Review the GAO’s report on the debate over whether the ABA should continue to be the accreditor of the nation’s law schools. The report, “Higher Education: Issues Related to Law School Accreditation,” provides an overview of the controversy but it makes no recommendations.
Dred Scott 150th Anniversary Webcast
The Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice (CHHIRJ) at the Harvard Law School recently hosted a two-day national conference to examine Dred Scott, its historical significance, and current application to unique issues of law, particularly those pertaining to race and civil rights. A webcast of the conference is available here.
Alert: Lexis Web Course Notification System NOT Working
A few of you have reported that the notification feature of the Lexis Blackboard web course system is not working properly. Notification messages of new postings to the Lexis web course pages are not being generated and sent by the system. Lexis is working with Blackboard to isolate and fix the problem. Our IT department is also aware of the issue.
The failure of this feature has occurred at a most unfortunate time of the semester. Until Lexis is able to make the correction, it will be necessary for all users of the Lexis web course system to pro-actively check the web course sections and discussion boards for new postings. We will post any new information we receive on the Library Blog.
Library Study Hall Hours
Beginning Monday, April 16, all Library study areas and computer labs on the 7th and 14th floors of 40 Worth St. will remain open for extended Study Hall hours that run from regular closing time until 2:00 a.m. These same areas will also open one hour early, at 9:00 a.m. 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 extended hours will continue for the duration of the exams period.
The Library space on the 4th floor of 40 Worth St. will not be open extended hours, but rather will function 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.
Launch of Ms. JD blog
"Concerned by the rates at which women opt out of the legal profession, the lack of representation of women in the highest courts and echelons of the legal community, and the role of gender in the progression of many women’s legal careers, a group of female law students from Boalt Hall (UC Berkeley), Cornell, Georgetown, Harvard, NYU, Stanford, UCLA, UT Austin, the University of Chicago, the University of Michigan, the University of Virginia, and Yale came together and created Ms. JD. Serving women in law school and the legal profession, Ms. JD will be an online community that provides a forum for dialogue and networking among women lawyers and aspiring lawyers.
Jurist nominated for a Webby!
The Nominees and Official Honorees for the 11th Annual Webby Awards have been announced. Congratulations to JURIST for being recognized as an Official Honoree in the Law. This is the first time in the Webbys’ 11-year existence that an academic legal website has taken a distinction two years in a row.
See them all and vote for your favorite Nominees until April, 27th.
Westlaw Summer Associate training
The following classes are offered:
Westlaw(R) Prepare To Practice Training is a great opportunity to learn cost-effective and efficient legal research techniques in time for summer jobs as well as for full-time positions. These classes are an excellent way to get prepared for your summer job, clerkship or internship, or to get a refresher on Westlaw pricing before you go to work at a legal employer.
Advanced Westlaw Certification Training: This training is a three-part program that gives you advanced skills in case law searching, statute searching and secondary searching. Each part is 30-45 minutes long and is concluded with a short quiz, which generates your certificate and certification. Once certified, your name will be maintained at West and you can put "Westlaw Certified" on your resume.
All classes are posted on www.lawschool.westlaw.com under the Westlaw Training Calendar.
LexisNexis Summer Associate, Intern and Graduating Student Training
This annual national training program prepares students across America to use LexisNexis in the workplace in a efficient and confident manner during their work in externships, internships, summer associate and attorney positions as graduating students.
Depending on the session, students learn Lexis account cost structures, cost-effective/time-effective usage and short cuts, as well as skills such as drafting pleadings, motions, orders, discovery requests, and contracts. The program also covers areas of law, including but not limited to, corporate/securities, litigation, IP, real estate, entertainment, wills and trusts, judicial clerkships, and criminal practice.
The Myschool tab contains a description of the types of classes students should take based on practice area and program. The training is scheduled through the last day of classes.
Tax Research Resources
Are you taking any tax classes this semester? Do you ever need to quickly find a tax “reg” or private letter ruling, or even a section of the Internal Revenue Code which is not in your class supplement? If so, take a look at the new edition of Tax Research Resources on the Library’s site.
This website is a guide to both print and electronic resources here. You may access most of the electronic resources offsite, and the guide explains exactly what to do to use them. If you need help beyond this guide, send a note to the reference desk at reference@nyls.edu or call us at (212) 431-2332 or stop by and see us in person in the library on the 4th floor at 40 Worth St.
The Library of Congress – Chronicling America
The Library of Congress has launched a historic newspaper project, Chronicling America.
This site allows you to search and read newspaper pages from 1900-1910 and find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress as part of the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).