St. Thomas Law Library Faculty Services Blog

The New Faculty Services Page Table of Contents

2006-05-03T07:38:00.000-07:00

Faculty Services Page
What’s New:
Contact Information:
Law Library Guide for Faculty
Faculty Publications
Recent Acquisitions
Faculty Biographies
Research Requests
Research Request Form
Inter-disciplinary & Legal searches Document Retrieval
Assistance with Library Sources
Audio-Visual Requests
Set-up Request Form
Computer Assistance
Classroom Assistance
Purchase Requests
Book, DVD, Database Purchase Request Form
Office Copies
Subscriptions
Interlibrary Loan Requests
Inter-Library Loan Request Form
Main Library

I got married last week! So if you were wondering where I was....Viva Las Vegas!

2006-04-04T12:07:00.000-07:00

American Arbitration Association awards now on Lexis

2006-03-15T11:27:00.000-08:00

Available only on Lexis, hitherto inaccessible arbitration awards are now accessible in Lexis under the database identifier AAA. Party names and some other information is redacted for privacy reasons.

Quick Form: Electronic Interlibrary Loan

2006-03-07T12:12:00.000-08:00

For a Quick ILL without the paperwork, the Law Library has established a web form. After completing the form, the data is transmitted to the law library and your request submitted.

Try it.

A Digital Library of Europe

2006-02-24T13:08:00.000-08:00

The national libraries of Europe are combining forces to produce a single, searchable database of library holdings called “The European Library.” Currently the collections of 12 libraries are linked, with many more libraries to follow. On-line electronic articles are also searchable and linked when available. This site has the potential to allow researchers to discover hard-to-find library materials in Europe.

New Immigration Source – Bender’s Immigration Bulletin

2006-02-22T08:43:00.000-08:00

Bender’s has initiated a free website devoted to immigration issues: http://bibdaily.com/ .
The site joins others such as Immigration Daily and VisaPro to keep you on top of this rapidly evolving area of legal practice.

Rob surveys law Student Blogs

2006-02-07T13:43:00.000-08:00

Recently published, Rob Hudson conducted a survey of law students’ perception of law libraries. The article compiles student comments on books, librarians, study conditions, and many other subjects.

Hein-on-Line – more powerful than you think

2006-02-01T08:27:00.000-08:00

Long the most powerful source for law journal articles, Hein now is expanding into primary sources. Two new databases include the complete Statues at Large from 1789 to 2002, and a growing Legislative History database:

Indian treaties (7 Stat. 1778-1842)
U.S. Treaties until 1845 (8 Stat. 1778-1845)
U.S. Treaties 1845-1950 (64 Stat. 1950)

Complete legislative histories on a growing list of Acts such as the Copyright Act, the Clean Air Act, APA, ERISA, NAFTA, the Uruguay Round Agreements, & the Patriot Act.

Hein is quickly becoming our favorite library source!

New Books from Law Library Acquisitions: International Law

2006-01-26T13:17:00.000-08:00

“The Triggering Procedure of the International Criminal Court” looks at the ICC and the idea of ‘dormant jurisdiction.’ Extensive notes and bibliography. Call Number KZ 6314.043 (2005).

“The Hague: Legal Capital of the World” is a thorough examination of the City of International Law. Both the legal history of The Hague and the current role of the city in International Law are detailed. Fascinating. Call Number: KZ 6250.H34 (2005)

St. Thomas University’s Diplomacy Monitor & U.S. Law Schools News Brief

2006-01-26T12:32:00.000-08:00

If you are new to St. Thomas, check out our own homegrown internet resources. The St. Thomas University Diplomacy Monitor gathers diplomatic releases from governments around the world, and is the only site of its kind. The St. Thomas University U.S. Law Schools News Brief collects releases from law schools on subjects as diverse as guest speakers, Law Professor Announcements, and new law school programs. They are invaluable for staying informed in these two vital areas.

Looking for internet Video- Try Google Video

2006-01-19T13:49:00.000-08:00

Google has introduced a video search that pulls videos together from all sources on the net. You can use keywords to search for videos to be used for instruction or research. Some videos are free, while others charge a nominal fee. Try it.

