It’s Our Turn to Lead

April 22 marks Earth Day’s 45th anniversary with the theme of “It’s our turn to lead.”  Did you know that the original symbol of Earth Day was created by artist and cartoonist Ron Cobb in 1969?  According to legend, it was created as a combination of the letters e and o, from the words environment and organism.  (If you’re curious for a visual, check out Ed’s overalls when you ride the elevator.)

There are plenty of ways to observe Earth Day – volunteer, plant trees, organize a community garden, or simply change a habit.  One other suggestion – drink your coffee, tea, or other beverage from a NYLS reusable mug.  You’ll help to reduce the volume of plastic, Styrofoam, and paper cups piling up in landfills or requiring energy for recycling.  At the same time, you’ll be complying with the Library’s food and drink policy and earning our thanks!  If you don’t have a spill-proof mug, pick one up at the Circulation Desk for $5.00. For every one purchased through the end of this semester’s exam period librarians will contribute $1.00 to Earth Day Network (www.earthday.org/), which works with over 22,000 partners in 192 countries to broaden, diversify and mobilize the environmental movement.


Summer and Post-Graduation Use of Bloomberg Law, LexisNexis and Westlaw

Student access to Bloomberg Law, Lexis Advance and Westlaw is governed by our academic subscription plans.  Under these plans, your passwords to these services may be deactivated or limited in use beginning June 1, 2015.

FOR CONTINUING STUDENTS:

  • Bloomberg Law and Lexis Advance offer students unlimited access over the summer, for any purpose.

 

  • Westlaw access is limited to 40 hours during the months of June and July, unless you are using it for academic pursuits (e.g. summer school, internships, research fellowships). To get unlimited academic use during the summer, you must apply for an extension on Westlaw’s website.

FOR GRADUATING STUDENTS:  All of these services offer extensions of up to 6 months to help you prepare for the bar, conduct your job search, or become a more proficient searcher.  But you must apply for these extensions, using the services’ websites.

For complete details about password extensions, please visit: http://www.nyls.edu/library/for_students/extend_passwords

Register now to ensure that these research databases are there when you need them.


Attention Legal Practice Students

Winter is nearly over and spring is just around the corner. If you are in LP, this means the deadline for satisfying your RSW requirement is coming closer and closer.

To avoid being left out in the cold, please don’t wait until the last minute to register for the classes you really want to take.

In addition to our proven winners, the library has added three new Research Skills Workshops to this semester’s lineup:

Premium Legal Research Sources beyond Bloomberg Law, Lexis Advance & Westlaw Next

  • Review of the Legislative Process
  • Secondary Sources

To get more details and to register for the classes of your choice, please visit http://www.nyls.edu/library/for_students/library_research_classes/ .


Join us for a Valentine’s Day Cupcake Party!

cupcake party

This Thursday, Feb 12, at 5:15 pm, take a study break and share sweet treats with your librarians!   Stop by the Reference Desk and enjoy some cupcakes, coffee, cookies, and other sweet treats while we celebrate a very special birthday for our own very special Elevator Ed. He’s turning five! (Shh.  It’s a surprise).

          At 5:30 pm, we will have the Find Love in the Library Info Hunt drawing.  Anybody can join the hunt.  All you need to do is pick up an answer sheet at the Reference Desk (or download a copy from www.mendikmatters.org), answer 3 of the 6 questions, submit your answers by email (reference@nyls.edu) or drop them off in our raffle drum.  We will be giving away lots of prizes, including Amazon gift cards, OneCard gift cards, research, study aids, Lexis points and many more.  Got a research question?  Bring those too!  We’re all looking forward to meeting you!


Where Are The Printers?

The printers that used to be located in L300 and L400 have retired to the printer rest home.  There are two new Canon printers in L204, and one in the Reserve area behind the Reference Desk.  You can print to any of these printers using the computers in the labs, the kiosk machines, or your laptop.

