Research

Congrats to Our Winners!

We wanted to congratulate all of the winners in this year’s Halloween Info Hunt!  Even Hurricane Sandy couldn’t scare off these (or the many other) intrepid researchers.  We also wanted to thank ALL participants for joining in what we hope you all found to be a fun learning experience!  At our November 8, 2012 drawing, we drew 13 winners from our famous Raffle Drum and offered them their choice of prizes.  Hearty congratulations to:

Lola Ajifowobaje
Alena Bohacova
Vanessa Caicedo
Christopher Carrion
Gloria Chacon
Jordann  Connaboy
Tenzin Dharlo
Aisha Elston-Wesley
Lansburg Jean-Pierre
Jamin Koo
Jonathan Reinstein
Kelly Rutkowski
Greg Sun

 If your heart is already throbbing for the Mendik Library’s next Info Hunt, you’ll find satisfaction (and perhaps love) in early February when we announce our annual Valentine’s Day Find Love in the Library Info Hunt.  Stay tuned!!

Halloween is Back!

You may have missed Halloween but you definitely don’t want to miss this week’s prize drawing in the Haunted Halloween Info Hunt —Thursday November 8th at 5:45 p.m.  We still have all of our candy to give out and then there are all the prizes . . . .

Click here for the details and an entry form if you need one (remember you can enter the drawing online or pick up an entry form at the Reference Desk).  Entries will be accepted until 5:00 p.m. on November 8th.

Costumes Not Required

Happy Halloween from the Mendik Library! As a Halloween treat, here’s an easy opportunity to WIN prizes, including study aids, texts and other legal dictionaries, flash drives . . . and more.

Using Internet Explorer, click here  to access the Haunted Halloween Hunt.  Each slide includes one question (there are only 6) and easy, step-by-step instructions. Press enter to move on to each new question.  Click  here to access an answer sheet or pick up a copy at the Reference Desk. Either submit your completed answer sheet at the Reference Desk or e-mail it to reference@nyls.edu  by 5:00 PM on Wednesday, October 31st. The drawing will take place outside the library entrance on October 31st at 5:45 PM. You need not be present to win, but an additional entry form will be added for each student who does attend!

 Among the prizes winners will choose from are:

Professional Responsibility: A Student’s Guide
Criminal Procedure and the Constitution
Leading Constitutional Cases on Criminal Justice
Winning On Appeal
Skills & Values: Legal Negotiating
Legal Writing: Examples and Explanations
Foundations of Tort Law
Questions & Answers: Wills, Trusts & Estates
Questions & Answers:  Business Associations
Foundations of Labor and Employment Law
Criminal Procedure II: From Bail to Jail
Understanding Intellectual Property Law
Barron’s Law Dictionary
Highlighters
Flash drives
NYLS Guest Cards
Halloween Treats

Research Guide for Supreme Court Affirmative Action Case

Oral arguments are scheduled today (October 10) in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, 631 F.2d 213 (5th Cir. 2011), cert. granted, 132 S. Ct. 1536 (Feb. 21, 2012).  The case is a challenge to UT Austin’s consideration of race as a factor in undergraduate admissions and will be the first time the Court addresses affirmative action in higher education since Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306 (2003).  The NYLS Racial Justice Project filed an amicus curiae brief in the case on behalf of the National Black Law Students Association. (See our previous post.)

The reference librarians of the Tarlton Law Library at the University of Texas have assembled a research guide for the case.  The guide includes the text of selected court documents filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court; news coverage and law review articles about the Fisher case; and some basic information on UT student body profiles and statistics since 2008.  Tarlton’s librarians will continue to follow the case and update the guide as new articles are published.

Bluebook App Now Available!

Good news! The Bluebook is now available for iPads, iPhones, and iPods. The app supports full-text searching, browsing, highlighting, bookmarking, and annotating.  Among its features, the continuous display of the Table of Contents and hyperlinking of cross-references make navigation a breeze.  You don’t have to worry about losing your Internet connection either.  Once downloaded, the rules reside on your device for offline use.  Give it a try!  Here’s the link.