WEX & Wikilaw – writers wanted for legal wikis

2006-01-18T11:21:00.000-08:00

Cornell’s Legal Information Institute sponsors a new wiki devoted exclusively to legal topics. It aspires to be both a legal dictionary and encyclopedia. As legal experts, you can add to the subjects in a manner similar to Wikipedia. Wex is a community based, collaborative, and free source for legal information. Check out WEX. A similar free legal encyclopedia called Wikilaw also encourages contributions.

TWEN & Blackboard web course set-ups

2006-01-09T13:07:00.000-08:00

If you need web course set-ups, please forward your request to Rob Hudson. Blackboard or TWEN classes can be created or modified quickly if you provide:

A Syllabus or other documents you need posted on your course.
Password information.

Please contact Rob Hudson at 2428 for further information.

Happy New Year from the Law Library

2006-01-03T08:15:00.000-08:00

If you will need microphones, projectors, or other services for your classes, we have a new audio-visual request form for the new semester. The form is linked from the front page of the law library website:

Audio-Visual Request Form

The form sends the completed information directly to Amado Lugo in the law library. Using the form will ensure your classroom media needs are met.

Thanks!

Christmas Library Hours

2005-12-13T07:29:00.000-08:00

Interterm Hours
Tuesday, Dec. 13th – Wednesday, Dec. 21st
2005
Monday – Friday ……………………………….8:00am-6:00pm
Saturday & Sunday…………………………………...CLOSED

LAW LIBRARY WILL BE CLOSED:
From Thursday, Dec. 22nd, 2005 to
Monday, January 2nd, 2006

Tuesday, Jan. 3rd – Friday, Jan. 6th
2006
Monday – Friday ……………………………….8:00am-6:00pm

Resume Regular Library Hours
Saturday, January 7th, 2006

Notice: Thirty minutes before library closing, lights will be flashed; closing procedures will start fifteen minutes before closing. Computers will be shut down and copy rooms will close fifteen minutes before library closes.

Focus on Legal Abbreviations

2005-12-06T12:02:00.000-08:00

How many legal abbreviations are there? The best print resource in the law library for legal abbreviations is Bieber’s “A Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations.” If you are not at the library several web-sites contain exhaustive listings of legal abbreviations:

The University of Washington Law Library provides an alphabetical listing which focuses on U.S Legal Abbreviations.

Cardiff University in Wales provides a larger list and a search by title feature covering world legal abbreviations.

Monash University in Australia also provides a comprehensive list of world legal abbreviations including U.S. cites.

Our favorite legal abbreviations include: Sneed, Spoon, Arch. Phil. Dr., Zab, and Fitzg.

The Legal Scholarship Network (LSN): Two New Resources for Law Professors

2005-11-28T13:49:00.000-08:00

LSN Educator: Courses, Materials, & Teaching
Designed as a nexus for law school teachers, LSN Educator provides materials such as casebook reviews, lecture notes, class summaries, syllabi, and many other resources from law professors. New materials will be sent periodically to your e-mail. Subscribe here.

LSN Indigenous Nations & Peoples Law
This is a new SSRN journal and includes new working papers and many other sources. New journal editions will be sent periodically to your e-mail. Subscribe here.

The Legal Scholarship Network is a forum of the Social Science Research Network (SSRN). These networks are for Professors to freely exchange scholarship and other information. Much of the material on SSRN and LSN is provided far in advance of publication for the benefit of the academic community as part of the open access effort.

The Law Library maintains a subscription to SSRN and LSN. Check:
http://www.ssrn.com/lsn/

Library Search Tip: Google Books

2005-11-21T08:22:00.000-08:00

Check out the new “Google Print” search for books, at Google Books. The site will produce matching books that contain the words you search for. When you select the book you want from the search results, Google Books will produce a snippet of the book containing the search terms and the context of their usage. You may be able to look at the full page where your search term appears, and possibly the entire work, copyright permitting.

You will need to register with Google.

After locating the book titles you need, you can ILL or borrow the material from the library. This is a fast way to find relevant literature in your research areas. Searches can be in any language.

Most of the older books are currently included in their entirely, although results are inconsistent due to legal restrictions. Plans for works still under copyright are pending.

BNA Highlights E-Mail Enhancements

2005-11-14T07:17:00.000-08:00

From BNA:

"BNA has made two major improvements affecting the e-mail highlights associated with our news publications:

E-mails are now being sent in HTML format. The HTML e-mail, which is more attractive and easier to read, responds to the requests of many subscribers and is now the BNA default. However, a plain text version can be requested.
Subscribing firms and companies now have the option of allowing individual users to sign themselves up for the e-mail highlights they are licensed to receive."

