Library News Follow wnelawlibrary on Twitter Follow us on Facebook 

Two New Displays Greet Summer Session

The display gnomes have been hard at work -- the display case in the second floor Library Lounge contains resources that we hope might be useful to all of our friends studying for the July bar. See, for example, Bar Exam Mind and The Essential Rules for Bar Exam Success (great titles with helpful suggestions).  We're not sure what came over us, but the display case in the second floor quiet area is an homage to the role greed and corruption play in our fiction and of course, in law. We just got in some really good non-fiction reading on this topic (The Price of Justice: A True Story of Greed and Corruption and All the Devils are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis) and we were hoping to provide some distraction to the aforementioned bar preppers, and perhaps our hardworking summer students as well. Enjoy!

Westlaw Changes Password Restrictions for Graduating Law Students

This is useful:  Westlaw has changed their rules regarding graduating law students.  In the past, this category could extend their passwords through and including July. As of now, however, once a graduating student extends his or her password by means of the ad featured on www.lawschool.westlaw.com, they will have access until November 30, 2013.  In order to continue access graduating students must register for summer access. If you have already extended your password for the summer you are all set. Any questions, contact Holly, our Westlaw rep, or call the Reference Desk, 413-782-1458.

The Lexis Aspire Program is in Effect

Lexis is supporting law students in their desire to do public service work. To that end all students who work for eligible organizations may apply for a unique ASPIRE ID to access Lexis Advance free of charge for an extended period, beyond Summer Access. Access is extended to non-graduating 3Ls, graduates and LLM graduates through September 1, 2014, if your employer meets the elibibility requirements. These requirements as well as the forms to complete are on the LexisNexis Law School landing page. Contact Steven Albro (steven.albro@lexisnexis.com) or the Reference Desk (413-782-1458) if you need help.

Limited Access to Westlaw This Summer

Summer 2013 access to Westlaw automatically includes 40 hours of access on each platform (WestlawNext and Westlaw Classic) during each month of June and July.  As demonstrated by the following Westlaw language, the parameters of summer access are a little murky:

“As you embark on your summer job, it is important that you understand the research processes, resources, and requirements of your particular employer (firm, court, etc.). Knowledge and use of your employer's Westlaw plan are essential for conducting real-world research, organizing your work folders, sharing your research with colleagues, utilizing client IDs to track your research, and billing time to clients. You want your employer to know and trust your research skills, and your understanding of the employer's Westlaw content and contract, so that you can land a permanent position. However, if you are exploring a new concept or learning about a new area of law, your student password is available over the summer without need to take any additional action.” Emphasis added.

There’s a message there, we’re just not sure what it is. Our rep is Holly Rush and her email is provided on the Westlaw site so if you have questions, we suggest shooting her an email. You also have the usual option of extending your academic Westlaw password for unlimited usage if your summer plans include (1) summer law school classes; (2) law review and journal work; (3) projects for professors; and/or (4) unpaid non-profit public interest internship/externship or pro bono work required for graduation. To extend your password for these reasons, follow the link that says "Need Your Westlaw Password for the Summer? on the Westlaw landing page.

Bridge to Practice 2013

Murder! Arson! Legal Research! The Law Library is proud to offer its Bridge to Practice workshop for 2013.

This year's Bridge to Practice will feature short lectures and hands-on print and online research as the Librarians guide you through a hypothetical criminal appeal, with a client found guilty of arson and felony-murder.

Get acquainted with the print version of Massachusetts General Laws Annotated (M.G.L.A.), practitioner resources like Massachusetts Practice and the Law Library’s large collection of Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) material, before needing them in your summer jobs and internships. Time permitting, we hope to also be able to touch on low or no-cost research resources that may be available to you as you start out.

Bridge to Practice will take place on Saturday, April 13, in Computer Classroom 329, beginning at 9:00 a.m. and running until 12:30.

To register, or for more information, please come by the Library Reference Desk or contact Renee Rastorfer at rrastorfer@law.wne.edu

Unlimited Access to Lexis This Summer!

Breaking from tradition, Lexis announced yesterday (March 7th) that our law students’ Lexis Advance IDs will remain active throughout the summer. Not only that, in addition to the passwords remaining live, our law students can use their passwords for all purposes, be they academic, paid employment, internships or clerkships.

You simply need to be registered for Lexis Advance. If you are already a registered Lexis Advance user, you don't need to do anything else to get summer access. Your current ID is all you need. If you are not a registered Lexis Advance user yet (or aren't sure), contact our Law School Rep, Steven Albro, at steven.albro@lexisnexis.com.

Cell Phone Charging Station

The Law Library recently purchased a cell phone charging station for patron use. It is configured to fit most current phone models, but please let a Circulation staff member know if it does not work with your phone. The charging station is located in the Law Library Lobby on the first computer table. 

Bloomberg Law is Coming to Town!

As has been mentioned in earlier Library News posts, Bloomberg Law is being introduced to the Law School this Spring. Starting next week, February 11th and February 12th, the Law Library is sponsoring one-hour training sessions for the Bloomberg Law system in Computer Lab Room 329 at the following times: 

February 11th:   noon; 3:00, 4:00 and 5:00

February 12th:   noon, 2:00 and 5:00

Eric Malinowski will be coming up from New York to conduct these sessions, and passwords will be handed out.  There's no need to sign up beforehand but do take advantage of this opportunity. One thing that sets Bloomberg Law apart from our Westlaw and LexisNexis accounts here at the Law School is that Bloomberg Law permits you to use this service in your outside employment. Please call Renee at 413-782-1459 if you have any questions. See you there!

