Knowledge Bar on 3rd Floor of Tower and Knowledge Bar in Building D                                          

The law library has created a lighter version of our Special Research Unit (SRU) workshops! We call them Mini SRUs. Only 15 minutes long compared to an hour! They will always be located at one of the Knowledge Bars on campus; either on the 3rd floor of the Tower or in Building D (see pictures above). The Knowledge Bars have Smartboards so we can display our computer screens to help students find resources.

This week's sessions are called, Mini SRU: Library 101, and are aimed at helping the 1L students with registering on Westlaw and Lexis databases, finding our library website, databases page, and catalog! We will also give have Academic Success materials on display for your perusal. Be sure to stop by at the following times:

Tuesday 8/17/10: Noon @Tower; 5:30PM @Building D

Wednesday 8/18/10: 8:15AM @Tower; Noon @Building D; 5:30PM @Tower

Thursday 8/19/10:  8:15AM @Building D; Noon @Tower; 5:30PM @Building D

Friday 8/20/10: 8:15AM @Tower; Noon @Building D

You can also check out the calendar and visit our law library's SRU Workshops page to find out more information about all of our upcoming workshops! If you have any questions, be sure to call us at 602-682-6898 or send us an email!

Picture Source: MorgueFile & MorgueFile

Today is the first day of the 2010 fall semester here at Phoenix School of Law! The Law Library has been busy all summer getting ready for this day. We have implemented several changes to enhance your experience with the Law Library. First off, we're in the process of changing our name from the Information Resources Center (IRC) to Law Library. Please bear with us as we adjust our signs and website with the name change.

We've also moved things around in the library! Our Reference Desk is now located near the Reference collection next to the Teaching/Computer Lab. We've added glass doors to separate our quiet area located on the north side of the library, from the group study area located on the south side. Also, we are temporarily hosting the Academic Outcomes department's offices in the Computer Lab. They also are using four study rooms at this time. Please be patient as we are providing them a home while Building B is being constructed for their new office space.  

And lastly, we have moved some of our collections. The Faculty Scholarship collection is now located where Academic Success used to be, and Academic Success is now located where the Arizona Collection used to be. The Arizona Collection has moved back a bit but still in the general area of where is was before. There are other things that have moved, so check out our revised map.

For the 1L orientation this year, the law library created a video tour. Take a peek at all the changes that have been made!

We wish everyone well on their first day as well as the semester ahead! Don't hesistate to visit or contact the Law Library if you have any questions or need help!

If you have a circulation question/problem (checking materials in/out), contact the Circulation Department at (602) 682-6897 or by email.

If you have a research/reference question, contact a Reference Librarian at (602) 682-6898 or by email.

Have an excellent semester! :)

Earlier this year Google introduced a new option for searching legal opinions and law journals on Google Scholar. Full-text searching across case law with the option to narrow results to a specific jurisdiction made this search enhancement a sensation.  A new player in the free legal research arena was born.

Recently Google compiled a list of the most entertaining legal opinions in its database.  Cases written in verse and rhyme are listed with amusing outbursts from the bench.

Google Scholar differs from Google in providing vetted results from peer-reviewed journals, educational and government websites, with minimal commercial-sponsored results. Additionally, Google Scholar alerts allow for the tracking of specific subjects from the online academic, artistic, legal, and scientific community. Legal opinions and law journals are being fully embedded into this model, including even a rudimentary citation tool for cases called ‘how cited.’ More

One of the issues with online - and particularly free - legal research sources such as this is authenticity. Google cannot guarantee the opinions included are accurate or official, and accurately state they should not be relied on. Google Scholar enhances legal research but cannot provide the authentically of official sources of law.

Picture source: Hein

HeinOnline is an image-based but fully searchable collection of legal publications provided by the William S. Hein & Co., Inc. Most popular is their Law Journal Library which consists of PDF articles from most major law reviews and law journals. Approximately 650 law reviews and journals are included, beginning with the inception date of each publication. Other collections include: US Supreme Court Library, Code of Federal Regulations/Federal Register Library, National Moot Court Competition, and lots more! Visit our library databases page for more information!

Recently, HeinOnline has added a new feature to their database system! They now have a "Did you mean?" spell-check feature.

Hein has added several new features lately, and they announce them on their blog. Read the HeinOnline blog here. You can also visit the many other web 2.0 places HeinOnline has available, such as their Training & Support wiki, Twitter, Facebook, How-To Videos on YouTube, and more!

Happy searching!

Picture source: MorgueFile

A quick reminder that the IRC will be closed on Saturday, July 31st 2010. Normal hours resume on Sunday August 1st 2010 (but no reference hours).

Other upcoming IRC hours changes:

• Saturday August 7th. 2010: 9:00AM - 5:00PM (no reference hours)
• Sunday August 8th, 2010: CLOSED
• Monday - Friday, August 9th - 13th, 2010: 8:00AM - 8:00PM (no reference after 5pm)

As always, you can visit our website to view the IRC hours at:

Have a fantastic weekend!!