For more information on the new BNA Highlights Enhancements, contact Rob.

Computer Running a Little Slow?

2005-11-07T08:20:00.000-08:00

If your internet access is slower than it use to be, you may have hidden programs on your computer interfering with your applications. Programs such as adware, cookies, spyware, key loggers, and others, impede your computer’s ability to run efficiently. These are small files placed in your computer by websites you may have visited - without knowing they placed a ‘cookie’ on your drive.

You can identify and remove these files with a free on-line utility called Trend Micro™ Anti-Spyware for the Web. This takes a few minutes, but it can place you back into control of your internet browser, and protect your privacy.

Check it out! Trend Micro™ Anti-Spyware for the Web

Ranking: Faculty, Students, Job Placement, and Law Schools

2005-11-02T09:08:00.000-08:00

The NEW Leiter’s Law School Rankings Website includes all of this and more!

What’s New with the Bluebook?

2005-11-01T13:01:00.000-08:00

The 18th Edition of the Bluebook includes several changes from the older edition. Our favorite changes include:

- Rule 12.9(d) now indicates the proper use of the word "section" and the symbol "§".
- Rule 18 has been almost completely rewritten to account for the increasing use of Internet citation. Major changes include the categorization into two kinds of Internet citations (direct and parallel), the expanded use of analogy in Internet citation, and the addition of citation formats for blogs.
- Rule 20 has been improved, and rule 21 has been completely rewritten to correspond to majority citation conventions in the foreign and international legal fields.

The full listing of Bluebook changes can be found at: http://www.legalbluebook.com/changes.shtml

Bibliography of Judge Samuel A. Alito:

2005-11-01T12:17:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of the Law Library of Congress

If you are looking for a bibliography of Documents authored by Supreme Court Nominee Alito, as well as sites dedicated to his work, look at the Law Library of Congress Reading Room.

The Reading Room includes bibliographies on all of the recent Supreme Court Nominees.

Looking for Law Related Film Titles?

2005-10-19T14:12:00.000-07:00

Many videos and DVDs on Law, Human Rights, Criminal Justice, and Corrections can be purchased through First Run/Icarus Films. These are hard to find titles useful for classroom presentations, and include many documentaries from around the world:

Law Titles
Criminal Justice Titles

Films can be purchased through the law library using Faculty accounts. Please contact Rob at ext. 2428.

The Most Accessed CALI Lesson is…..

2005-10-18T10:35:00.000-07:00

The Center for Computer Assisted Legal Instruction (better known as CALI) compiles the top ten lessons accessed in the pervious day and week. The Top 10 1L CALI Lessons used by law students yesterday, October 17, 2005:

Basic Future Interests (Property Law)
Woburn: A Game of Discovery (Civil Procedure)
Rule Against Perpetuities 1: Common Law Rule Against Perpetuities (Property Law)
Acceptance (Contracts)
Future Interest Rules (Property Law)
ALWD Citation Form (Legal Writing)
The Estate System (Property Law)
Introduction to Secondary Resources (Legal Research)
Consideration: The Basics of Consideration and the Bargain Theory (Contracts)
Bilateral and Unilateral Contracts (Contracts)

Property wins, followed by Contracts and LWR!

Post Your Exams at the Law Library Website

2005-10-17T13:18:00.000-07:00

Take a look at the new Law Library exam archive:
http://www.stu.edu/sample-exams-article-1847.html

Please provide us a copy of your old exams so we can post them on the site. Students can look at old exams as they prepare for their finals.

If you have any old exams, attach them in an e-mail to Rob Hudson.

Thanks!

Library Tip: Finding Electronic Journals at the Library – “Serial Solutions”

2005-10-14T08:23:00.000-07:00

The single most powerful tool for finding digital Law Library journals is Serial Solutions. This is an on-line index of St. Thomas’ electronic journals, with links to the database where the journals are accessed. You simply enter the title of the journal and Serial Solutions provides the locations of the journal as well as the years of coverage. It is the quick way to see if St. Thomas subscribes to the e-journal you need, and where to find it! Serial Solutions is the “E-Journal Portal.”