WNE Spot-on Legal Research

The Law Library Blog, Spot-on Legal Research, is back for 2013!

The blog is a collaborative effort of the librarians at Western New England University School of Law. It highlights research strategies and legal information sources. The first post of the year discusses hard copies of Supreme Judicial Court briefs. Many of these are not online, but they aren't in print either. So how do you read them? Click to find out.

New Displays

The Law Library is ushering in 2013 with two new displays. Our second floor lobby display focuses on negotiation and mediation. More and more conflicts are being resolved outside of the courtroom. While there are many reasons for this, two important ones are that alternative dispute resolution methods, like negotiation and mediation, can be faster and cheaper than going through a trial. The material in this display will give you several different perspectives on the skills you need the next time a client wants you to resolve a matter outside of court.

The display case in the second floor quiet area of the library is dedicated to the Joy of Writing. The importance of writing in a lawyer’s professional life is hard to overestimate. So we’ve filled this display case with resources here at the Law School that will help you improve and polish this most important skill.

Happy New Year from the Library Display Team!

QR Codes in WILDPAC

Have you ever found a book while searching in WILDPAC on the first floor of the Library, only to forget the call number by the time you reached the third floor?

If you have a smart phone or other device with a QR code reader, that never has to happen again. If you find something in the catalog after searching for a title or author, the web page will include a QR code that you can scan, and presto - that web page, with the title, author and call number, is on your phone. There is no need for scrap paper or taking a picture of the computer screen that you will have to find in your phone’s photo album later.

What if you found the book when searching in Encore? Just select “View in classic catalog” and you will see the QR Code for that item.

For more information, see the blog post on WNE Spot-On Legal Research, or ask a librarian, who will be glad to answer any questions you have about using this new catalog feature.

Bloomberg Law

Bloomberg Law is making a push into the academic law realm. This is good news for us since the more options we have for computer assisted legal research the better. We are getting access to Bloomberg Law for free in exchange for, inter alia,  giving Bloomberg parity with how Lexis and Westlaw are treated at our law school.

We are planning full integration of Bloomberg Law beginning with Spring 2013, but we have access information available for students and faculty who would like to use the service now. Next semester, we will have a Bloomberg Law student rep on campus, in the same manner that we now have Lexis and Westlaw student reps, and we will organize training sessions.

One unique feature of our Bloomberg Law access is that usage is not limited to academic purposes. That means our students can use these passwords in outside employment.  Additionally, with the Bloomberg Law docket feature, we may have an alternative to PACER, which faculty and students have access to at present by means of mediated searching. As an aside, this product was named the American Association of Law Libraries 2012 New Product of the Year. If you are interested in receiving information on how to access this new service and/or training before the Spring 2013 roll out, please contact your faculty liaison.

Westlaw Citations Now on Lexis Advance

LexisNexis is adding Westlaw parallel citations for unpublished cases to their case law database.  Users are able to enter Westlaw citations for unpublished opinions into Lexis Advance and find these cases on Lexis Advance.  Over one million citations have been added to Lexis. and Lexis will continue to add these unpublished Westlaw citations prospectively for new cases, as they are received. This feature is available on Lexis Advance only.

Federal Rules eBooks from CALI and eLangdell

Did you sell your copy of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure back to the bookstore last semester, only to need them for your summer job? Are you studying for the bar with a ten year old, hand-me-down copy of the Federal Rules of Evidence? Do you feel like you just can't carry any more books?

CALI, the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction, can help. Through its eLangdell press, CALI offers free electronic copies of the Federal Rules of Evidence, Criminal Procedure, Civil Procedure, and Appellate Procedure. They are offered in the .mobi format for Amazon Kindle and the .epub format for iPhone, iPad and the desktop.

Register Your Lexis Advance Passwords

Students and faculty have received emails from Lexis regarding registering for Lexis Advance. The email contains a temporary ID and password that allows you to sign on to Lexis Advance, where they will be prompted to create a new custom ID and password. 

When you register your Lexis Advance ID, you can use the same ID and Password that you created for lexis.com, as long as your existing ID and Password satisfy the rules below. While you can use the same ID and Password for both systems, you must register for Lexis Advance separately to access both systems.

NOTE: If your current ID or Password doesn’t conform, just go back to lexis.com and change your ID and/or Password once you have created a valid one in Lexis Advance.

Lexis Advance ID Rules: It is recommended that you use a valid email address (e.g., jsmith@gmail. com) as your ID, as it’s the easiest way to ensure that you satisfy the rules for ID creation. IDs must be 8-25 characters; IDs are not case sensitive; IDs can contain the following: @ . (period) _ (underscore) and - (hyphen); IDs can contain your name but must include additional characters (e.g., John_Smith or JOHNSMITH1). Your ID for both lexis.com and Lexis Advance cannot contain spaces, offensive words, LexisNexis product names, and cannot already be in existence in the LexisNexis system.

Lexis Advance Password Rules: Passwords must be 6-50 characters; Passwords are case sensitive; Passwords must have at least one number, one upper case and one lower case letter; Passwords can contain the following: @ . (period) _ (underscore) and – (hyphen); Passwords cannot contain your first or last name. Passwords for both lexis.com and Lexis Advance cannot contain spaces, offensive words, LexisNexis product names, or common words