West has recently released a new tool that is sure to enhance legal research using the West Key Number System.  Here is an excerpt of an announcement from West:

The Search for Key Numbers tool, released November 10, 2007, offers a lightning-fast solution: Type a short description of your issue and click Search. Key numbers—each with a link to a jurisdiction-specific Custom Digest result—are provided for you.

Done.

This new feature instantly identifies the key numbers assigned to your legal issue and retrieves on-point cases via the Custom Digest. To access the new Search for Key Numbers tool, click Key Numbers at the top of any Westlaw page or on the site map. A page is displayed that contains the Search for Key Numbers text box, as well as links to the West Key Number Digest outline and to KeySearch®.

To use the Search for Key Numbers tool, type a description of your issue, e.g., landlord duty of care to trespassers, in the text box. To select a jurisdiction, click Change Jurisdiction and use the check boxes provided. (If you don’t select a jurisdiction, the default jurisdiction is your home state.) Using West’s exclusive CaRE® technology, the same technology behind the scenes of ResultsPlus®, the Search for Key Numbers tool displays key numbers potentially relevant to your issue. Click a key number, and you retrieve jurisdiction-specific headnotes classified under the key number.

There is no charge for using the Search for Key Numbers tool to identify key numbers. If you click a key number and retrieve headnotes via the Custom Digest, you are billed in the same manner as with any other Custom Digest search.

You can access more information about the Key Numbers Search Tool here.

First Year Required Computer Assisted Legal Research II (CALR II) training classes will be taught by the staff of the Mendik Library beginning on Wednesday, January 23rd and running through Monday, February 18th, 2008.

Each CALR II session is 90 minutes long and the training is a course requirement of Legal Research and the Writing Program.

Since seating in each session is limited, you are required to sign up in advance for the session you wish to attend.

Advance Sign Up for CALR II will begin the morning of January 14th (the first day of the spring semester).  At that time a binder containing all the advance sign up sheets will be placed at the Reference / Circulation Desk of the Mendik Library (4th Floor of 40 Worth Street).

You must sign up in person and it is not possible to sign up prior to the morning of Monday, January 14th.

To help you choose a convenient CALR II session to attend, a list of all 53 sessions follows:

 

Wednesday, January 23, 2008	1:15 – 2:45
Wednesday, January 23, 2008	4:15 – 5:45
Wednesday, January 23, 2008	7:50 – 9:20 pm
Thursday, January 24, 2008	9:15 – 10:45 am
Thursday, January 24, 2008	12:15 – 1:45
Friday, January 25, 2008	11:15 – 12:45
Friday, January 25, 2008	4:15 – 5:45
Friday, January 25, 2008	6:00 – 7:30 pm
Saturday, January 26, 2008	2:00 – 3:30
Sunday, January 27, 2008	1:00 – 2:30
Monday, January 28, 2008	9:15 – 10:45 am
Monday, January 28, 2008	2:30 – 4:00
Monday, January 28, 2008	4:15 – 5:45
Tuesday, January 29, 2008	9:15 – 10:45 am
Tuesday, January 29, 2008	11:15 – 12:45
Wednesday, January 30, 2008	1:15 – 2:45
Wednesday, January 30, 2008	4:15 – 5:45
Wednesday, January 30, 2008	7:50 – 9:20 pm*
Wednesday, January 30, 2008	7:50 – 9:20 pm*
Thursday, January 31, 2008	9:15 – 10:45 am
Thursday, January 31, 2008	12:15 – 1:45
Friday, February 01, 2008	11:15 – 12:45
Friday, February 01, 2008	4:15 – 5:45
Friday, February 01, 2008	6:00 – 7:30 pm
Saturday, February 02, 2008	1:00 – 2:30
Monday, February 04, 2008	9:15 – 10:45 am
Monday, February 04, 2008	2:30 – 4:00
Monday, February 04, 2008	4:15 – 5:45
Tuesday, February 05, 2008	9:15 – 10:45 am
Tuesday, February 05, 2008	11:15 – 12:45
Wednesday, February 06, 2008	1:15 – 2:45
Wednesday, February 06, 2008	4:15 – 5:45
Wednesday, February 06, 2008	7:50 – 9:20 pm
Thursday, February 07, 2008	9:15 – 10:45 am
Thursday, February 07, 2008	12:15 – 1:45
Friday, February 08, 2008	11:15 – 12:45
Friday, February 08, 2008	4:15 – 5:45
Friday, February 08, 2008	6:00 – 7:30 pm
Saturday, February 09, 2008	12:00 – 1:30
Sunday, February 10, 2008	2:00 – 3:30
Monday, February 11, 2008	2:30 – 4:00
Monday, February 11, 2008	4:15 – 5:45
Tuesday, February 12, 2008	9:15 – 10:45 am
Tuesday, February 12, 2008	11:15 – 12:45
Wednesday, February 13, 2008	1:15 – 2:45
Wednesday, February 13, 2008	4:15 – 5:45
Wednesday, February 13, 2008	7:50 – 9:20 pm*
Wednesday, February 13, 2008	7:50 – 9:20 pm*
Thursday, February 14, 2008	9:15 – 10:45 am
Thursday, February 14, 2008	12:15 – 1:45
Friday, February 15, 2008	11:15 – 12:45
Friday, February 15, 2008	4:15 – 5:45
Monday, February 18, 2008	6:00 – 7:30 pm