Access: Law Library Serial Solutions

The Main Library also maintains a separate version of Serial Solutions for the electronic journals available through the Main Library. This is a valuable source of inter-disciplinary e-journals.

Access: Main Library Serial Solutions

International Legal Research Guides: GlobaLex

2005-10-13T13:47:00.000-07:00

A growing collection of Foreign, International, and Comparative Law Research Guides at GlobaLex make it a resource to bookmark for Faculty researching in these areas. Excellent guides to country-specific research, as well as international law research, are compiled by the New York University Global Law School Program. The Guides to the United Nations and the European Union are particularly outstanding!

Law Library Recommended!

Commonwealth Legal Research? Try the new CommonLII

2005-09-21T13:49:00.000-07:00

A new legal web portal to the laws of the commonwealth is now available at http://www.commonlii.org/

This site covers 466 databases in 51 commonwealth countries and is free to use. Case law, legislation, treaties, journals, and many other sources of law are included.

Please contact Rob for further information.

RSS & Law

2005-09-12T11:13:00.000-07:00

Keep up-to-date with RSS (Real Simple Syndication)

By just accessing a news aggregator, such as Yahoo, you can be informed automatically of legal news and research. Every day RSS can update you from a wide variety of sources:

Supreme Court opinions
Federal court orders
Secretary of state Filings
Legislative developments
Law journal articles
State government news

If you need help setting up RSS, call x 2428.

Source: Ambrogi, Web Watch: The Power of RSS, Law Technology News (July, 2005).

Find a news aggregator.

Hein-On-line: The complete Federal Register

2005-09-07T12:20:00.000-07:00

The Federal Register is now available on-line from its inception in 1935 to 2005. These documents are an aid to historical legal research and are in .PDF format for easy viewing. Also included are:

Federal Register Indexes 1939-1995
Compilation of Sections Affected 1949-2000
Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents 1965-2004
Administrative Procedure Act 1944-1946

The Law Library provides access: http://heinonline.org/HOL/Index?collection=fedreg

Research Assistants

2005-08-11T11:37:00.000-07:00

If you have new Research Assistants this fall semester please provide the Law Library with their names and contact information. Letting the library know the students who are working for you allows us to add their names to the copy code list for the library photocopier and gives us contact info for training your research assistants, if desired.

Please the call or e-mail the Faculty Services Librarian.

New Form and Procedure for Audio Visual Requests

2005-08-05T08:16:00.000-07:00

Along with the new St. Thomas University Law School Website, the Law Library is improving its on-line services and request forms. Please use the Audio/Visual Services Equipment Request Form to get the following services:

Lap-Top Set-Up
Projection
Audio Set-Up
Technical Assistance
And All Other Multimedia Services

The Form goes directly to Amado Lugo and other library staff in the Law Library. To ensure your A/V needs are met, please fill in the request form at least 24 hours prior to your anticipated Audio-Visual event.

You can get more information by calling Amado Lugo at ext. 2333 or looking at the Law Library Audio-Visual Resources Information Page.

International Affairs Scholarship: CIAO

2005-07-29T10:09:00.000-07:00

If your research requires access to journals, working papers, policy briefs, case studies, or scholarship related to international affairs, CIAO is one of the best sources you can search. Columbia International Affairs On-Line (CIAO) provides all manner of information related to international affairs. Journals are searchable and are usually full-text. Approximately forty journals are included, such as:

Human Rights & Human Welfare
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
International Economic Review
OECD Observer

Research institutes like the Cato Institute and the Columbia Law School submit full-text working papers to CIAO on a variety of international subjects. Policy briefs are also searchable.

The Law Library maintains a license with CIAO, which can be accessed via the Digital Library page, or at http://www.ciaonet.org/.

Free Legal Research: Fastcase

2005-07-20T08:30:00.000-07:00

Are You a Member of the Florida Bar? If so, you now have free access to Fastcase. This legal research tool provides access to:

Florida case law since 1950.

Florida administrative material, statutes, and the Florida Constitution.

Federal case law from the U.S. Supreme Court, and the 5th and 11th Circuits.

The search engine is an intuitive Google-style interface that is very easy to use. Florida Bar members can access Fastcase at www.floridabar.org. Florida is the first state to include Fastcase as a benefit to its members.

