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New England Law Opportunities
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Law Library Guide 2009-2010Table of Contents
Library Hours: August 17, 2009 – May 31, 2010
Please note the following exceptions as posted.
Telephone Numbers
The Law Library’s mission is to support and enhance the research and educational endeavors of the New England Law | Boston faculty, students, staff, and alumni. The library is an essential and integral component in the educational life of the school; it supports the school’s curriculum and fosters an atmosphere that is conducive to research and learning. The library’s knowledgeable and service-oriented staff offers instruction and assistance in legal research, and provides an excellent collection for library users. The library’s collection contains all standard legal research and reference materials. We also have an extensive collection of DVDs, CDs, and electronic databases. The library occupies five levels on three floors, and seats 473. Group study rooms are available to New England Law students. Reservations for rooms may be made online from the library’s web page. The library has nine reservable carrels, three located on each floor of the library. These carrels may be reserved for current research projects using checked out library material for no longer than 30 days. To reserve a carrel, sign up at the library Information Desk or online. Students may obtain library employment applications at the Information Desk or via the library web page: www.nesl.edu/library/jobs.cfm. Work-study is preferred, but all are welcome to apply. The library is an equal opportunity employer. The library is open to New England Law | Boston students, faculty, staff, and alumni; local law students; members of the Massachusetts Bar; Tufts Health and Sciences faculty, students, and staff; Wentworth faculty, students, and staff; and New England Law Library permit holders. Current New England Law students must bring their valid law school ID with them in order to access the library. A current New England Law student may bring one guest into the library on an occasional basis. Guests must sign the visitor’s log. Other qualified users must present proper identification to security and sign the visitor’s log prior to entering the library. Restrictions apply to persons not affiliated with New England Law during extended hours each semester. If you have special needs and require assistance, please see a librarian or desk assistant. Quiet, please! Soft conversation is acceptable only in study rooms. When in other areas, please cooperate in maintaining a silent environment. Use of cellular phones is prohibited in all areas of the library. Library materials must not be removed from the library without having been checked out; abuse or mutilation of any library materials will not be tolerated. The library reserves the right to check bags upon exiting. Eating is prohibited in the library. Beverages are allowed in covered containers, although the library prefers "spill-proof" mugs or screw top bottles. Library users should discard empty drink containers in recycling or trash receptacles stationed on each floor of the library, and report any spills immediately to the Information Desk. New England Law is smoke-free, and the use of all tobacco products is prohibited in the law school. Violation of library regulations may result in referral to the school disciplinary committee and/or loss of library privileges. Graduating seniors must return all library books to be eligible for graduation. Reference Librarians, all of whom possess a J.D., MLS, or both, are available to assist you with research techniques, questions about our collection, and interlibrary loans. For assistance, please ask at the Information Desk, or dial (617) 422-7299. Reference Librarians are available Monday through Thursday until 9:00 PM; Friday, Saturday and Sunday until 5:00 PM. Live chat or IM reference and email reference services are available via the library web page. Interlibrary Loans, Holds, and Retrieve Requests Materials not in our collection may be borrowed from other libraries. Current students, faculty and staff can order an interlibrary loan via First Search or by filling out a form via the library web page. Request forms for interlibrary loans are also at the Information Desk. New England Law | Boston is a member of the New England Law Library Consortium and the Boston Regional Library Network which gives the library expedited interlibrary loan service. If you require access to materials which are in our collection but checked out to another patron, you may request a hold be placed for the title online or at the Information Desk. If the library does not own the title or it is missing, we will do our best to find that material for you. Announcements, Exhibits, and Library Newsletter Current information about library hours, special programs, and announcements are posted on the library web page; exhibits of interest to our academic community are maintained by the library staff as well. The library has a Facebook page which publishes library news stories including legal research training in the library. The library publishes a newsletter twice a year, available online and in the library. A list of current acquisitions, writing competitions and symposia are posted monthly online. The library’s online catalog will accept patron input. Suggestions and comments regarding our library collection and administration may also be submitted in writing and deposited in the Suggestion Box at the Information Desk or given to a librarian. Online Information Access and Instruction WESTLAW and LEXIS/NEXIS are available to all New England Law faculty, staff, and students. Basic training in these services is given to all first year law students, and further training is offered on a continuous basis. These services are strictly limited by our contract to educational use; neither system may be used for any other purpose or by anyone who is not a current student, faculty member, or staff member. Many other online databases are available to New England Law students. Internet and electronic database access is provided at workstations throughout the library. Training classes are offered as posted, and other classes or individual instruction may be arranged with the Reference Librarians. Most of the databases are licensed for access from home. The 2009/2010 CD of lessons from the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) is available at the Information Desk. Students may pick up a copy of the current CD at the Information Desk as well as the authorization code for the CALI website. Portia, the library’s web-based online catalog (OPAC), is accessible from terminals on all levels of the library, and on the Internet. It includes records of materials currently available as well as items on order. Many titles cataloged in Portia are linked directly to the full text online version. Computer workstations are available for student use in the library’s computer labs (room 115, the Computer Media Center, first floor main reading room and base of stairs in the basement). Alumni are requested to use only the two public workstations in the main reading area of the first floor. Audio-Visual Services, Holdings, and Equipment A great many audio and video tapes and DVDs on a wide variety of subjects are available on reserve. Cassette players and portable DVD players are available at the Information Desk. The Computer and Media Center (CMC) and basement level group study rooms house VCRs/DVD players (one equipped for closed-caption) for group viewing. Microform materials include U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs, the Records and Briefs of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial and Appeals Courts, Congressional Record, Federal Register, federal legislative history materials, pre-National