 

 

 

 

*Please Note that two sessions are being offered at 7:50pm on Wednesday, January 30th and Wednesday, February 13th.

 

 

 

 

The Mendik Library is pleased to announce the summer schedule for Research Skills Sessions.

Follow these directions to request summer access to LexisNexis: 

Log on at www.lexisnexis.com/lawschool (Law School Home page) and click the Summer Access logo (mid-right).  On the Summer Access Program page, click the red "Summer Access Registration" link in the middle of the page.  On the final page, check the box on the upper right to certify your particular use, select a reason for use in the drop-down menu, and click SUBMIT.  You must click SUBMIT or your password will not be registered.

Important: 3Ls desiring access must formally request summer access as well.  Access will run through July 31, 2007.  Students who have changed their expected graduation date since first issued a LexisNexis ID their first year must contact customer service (800-45 LEXIS) to change their graduation date on the LexisNexis system.

Please contact your LexisNexis representative, Nejat Bumin, Esq., at nejat.bumin@lexisnexis.com with any questions or concerns.

If you would like to hone your Computer Assisted Legal Research (CALR) skills, please take advantage of one or more of the following opportunities offered by the professional staff of the Mendik Library:

1.  Come to the Reference Desk (4th floor of 40 Worth Street) with your questions. Our new dual monitor makes it easy for you to follow along with the librarian while he or she demonstrates the best way to handle your research problem.

2.  Get together with two or three other students and e-mail the Reference Desk (reference@nyls.edu) to request a personalized training session at a time mutually agreeable to your group and to the librarian assigned to help you.

3.  Register to attend a CALR Open House in the Library Training Room (4th floor of 40 Worth / Room 0403). The Open House is not structured – instead, the librarian will be happy to help with any questions or problems you have regarding CALR. While your participation in an Open House is purely voluntary, advance registration is required. (If no one has registered by the date of a session, the Open House will be cancelled.) To Register: Send an e-mail to reference@nyls.edu with the date/time of the Open House you plan on attending:

Thursday, February 22nd (5:00 – 6:00)
Friday, February 23rd (1:00 – 2:00)
Friday, February 23rd (5:00 – 6:00)
Saturday, February 24th (3:00 – 4:00)
Sunday, February 25th (2:00 – 3:00)

First Year Students who did not attend CALR II training earlier in the semester should be aware that attending an Open House will not fulfill that Writing Program requirement.

The New York State Unified Court System is beginning pilot projects to make court records available via the Internet.  The following excerpt is from a July 6, 2006 press release.

In Manhattan, the public will have free remote access to a “virtual” file of civil cases in Supreme Court, including pleadings, preliminary conference and other case-management orders, requests for judicial intervention, notes of issue, orders to show cause and notices of motion. (Due to volume, affidavits, exhibits and other supporting motion papers will not be scanned.) In addition to the online “virtual” case file, access will be provided simultaneously to case activity information, such as a record of all court appearances and the date of filing of all papers with the County Clerk. Procedures will be implemented to ensure the protection of sensitive or confidential information. The pilot will begin in September, allowing for prior notification and consultation with the bar.

HeinOnline has just introduced two new databases — the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition and the U.S. Presidential Library. The Jessup database includes complete coverage of the annual Jessup Compendium since 1960, as well as two periodicals published by ILSA (which are also available in HeinOnline’s Law Journal Library collection).  The Presidential Library includes such important documents as the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 3, the Compilation of Messages and Papers of the Presidents by James D. Richardson, Economic Report of the President, Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States and the Public Papers of the Presidents.

As of May 12, 2006, you can access the Wall Street Journal via LexisNexis.  In addition to the Wall Street Journal, LexisNexis now provides access to Barron’s as well as the Dow Jones and Reuters newswires.  You can find all of these and similar databases behind the "News & Business" tab on the LexisNexis Sources page.

If you want to continue to have access to Westlaw over the summer you must complete the summer extension request form at http://lawschool.westlaw.com/registration/summerextension.asp  Details about password extensions are available at Westlaw’s site.

For those continuing students who do not obtain a summer extension, Westlaw passwords expire May 31, 2006, and will resume August 1, 2006.

There is no need for you to do anything to extend your Lexis password.