Each spring, we conduct a survey of law students to get input on library services and resources. We published a summary of 2012 results soon after the survey closed. Now we're happy to share some information about what we did this summer, largely in response to comments. In brief: we added a water fountain to Wolff, installed after-hours book drops, overhauled the room reservation system, revamped our touch screen kiosks, and updated our entire website. 

We've been busy. We're excited to see students returning, and we're ready for another productive year. Check out a summary of comments in response to the 2012 survey.

Welcome back to campus, and drop us a note if you have any suggestions before the next annual survey comes around.

We have now concluded the 2012 Annual Student Survey for the Georgetown Law Library.  This year, 485 students responded.  Here's a quick overview chart showing the respresentation of student responses:

Thanks to all the students who responded.  We've published a summary of responses on our site: 2012 Law Library Student Survey Responses.

Congratulations to 1L student William D. Reiter, who won an Amazon Kindle Fire as part of the drawing for this year's survey.  He was chosen at random from all student responders.  He is shown here with Associate Law Librarian Kumar Jayasuriya along with his new device.

Thanks again to our students for providing valuable feedback on library services, online content and resources.  We're starting now to review all comments.  Over the coming weeks, we'll review all comments.

For several years, a day in April has been designated as “Denim Day” to promote public awareness of sexual violence against women.  Here is some background on how Denim Day came to be.

It began in 1999 in response to an Italian Supreme Court (Corte di Cassazione) decision that overturned a rape conviction. There was a dispute about consent. In overturning the decision on the consent issue, the court found that “it is nearly impossible to slip off tight jeans even partly without the active collaboration of the person who is wearing them.”  As a response to this decision female legislators appeared on the doorstep of Parliament wearing jeans and holding signs that read “Jeans: An Alibi for Rape.”

There was a second, similar case in 2008 where the Supreme Court (Corte di Cassazione) reviewed a lower court decision with very similar reasoning which had found that “it was impossible to, with the girl wearing jeans and being seated, put his hand under her pants and touch” her. This time the high court overturned the lower court and its own 1999 ruling finding that “[t]he fact that the girl was wearing jeans was not an obstacle to her intimate parts, because it is possible for him to penetrate with his hand under the garment, which is not comparable to a chastity belt.”

This development has “closely aligned the Italian Supreme Court with the European Court of Human Rights’ dictates, and ultimately has marked a step forward towards gender equality and women’s right to sexual autonomy.”

Denim Day however lives on as a reminder and as a way to combat such attitudes.

The inaugural 2012 issue of the Georgetown Law Center, Business, Economics & Regulatory Law Research Paper Series (Vol. 14, Issue No. 1) has just been just been released by SSRN.

This issue includes the following new works of scholarship from Georgetown Law faculty:

• The WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel: The Evolution of Global Health Diplomacy by Allyn L. Taylor and Ibadat S. Dhillon (Realizing Rights)
• Looking at the Lanham Act: Images in Trademark and Advertising Law by Rebecca Tushnet
• The Dodd-Frank Act and Housing Finance: Can It Restore Private Risk Capital to the Securitization Market? by Adam J. Levitin, Andrey D. Pavlov (Simon Fraser University) and Susan M. Wachter (University of Pennsylvania)

Registered SSRN users can subscribe to this series for free.

Recent faculty publications and working papers are also available via the Georgetown Law Scholarly Commons.  The Georgetown Law Center’s SSRN series and the Scholarly Commons are administered by the Georgetown Law Library.

The inaugural 2012 issue of the Georgetown Public Law & Legal Theory Paper Series (Vol. 14, Issue No. 1) has just been just been released by SSRN.

This issue includes the following new works of scholarship from Georgetown Law faculty:

• Turning the Corner on Mass Incarceration? by David Cole
• Scary Monsters: Hybrids, Mashups, and Other Illegitimate Children by Rebecca Tushnet
• Tragic Rights: The Rights Critique in the Age of Obama by Robin West
• On Constitutional Disobedience by Louis Michael Seidman

Registered SSRN users can subscribe to this series for free.

Recent faculty publications and working papers are also available via the Georgetown Law Scholarly Commons. The Georgetown Law Center’s SSRN series and the Scholarly Commons are administered by the Georgetown Law Library.

Over the years, a number of Georgetown Law graduates have published interesting and useful books.  The Georgetown Law Library is proud to feature almost two dozen of these, all written by people who graduated in classes ending in 1 and 6.  Take a look at the online exhibit of alumni author works to see the breadth of works this group of graduates has written.  During the current Law Center Reunion, all of these items are on display near the reunion registration desk in the Hotung Building.

The Library will be holding two RA orientation training sessions for new research assistants.  In the orientation, RAs will learn about library services and policies and will gain an introduction to our databases and to best research practices.

The sessions will be:

• Friday, September 23, 2011 from 11 am to noon
• Friday, September 30, 2011 from 11 am to noon

 All sessions will be held in EB Williams Room 320

Please RSVP to Thanh Nguyen (nguyent2@law.georgetown.edu) with which session you plan to attend.

September 17th is designated as Constitution Day according to 36 U.S.C. 106 and the Georgetown Law Library has put together an exhibit tracing the legislative origins of this celebration. You can stop by the Williams library atrium to see this display. Additionally, our Constitution Day Research Guide identifies treatises, journal articles and web sites for further study of the Constitution.

Locally, the National Archives will be celebrating the Constitution with a number of activities. You can also check out their official Facebook page of the U.S. Constitution.

Each spring for the last five years, the Law Library has conducted a survey of our students.  In 2011, 403 students responded to our survey, and we published summary charts of the responses back in March. Now we're publishing a survey response, to show examples of changes to library spaces, content and services guided by the useful student input.

We just published the Spring 2011 Law Library Survey Response, where you can see highlights of a new exam archive system, information on new lounge seating in the Williams library, as well as highlights to changes to our collection of reserve materials.

You can view all survey materials on the Annual Law Library Survey page.

We appreciate student input. Throughout the year, we hope to continue this dialog through our Law Library Feedback Blog, a place where we post answers to your student questions. You can send comments and suggestions through our suggestion page.  The library will use the Feedback Blog to respond.

We thought you might like to see a few images of Tuesday's earthquake at the Georgetown Law Library. We were fortunate that no structural damage was done in either the Williams or Wolff library. On Wednesday morning, all employees pulled together to return order to the 4th and 5th floor of the Williams library, so that it could be reopened well before noon.