Attend tomorrow’s (Wednesday’s) 1:00 p.m. or 5:45 p.m. prize drawings (1:00 for 1Ls in the day division and 5:45 for 1Ls in the evening division) where we will select and announce the winning entrants in the Legally Clueless Info Hunt. We’ll be awarding prizes to a total of 3 lucky winners (in each division) and 1 consolation prize (in each division). There will also be sweet treats (for winners and non-winners). The drawing will take place right outside the library entrance. We’re hoping to see you there.
Are You Legally Prizeless?
There’s no need to be legally clueless or legally prizeless anymore. All you need to do is turn in your completed Legally Clueless Info Hunt answers at the Library Reference Desk before Thursday, August 25 at 8:30 p.m. (Thursday August 31 for evening students) and you may win one of more than a dozen valuable study aids and texts we will be giving away. Among the titles winners will choose from are:
Reading like a Lawyer – Time-Saving Strategies for Reading Law like an Expert
Questions & Answers: Torts
Understanding Contracts
Property – Examples & Explanations
The Law & Harry Potter
Persuasive Written and Oral Advocacy
A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage
Guide to Legal Writing Style
Legal Writing and other Lawyering Skills
The Process of Legal Research
Foundations of Criminal Law
New York Practice Hornbook
The Legally Clueless Info Hunt form is in the blue folder you received on your library tour. If you can’t find your copy, pick up another one at the Reference Desk. Remember, you can work with a partner or a group and you should always feel free to ask one of the reference librarians for help.
Good luck to all!
Welcome from the Library Director
On behalf of the entire staff of the Mendik Library, I want to extend my welcome and congratulations to the entering classes of 2014/15. The library staff is looking forward to meeting you. You are about to begin a challenging and exciting journey.
For most law students, the law library quickly becomes a constant feature of their lives, a second home, if you will. We have worked hard to make our home a comfortable study and learning environment and you can be assured that you are getting the benefit of an outstanding library collection, an extensive offering of services, and an excellent library staff.
We describe our collections and our services in great detail on our web pages and numerous handouts. What you might not realize from these publications is the outstanding quality of each and every person on the staff of the Mendik Library, and why that is important to you. Our staff of twenty-two includes seventeen professionals with master’s degrees, ten of whom also have J.D. degrees from law schools around the country. They all have many years of experience working in law libraries and teaching legal research. Many also have years of legal practice experience and most have been at New York Law School for several years. They can all help you with your library and research needs, of course, but their value to you goes far beyond that. Do not hesitate to ask your librarians questions about the law school, particular courses, or any of the extracurricular activities available. We can help you, or we will direct you to the best person to give you the help you need.
We all realize that law school is a new experience for each of you, and we are committed to making that experience a rewarding one. We welcome the opportunity to work with you throughout your law school career.
Sincerely,
Professor Camille Broussard
Library Director & Associate Dean
Expand your Research Toolbox
As you begin a research project, remember to take advantage of one of our most valuable electronic resources, HeinOnline. Although best known for its Law Journal Library, a PDF-based collection of more than 1,400 law review/journal titles (in most cases beginning with the first issue of each), HeinOnline also offers archival libraries of federal and state primary law (including the CFR, the Federal Register, and the Statutes at Large), federal legislative histories, U.S. treaties, foreign and international law sources, and classic American law treatises. Each library is full-text searchable, and search results are PDF files that can be printed and downloaded.
Remembering Seven Dirty Words
Can you name all seven dirty words? Justice Stevens can, and did — in FCC v. Pacifica Foundation, 438 U.S. 726 (1978), decided 33 years ago on July 3.
In December, 1973, the Federal Communications Commission received a letter from John Douglas, a member of Morality in Media. He and his fifteen-year-old son had heard a weekday afternoon radio broadcast of George Carlin’s “seven dirty words” routine. It had been aired by WBAI, part of the Pacifica Foundation public radio network. The FCC subsequently issued a declaratory order holding the broadcast indecent. No fine was imposed but the order was placed in the station’s license file. All parties viewed the issue as an exciting test case and Pacifica appealed to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which reversed.
