Yale Law Library - News and Events

Portable scanner available in law library

2008-10-09T15:52:00Z

There is a "portable scanner" available at the Circulation Desk for check out by patrons with a Yale ID. http://morris.law.yale.edu/record=b765327~S3a

The scanner's software is already installed in the Computer in carrel #347 (in the Reading Room, next to the Bloomberg Terminal). If a patron or staff member would like to upload this software onto their own laptop or computer, please contact Cesar Zapata.

Step by step instructions are available at the Circulation Desk, as well as by the above carrel's location.

Lexis and Westlaw Training for SAW

2008-10-08T14:43:00Z

Wednesday, October 15, 2008, from 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. - Room 112

Lexis and Westlaw representatives will share the stage and demonstrate special features in their databases to help students conduct research on their SAWs. Included in this training will be: how to develop SAW/Substantial or law journal note topics, how to track and update your research, as well as where to go for additional research assistance. Cookies and refreshments will be provided.

Oct. 2nd: Prof. Paul Kahn book talk at Labyrinth Books

2008-09-09T19:44:00Z

On Thursday, October 2nd at 5:30pm, Labyrinth Books on York Street in New Haven will host a conversation between YLS professors Paul Kahn and Robert Post about political violence and Prof. Kahn's latest book, Sacred Violence: Torture, Terror, and Sovereignty. Labyrinth provides the following summary of the book:

In Sacred Violence, the distinguished political and legal theorist Paul W. Kahn investigates the reasons for the resort to violence characteristic of premodern states. In a startling argument, he contends that law will never offer an adequate account of political violence. Instead, we must turn to political theology, which reveals that torture and terror are, essentially, forms of sacrifice. Kahn forces us to acknowledge what we don't want to see: that we remain deeply committed to a violent politics beyond law.

The Yale Law Library is a co-sponsor of this event.

For more information, visit the Labyrinth Books website.

New Law Library acquisitions for August 2008

2008-09-09T18:55:00Z

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

Or, as always, you can visit the library's new acquisitions web page: http://www.law.yale.edu/library/acquisitions.asp.

New Law Library Acquisitions for July 2008

2008-08-04T16:28:00Z

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

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

Yale Law Library adds IM and text messaging reference service

2008-08-04T15:38:00Z

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.

Yale Law Library on Facebook and Twitter

2008-08-04T15:04:00Z

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.

Summer Library Hours

2008-05-17T20:00:00Z

Monday - Friday
7:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. (L2 access)
8:30 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. (Level 3)
Reference Desk: 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. & 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Circulation Desk: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. & 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Saturdays
10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
No Reference or Circulation Desk Services

Sundays
CLOSED – No Services

July 4th - CLOSED

Library Information for the Summer

2008-05-15T15:00:00Z

Summer Borrowing Privileges
Returning Law students may borrow circulating books over the summer. They will be due on September 10, 2008. Any book that has been recalled must be sent via First Class Mail to the Law Library. Please check with staff at the Circulation Desk for further details.

Carrel Assignments
Carrel Assignments for this academic year end on June 11, 2008. Please return all books to the lending library and remove all personal belongings. Personal belongings left behind will be discarded. If you wish to use a carrel during the summer, you may sign up in the Library Administrative Office.
Sign up for a carrel for the 2008-2009 academic year begins in early September in the Library Administrative Office.

Law Library Laptop Computers During Exam Period

2008-05-09T21:00:00Z

As has been our practice, long term and overnight use of Law Library laptop computers is suspended during the Law School Exam Period. This year that begins on May 10 and runs through May 23, 2008.

Questions may be directed to staff at the Circulation Desk.

Law Library Access in April/May

2008-04-23T18:35:00Z

Responding to requests from law students, the Law Library will again be open 24 hours a day during Law School reading/exam period (May 9 through May 23) and we will restrict non-law student access during this period and undergraduate reading/exam period.

Effective the evening of Monday, April 28 and continuing through the afternoon of Friday, May 23, admission to the Law Library will be limited to Law School affiliates, University faculty, and Law Library pass holders. (Passes will be given to non-law students doing legal research and presenting a letter from a faculty member or college dean.)

During this restricted period, law students must show their ID card with the Law School sticker every time they enter the library to gain admission to the Law Library.

