George H. Pike
Director of the Barco Law Library and
Assistant Professor of Law
University of Pittsburgh School of Law

I can be reached at:

or by e-mail at pike@law.pitt.edu

See also a brief resume.

Courses taught:

Information Law and Policy:  This course focuses on the legal, political and economic impact of information in society. The course will explore the creation and dissemination of information in the private and public sectors, the constitutional dimensions of information access, legal mechanisms and policies that serve to control or restrict access to information such as FOIA and copyright, the balance between access and privacy concerns, the economics of information access and the accompanying societal impact. The course will explore information in traditional forms as well as electronic forms with particular emphasis on unique challenges raised by electronic information. Students will be expected to complete an extensive writing assignment and prepare an in-class presentation on a topic related to information access or policy. Students will also be required to report on the information available from and disclosure requirements of a government or private sector entity, by seeking information about themselves.  This course is an elective in the Intellectual Property and Technology Law Certificate Program

 

Foundations of Legal Research: A one-credit concentrated course that provides students with foundational legal research skills in caselaw, statutes and legislative history, administrative materials, use of secondary sources, shepardizing, and integrates traditional print resources with online, CD/ROM and Internet resources.  

Specialized Legal Research:  The focus is on advanced and specialized research areas including: foreign and international research; topical research in the areas of taxation, environmental law, labor law, securities and intellectual property; medical and scientific research; and non-legal business and corporate research, with a particular emphasis on practical research skills and research methodology. The course emphasizes the use of inter-disciplinary and non-traditional research tools including online, CD-ROM and Internet resources.

Legal Research on the Internet:  This course will focus on effective, efficient and thorough use of Internet research sources. The course will include discussions of when to utilize the web and when not to use the web, what materials are actually on the web, using general web search tools like search engines and databases, primary source materials on the web, international, factual and investigative materials on the web, proprietary and fee based resources, use of e-mail and listserves as research tools, ethical concerns about information gleaned from the web and the use and citation of web-based resources.

Law Resources and Services (School of Information Sciences, Department of Library Science):  The administration and organization of law libraries with emphasis on knowledge of the judicial system and the literature of law.