Happy Constitution Day!

Constitution Day is observed each year on September 17 to commemorate the date on which thirty-nine delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, signed the United States Constitution in 1787. The Convention was convened as a result of dissatisfaction with the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States. In 2004, Congress changed the designation to Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, to “recognize all who, by coming of age or by naturalization, have become citizens.”

The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia offers a number of educational videos, including a virtual tour of the Center’s Signers Hall. The original Constitution is held at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. but when you are in the Mendik Library (and we hope it won’t be too long before we see you there) you can pick up your own pocket-copy at the Reference desk!

As you may know, the Law School recently moved to a new website. Until migration of the Library web pages has been completed, please use these links to access the Library’s resources:

Library home page
https://www.nyls.edu/academics/library

Library Catalog
https://lawlib.nyls.edu

Course Reserves
https://nylaw.bywatersolutions.com/cgi-bin/koha/opac-course-reserves.pl

Electronic Resources
https://libguides.nyls.edu/electronicresources

Library Orientation Materials
https://libguides.nyls.edu/findingthelaw20

• Bloomberg Law, Lexis+ & Westlaw Edge Registration Information
• CALI
• Research Skills Workshops (RSW) Registration

Research Tools
https://libguides.nyls.edu/researchtools

Please contact us if you have any questions:

Circulation 
email: circulation@nyls.edu

Reference Desk
Email: reference@nyls.edu
Chat With the Reference Desk
Log in to Microsoft Teams with your NYLS network ID, and use Microsoft Web App to connect.

As the home of the 19th Amendment, the National Archives is commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Constitutional amendment, which granted women the right to vote. Visit their website to view the records that tell the story, including petitions, legislation, court cases, and more.

New York Law School has significant ties to the amendment.  Bainbridge Colby, an 1894 graduate of the law school who served as Secretary of State to President Wilson, signed the proclamation announcing the Nineteenth Amendment’s effectiveness after it had been ratified by the states. An August 27, 1920 headline in the New York Times reads: “Colby Proclaims Woman Suffrage.”

Welcome Back!  Although a number of things will be different this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Library will certainly still be supporting your learning and research efforts.  Please don’t hesitate to ask questions and let us know what you need.

In addition to reviewing our new hours, please review the new Reserve Collection policy. If you have any questions, please contact our Circulation Librarian, Elina Oyola (elina.oyola@nys.edu)

The Practicing Law Institute, a leading provider of professional legal education, offers law students scholarships providing free access to all of PLI’s online educational programing (excluding its Patent Office Registration Exam Course). The program enables students to “quickly improve [their] skills and substantive knowledge, as well as gain a competitive edge in the job market with a better understanding of the ‘real world’ practice of law . . . [learning from] nationally known leaders in their fields on such topics as: Writing for Litigators; Trial Evidence; Trial by Jury; and Entertainment Law.”  Visit PLI’s website for additional information, www.pli.edu.  You can fill out the application for scholarships here.

The Library staff hopes that you and yours are staying safe and well in these challenging  times. This summer, the Library will be offering a series of 30 minute long Research Skills Workshops via Zoom:

-The Bluebook
-Is All Your Research Up To Date?
-Power Googling
-Researching NYC Law
-Staying Current With The Law

The workshops, which all begin at 5:15, will be held each Tuesday and Thursday from June 9 through July 2.

For a more details and a complete schedule, please visit to https://libguides.nyls.edu/2020sumrsw

We look forward to seeing you.

Arrangements giving students free remote access to casebooks and texts, offered by publishers during the Spring Semester, are expiring, or have expired. This includes texts accessed online through the LexisNexis Digital Library, VitalSource, and West Academic.

Students enrolled in Summer Semester courses will not have free online access to required texts. Please keep in mind that the Mendik Library will remain closed during the Summer Semester, and that you will not be able to borrow physical copies of your course reserve items.

Summer Semester students are encouraged to purchase their required texts through the NYLS online bookstore. Several publishers offer ebook versions of texts to students who have purchased or rented print copies. These offers vary from publisher to publisher. Please take careful note of details when you purchase the books.

During the summer the publishers of The Bluebook will continue to offer online access, at no cost, to members of the NYLS community who do not have access to a print copy. If you wish to take advantage of this offer, please email the Library at reference@nyls.edu. Your request must come from a NYLS email address.

Student access to Bloomberg Law, Lexis Advance and Westlaw are based on academic subscription plans maintained by New York Law School.

Bloomberg Law: Bloomberg Law provides unlimited and unrestricted access over the summer. Your student account will remain active and available all summer, without any additional registration required.

Lexis Advance: From May 1 to August 31, 2020, students may use their Lexis Advance password for any purpose at school or at work, including any paid or unpaid legal work.

Westlaw: You can use Thomson Reuters products, including Westlaw and Practical Law, over the summer for non-commercial research. You can turn to these resources to gain understanding and build confidence in your research skills, but you cannot use them in situations where you are billing a client (paid legal work). Examples of permissible uses for your academic password include the following:
• Summer coursework
• Research assistant assignments
• Law Review or Journal research
• Moot Court research
• Non-Profit work
• Clinical work
• Externship sponsored by the school

If you are working for a firm or a for-profit organization, you should use the Westlaw account provided by your employer.

For more information, please visit:
https://www.nyls.edu/library/for_students/summergradaccess/

As you begin the process of course registration, make sure to consider these valuable Legal Research classes, Legal Research: Practical Skills (1-cr.) and Legal Research: Skills for the Digital World (3-cr.). Find more details here, Why Focus on Research Skills, which lays out the NYLS Student Competencies and Learning Outcomes.

Good news—Bloomberg Law has just announced that it will provide free, unrestricted access to 2020 graduating law students through June 1, 2021. That’s six months longer than either Lexis or Westlaw!

Be sure to take advantage of what Bloomberg Law has to offer, including access to:
• In Focus pages and legal news to stay on top of turbulent areas of law and legal practice
• Practical Guidance and other Legal Research tools to provide support in legal practice
• Company Screener and Litigation Analytics to research companies and law firms for potential employment
• A full library of on-demand training webinars