Last Chance to Win a NYLS T-Shirt

All you have to do is suggest the winning name for the Library’s website on Law and Law Schools at http://www.nyls.edu/pages/6353.asp.   This website is a multimedia listing of books and films about law school, social justice and the law.  There are serious works like A Civil Action as well as light works, such as Legally Blond.  There are books about succeeding in law school, and books about finding a job.

So, go to http://www.nyls.edu/pages/6353.asp , take a look, and then click to enter the contest.  Contest ends Monday, May 12 at 5 pm.

In Memoriam: Roy Mersky (1925-2008)

Professor Roy M. Mersky, the longtime director of the Tarlton Law Library and Jamail Center for Legal Research at The University of Texas School of Law, died May 6, 2008 in Austin after a brief illness. He was 82.  Professor Mersky was also the Visiting Law Librarian at New York Law School from 1982-1984 and was instrumental in creating the excellent Mendik Library that we know today. 

Mersky’s professional career was distinguished by his initiatives and innovation in library services, his advocacy and mentoring of law librarians, his engagement in issues that affect information policy, and his very active leadership and participation in professional associations.  He was an extraordinary leader in the law library community.

The University of Texas has prepared a wonderful memorial tribute to Roy. 
http://www.utexas.edu/law/news/2008/050708_mersky.html

Reminder: Quiet Study Rules in the Library

During the final exam period, please take care to abide by the Quiet Study Rules in Mendik Library reading rooms.  Even if you are the type of student who can study well in noise and commotion, remember that not everyone else feels the same way.  At this time of year, the volume of student noise complaints always rises dramatically.  Making noise – even a little noise for a short time – around your fellow students who are trying to study for finals is the height of rude behavior.

Note that all reading rooms and stack areas in the Library are Quiet Study Zones.  The only exception is the reading area next to the 4th floor Reference Desk.  Within Quiet Study Zones:

• Never engage in conversation.  A few words at a whisper should always suffice.  If you must engage in conversation, take it to the Library stairwells or outside.

• Don’t ever use your cell phone, and don’t put it on vibrate – mute it completely or turn it off.  Even a humming cell phone can disrupt your neighbor’s study.  If you’re waiting for an important call, you can study someplace else until you receive it.

• Cell phones aren’t the only electronics that make noise.  If your laptop has a sound card, don’t forget to mute it.  If you’ve got an IPod, make sure to keep the volume at a level that others can’t hear.

• When you enter or leave a Group Study Room, remember to close the door behind you.

• If you become aware of a noisy facilities condition – a squeaky door, a thumping photocopier, a rumbling equipment room – report it immediately to the Library staff at ext. 2332; on AIM at nylslib, or to Maintenance at ext. 2820.

During the finals period the Library gets very crowded, and tensions can mount.  The only way to maintain an appropriate study atmosphere is through student cooperation under these simple rules.  Please keep this in mind always, and especially at this time of year.

Summer Bar Study

May 2008 Graduates –

In making your plans to prepare for the July Bar Exam, remember to plan for where you will be doing your studying.  Most NYLS students will use the study spaces in our Library, and for these students the planning is simple.  All summer long, our Library will provide ample study spaces that are quiet, air-conditioned, and open every day, including evenings and weekends.

But other students will find it more convenient to study elsewhere, for any number of reasons.  This may be especially true for students who are enrolled in Bar review courses hosted at other law schools.  These students may find it convenient to study in the other school’s library, before or after the review sessions.

Many students are under the impression that NYLS Library can arrange free access to other law schools’ libraries for Bar Exam study.  Please note that this is not the case.  Our Library’s reciprocal access arrangements with other schools extend to students, not to graduates.  And by the time you are studying for the Bar you will be a NYLS graduate, no longer a student.

If you wish to use to another law school’s library for Bar study, you must make arrangements directly with the other library.  Most local law school libraries charge other schools’ graduates a fee for a Bar study pass, and several sell only a limited number of passes.  This is true whether or not you are enrolled in a Bar review course hosted at the school.  Thus, if securing a study seat in another law school’s library is important to you, you must plan ahead.

For details regarding the summer Bar study access policies that have been announced by most local law schools, click here.  Note that many of these schools begin selling passes in mid-May, and sell only a limited number on a first-come, first-served basis.  The sooner you purchase a pass, the more likely you are to secure a seat!

NYLS Library’s Reference librarians can help you contact other libraries, and we will pass along any new access policy information that comes our way. You may call us at 212-431-2332, e-mail reference@nyls.edu, or IM to AOL id “nylslib”.  Keep in mind, though, the general rule that we cannot arrange access to other libraries that are sold out of passes, or are otherwise closed to NYLS graduates.