Reporter state reports, state session laws, state Attorney General opinions, Massachusetts legislative documents, state bar journals, state bar exams, UN treaties, International Court of Justice opinions, and various legal newspapers. A microform reader/printer is located on the basement level outside the CMC and outside room 014. The reader/printer is set up to scan microform images. Paper copies are free to print. Computer Workstations are available in two labs for student use. Laser printers are available and accept copy cards. Students must provide their own storage media; student materials stored on hard drives will be removed. Technical assistance is available from computer staff at the Help Desk. Students who have signed a New England Law Internet Use Agreement may access the World Wide Web and e-mail from most library workstations. In addition, 16 laptops, three of which are Mac I-Books, are available for checkout at the Information Desk to be used in the library. Students must sign a Laptop User Policy Agreement in order to borrow a laptop for a maximum of 3 hours. Laptops are due back 1/2 hour before the library closes. Wireless access and network jacks are available for laptop use on all 3 levels of the library. The library also has 5 laptop security locks for checkout for your personal laptop if it is left unattended. A typewriter is located in room 018 on the basement level of the library. Tape and DVD players with headphones and laptop computers may be used throughout the library. Photocopiers, located on all three levels of the library, are available for library users. Copiers on the first floor and basement accept $1 and $5 bills and give change. Copy card vending machines are located on the first floor near the restrooms and in the basement near the elevator. Conway owns and maintains the photocopiers. Malfunctions should be reported at the Information Desk. Computer print stations located on the basement, first, and second floor levels of the library operate using the same copy card. Report any printer problems to the Help Desk, 617-422-7404. Administrative reports of federal agencies, related looseleaf services, and federal legislative research materials are housed in the basement stacks 150-172. The Congressional Information Service (CIS), legislative documents, and Federal Index are located in the basement microfiche collection. Law reviews and other periodicals are housed in the compact shelving on the basement level and are arranged alphabetically by title. Fulltext versions of many law reviews are available online. Various indexes to the collection are available in print at Stack 196 and on the web.
Reference: Legal encyclopedias, Words and Phrases, ALR, and other major titles are located on the first floor. A Ready Reference Collection containing Massachusetts Practice Series, the Massachusetts General Laws Annotated, directories, and guidebooks is located across from the Information Desk. Many other helpful reference materials are available online. Special Collections - The Archives: The historical archives housed in Room 209A contain materials from Portia Law School, founded in 1908 and rechartered as New England School of Law in 1969. Also represented are catalogs from the affiliated Calvin Coolidge College of Liberal Arts (1936-1968) and a collection of some personal papers of the school’s founder, Arthur W. MacLean. A guide to the collection is available off the library web page; please contact the Archives Assistant for access to this collection. The Dean’s office of Portia Law School maintained scrapbooks of newspaper clippings about Portia and affiliated institutions. These are available in digital and microfilm format, and a partial searchable database is available. A collection of Calvin Coolidge College theses is also available on microfilm. In addition, New England Law yearbooks, student publications and alumni newsletters are archived and available upon request. The Mary Joe Frug Women and the Law Collection is housed in room 007. Newspapers and Magazines: The recent issues of daily Boston and national newspapers, legal newspapers and popular magazines are located in the basement at the base of the stairs. Issues of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly are kept in binders on reserve. Microform editions of selected newspapers, mainly legal, are stored in Cabinets 36-43 in Stack 249, also located on the basement level. Most treatises, hornbooks, general reading materials (items with Library of Congress call numbers) and some videotapes and DVDs may be checked out of the library. Currently enrolled New England Law students, faculty, and staff, as well as alumni with library cards, may check out circulating books for approximately thirty days. Circulation transactions require a barcoded ID. You may be fined for overdue materials; please take note of the time or date due on materials. Please limit checkouts to no more than five (5) books in any given subject area. Circulating materials may be returned by dropping them into the book return bin at the end of the Information Desk; all are due by May 15. Materials may be renewed once if no other user has requested the book. Renewals may be made in person, by phone, or online. You may view your record of borrowed materials off of the Portia catalog web page. Graduating seniors must return all library books to be eligible for graduation. Library privileges may be suspended for borrowers who fail to return materials. For lost or damaged items the borrower will be charged the cost of replacement plus a $25.00 processing fee per title. The following materials are on reserve behind the Information Desk: course materials, study aids, practice materials, legal newspapers, DVDs of classes, general videos, CD-ROMs, laptops for current New England Law students. Frequently used Massachusetts sources, such as the Code of Massachusetts Regulations, are also located at the Information Desk. New England Law exams are maintained by the library at the discretion of the professor. They are passworded on the New England Law web page. Various Boston museum passes are available for checkout after signing up at the Information Desk or by phone. Most reserve materials may be used in the library for two hours. Permission for overnight checkout of some reserve materials may occasionally be granted by a Reference Librarian provided that the following conditions are met: multiple copies are available; the material is checked out before 9:00 PM, Monday - Thursday, and before 5:00 PM, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays; and the material is returned within the first hour the library is open the next day. Only current students, faculty, and staff are eligible for this privilege. Most of the collection is on open shelving and is freely accessible for in-library use. Please reshelve these materials promptly and properly as a courtesy to other library users. Holdings may be easily identified and located as follows: 1. PORTIA, the library's online catalog, can be searched by author, title, subject, and keywords, and will provide call numbers and locations for materials as well as links into New England Law Library's electronic databases. 2.The Law Library Home Page points to a number of different ways of accessing print and electronic materials. Quick links are provided to some Electronic databases such as HeinOnline, Academic Search Premier and JSTOR are linked to directly and listed through the library's A-Z list of databases. Journal Locator search allows the user to find journals which the library has access to either online or in our print collection. The library home page also highlights our special collections, special bibliographies like the Mary Joe Frug Collection, and links to popular library resources. 3. Maps are posted throughout the library.
Topical Index to Selected Call Numbers
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