On behalf of the Mendik Library, I want to welcome everyone back for another exciting year. And, in particular, welcome to the entering Class of 2022-23!  We are all looking forward to meeting you as you embark on this challenging and exciting journey.

We have worked hard to make your library a comfortable study and learning environment.  The Mendik Library is a vibrant and dynamic information and research center.  You can be assured that you are getting the benefit of an outstanding collection of information and technology resources, an extensive offering of services, and an excellent and dedicated library staff.

We describe our resources and services in great detail on our web pages and guides. What you might not realize from these publications is the outstanding quality of the Mendik Library Staff and why that is important to you.  Your librarians have many years of experience working in law libraries and teaching legal research.  Many have J.D. degrees from law schools around the country and years of legal practice experience.  They have been where you are going.  They can help you with your library and research needs, of course, but their value to you goes far beyond that.  Do not hesitate to ask us questions about the law school, particular courses, or any of the extracurricular activities available.  We can help you, or we will direct you to the best person to give you the help you need.

Welcome!  We hope the library will quickly become your second home.  To our new 1L community members, we recognize that law school is a new experience for each of you, and we are committed to making that experience a rewarding one.  We look forward to the opportunity to work with you throughout your law school career and thereafter as alumni.

Sincerely,

Professor Camille Broussard
Library Director & Associate Dean

For the eleventh consecutive year, the Mendik Library surveyed 1Ls during First Week about some of their digital inclinations. For the complete survey results (along with the questions) and how they compare to results over the past ten years, here.

Spoiler alert—pepperoni once again repeated as the most popular pizza topping, this time based on the preferences of 347 members of the classes of 2020/21. These students also responded to questions about:

• their preferred platforms for electronic communication;
• their usage of Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Twitter, Blogs & Podcasts;

• the digital devices they owned and used, including Macs v. PCs, Smartphones, Tablets and E-Book Readers.

Here are some of the highlights:

Communication

• Email remained decidedly less preferred as a means of electronic communication, with only 19% of the class preferring it over text messaging (72%). Social media apps were the preferred means of electronic communication for just 9%.

Social Media

• For the first time in ten years, Facebook is no longer the dominant social networking platform for these students. Instagram was the choice of 36%, up from last year’s 27% figure. Only 29% of this class labeled Facebook as the social networking platform they used most often.

• Snapchat also continued to gain ground over Facebook, increasing from 15% in 2016 to 18% this year.

Preferred Devices

• Continuing the previous ten-year trend, the popularity of Mac laptops versus PC laptops increased to 73%, up from last year’s figure of 68%.

• Ownership of iPhones increased to 86% of the class, with 14% owning Android phones.

E-Books

• Students are taking advantage of e-books using a variety of devices, though the large majority (79%) have done so on a computer (desktop or laptop), nearly twice as many as those using iPads (43%) and nearly four times as many as those using Kindles (20%). Only 10% of respondents indicated they had not read or viewed any e-books.

• Perhaps most significantly, students continue to manifest an aversion to the use of e-books for classes. Asked whether they had used an e-textbook for classes, only 41% said yes, a steep decline from last year’s 58% figure.

• When those who had used an e-textbook were asked if they preferred it to a print textbook, 86% said “no,” a slight increase over last year’s 85% figure.

Pizza

• Pepperoni continues to reign supreme as students’ favorite pizza topping, pulling in 29% of the vote, up from last year’s 22% number. The only other toppings in double figures were Extra Cheese at 17% and Mushrooms at 12%.

For the seventh consecutive year the Mendik Library surveyed 1Ls during First Week library tours about some of their digital inclinations. Below is a quick summary.  You can see all the survey questions (and the responses) here.

In addition to telling us their favorite pizza topping (answer below), 318 members of the classes of 2016/17 responded to questions about:

• their preferences in electronic communication;
• their social networking activity;
• their usage of Twitter, E-Books, Blogs, and Podcasts; and
• the devices (Smartphones, Tablets, E-Book Readers, etc.) they owned.

Some earlier trends are continuing, including an increased use of social media, though this year witnessed an upsurge in the use of Instagram (with a concomitant decrease in Facebook usage).  E-mail as a preference in electronic communication resumed what had been a steady decline while text messaging continued to grow.  E-Book usage also continued its gains.  The latter is consistent with a fifty-percent jump in students’ ownership of iPads or other Tablet devices.

• The percentage of students who preferred E-mail to other forms of electronic communication resumed its decline after a small upward blip last year.  Only 32% prefer E-mail, the lowest number we’ve seen in seven years.  By contrast . . .

• the preference for mobile-based text messaging continued its steady ascent, jumping almost 10 points to 58%.  Draw your own conclusion but those reporting a preference for BlackBerry Messaging, was zero!
• continued a trend of increasing daily use, with 60% claiming use more than once per day, compared to 52% last year and the sixth straight year witnessing an increase.
• Among “Smartphones,” BlackBerry lost more than half its users, dropping from 15% to 7%.  The iPhone surged once again, to 77% (up from 62%) but the Android seems to have stumbled, retreating from last year’s 21% to 16%.
• Ownership of an iPad or other Tablet grew by half, from 30% in 2012 to 46% this year.
• Ownership of E-Book Readers increased this year, from 16% to 23%, up from 4% when the question was first asked in 2010.

• Although Facebook remains the dominant social networking site for these students, at 54%, Instagram has marked an aggressive gain to 24%, picking up the twenty percentage points Facebook lost from last year.  Almost 11% of the class, the same percentage as last year, does not use any social networking site . . . but those who are users . . .

• Questions about Twitter appeared for just the third time; although the number of students who have a Twitter account jumped to 53% (from 38% in 2011 and 46% in 2012),  Tweeting “occasionally” is the only category that saw a noticeable increase, reaching 22% compared to last year’s 17% and 2011’s 14%.  The number of Twitter feeds students follow has increased again only modestly – those following more than five feeds increased from 32% to 35% but the number following between one and five feeds remained flat.
• The number of blog/RSS subscribers and readers has continued to decline slowly, down to 28%.
• Podcasts finally experienced a slight uptick with the percentage of students who downloaded or listened to 1-5 Podcasts growing from 20% in 2012 to 30% in 2013, and those who downloaded or listened to more than five Podcasts increased marginally (from 15% to 16%).  The number of students who did not know what a Podcast was matched last year’s highest level ever, 13%.
• Continuing what had become a steady trend, the popularity of Macs compared to PCs increased once again, reaching 64%, up from 57% last year.
• When it comes to web browsers, two majors (Firefox and Internet Explorer) each lost a little more ground to Google Chrome, which is now favored by 34% of incoming students.  Firefox fell from 23% in 2012 to 18%; IE fell from 16% to 13%.  The only thing stopping Chrome seemed to be Safari, which climbed from 27% to 34%.
• Google continues to reign as the undisputed search engine of choice (94%), with Yahoo advancing over last year to 3%, and Bing bringing up the rear with 2%.  AOL scored a zero with these students.
• For only the fourth time, we asked students which electronic devices they owned.

• Along with the increasing ownership of Tablet devices, more students are taking advantage of E-Books – 68% (up from 59% in 2012) said they have used their computer or another electronic device (e.g., iPad or other Tablet, Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader or Smartphone application) to view an E-Book.
• Finally, Pepperoni came out on top once again as students’ favorite pizza topping, pulling in a hearty 30% of the vote compared to Mushrooms, the nearest contender with 14%.  At 13%, Extra Cheese fell back to third place.

For more information and the complete survey results, click here.