In the upcoming weeks, L300 and L400 will house brand new book scanners.  Thanks for your patience.


Keeping it Together This Semester

Great news!  Along with brand new printers/scanners/copiers in the Mendik Library you will now find an easy-to-operate manual stapler in L204 (the location of printers 204A and 204B).  This should help you all keep things together this semester!  A light touch is all that is needed to staple up to 25 pages.  For heavier duty stapling jobs, use the stapler at the circulation desk and be sure to use the right size staples, which are color-coded to match the rough number of pages you need to staple.

The new stapler is the result of student feedback and suggestions, so keep those cards and letters coming!  Or even better, use the Suggestions? link on our home page.


Welcome Back!

Hope you all had a relaxing and rejuvenating winter break. Alas, all good things must come to an end.

All of us at the Mendik Library wish for you a rewarding and fulfilling semester. We’d love to be a part of your success and hope you will let us help you with all your research projects and information needs.

Good luck and best wishes for a great semester! We’re looking forward to strengthening our partnership.

The Mendik Library Staff

 


Quiet, please.

We are receiving complaints from students who feel that their fellow students are sometimes being too noisy in the Library. Remember that even if you are the type of student who can study well around noise and commotion, not everyone else feels the same way. Remember also that all reading rooms and stack areas in the Library are Quiet Study Zones. The only exception is the reading area immediately next to the Reference Desk on L1.

Within Quiet Study Zones:

• Never engage in conversation. A few words at a whisper should always suffice. If you must engage in conversation, take it to the Library stairwells or outside.

• Make sure the sounds on your laptop, phone, and/or tablet are off and that any music you may be listening to through headphones is not loud enough for others to hear.

• When you enter or leave a group study room, remember to close the door (quietly) behind you.

• If you become aware of a noisy condition—e.g., a squeaky door, a thumping photocopier, rumbling equipment— report it immediately to the Library staff at ext. 2332 or reference@nyls.edu.

 


And the Winners are . . .

We are pleased to announce the winners of our Legally Clueless Info Hunt held last Thursday, August 28.

Congratulations to: Juliet Knapp-Vega, Barbie Melendez, John Michalski, Amelia Maddox, Kevin McLafferty, Daniel Oquendo, Kyle Reed, and Laura Rion.    Among the prizes our winners picked were Black’s Law Dictionary, study aids in Contract Law, Torts, Civil Procedure, and Property Law, a $10 OneCard guest card, and 500 Lexis points.   We also wanted to thank ALL participants for joining in what we hope you found to be a fun learning experience!

Congratulations also to our “Keep your coffee off us for a chance to have coffee on us” winners:  Evelina Sierzputowska, Jacqueline Henry Lucio, Eddie Balkus, and Ally Rockolf, each of whom will receive a $5 OneCard guest card.

There will be more chances to win later this semester.  Stay tuned!  Our next Info Hunt will brew in time for Halloween (but don’t be scared).


Learn . . . and Win!

Have you submitted your Legally Clueless Info Hunt entry?  The deadline is fast approaching.  The drawing is this Thursday, August 28, 5:45 pm, outside the Library. We’ll be awarding lots of prizes, including NYLS t-shirts, OneCards, Lexis points, dictionaries, and a great variety of study aids.  Here are some of the titles:

Acing Property

Contract Law: Flowcharts and Cases

The Lawyer’s Practice: A Context and Practice Case File

Legal Analysis: 100 Exercises for Mastery

Plain English for Drafting Statutes and Rules

Personal Property

Property: Black Letter Outlines

Property: Examples and Explanations

Property: Quick Review

Property Stories

Questions & Answers: Civil Procedure

Questions & Answers: Property

Questions & Answers: Torts

Real Property

The yellow Legally Clueless Info Hunt form is in the packet you received on your library tour.  You can pick up another copy at the Reference Desk.  Remember, you can work with a partner or a group and you should always feel free to ask one of the reference librarians for help.

Good luck to all!