A few things to note:  First, for the foreseeable future, the app is only available for the iPhone and the iPad – not for Androids or Blackberrys.  If you have both an iPhone and an iPad, one purchase enables you to use it on both devices.  Second, at $39.95, it is a little more expensive than the print Bluebook (which is $37.15 (new) at the NYLS bookstore).  But for folks who want the convenience and search capability of digital access it may well be worth it.  An added benefit is that all Bluebook updates between editions are automatically added to the app and you “own” the app; there’s no need to purchase it again unless you want to once a new edition is published.  (New editions are published every five years, with the 20th edition scheduled for 2015.)  Comparing it against the Bluebook’s online version, the app’s pricing may still be more favorable.  The online version is $32 for one year, with annual renewals priced at $15, although you can pay $42 for two years or $50 for three years with corresponding $15 renewals. But that is only available “online,” meaning on a PC or Mac, and you’ll need an Internet connection while using it.  Remember: the Mendik Library has a subscription to the online Bluebook, which can be accessed from two PCs in the Library.  Contact the Reference Desk for password information.

Don’t Be Legally Prizeless!

There’s no need to be legally clueless or legally prizeless anymore.  All you need to do is turn in your completed Legally Clueless Info Hunt answers at the Library Reference Desk before Tuesday, August 28 at 1:00 p.m. and you could win one of more than a dozen valuable study aids, texts and other fun prizes we will be giving away.  In addition to OneCard Guest Cards (good at the coffee bar and cafeteria) and Barnes and Nobel gift cards, winners can choose from the following list of titles:

Criminal Procedures II: Examples and Explanations
Legal Analysis: 100 Exercises for Mastery
Property: Examples and Explanations
Property Stories
Questions & Answers: Business Associations
Questions & Answers: Civil Procedure
Questions & Answers: Contracts
Questions & Answers: Criminal Law
Questions & Answers: Property
Questions & Answers: Torts
Questions & Answers: Wills, Trusts, and Estates
New York Practice Hornbook

 

If you can’t find your lime-green copy of the Legally Clueless Info Hunt form, pick up another one 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!

The Challenge Remains (Back at its Usual Time)

A reminder to join us (either again or for the first time) this Wednesday June 27 at 6:00 p.m. for another session of the Mendik Library’s 2012 Summer Research Challenge!  This week’s session will have you Navigating the Regulatory Maze as you have some fun (and snacks!) doing Research in Administrative Law.  Get all the details here, including information about this season’s final episode on July 11.

The Challenge is Still On!

Just a reminder to join us this Wednesday June 20 at 7:00 p.m. for the continuation of the Mendik Library’s 2012 Summer Research Challenge!  Hone your research skills and have some fun (as well as snacks!) at the same time.  This week’s session is Researching Congressional Documents: Statutes and Legislative History.  Get all the details here, including information about the next two sessions on June 27 and July 11.

We have moved the start time for this week’s June 20 session until 7:00 p.m. so you’ll still be able to attend the Office of Career Services’ program: Summer 2013 Job Search Strategies: What You Need to Know Now.

LexisNexis and Westlaw: Summer Policies and Options

Student access to LexisNexis and Westlaw is governed by our academic subscription contracts, which prohibit research use of these systems in conjunction with paid employment.  As a result, students’ use of LexisNexis and Westlaw passwords will automatically become limited on June 1st.

Each year LexisNexis and Westlaw face greater competition from other electronic research vendors.  This year, Bloomberg Law and Fastcase offer students unrestricted summer access to legal research databases that are comparable to LexisNexis’s and Westlaw’s.  As a result, this summer’s LexisNexis and Westlaw student access policies are more liberal than they were in previous years.

If you want to use LexisNexis or Westlaw for research this summer, for qualified academic uses, you must register on their Websites to extend your passwords.  It would be a good idea for you to register now, to ensure that these services are there when you need them.

We have compiled the details of all the vendors’ policies, registration procedures, and research options into one handy page.  Please visit: http://www.nyls.edu/library/for_students/extend_passwords.

Research is a Beach

Come play in the sand this summer as you sharpen your legal research skills.   There are still a few spots left in this summer’s one-credit Legal Research Practical Skills course.  It’s guaranteed to make you the researcher you always wanted to be (or the one you now realize you need to be).  Sand toys are included and there’s plenty of room to pitch your umbrella.  Swimsuits not required!  The course meets Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:30-5:45, June 5th through July 7th.  Register via the Registration 2012_2013 Channel on the Portal’s Home tab.

If you’re not drawn to the beach, we will also be offering this summer a series of non-credit legal research workshops (30-45 minutes each) covering such important areas as legislative history,  regulations,  the anatomy of a lawsuit, Bluebooking, “power Googling,” and others.  Watch the Library’s home page for scheduling and sign-up information toward the end of May.