Categories: Bar

Daily Newspapers Online

The Newseum (the Interactive Museum of News) allows you to explore hundreds of daily newspapers online.  The site provides a searchable display of over 500 newspapers from more than 60 countries, all in their original, unedited form.  You can view the newspapers by region or by state, or use an interactive map.

(from AALL’s Washington Blawg)

Westlaw users: please update your browser

If you’re a Westlaw user, you should make sure you have a current version of your web browser:

Beginning in March, westlaw.com platforms no longer support Web browser versions earlier than the following: Internet Explorer 6.0, Netscape 7.0, Firefox 1.0, and Safari 1.1. The browsers that are blocked are no longer supported by the companies that created them, and this lack of support can generate problems during development and with issue resolution. Most importantly, these browsers are not receiving security updates, which could lead to a security risk. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Westlaw technical support at: 1-800-WESTLAW (1-800-937-8529).

Use Google Scholar to Search HeinOnline

Google Scholar is indexing the Law Journals in HeinOnline to make the more than 1,100 titles searchable in the Google Scholar interface. The indexing is still ongoing, as Google Scholar has not fully indexed all of the titles in the Law Journal Collection as of yet. Over the next 30 days or so they should near completion of the indexing at which point the entire HeinOnline Law Journal collection will be searchable in Google Scholar.

So how does it work? Go to Google Scholar and search for a Law Journal or an article name from within a Law Journal. If the article is available in HeinOnline, it will be included in your search results, like the example below.


When you click on the link to open the article in Google Scholar, you will see the HeinOnline logo on the right sidebar with a link that says "Subscribers Click Here To Access". When you click on the access link, you will be taken directly to that article in HeinOnline. NOTE: You may be asked to log in once you reach the HeinOnline site. If so, simply log in and then you’ll be directed to the article.

(from HeinOnline Weblog)

Book-signing reception at NYCLA for Belva Lockwood: The Woman Who Would Be President

On Wednesday, April 16 at 6:00 PM, the New York County Lawyers’ Association (NYCLA) is hosting a book-signing reception at its Home of Law, 14 Vesey Street, for the biography Belva Lockwood: The Woman Who Would Be President, written by Jill Norgren, professor emeritus of government at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. The book chronicles the life of Ms. Lockwood (1830-1917), a lawyer, suffragist, pacifist and feminist, who made history as a candidate for the U.S. presidency in 1884 and 1888.

Ms. Norgren will discuss the life of Ms. Lockwood and autograph copies of her book, which is the first scholarly biography of the 19th-century activist. In 1879, Ms. Lockwood, who successfully rallied Congress and won the right for women lawyers to practice before the Supreme Court, herself became the first woman to appear before the Supreme Court. When she ran for president on the slate of the Equal Rights Party, Ms. Lockwood campaigned on such issues as high tariffs on foreign manufactured goods, currency reform, temperance and a foreign policy geared to international arbitration.

Ms. Norgren has also published (with Petra T. Shattuck) Partial Justice: Federal Indian Law in a Liberal Constitutional System and The Cherokee Cases. She is currently writing on the topics of Native American law and the legal treatment of women.

To rsvp to the event, please email dlamb@nycla.org and write ‘April 16 event’ in the Subject line.

Library Study Hall Hours Extended

Beginning Monday, April 7, all Library Study areas and computer labs on the 7th and 14th floors of 40 Worth St will remain open extended Study Hall hours that run from regular closing time until 2:00 am. These same areas also open one hour early, at 9:00 am on Saturday and Sunday.

During the extended hours there are no librarians on duty, but the Study Hall areas are patrolled by security guards. Study Hall is for NYLS students only; please make sure to have your NYLS ID ready to show the guard.

The Library space on the 4th floor of 40 Worth St. is not open the extended Study Hall hours, but rather functions on the regular semester schedule. Thus, the Library’s book collections, Circulation, and the Reserve Room will close at 11 p.m. on weekdays, and 10 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. All circulation transactions, including borrowing and return of books; and charge-out and charge-in of Reserve materials must be complete by regular closing time.

Public Library of Law

Billed as "the world’s largest free law library," the Public Library of Law offers free online access to cases from the U.S. Supreme Court (from 1892 forward) and Courts of Appeals (generally from 1950 forward), all 50 states back to 1997, federal statutory law and codes from all 50 states, regulations, court rules, constitutions, and more.