MoreUs Law Library Blawg

Succeed by Design! Schedule a Research Consultation

The first step to success with a research paper assignment is to develop a research strategy. What resources are available to help you choose a good topic? Once you’ve found a topic, how do you locate the best sources for research on that topic?  How do you know when you’ve done enough research?

Our law librarians are specialists at helping students answer strategic questions like these. You may already know that you can get help by emailing lawlibref@virginia.edu or by stopping by the reference desk for quick help during reference hours. When you need to develop a research plan, you can now use our new online calendar system to schedule an in-office consultation with a librarian. 

Just sign up for any available time that works with your schedule. Once you've submitted your request, a librarian will email you with details about the meeting.

- Amy Wharton 

Stray Dog Demonstrates Exam Period Policy

We don’t know who he is (or she – we haven’t checked for gender), where he came from, or how long he’ll stay, but it seems that a stray dog has taken up residence in the Law Library. We note that he appears to be studying legal materials and so is following our rules for library use during exams. If he starts eating noisy, smelly food or barking uncontrollably, we trust that our students on the 2nd floor will let us know.

The Law Library staff extends best wishes for success with exams to all of our students!

 - Law Library Staff 

Where Book Meets Glass: Our Newest Scanners

New Scannx book scanners are now available in myLab and the Reserve Room. These self-service scanners offer high speed scans as pdfs, searchable pdfs, Word, tiff, and png files. The Scannx is designed to allow the spine of an open book to be placed on the edge of the scanning glass. This lets the page lie flat so that it can be captured without distortion. If you need only part of the page, you can crop as you set up the scan. A touch screen guides you through the process of choosing the file format, scan quality, and file name. Scans are at 600 dpi for excellent clarity and will automatically crop, straighten, and orient each page for uniformity. (For very thin pages, gray scale/standard may work better than black and white/high quality.)

The scanner saves only to a USB Flash drive. If you don’t have one on hand, you can buy one at Courts and Commerce Bookstore or check one out at the circulation desk. 

While its primary use is as a book scanner, you can also use the Scannx to scan individual pages. However, if you have multiple pages to scan, you might prefer the Ricoh copier for its automatic document feeder. Ask a member of the library staff if you have questions or run into any problems.  

- Micheal Klepper  

Library Renovations to Bring Printer, Study Room Changes

The Lexis presence in the Library will be moving as part of continuing renovations. During spring break, the current Lexis Lab will be made into a study room and the Lexis student reps will be relocated to the Computer Lab office across from the Library Circulation area on the first floor. Their office hours will remain the same. The location of Lexis printers will also change. One Lexis printer will be located with the student reps in the Computer Lab office, and a second printer will move to the second floor MyLab area. This should make printing to Lexis more convenient for students studying on the second or third floor. 

Eventually Westlaw will also move into the Computer Lab office and also relocate their printers to the office and MyLab areas. This summer the current Lexis and Westlaw labs will each be converted into two group study rooms, giving you more places next fall to meet and collaborate on projects.  

- Micheal Klepper 

New Catalog Feature: Follow the Map!

The Law Library can be a very large place when you’re trying to find a book by its call number. To help simplify the hunt, we’ve just added maps of the stacks to the UVA Libraries catalog (a.k.a. VIRGO) to direct you to the section of the library where a specific book is located. To find a map, first run a search, then click “Availability” link:

If there’s an active upside down teardrop on the “Availability” page,

click it to retrieve the map:

(The map will be larger than this screenshot.)

Of course, human help remains available, as always, at the Circulation and Reference Desks.

- Amy Wharton 

 

New for Spring, The Sequel: The Law Library DVD Browser

The Law Library is excited to announce the launch of its new DVD Browser. This online tool makes browsing the library’s extensive DVD collection easy and accessible from anywhere. The DVD Browser puts our collection at your fingertips with film synopses, reviews and ratings, related films, and up-to-date availability information. Explore the DVD Browser and check out your next film in the Law Library’s Reserve Room next to the circulation desk. A link to the DVD Browser is available on the Library’s homepage or you can visit http://lib.law.virginia.edu/dvdbrowser/.

- Loren Moulds 

 

New for Spring! Online System for Group Study Room Reservations

As announced in the Virginia Law Weekly last November, the Law Library has launched its new online system for group study room reservations. Just bookmark http://libcal.law.virginia.edu/booking/studyrooms and you’ll be able to reserve a room from wherever you have web access. 

The new system is mobile-enabled, so smartphone users can use the system simply by scanning one of the QR codes posted by each study room. If you’ve never used a QR code, you’ll need to install a QR code reader app (I like a free reader called i-nigma). If you don’t have a laptop or smartphone with you, you can use one of several patron walk-up PCs to book your room. Be sure to register with your “virginia.edu” email address.

-          Amy Wharton

 

Don't Be Fooled by the Heat -- Summer is Now a Sweet Memory!

Summer jobs and vacations must be over, because the Law Library is about to resume its "regular" hours. Beginning this Saturday, Aug. 20, we'll be open daily from 8 a.m. to midnight.  

- Cathy Palombi 

 

Where's the Reference Desk?

Those of you who have ventured to the second floor of the library recently may have wondered why the Reference Desk has been replaced with a vast empty space. 

 

No, we're not planning to offer yoga classes there, nor are we about to bring in pool tables. Nonetheless, please enjoy a nice stroll on our new carpet while we wait for our improved Reference Desk to be installed in a few weeks.   

You may also be wondering, if there is no Reference Desk, can I still get reference services this summer? Absolutely! Even without a desk, reference librarians are still on hand to help you. Just stop by any of the librarians' offices if you need assistance. Summer RAs can contact their library liaisons, and email services are available as always at lawlibref@virginia.edu.  

- Amy Wharton

Surviving Finals Time in the Law Library

It's finals time in the law library! We appreciate that this can be a stressful time for law students and have some guidelines to help make life easier during this busy period.

Food. As you're probably aware, we tend to be on the permissive side when it comes to food in the library. Drinks with covers and low profile snacks—no problem. However, please don't drive your fellow students over the edge with pizza, Chipotle, kettle chips, pop rocks, carrots or that square of Pont-l'Évêque your mother sent you in a finals care package.

Noise. We realize that the loudest people in the law library are often us librarians. We'll keep in mind that people are especially sensitive to noise at this time of year and we ask you to do the same. This is especially true in areas such as myLab or the group study rooms. You can close the doors, but remember that those rooms are not soundproofed.

Adverse possession. Please do not monopolize the tables or group study rooms. The group study rooms are particularly popular this time of year so keep other students in mind when reserving them. And please do not leave your stuff on a table “reserving” it while you are gone for extended periods.

Restricted Access. The little blue signs have appeared, meaning this is the time when we have restricted access to law students and people using our legal materials. Please, no vigilantism. If there is a problem, let us know and we can help. At the same time, if there are plenty of available tables and the interlopers are not disruptive, then why not practice your collaborative justice skills and study and let study! And, yes, law professors are allowed to walk through the library to get to their offices during this time.

Common sense.  This is a safe library, but things have been stolen in the past. Please do not leave valuables unattended. The last thing you want to be concerned with during finals is a missing laptop.

Perks. Let’s not forget about all the fun that comes with finals time in the library: free coffee, candy at the circulation and reference desks; massage chairs in the reserve room, games in myLab, librarian dance-offs. . . plus we open earlier (6 am) and stay open later (2 am)! Whew! No wonder we have to restrict access.

More Cowbell! Based on our latest patron survey, we're pleased to announce that this year we'll be doubling the number of cowbells available in the library as study aids.

- Ben Doherty