It’s still National Library Week, and so we’re still geeking out over exactly how great libraries are. From public libraries (which are, as Keith Richards, an almost-librarian, said “the great equalizer[s]”) , to the library at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the Folger Shakespeare Library. And law libraries, of course. Many law libraries are open to the public and provide information that is, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, “the currency of democracy.” Law libraries also provide an important service to members of the bar and courts; Justice Sandra Day O’Connor once noted that the law library “provides the stability and continuity for the rule of law.”

So it was no surprise to us when CNN ran a story recently declaring librarians “masters of the info universe.” Neil Gaiman, a longtime advocate for libraries, said much the same thing last year.

By the way, while we’re on the subject of libraries, have you checked out our trivia contest yet? If you’re one of the students with the most correct answers about your own College of Law Library, your name will be entered into a drawing for a $50 Target gift card. Don’t wait too long, though – you only have until Sunday, April 17th, at 11:59 p.m. While you’re at it, do us a favor and fill out our short student survey. This is your chance to let us know how we’re doing and what we can do to improve our services to you. The survey will be available until Friday, April 29th at 5:00 p.m.

Just in case you haven’t heard, there’s a lot going on in the world of sports right now. The NFL’s players are locked out, Barry Bonds is facing trial for perjury, there’s some sort of basketball tournament happening, and the usual scandals surrounding college athletes and recruiting violations are going on. Did you know that all of this has to do with law? Specifically, it all has to do in one way or another with sports law.

Sports law covers a lot of areas of law that interact with sports – contracts, ADR, antitrust, IP, torts, and employment law being just a few. The Legal Information Institute, a site that we love, has a pretty good overview with links to some of the major statutes and most recent cases. In the Law Library,we have some great books on the subject, like Sports Justice, Female Gladiators, and Courting the Yankees, which features a chapter by our very own Professor Jack Williams.

If you’re more interested in what’s going on now, check out a few of the many blogs devoted to sports and the law, like Findlaw’s Tarnished Twenty or the aptly named Sports Law Blog. If you’re interested in college sports, keep an eye on the College Sports Law Blog and the NCAA Bylaw Blog. If you’re more interested gender issues in sports, there’s the Title IX Blog. Finally, for those who are really invested in their fantasy baseball/basketball/football leagues, there’s always the Sports Judge Blog. In addition to discussing legal issues affecting fantasy gaming, SportsJudge also handles dispute resolution for fantasy sports leagues, complete with options.

Now, we’re not saying that watching ESPN can substitute for, say, studying for classes, but the next time you’re watching SportsCenter, just remember – there’s a lot more law there than you’d think.

Let’s face it: you’re in law school, which means that it’s almost certain that you’ve seen Law and Order. You may have even heard your pet howl at the sound of the theme song. And you’re aware by now that, while great TV, L&O may not accurately represent every aspect of the legal system. But you lack cold, hard data to back that up.

Well, now you have some. Back in May, the website Overthinking It asked its readers to complete a short survey every time they watched an episode of Law & Order. In February, it was announced that they had information on every episode from the first ten seasons. If you compare that with information from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, like Felony Sentences in State Courts, you can see some of the differences. In real life, 94% of felony cases end in a guilty plea; on Law & Order, only 36.7% end in a plea bargain.

The data compiled by Overthinking It is limited to the outcome of the trial and doesn’t include, for example, the percentage of trials before a jury (in real life, only 4% of felony cases are tried before a jury), or information on sentencing. If you want to compile that information for yourself, or check any of Overthinking It’s data, check out our Leisure Collection – we have nine seasons of Law & Order on DVD (i.e., all of the seasons currently released on DVD).