The library monitors will be intending conscientiously to enforce this policy so please help them by having your card when you come to the library. If for some reason you do not have the Law School sticker on your card, you can get one from the Registrar's Office. In general, we ask for your cooperation with staff who will be implementing the rules in the stressful environment that exams create for all of us.

Restrictions must always be implemented with caution because we are committed to participating in the University community. If you have suggestions about these policies, please feel free to communicate them to me.

Fred Shapiro
Associate Librarian for Collections and Access
Lillian Goldman Law Library
Yale Law School

March 28: Georgia Harper Lecture on Digital Copyright

2008-03-27T14:25:00Z

Georgia Harper, Scholarly Communications Officer at the University of Texas at Austin Libraries, will give a talk in Sterling Memorial Library's Lecture Hall (130 Wall Street) on Friday, March 28 at 9:30 a.m. She will speak about areas of digital copyright that are of particular concern for libraries, such as electronic resources and digital images. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Harper was formerly Senior Attorney and Manager of the Intellectual Property Section of the Office of the General Counsel for the University of Texas System. She is a nationally recognized expert in the area of intellectual copyright and was named a Fellow of the National Association of College and University Attorneys in June, 2001. She has a B.S. and J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin and is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Information Science, also at the University of Texas at Austin.

Iraq's Cultural Reconstruction

2008-03-07T23:05:00Z

On Thursday, March 13 there will be a panel discussion at the Sterling Memorial Library Lecture Hall on the projects related to the cultural reconstruction of Iraq. As part of the Library's Exploration and Adventure series, Charles Kolb of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) will talk about the goals, challenges, and success of Recovering Iraq's Past, the NEH's recently ended initiative to preserve, protect, and document Iraq's cultural heritage in the face of looting and destruction. Ann Okerson, Simon Samoeil, and Elizabeth Beaudin of the Yale University Library will also describe Iraq ReCollection, the Yale's Library's two-year, grant-funded effort to digitize some 100,000 pages of Iraqi humanities journals. Though a 2005 US Department of Education Title VI grant, the Library is also developing A Middle Eastern Electronic Library (AMEEL), a Web-based portal for the study of the Middle East, including its history, culture, development, and contemporary face.

Charles Kolb, National Endowment for the Humanities
Ann Okerson, Simon Samoeil, Elizabeth Beaudin, Yale University Library
Thursday, March 13, 3:30-5:00 p.m.
Sterling Memorial Library Lecture Hall, 128 Wall St.
Free and open to the public.

For information on the NEH's Iraqi projects visit: http://www.neh.gov/news/archive/20040408.html

For information on Iraq ReCollection visit: http://www.yale.edu/opa/v34.n20/story4.html

For information on AMEEL visit: http://www.library.yale.edu/ameel/

Mike Widener presents forum, "Race on the Stand"

2008-02-20T16:59:00Z

Today, the Standing Committee on Professional Awareness (SCOPA) sponsored the forum, "Race on the Stand: African American History in the Law Library's American Trials Collection," at the Sterling Memorial Library Lecture Hall. Mike Widener, the Rare Book Librarian for Yale's Lillian Goldman Law Library discussed the Library's American Trials Collection and its importance to a variety of topics in African American history.  This collection contains some particularly significant holdings related to African American history, including various Abolitionist pamphlets and records of the Amistad trials (1839-1840).

Above, Mike begins his presentation to the Yale University Librarians and Staff on the Law Library's American Trials Collection. Below, Mike discusses the history of the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue, one of the key events within the Abolitionist movement leading into the American Civil War.

If you are interested in learning more about the Law Library's American Trials Collection, please visit the Paskus-Danziger Rare Book Room on L2 within the Law Library. Hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. During these hours, the room is used exclusively for research using rare books, the door to the reading room is locked with entrance permitted by buzzer only, and an attendant is always present. It is advisable to call ahead to make sure the collection will be available, contact Mike Widener at mike.widener@yale.edu or call (203) 432-4494.

Yale Law Library's new website!

2008-02-08T17:08:00Z

Last week, the Lillian Goldman Law Library launched its brand new website. In addition to a new layout, we've tried to bring you all the same library resources you expect from us in an easy to use format. In the months ahead, look for new pages and resources to be added. Also, don't forget to check out our new Library Blog. Our law librarians will use the blog to bring you up to date on what's new in the world of legal information.

If you have questions or comments about the new site, please contact Tom Boone, Reference Librarian for Electronic Services [thomas.boone (at) yale.edu].