The Supreme Court then reversed the Court of Appeals in a 5-4 decision. The majority opinion, authored by Justice Stevens, concluded that the FCC’s order did not violate the First Amendment. The court held that in the context of broadcasting, the interests of child welfare and possibly unwilling audiences justify regulatory efforts to limit indecent content to certain time slots. The opinion was cited frequently in the Supreme Court’s recent “fleeting expletives” case involving Fox Television Stations.
Further resources:
Bloomberg Law Training Sessions
Bloomberg Law is offering additional introductory training sessions to New York Law School students on July 6, 13, and 20. These 45-minute sessions will introduce BLAW’s newly released legal and financial services research platform, which integrates primary legal research and Bloomberg’s news, company information and analytics into one reliable resource. Features that will be covered include:
* B-Cite, Bloomberg’s legal citation tool
* Bloomberg Law Reports for current awareness articles on legal developments contributed by leading lawyers
* Company Due Diligence & transactional database
* Dockets as a litigation tool
All classes will meet in room L-207 in the library and will run from 5:15 p.m.-6:00 p.m.
Please email oribe@bloomberg.net (Pamela Haahr) to sign up to attend.
The Challenge is On!
Join us next Wednesday June 29 (and on any or all of the following Wednesdays through July 20), for the Mendik Library’s 2011 Summer Research Challenge! Hone your research skills and have some fun (and snacks) at the same time. Get all the details here.
Loislaw in Transition
Wolters Kluwer, the company that produces the Loislaw service for computer assisted legal research, has advised us of their intention to discontinue their program of free Loislaw access for law students, effective in June of 2011. Wolters Kluwer is developing an enhanced Loislaw product for law schools, and we in the Library will be reviewing this product when details are finalized.
In the meantime, NYLS students with registered Loislaw accounts will find that their accounts no longer provide research access in June. Loislaw had been an electronic legal research alternative during the summer, when Lexis and Westlaw student passwords are restricted. This will no longer be true. For details regarding summer password extensions and other summer research options, please click here:
New York Law Journal (and other ALM Publications) Moved to Lexis
As of May 1, 2011, you can no longer find the New York Law Journal, the National Law Journal, the American Lawyer, or any other ALM (American Lawyer Media) publication on Westlaw. Lexis has become the exclusive online provider for ALM publications (with the exception of ALM itself, which provides direct online access via subscription).
If you are looking only for the New York Law Journal, the best way to access it from the main directory page is States Legal – U.S. >> New York >> Search News >> New York Law Journal. If you’re looking for content in other ALM publications, go to Secondary Legal on the main directory page and click the link for ALM.
Coverage for the New York Law Journal begins as of August 1, 1991. (We have full coverage in microfilm back to March 26, 1888.) Lexis coverage for the National Law Journal begins as of January 3, 1983. Coverage for other publications varies.
One caveat to keep in mind, courtesy of New York Times Co. v. Tasini, 533 U.S. 483 (2001): Access to certain freelance articles and other features (e.g., photographs, classifieds, etc…) may not be available.
Your Classmates Say: Shhhhhhhh!!
That’s right; it’s not us, but your fellow students, who want the library to remain QUIET during finals. Please do your part. Even if you can study amidst noise and commotion, remember that not everyone else can. At this time of year, even a little noise for a short time around those who are preparing for finals, doing take-home finals, or writing papers, is the height of rude behavior.
Please remember, all reading and stack areas in the Library are QUIET STUDY ZONES. You should avoid conversation and unnecessary noise. Be particularly mindful of the need for quiet as you enter and leave the Library. Voices in the corridors and elevator vestibules carry into the reading areas and disturb those trying to study.
The Library can get crowded, and tensions can mount. The only way to maintain an appropriate study atmosphere is through student cooperation. Please keep this in mind always, and especially at this time of year.
Thanks to everyone for their anticipated cooperation. And best of luck to you all on your exams.