Please be advised that the Library will be closed on Saturday March 9 and Sunday March 10, 2024. We will reopen on Monday March 11 at 8:00 a.m.

 

 

If you’re interested in tax, corporate/securities, or arbitration VitalLaw is a powerful online legal research tool with important legal content. Our subscription includes comprehensive access to treatises and other tools in these areas in addition to materials in the areas of intellectual property, evidence, and real estate finance.

Stefanie Efrati, our VitalLaw Customer Success Manager, will be offering a 20-minute virtual session that provides a quick intro to VitalLaw and a demonstration of how to:

1. Save time – with Expert Treatises, Guides and Tools such as Smart Charts

2. Streamline Your Research- Using the Practical Content Dashboard helps you get relevant resources efficiently in one place

3. Stay Current- our News provides the latest developments in your practice area!

The session is scheduled for Wednesday February 28th at 1:00 P.M. Register Now

Two attendees from the training session will be picked to win a $100 Amazon gift card.

Additional Wolters Kluwer trainings will be offered in March and April. Please contact Stefanie Efrati, the Wolters Kluwer Customer Success Manager, for more information at stefanie.efrati@wolterskluwer.com.

 

The Mendik Library wishes the very best of luck to all New York Law School graduates who will be sitting for the bar exam on February 27th and 28th! You know you can do it!

This is a reminder that the Mendik Library will be open on Monday February 19,  from 8:00 a.m. to midnight. Circulation and Reference services will be available as follows:

Circulation Desk Hours 8:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m.

Reference Desk Hours: 10:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.

The first floor of the Mendik Library will be open as a study space from 8:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday February 13). Reference services will be available remotely (from 10:30a.m. until 8:00 p.m.). Circulation desk services may or may not be available depending on weather conditions. We will provide updated information as soon as it is available, including hours for circulation desk services.

What are you looking for this Valentine’s Day?  Love? Adventure? Excitement?  Join our Find Love in the Library Info Hunt!  It’s simple (and free!). You’ll automatically be entered to WIN great prizes . . . study aids, Lexis points, law dictionaries, Bluebooks, NYLS commuter mugs, Lexis Stanley commuter mugs and more!

Click here to access the questions.  Each slide includes just one question, along with step-by-step instructions that will get you to the answer.

Just answer 7 of the 8 questions and submit them by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday February 14. Your answers don’t need to be perfect—just close!

The drawing will be held at 5:30 p.m. outside of the library. Although you don’t need to be present to win, those who are present at the drawing will receive a second entry form, doubling their odds of winning. Plus, there will be Valentine’s sweets.

And don’t forget to stop by the Reference Desk for some yummy Valentine’s Day chocolates.

 

The Moving Image and Sound Branch of the National Archives doesn’t just hold motion pictures.  It’s also home to over 300,000 sound recordings, including those from the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court began recording its proceedings in 1955, but the court’s opinions were not recorded until the 1980s.  The recordings are organized chronologically.  Since cases are often argued over multiple days, cases can be split up between different recordings.

Some newly digitized landmark cases include:

• Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015 required states to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.  The recordings are divided into three parts: question one, question two, and the opinion.
• Engel v. Vitale in 1962 decided that school-initiated prayer in public schools violated the First Amendment.
• Gideon v. Wainwright from 1963 declared that indigent defendants must be provided legal representation without charge.
• Perhaps the best known Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade was argued over two dates: December 1971 and  October 1972.  The court declared abortion to be a constitutional right.
• Loving et ux. v. Virginia struck down state laws that banned interracial marriage in 1967.

The recordings divided into 3 series: Sound Recordings of Oral Arguments – Black Series, October 1955 – December 1972, Sound Recordings of Oral Arguments – Red Series, December 1972 – June 27, 2005, and Sound Recordings of Oral Arguments – Gold Series, October 3, 2005 – June 30, 2023.

You can also find searchable Supreme Court recordings by court term as early as 1955 on Oyez. Additionally, the Supreme Court website hosts recordings as early as 2010 on its website. Both sites include audio transcripts.

The library will be closed on Monday January 15, 2024 in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We will reopen on Tuesday January 16 at 8:00 a.m.

Government Publishing Office Recognizes Mendik Library

The U.S. Government Publishing Office recently recognized the Mendik Library as having been a participating member of the Federal Depository Library Program for 44 years.  Depository libraries receive selected government materials without charge to facilitate public access to digital and print books, maps, microforms, journals and periodicals as well as historical information back to the early days of the United States. Currently there are 1,150 depository libraries in the United States and territories, which collaborate with each other to store and share this information.  For access to any of these government materials, please contact the Mendik Library Reference Desk at reference@nyls.edu, stop by the Reference Desk or call 212-431-2332.