Westlaw has recently announced that spring 2013 graduates will be able to enjoy access to the full range of content on WestlawNext and Westlaw Classic through the end of November – perfect for those studying for the bar or job hunting.

Graduating students can extend their access by registering for Westlaw's Grad Program. Once registered, May graduates will retain access to Westlaw through November 2013. Although all content is included, please note that this extension will be limited in the number of hours allowed per month. All graduates will also automatically retain access to a number of career-related databases for 18 months following graduation.

Continuing students involved in academic or non-profit research can also take advantage of full Westlaw access through the summer by registering for a password extension.

See the library's page on Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law for details on summer and new grad extended access on all of these platforms.

In November, we posted about the IRS's digital release of 10 years' worth of tax-exempt organization returns, which contained more than 6.5 million documents.

ProPublica, a news organization that "produces investigative journalism in the public interest," has now launched an easy-to-use search engine for these returns. You can search by keyword, state, non-profit category, and organization type (e.g., 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4))

For example, if you're interested in the current IRS controversy, searching on "Tea Party", "constitution", or "patriot" will pull up information on numerious 501(c)(4) orgainizations and links to pdf scans of their Form 990 returns.

The library will be holding two orientation training sessions for new faculty 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:

• Thursday, May 30, 2013, from 11 am to noon
• Wednesday, June 5, 2013, from 11 am to noon

 All sessions will be held in EB Williams Library Room 520.

Research assistants should RSVP to Morgan Stoddard (mms237@law.georgetown.edu) and indicate which session they would like to attend.

The Tax Analysts database (http://0-services.taxanalysts.com.gull.georgetown.edu/Login) provides electronic access to back issues of their publications. (Please be sure to use the proxy link from the library rather than go to the website directly --- even when on campus.)

To access the back issues, you can “browse archives by date” or do an advanced search. Be sure when doing an advanced search to change the date range from the default (2008) to the years you are interested in.

Tax Analysts enables searching on the entire publication run of their newsletters from the first issue.

“Browse archives by date” lets you read full issues of:

• Tax Notes: 2001 -

• Tax Notes Today: 2012 -

• Tax Notes International: 2001 -

• Worldwide Tax Daily: 2012 -

• State Tax Notes: 2000 -

• State Tax Today: 2012 -

The Library also has a nearly complete collection of the back issues of Tax Notes (starting from volume 4) and full runs of the back issues of Tax Notes International and State Tax Notes in print.

The Government Accountability Office is known as the “Congressional watchdog,” since they monitor how the federal government spends its money and report back to Congress with their findings. On a daily basis, the GAO produces in-depth reports on all aspects of the government and federal law. They also issue legal decisions on “bid protests, appropriations law and other aspects of federal law.” In the past few months alone, the following reports were issued:

• Federal Employees' Compensation Act Case Examples Illustrate Vulnerabilities That Could Result in Improper Payments or Overlapping Benefits. GAO-13-386, Apr 3, 2013
• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Standards Needed to Improve Identification of Racial and Ethnic Overrepresentation in Special Education, GAO-13-137, Feb 27, 2013
• International Religious Freedom Act State Department and Commission Are Implementing Responsibilities but Need to Improve Interaction, GAO-13-196, Mar 26, 2013

GAO reports and legal decisions are freely available on their website, through Facebook, and on their mobile app.

Dear Graduates,

On behalf of the entire law library staff: Congratulations!  We hope you have had a fantastic and enriching experience here. It has been rewarding to work with all of you.

Please add one more item to your list of things to do to prepare for graduation.

Please return your library books as soon as possible. As of April 26th a TEMPORARY charge of $120 has been placed with Student Accounts for each item still checked out by a graduating student. Those who have unpaid accounts on graduation day will not receive either their transcript or diploma during the commencement ceremony.

How to remove a fine:

Simply return the item. Once you return all of your library materials, we will remove those charges. Credits will be issued as the books are returned.

Please make every effort to return your books by noon on May 14. This will give both the Library and the Student Accounts department ample time to clear your records with the Registrar and ensure that you receive both your final transcript and diploma at the graduation ceremony.

We invite you to stop by either the Wolff or Williams circulation desk to see if you have any outstanding library books to return. You may also check your Library Account online by logging in with NetID at https://gull.georgetown.edu/patroninfo.

If you do not return all items by May 14, you will have to take a few more steps -- but don't worry. 

If you need your library materials after May 14 to complete a paper or take an exam, simply see the staff of either the Wolff or Williams Libraries. We can work with you and the registrar's office so that you won't have outstanding library fines on graduation day.

How do you remove library holds on your record after May 14?

Simply return the items. Once all books are returned, the library will promptly remove all charges.

Once again the library applauds your accomplishments.  We look forward to your future visits as returning graduates.

Consider borrowing the Library's latest-acquired TV series on DVD: Garrow's Law. This BBC courtroom drama is based on the life of Sir William Garrow (1760--1840) and features trials based on actual Old Bailey trial transcripts. The three-season series is a short twelve episodes, perfect for a study break.

Willliam Garrow was a pioneering criminal defense lawyer during a period in British history in which defendants (and their counsel) had few rights. Evidence rules were scant; defense lawyers were not permitted to address the jury; and defendants could not make their own defense. Cross-examination was the only the only tool available. Through his strenuous and agressive advocacy both in and outside the courtroom, Garrow helped transform the British criminal justice system (and influenced the US's) into one with a more-developed law of evidence, a clearer set of rights for felony criminal defendants, and a presumption of innocence until convicted by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.

 (photo from Amazon.com)

To supplement this spring's successful Equal Justice Film Festival and encourage further research and exploration, the Georgetown Law Library has compiled a brief bibliography of resources, including books, scholarly articles, and other films on related topics.

You can view or download it in PDF: Georgetown Law Library Equal Justice Film Festival - A Concise Bibliography.

For more information about the films and speakers that were part of the series, see the Film Festival website at www.law.georgetown.edu/library/about/125/filmfestival.cfm.

The CQ Electronic Library, a product of Congressional Quarterly publishing, has added three new resources to their already rich collection.

• World at Risk is a sourcebook of global issues which features indepth reports on topics such as human trafficking, international criminal justice and climate change. The reports can be searched by keyword or browsed in full-text.
• CQ Press State Stats is a data resource of state statistics on topcis such as crime rates, employment and environmental health. Researchers can browse by state or topic and search by keyword.
• The Supreme Court Justices: Illustrated Biography 1789-2012 includes detailed biographical information on all justices of the U.S. Supreme Court since its inception.

We have now concluded the 2013 Annual Student Survey for the Georgetown Law Library.  This year, 595 students responded.  Here's a quick overview chart showing the respresentation of student responses:

Thanks to everybody who responded.  

Congratulations to Jack Lescroart (L '14), who won an Amazon Kindle Paperwhite as part of the drawing for this year's survey.  He was chosen at random from all student responders who entered.  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've already started to review all comments.  Over the coming weeks, we'll discuss all of this input and use it as a guide in helping us focus our efforts to provide useful services and resources.