Gavel to Gavel: Law Library Focus on a legal Web-site

2005-07-19T11:41:00.000-07:00

Access Florida Supreme Court Oral Arguments On-Line at Gavel to Gavel. Live audio and video feeds as well as audio archives dating back to 1997 are provided. If you are researching Florida law, try http://www.wfsu.org/gavel2gavel/index.html.

The Legal Scholarship Network (LSN) : the cutting-edge exchange of legal scholarship

2005-07-12T14:47:00.000-07:00

The LSN provides invaluable services for legal scholars:

Long before a law review or journal publication, the LSN lets you know what working papers in your area of research are under review or revision. The lag between competition of a legal research paper and law review publication can be years. In the meantime, LSN provides access to working papers so that you don’t have to wait for publication.

Faculty can establish regular e-mail notifications of new working papers from the LSN network.

Using LSN, legal scholars search or browse abstracts of the latest research and download papers for free or a nominal fee (usually $5). Among other things, LSN will tell you if the paper has been accepted for publication or not, as well as the last date of revision.

Contact information for all authors is provided so that scholars can communicate with others working in their field of research.

Professional announcements for conferences and available academic positions are valuable features of LSN.

Interdisciplinary areas of research, such as economics, negotiation, and management can also be searched.

All legal scholars are encouraged to submit abstracts of working papers. Over 38,000 authors are involved, and in excess of 60,000 papers are on the SSRN site.

Access the LSN at: http://www.ssrn.com/lsn/index.html

The Legal Scholarship Network is IP authenticated and requires a free registration for first time users. The law library provides access to the LSN under a license with the Social Science Research Network (SSRN).

Contact the Faculty Services Librarians at 2428 for further information.

Computer Assisted Legal Instruction: CALI tutorials supporting Law School instruction

2005-07-05T13:13:00.000-07:00

St. Thomas University School of Law is a member of the non-profit Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI). A consortium of 190 law schools, CALI develops computer-based tutorials for law students in 30 different legal subject areas. The lessons use a variety of teaching methods. To view a list of tutorials click here.

Faculty may take advantage of CALI tutorials by assigning them to students as refreshers, using them during a class as an interactive method of teaching, or linking to CALI tutorials from their class web pages. CALI also allows Law Professors to create their own lessons using CALI Author.

A Law School Authorization Code, available at the Law Library, is required to access CALI Tutorials. Please call the Faculty Services Librarian at 2428 if you need any assistance with CALI.

CALI is accessed via the Law Library’s Digital Library Page, or at http://www2.cali.org/.

Lexis-Nexis Password Change – your current ID is inactive

2005-06-30T12:21:00.000-07:00

All Professors, students, and law librarians are required as of June 29th to customize their ID and password. Old seven digit Lexis IDs will no longer provide direct access to Lexis databases.

If you have used your Lexis ID in the last year, simply enter the seven digit alphanumeric code at the Lexis registration site to customize:

http://web.lexis.com/lawschoolreg/idactivation_step1.asp

Lexis IDs that have not been used in the last twelve months are now deactivated. Lexis is enhancing security in all areas.

Law Library Focus on a Legal Web Site: Law Book Exchange

2005-06-21T08:39:00.000-07:00

Looking for Used Law Books? Can’t find the law book you need?

The best do-it-yourself source for law books on all subjects is “The Law Book Exchange” at http://www.lawbookexchange.com/index.html.
Thousands of historical law books, out-of-print tomes, sets, legal treatises, and legal classic reprints for law scholars are searchable online. This site is better than Amazon.com for legal scholars in search of hard to find law books. It is fascinating and easy to browse, too. The Law Book Exchange will also buy your old law books.

The law library can assist you to find the legal and interdisciplinary sources you need. We can place purchase orders and interlibrary loan requests for law faculty. Please contact the library at ext. 2428 for further information.

SLA – Special Libraries Association Annual Conference

2005-06-18T19:59:00.000-07:00

Rob Hudson, Faculty Services Librarian- St. Thomas University
SLA Annual Conference, Toronto, ON, Canada- June 2005

For three days the Special Libraries Association (SLA) held its annual conference in Toronto. The event drew over 5,000 librarians from law libraries, corporate libraries, government libraries, and many others. SLA legal division offered seminars on researching Government Documents and Statistics, envisioning the future of the law library, information technology for libraries, among others. Tours of Toronto law libraries such as the Great Library of the Law Society of Upper Canada were also a hit. The opportunity to meet with vendors like Lexis-Nexis, West, BNA, the Government Printing Office, and gain insight into their legal information databases occupied several afternoons in the expo hall. The nights had social occasions and soirées. It was a valuable opportunity to grow professionally and to enjoy one of the nicest cities in North America.

