The Law Library's list of new acquisitions for July 2008 are now available:

• All Acquisitions
• German, French and Italian Language Acquisitions
• Spanish Language Acquisitions
  

Or, as always, you can just go to the new acquisitions web page: http://www.law.yale.edu/library/acquisitions.asp.

You probably know that you can get help from a reference librarian at the reference desk. And you may be aware that you can call (432-1606) or email (lawref@pantheon.yale.edu) us for help, too. But what you probably don't know is that you can now ask questions via instant message (IM) or text message (from your cell phone).

The reference desk now has accounts on AIM (ylslibrary), Yahoo! Messenger (ylslibrary) and Google Talk (ylslibrary@gmail.com), so when you need research help, just send us an IM. Or if you have your cell phone handy, you can send a text message to 265-010. When sending a text message, be sure to type "ylslibrary" first, then your question (as illustrated in this cell phone screenshot).

Don't have an IM account or a cell phone? No problem. Just visit our Research or Reference Department web pages and use the chat box to IM a reference librarian directly from your web browser.

For best results, be sure to include your "yale.edu" email address in your message so that if we can't answer your question immediately we can still contact you later. This is particularly helpful if you send a message during non-service hours.

These new services are available to all YLS students, faculty and staff. Generally speaking, IM and text messaging reference service should be available during most regular reference service hours (see the Reference Department page for the complete schedule), but as we ramp up these services coverage may not be comprehensive.

If you have questions about these new services, please contact Tom Boone, Reference Librarian for Electronic Services.

This summer Yale Law School's Lillian Goldman Law Library took the plunge into the social web, joining both Facebook and Twitter.

If you're a member of Facebook, check out the library's page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Haven-CT/Lillian-Goldman-Law-Library-Yale-Law-School/14518877231. The page includes library information, blog posts, research links, and catalog searching. Show your support by becoming a fan.

For those of you using Twitter, you can begin following the library's updates at: http://twitter.com/yalelawlibrary. Updates will include new services and features at the library, as well as notifications every time there's an update to the library blogs.

If you have any questions about these new tools, please contact Tom Boone, Reference Librarian for Electronic Services.