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.

 

New Books at The Zief Law Library: January 2023

Six book covers from the January new books list.

The Zief Law Library added new materials to its collection in January 2023! Check out some of our new titles, with topics including: contracts; copyright; administrative law; criminal law; and criminal procedure. Explore our monthly New Materials at Zief Law Library webpage for the full list of recent arrivals.

Blockchain Resources at Zief

You may have heard the good news that Professor Michele Neitz has joined the USF School of Law faculty and brought the Blockchain Law for Social Good Center and a seminar on Blockchain Technology and the Law with her. This week, we take a quick dive into what blockchain is and highlight some blockchain research resources available to you through Zief Law Library.

What is Blockchain Technology and Why Should Law Students Care About It?

In general, blockchain technology helps decentralize the movement and management of data and digital representations of assets or other value. It enables transaction authentication and settlement without centralized intermediaries or authorities. Importantly, there are many evolving applications for blockchain technology, including cryptocurrencies, online voting, medical records, insurance policies, property and real estate records, copyrights and licenses and supply chain tracking. In “smart contracts,” blockchain technology embeds payouts between the contracted parties and automatically executes when the parties meet their contractual conditions. Continue reading “Blockchain Resources at Zief”

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”

Level Up Your Studies with Resources From CALI!

While Zief has many traditional study aid books and eBooks, like our Examples & Explanations or Glannon Guides, it also provides you with access to the CALI (the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction) website. Built by law professors and law librarians, it has 1,200 interactive lessons on law school topics, podcasts, outlines, and open-access casebooks. While your professors may assign material from CALI, you can also take full advantage of this resource on your own! This week, we’ll explore some of its resources, when you might need them, and how to access them.

CALI, who also sponsors the law school’s CALI Awards (awarded to the top earners in each law school course), is a non-profit consortium of most U.S. law schools and legal educators. For over 40 years, the organization has helped research and develop computer-mediated legal education and, today, it provides law students with a wealth of materials to help with law school success.

CALI’s most popular resource, CALI Lessons, bring you interactive lessons and quizzes on specific topics from your 1L and upper-division classes. In addition to helping you fortify your knowledge of the black-letter law, the CALI lessons also cover law school skills, with topics such as “Law School Success,” “Legal Research,” and “Bar Success and Planning.” For example, its newest lesson, “Cases & Outlining: The Basics,” offers 1Ls a step-by-step lesson in creating a course outline with content from case law. Not sure which lessons might be helpful? Check out their handy Lessons by Subject Outline to see which lessons correspond to your topics.

So, whether you’re a 1L or upper division law student, CALI’s lessons, podcasts, and open-access eBooks offer you a broad selection of resources to help you succeed in law school. While you can always check them out throughout the semester, now that we’re in a new semester, it may be most helpful to see which resources they have for your new course load. That way, you’ll be ready with access to the materials you need.

Interested in learning more? See the Zief staff to get your CALI access code, or chat with one of the research librarians for more tips on how to use CALI alongside your other favorite learning materials!

Law Library Hours: Spring Semester

Welcome back, everyone! The Zief Law Library team hopes you had a wonderful and restful winter break. The library resumes regular services on Monday, January 9th and will have the following hours:

Monday – Thursday: 8:00am – 11:00 pm;

Friday: 8:00am – 8:00pm;

Saturday: 9:00am – 8:00pm;

Sunday: 10:00am – 11:00pm.

Zief Research and Reference services:

Monday – Friday: 10:00am – 5:00pm

Have a great semester!