BLACKBOARD & TWEN – Do you use the Digital Classroom?

2005-06-15T10:57:00.000-07:00

Law students increasingly are requesting more on-line components to their class work, and both TWEN and Blackboard provide such a forum for group discussions, document posting, submission of assignments, and electronic readings and resource access. Lexis and Westlaw provide these services for all Faculty. As a Faculty member, you may create and maintain your own electronic classroom at no cost.

Whether you use BLACKBOARD or TWEN, the law library will support you in the following ways:

Setting up a new digital class
Adding students/removing students
Adding documents and links
Instructing you in how to do all of these yourself

Please contact the Faculty Services Librarian at 2428 if you need any assistance.

For more information on Blackboard and TWEN see the Lexis and Westlaw websites:

http://www.lexisnexis.com/lawschool/webcourses/
http://lawschool.westlaw.com/shared/signon02.asp?src=twen

Compliment Your Research with a CRS Report

2005-06-01T10:17:00.000-07:00

Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports

Why not tap into some of the best legal scholarship and analysis the Library of Congress has to offer? The CRS produces hundreds of the highest quality reports for Congress in all areas of law. These reports are authored by research attorneys and include regularly updated titles such as:

Saudi Arabia: Current Issues and U.S. Relations -- Updated
Military Base Closures: Role and Costs of Environmental Cleanup -- Updated
Technology Transfer: Use of Federally Funded Research and Development -- Updated
United Nations Peacekeeping: Issues for Congress -- Updated
Aviation Security-Related Findings and Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission -- Updated
Immigration: Terrorist Grounds for Exclusion of Aliens -- Updated
Organization of American States: A Primer

These are not available on Westlaw or Lexis or in print format at the law library. All of the CRS reports can be accessed via http://gallerywatch.com/ (subscription required).

A free selection of the CRS Reports can be found at the U.S. Department of State: http://fpc.state.gov/c4763.htm

The House of Representatives also provides limited access:
http://www.house.gov/rules/crs_reports.htm

NOTE: CRS Reports are a highly valuable additional resource for your legal research. Often they express the legal position of the Federal Government, particularly Congress, in the most current legal topics of the day.

Law Library Exam Archive

2005-05-12T13:02:00.000-07:00

Busy with Exams?

The Law Library maintains a collection of past exams for St. Thomas law students to access. Essay questions, multiple choice exams, and some model answers are on file in electronic and paper formats. Exams are organized by Professor’s last name, class name and date. Students can access the electronic exam archive through the law library web site. Many students use this archive in the course of exam preparation.

If you wish to archive past exams for future law students to examine, please send an email to the Faculty Services Librarian containing the exam as an attachment or bring a paper copy to the library circulation desk. The last exam entered into the electronic exam archive was in 2001.

Past exams can be accessed electronically at the following URL: http://ws1.stu.edu/template1.asp?category=lawlib_exams.htm&status=LawlibDSN

EISIL & WorldLII

2005-05-03T14:18:00.000-07:00

Law Library Focus on International Law:

The American Society of International Law sponsors the Electronic Information System for International Law (EISIL). The EISIL web portal only includes international law documents of the highest quality and reliability. EISIL editors add valuable notes to each included web source: information such as correct citation, entry-into force, and summaries of the source. To date, EISIL includes in excess of 1500 documents divided into 300 topics. This is a free internet service.

www.eisil.org

EISIL complements the other great, free International Law web portal: the World Legal Information Institute (WorldLII). Sponsored primarily by academics and private contributions, WorldLII is a meta-search site for international law accessing more than 270 databases in nearly fifty jurisdictions. WorldLII is part of the Legal Information Institute network of web sites around the world committed to providing free access to international law.

http://www.worldlii.org

Hint: International Law is much easier to search using these tools than trying to find your information with Google!

Interested in Federal Courts?

2005-04-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

Library Services for Faculty: PACER

The Law Library maintains an account for the Public Access to Court Electronic Filings (PACER) system. As you know, PACER is an electronic database provided by the Federal Courts that enables users to obtain case and docket information for Federal Appellate, District and Bankruptcy courts. For example, electronic filings for pending litigation can be searched by party name or case number. Depending on the court, documents or pleadings may be available in full text. PACER charges .08¢ per page, a sum that can add up if the document is lengthy!

