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.

                                                 

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:

• Wednesday, May 25, 2011 from 11 am to noon
• Thursday, June 2, 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.

Still need a job?  The Library’s Faculty Services Department is seeking several research assistants for the summer. Interested students should provide a resume and cover letter to Thanh Nguyen, Faculty Services Librarian, Edward Bennett Williams Library, Room 204D, or via email at nguyent2@law.georgetown.edu

Now in its 24th year, the annual Home Court basketball game pits Georgetown Law faculty against Members of Congress to raise money to benefit the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. This year's event takes place on March 30 at Trinity Washington University. Full details are on the Home Court website. To help celebrate and honor this important event, Georgetown Law Library has created a gallery of photographs from past Home Court events, taken from the Law Center Archives. In the photos, you'll find images of competitions from 1990 through 1994, including some related events. View the Gallery of Home Court Photos 1990 – 1994.

We've added a new set of photo galleries to the Georgetown Law Library website, providing an online equivalent to visual exhibits we use on touch screen displays in the two library locations.  One of these is the Visual History of Georgetown Law Library: With Images from Our Archives.

Here you can find a historical overview of Georgetown Law Library, spanning from 1887 to the present. The display includes depictions of our first card catalog (printed in 1888), an 1891 photo of a coffee shop next to the Law Center, and many other images, culled from our Archives.

 

 

The Law Center has launched a new database devoted to materials related to the state secrets privilege. This evidentiary privilege, which has been widely discussed in legal scholarship and news media in the past few years, allows for the exclusion of evidence from litigation if its disclosure will have an adverse effect on national security. Georgetown Law Professor Laura Donohue, who has written extensively on the privilege and on national security law generally, and Georgetown's Center on National Security and the Law, have been collecting case law, litigation documents, executive branch materials, news articles, and scholarly works related to the privilege.

This material is now publicly available through the Georgetown Law State Secrets Archives. The documents are fully searchable, and organized by subject, jurisdiction, government position, and disposition of the state secrets claim. The database is intended for use by scholars and students, as well as journalists and other researchers, and is the largest online collection of state secrets material 

Update: Survey closed Sunday, March 20.  Updates will be posted to the Georgetown Law Library website, including news on a winner of the Apple iPod Touch.

The Law Library is currently conducting a survey of all Georgetown law students. Please take about 10 minutes to give us your feedback about our reference services and research collections. We're also looking for your thoughts about our facilities and a few other library-related items. We promise to read every comment submitted, and we'll do what we can to act on and respond to your feedback.

Take the 2011 Law Library Survey [Georgetown login required]

One lucky student completing the survey will win an Apple iPod Touch (32 GB). We will keep the survey open through Sunday, March 20, and plan to announce the student winner during March after the survey closes.

It should only take a few minutes to complete the voluntary survey.  Based on feedback in prior years, we created an online group study reservation system, relocated the reference desk in the Wolff Library and purchased new chairs for the Williams Reading Room and Williams library fifth floor. In addition, we have added library book scanners, and we enhanced frequently-used library collections, including our collection of DVD and study aids.

Read a summary of survey results from the last four years, together with our response each year: Annual Law Library Student Survey

Here's a profile of the 607 students who replied last year. We hope to you'll take the time to help us get at least this many responses this time around.


 

Want to find readings for your Spring 2011 courses? Need to learn how to find your course management software, be it TWEN or Georgetown Law's own Courseware? Looking for past exams? Need help researching a topic or finding a good hornbook?

The Library has created a list of links for all of the course materials available online and in the law library, as well as the library's specialized research tools. The list is available below and on the Library's Student page.

Here are a few selected links for the start of the semester.

• First Week Reading Assignments (posted by Faculty Support)
• Course Materials Distribution -- also known as Article Works provided by Faculty Support.  Faculty often post syllabi and course readings through this service.

Course Management Systems

Georgetown Law faculty may use one of two types of course management web-based software. Below are links for both:

• Georgetown Law Courseware
• TWEN Courseware
  • A Westlaw password is needed to access TWEN. The Library issued Westlaw passwords during Library Orientation.
  • Tutorial on How to Add a Class on TWEN

Course Materials from the Library

• Past Exams (via Library Catalog)
• Course Reserves(via Library Catalog)

Research Support
Below are a few of the specialized research tools the law library has created to help you succeed in your courses and other scholarly pursuits.

• Research Guides
  
  • Substantive guides by topic, including U.S., Foreign, & International
  •  State & Local Jurisdictions
• Treatise Finder
• Tutorials (Shockwave Flash Videos)
• If you would like more personalized support, please schedule a Research Consultation with a reference librarian

Georgetown University Law Center Dean William M. Treanor has announced the appointment of Michelle Wu as professor of law and law library director. Wu succeeds Interim Law Librarian Peggy Fry, who assumed the post shortly after the sudden death of long-serving Law Librarian Robert Oakley.

"Michelle brings a wealth of law librarianship experience, and we are delighted to welcome her to Georgetown Law," said Treanor. "We also offer our deepest gratitude to Peggy Fry for her outstanding leadership and service to our community."

Wu comes to Georgetown from Hofstra University School of Law, where she was associate dean for information services since 2008 and director and professor of law since 2006. She joined Hofstra in 2004 as director and associate professor of law. In 2007 and 2008, she served as interim senior vice dean for academic affairs.

Prior to joining Hofstra, Wu was acting director and associate director of the O’Quinn Law Library at the University of Houston School of Law. She also served as assistant director for information services at the George Washington University Law School Library.

Wu co-edited Beyond the Books: People, Politics, and Librarianship with Leslie Lee (Hein, 2007), and has published numerous chapters and articles. She received a B.A. in psychology from the University of California at San Diego, J.D. from California Western School of Law and M. Libr. with Law Librarianship Certificate from the University of Washington.

For the past four years, the Georgetown Law Library has conducted a survey of students each Spring.  Shortly after the survey closes, we publish charts showing some of the quantitative results, which we announce on our blog. Student input from the survey helps us make decisions on adapting library services, materials and resources to best meet student needs. In addition to publishing charts, each year we provide narrative feedback, meant to show how the library is evolving based on student input. 

The Spring 2010 Law Library Survey Response is now online, where you can read about our updated computer labs, planned enhancements to book scanning options, changes to our website navigation menus, and updates on other services.

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.