Need help with your legal research or navigating a library resource?  Then make an appointment with a librarian!  While you are always welcome to stop by the Legal Research Help Desk during regular Legal Research Help Desk hours, the PSL law librarians also encourage you to schedule an individual appointment that works with your schedule to provide personalized assistance.

Law students can request an appointment with a librarian by e-mailing research@phoenixlaw.edu  Please be sure to include information on your topic or assignment so we can prepare before we meet. A librarian will contact you to confirm your appointment.

 Image from Morguefile.com

Most patrons think of the Catalog as a resource to find a call number for a book located on a shelf.  While this is still the case the Catalog has so much more to offer.  A simple search on Adoption produced records with links to resources in databases like Lexis, HeinOnline, and Westlaw.  Records for additional electronic formats include websites that are both useful and credible.  Over 50,000 articles were located; an advanced search should be done to narrow results.  Finally, five eBooks and over 60 print books were found. 

The next time you begin a research project you may want to start with the Catalog.  You never know what you’ll find! 

(Image from Catalog)

Our Arizona State Library web page is the place to go!  All Arizona residents have to do is type their zip code and select Academic Search Complete database for over 6,100 full-text interdisciplinary periodicals – on everything under the sun.   Then after finishing your research, you may want to try Beer & Wine Making in the Hobbies and Crafts Reference Center or visit the Home Improvement Reference Center.

But, before you start sampling your home brew, check out our PSL Library’s ProQuest Research Library database.  Located in the drop-down menu on the PSL Library’s Website under Library Databases, it contains thousands of interdisciplinary journals on a wide variety of subjects.  ProQuest has a little something for everyone.

Remember off campus, you will be prompted to log in with your name and library bar code (located on the back of your school id).

Don’t forget to stop by the Legal Research Help Desk to learn more about other interdisciplinary resources.  Or, we can chat about the fabulous Aztec Purse pattern I downloaded on my ipad from the Hobbies and Crafts Reference Center!

Better yet, borrow an ipad at the Circulation Desk and download your AWR interdisciplinary research!

I’ve graduated.  Now what?  How do I afford research? Come find out at our workshop titled Real World Research, this Tuesday, February 26th, from noon-1pm in Classroom 1337. Learn about the most important legal resources for research, including those that are free, which are essential for legal practice.  Discover an affordable alternative to Westlaw and Lexis – FastCase. FastCase provides access to a variety of legal resources including cases, statutes, and secondary sources.

Are you a first semester 1L interested in the basics of legal research?  Come to our Introduction to Legal Research workshop, this Thursday, February 28th, from noon-1pm in Classroom 1535, where you'll discover how to navigate Westlaw and Lexis in order to find reliable authority.

Can't make it this week? The Law Library will be offering workshops on many different topics throughout the semester. Take a look at our library workshops page to view a list of workshop descriptions and a link to the workshop calendar.

Enhance your legal reasoning skills with a quick click of your mouse on our West Study Aids Subscription.

Shapo's Law School Without Fear: Strategies for Success, 3d 

Legal Reasoning (pages 63 - 75)

 --Inductive Reasoning (page 63)

 --Synthesizing Cases (page 65)

 --Exceptions to Rules (or New Rules) (page 67)

 --Applying General Rules: Deduction (page 68)

 --Reasoning By Analogy (page 70)

 --Distinguishing Cases (page 72)

 --Alternative Arguments (page 73)

 --Being Relevant (page 74)

 --The Use of Hypotheticals (page 75)

 And don’t forget that old adage “practice makes perfect.”  So give your newly enhanced analytical skills a test run with the Acing Series.   Acing provides a checklist of questions to ask when analyzing an issue and each chapter contains sample essay questions.