The law librarians can perform searches for faculty on request. Please contact the Faculty Services Librarian at x 2428 for more information.

Find PACER at http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/

Your Direct Link into Federal Administrative Process

2005-04-22T13:52:00.000-07:00

Law Library Focus on a Legal Web Site:

http://www.regulations.gov/

The Federal government provides this interactive site as a window on administrative rulemaking, and encourages citizen’s comments on proposed rules. The site lets anyone participate in Federal Rulemaking by making it easy to “find, review, and submit comments on Federal documents that are open for comment and published in the Federal Register, the Government’s legal newspaper.”

Proposed regulations are accessible on-line by subject, keyword, agency, and comment due date. It is very simple to use.

Law Library Approved!!

Law Library Pick of the Week: HeinOnline's new Legal Classics Library!

2005-04-13T12:54:00.000-07:00

Brand New: Now in addition to electronic journals, HeinOnline has added 100 of the most important texts in legal history. The “Legal Classics” database includes fully digitized, searchable copies of volumes such as:

- Common Law, by Oliver Wendell Holmes
- Nature of the Judicial Process, by Benjamin Cardozo
- Commentaries on the Constitution of the U.S., by Joseph Story

HeinOnline also has electronic resources containing U.S. Attorney General Opinions, Treaties and Agreements, U.S. Supreme Court Library documents, Federal Register materials, and one of the most extensive law journal collections available online.

See: http://heinonline.org/HOL/Welcome?collection=journals

All documents within HeinOnline are .PDF format.

Sail Into Success- Legal Research Workshop

2005-04-12T13:05:00.000-07:00

St. Thomas University School of Law Library
Town & Gown

Legal Research Workshop:

On Friday, April 15, from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m., the librarians will be conducting their pre-summer Legal Research Workshop. The workshop will be held in the Atrium Conference Room.

This workshop will provide research-oriented information and advice to help prepare students for their summer or first-year associate jobs. Both primary and secondary sources will be covered in electronic and traditional print format. This workshop is designed to give second- and third-year students a refresher in legal research. Please direct any students who could benefit to the law library. A sign up sheet is available at the reference desk. ext. 2331

Oyez, Oyez

2005-03-31T14:23:00.000-08:00

Law Library Focus on a legal Web-site: www.Oyez.org

Now we can listen to Supreme Court oral arguments on-line! Notable oral arguments are archived at Oyez. Simply click and listen on-line to oral arguments such as:

Bush v. Gore
Hamdi v. Rumsfeld
United States v. Lopez

Have your students listen to the oral arguments on-line as a complement to their readings, or use to enhance your understanding of recent and notable Supreme Court cases. This is a free service.

Law Library Pick of the Week: ebrary

2005-03-28T14:22:00.000-08:00

ebrary: a fully searchable database of digitized resources!

The Faculty at St. Thomas University may now access over 60,000 e-Books, maps, reports, and more, covering all academic as well as general interest subject areas. Find a source in electronic format and you have it instantly accessible for research. E-Books are fully printable, and you can create your own personalized electronic book shelf. The text of all e-books are keyword searchable! Titles on areas as diverse as:

Dickens
Roman History
Business Literature
Religious Studies
Poetry
Information Technology
Travel

Simply go to http://site.ebrary.com/lib/stthomas

Try an electronic book today!

Law Library Pick of the Week: Current Law Journal Content

2005-03-22T13:03:00.000-08:00

Hello:

Recently I was asked if there was regular update service of new law reviews. You can receive automatic updates indexing the articles being publish in the United States and/or internationally just by supplying your e-mail address. Each week the good folks at Washington & Lee Law School publish the Current Law Journal Content. Included in the weekly update is every new edition of a law journal or law review published in the United States or Internationally, and a complete index of the article titles, author, and length. Links to the articles are supplied, and the index is fully searchable. This service is completely free!

To subscribe, go to: http://law.wlu.edu/library/feeds/subscribefeeds.asp?subscribe=yes

LAW LIBRARY APPROVED!!

