New: Global Guide to Same-Sex Relationship Laws

Check out this new comprehensive guide that analyzes same-sex relationship laws around the world.  Created by the global law firm Jones Day, it outlines the law of same-sex relationships in all U.N. recognized countries as well as each U.S. state.  For each jurisdiction, the guide provides the status of legal recognition along with additional insights.  For example, it discusses whether marriage or some other status is available and whether foreign same-sex marriages are recognized.  It also provides information about the dissolution of same-sex relationships.  Jones Day intends to maintain and update the site as new court decisions and statutes emerge.

For more details on this guide, see the Jones Day news release .

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/ .

Celebrating Black History Month: NYLS and the First African-American Newspaper

Celebrating Black History Month has always taken on special significance at NYLS, particularly when you consider how closely entwined our community is with African American heritage. Consider, for example, our connection to the historical publication of Freedom’s Journal.

Freedom’s Journal, founded in 1827 to provide a voice against racism and intolerance, was the first newspaper published in the United States by and for African Americans. A number of sources place its home at 236 Church Street, which is today encompassed by NYLS’s 57 Worth Street building. This neighborhood was home to a large number of free northern blacks who, at that time, constituted a small minority in the city.

Freedom’s Journal denounced slavery and lynchings and advocated for black suffrage. It also published articles on how the U.S. legal and political systems helped to perpetuate slavery. But the publication itself was not long-lived. Founding editor John Brown Russwurm published the last issue in 1829, shortly before emigrating to Liberia.

To learn more about Freedom’s Journal, seek out a copy of the Fall/Winter 2010 issue of New York Law School Magazine, which contains a more in-depth article regarding NYLS’s connection to the newspaper.  You can also access a copy of the article here.

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.

Be My (Library) Valentine

What are you looking for this Valentine’s Day?  Love? Adventure? Excitement?   Head over to the Library and join the annual Find Love in the Library Info Hunt!  Joining is simple (and free).  Just answer 3 of the 6 questions, submit your answers either by email (reference@nyls.edu) or by dropping your answer sheet in the raffle drum at the Reference Desk.  Drawing is on Thursday, February 12, 5:30 pm.  Our prizes this year includes Amazon gift cards, OneCard guest cards, LexisNexis rewards points, research guides and study aids.  There will also be sweets and treats at the drawing. Hope to see you there!​

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

 

Mendik Library Holiday Season Hours

A reminder to the community that the Mendik Library will be closed from December 24, 2014, through January 4, 2015. (We will be open on December 22 and December 23 from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm.)

If you have any reference questions, please email us at reference@nyls.edu and a reference librarian will get back to you as soon as possible. As noted below, because the email system will be unavailable on December 29 and 30, any emails sent on those days may not reach us. If you do not receive a response, please resend your email.

Due dates on borrowed materials will be adjusted to January 5.

On Monday and Tuesday December 29 and 30, the Office of Information Technology (OIT) will be performing upgrades and maintenance on the NYLS network. On those two days, the following Library services will be unavailable:

• Reference and Circulation Services (email, phone, IM)
• All content on the Library’s Website
• The Online Catalog
• Access to Electronic Resources
• Mendik Mobile services

Our best wishes to everyone for a happy holiday season.

Study for Final Exams

Three important Library resources to keep in mind as you prepare for upcoming exams.

First:  The Library’s Exam Preparation Resources web page offers a host of materials containing practical advice and strategies designed to help you navigate the exam process.

Second:  The Library maintains an archive of previous years’ exams for most courses.  You can access these exams by course or professor name.  From the Library’s home page, click Find Sample and Practice Exams under How Do I . . . ?

Third:  CALI offers a variety of lessons and podcasts with helpful tips and advice from faculty on preparing for and taking exams. To access these materials, log in to CALI; under CALI Topics, click Legal Concepts and Skills and scroll down to one or more of these lessons:

Exam Taking Skills, Outlines, and Advice for Law Students (Panel 1 PodCast)

Exam Taking Skills, Outlines, and Advice for Law Students (Panel 2 PodCast)

Exam Taking Skills, Outlines, and Advice for Law Students (Panel 3 PodCast)

Tips for Multiple Choice Exams in Law School (Podcast)

Top 10 Tips for Successfully Writing a Law School Essay

Writing Better Law School Exams: The Importance of Structure