and human rights. While Zief Law Library supports that work by maintaining research resources, the librarians – and indeed many other law librarians – incorporate social justice across many aspects of our work with students, faculty, and the public, whether it’s in the classroom, in the library, or even behind the scenes. Looking toward the year ahead, the Zief librarians and staff already have more exciting social justice-related ideas to put into action, but some highlights from this past year include:

  • creating a diversity, equity, and inclusion resource guide for law school faculty and staff;
  • incorporating more critical legal research-related discussions into our legal research instructional sessions, reflecting on power dynamics represented in legal systems and research tools and access to justice;
  • creating and revising instructional learning materials with accessibility at the forefront;
  • participating in creating a harmful language statement for USF Gleeson and Zief libraries to recognize potentially harmful materials and outdated descriptions;
  • maintaining knowledge about and promoting access to free and low-cost legal research resources;
  • expanding our collections of legal research materials, including social justice-related books, media, and databases; and
  • attending law librarian workshops, conferences, and panels where we share ideas and learn from other social justice-focused law librarians.

With all of the opportunities to further social justice through our work in the law library, it’s hard to imagine setting aside only one day for them all. So, while the UN’s World Day of Social Justice may only be just one day out of the year, Zief Law Library hopes you’ll join us in celebrating social justice every day.

 

Celebrating Black History Month: Legal History, Research Resources, and Community Events

In celebration of Black History Month, Zief Library Assistant Randall Seder takes a look at the social and legal history of the commemorative month, highlights Zief research resources, and presents some Bay-Area events of interest.

“Civil rights march on Washington, D.C. / [WKL].” Original black and white negative by Warren K. Leffler. Taken August 28th, 1963, Washington D.C, United States (@libraryofcongress). Colorized by Jordan J. Lloyd. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003654393/

LEGAL HISTORY


(Left) Photograph of Dr. Carter Woodson Public Domain, 1910. Hulton Archive/Getty Images
(Right) Lincoln Jubilee Choir, Chorus of 650 Voices. Lincoln Jubilee Album 50th Anniversary of Our Emancipation. Compiled by Lincoln Jubilee Photographer John H. Ballard. 1915.

Congress legally adopted Black History Month after passing Public Law 99-244 in 1886, but the true beginning of this annual month-long celebration of African American accomplishment, contribution, sacrifice, and culture began 70 years earlier with the work of the Virginia-born Black historian, author, and scholar Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson.  Continue reading “Celebrating Black History Month: Legal History, Research Resources, and Community Events”