U.S. and British Legal History goes Digital

2005-03-21T13:35:00.000-08:00

Law Library introduces new source:

"The Making of Modern Law: Legal Treatises 1800-1926" provides digital images on every page of 22,000 legal treatises on US and British law published from 1800 through 1926. Full-text searching on more than 10 million pages provides researchers access to critical legal history in ways not previously possible.

Legal History has never been so easy to research!

See: http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/MOML?locID=stul_main

Law Reviews: Finding the right publication for your research!

2005-03-18T12:08:00.000-08:00

The Faculty Services guide to finding the right Law Reviews for your article.

Did you know that the law library can assist in your search for publications for your research? We can help by providing sources for you to reference, and we can train you on using expedited electronic services for selecting publications and submitting your article to law reviews!

Here are the most highly recommended and tested URLs for law review selections, ranking, evaluation, and submissions:

http://www.law.suffolk.edu/library/lawrev/submission.cfm (The BEST listing out there!! A very helpful list of law review addresses and submission policies. Not ranked, but listed alphabetically.)
http://law.bepress.com/expresso/ (Expresso is a fee-based law review submission service. They will submit to the law reviews you request.)
http://www.lexisnexis.com/lawschool/prodev/lawreview (On-line review of Law Reviews and Scholarly Publications)
http://law.wlu.edu/library/research/lawrevs/mostcited.asp (Ranks of law reviews based on impact; i.e number of time cited by others. Very useable.)
http://stu.findlaw.com/journals/ (Good for listing Law Reviews/Journals by topic or subject).
http://www.nku.edu/~chase/libesubmission.html (Only Law Reviews that accept electronic submissions listed. This is the fast, free site for multiple electronic submissions! Click all the law reviews you want and then hit the e-mail button and all the selected law reviews are BCC: so none of them know how many submissions you have sent!)

Avoid the Law Review listings at Hieros Gamos as they are full of dead links. www.hg.com (IF you’re feeling brave!!).

The best paper source for this information (although now out of date) is:

Al Joyner, Directory for Successful Publishing in Legal Periodicals, 1997. Law Reference, K36 .J69

If you need a little background in understanding this process, including rankings, consult:

Tracey E. George and Chris Guthrie, An Empirical Evaluation of Specialized Law Reviews, 26 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. 813 (1999).

Robert M. Jarvis and Phyllis G. Coleman, Ranking Law Reviews: An Empirical Analysis Based on Author Prominence, 39 Arizona Law Review 15 (1997).

Fred R. Shapiro, The Most-Cited Law Reviews, 29 J. Legal Stud. 389 (2000).

CALL Faculty Services at 2428 if you need any help!

BNA HIGHLIGHTS

2005-02-25T07:51:00.000-08:00

Getting too many or too few BNA HIGHLIGHTS? Don’t know what a BNA update is?
Read on….

One of my jobs as Faculty Services Librarian is to send out daily e-mails to faculty. These cover various areas, such as:

Corporate Accountability
Tax (international, Federal, and state)
Family Law
Criminal Law
Environmental (international, federal)
Professional Responsibly
U.S. Supreme Court Update
Many More, see list at: http://www.bna.com/products/index.html

These BNA HIGHLIGHTS summarize new court decisons, administrative actions, international developments, or whatever, and give a hyperlink for more information. So important for staying updated in your area of research and teaching!

If you would like a BNA (or several) forwarded to your e-mail, please request it by leaving a comment, emailing Rob at rhudson@stu.edu, or calling at 2428!

If you want fewer BNA HIGHLIGHTS each day, please contact me. Possible options are:

Specifying what areas within each BNA area you are interested in, and receiving only HIGHLIGHTS containing that area of law.
Receiving only full REPORTERS and not daily updates, this would result in fewer BNAs for your review.
Specifying days of the week when you would like BNA HIGHLIGHTS sent to you by e-mail.
Sending BNA HIGHLIGHTS to your research assistants.

Note: Everyone receives BNA HIGHLIGHTS on Professional Responsibility and U.S. Supreme Court updates. If you don’t want these, please contact me.

BNA is a wonderful service that shouldn’t plug-up your e-mail inbox!!!

Introduction & Invitation

2005-02-24T15:00:00.000-08:00

Briefly:

This is the place St. Thomas Faculty can post questions regarding library and information services at St. Thomas Law Library. Faculty can interact via blog with the Faculty Services Librarian and each other.

For example:

Submit comments and questions
Read about new library services
Request library services