Survey Response: Why Don’t I Always Receive Email Reminders About Overdue Books?

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Courtesy emails about overdue books are sent from an automated system. Normally, the reminders are sent one week before a book is due and one day after the due date. But occasionally the system goes down, and a reminder is not sent.

So, please make a note of due dates to avoid fines. If you need to check due dates for library materials, the circulation staff is happy to help in person or by phone (703.993.8120).  Items may be renewed online via the library catalog if they are not overdue and do not have any holds or other renewal restrictions.

Survey Response: How Can I Get More Access to Google Books Content?

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Google Books is able to provide access to digitized materials consistent with U.S. Copyright Laws. In short, the only titles that are available in full-text are those in the public domain—i.e. their copyright protection has expired or they are not copyrightable.

A very brief history: Google developed a project to create an online digital library of the world’s books. Google launched this project by partnering with a number of major research libraries that allowed Google to scan their collections—both those books in the public domain as well as books still under copyright. Google’s scanning of books and offering them up on a searchable database led copyright owners (authors and publishers) to bring a copyright infringement claim against Google. On March 22, 2011, a U.S. District Court Judge rejected an amended settlement agreement.

So while the law library cannot provide greater access to titles via Google Books, if a book is not in our collection, students may be able to acquire a copy through Inter-Library Loan from another GMU library or other university libraries.

 

Survey Response: Where Can I Study Late Night?

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For those who want to study after the Library closes, we offer an After-Hours Study Hall in classrooms 120 and 121. These rooms stay open until 2:00 a.m. If you are in the building after 11:00 p.m. (when it closes to the general public), please keep your ID with you, and don’t lock yourself out of the building or prop the building doors open. The police officers are on duty 24 hours per day, and they are accommodating of GMUSL students here until late in the night, whether you are in the two study hall rooms or in the atrium.

 

Survey Response: Can We Get More—and Warmer—Study/Meeting Rooms?

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We have recently added five very popular new study rooms on the fourth floor of the library. Several students indicated how much they like these new study rooms and the other new fourth floor study space. The new study rooms have helped to alleviate the heavier exam time crunch for study room space.

Some study rooms are colder than others due to their proximity to the computer room. If you prefer a warmer room, request rooms other than 245, 359, and 360, which are generally cooler than the other study rooms.

Survey Response: May Students Borrow Permanent Reserve Books for More Than Two Hours?

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Books on permanent reserve may be renewed for longer than the initial two hours if no one else has requested to use them. Books on reserve are often in demand, especially during study periods before exams, and need to be available to all our students. The library has older editions of some of these books in the collection that can be signed out.

And, as we announced previously, starting in the fall semester, the library will be providing students with access to electronic study aids. The new West Study Aids subscription will include titles from eleven popular series including the Concise Hornbook Series, the Nutshell Series, Gilbert Law Summaries, Sum & Substance Quick Reviews, as well as other Thomson Reuters study materials. Students will be able to access e-book versions of over 350 study aids, search within the texts, highlight, take notes, and print from them in limited quantities. Want to try this product sooner?  Activate a free 2-day trial here.

 

Student Survey Response: Where Can I Find Older Law Review Articles?

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Thanks to all students who have responded to the Library and Technology Survey.  If you haven’t completed the survey yet—there’s still time!  We’ve received some great questions/comments so far and will post responses to some of those issues.  Here’s our first response:

HeinOnline is an outstanding resource for law review articles.  GMU law students may link to HeinOnline from the law library’s listing of Law-Related Databases.

Features of HeinOnline’s Law Journal Library:

  • Contents: more than 1,620 law and law-related periodicals.
  • Coverage: from the first issue published for all periodicals to recently published issues.
  • Search: by article title, author, subject, state or country published, full text, and narrow by date.
  • Format: all of the articles are PDF images of the original journal, meaning footnotes are at the bottom of the page and you can use this version for your journal work.

A short reference guide to using HeinOnline’s Law Journal Library is available here. HeinOnline also offers several training videos.

Summer Access: Lexis, Westlaw, Bloomberg Law

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If you need summer access to the major legal research platforms, take note of the following. If you registered your Lexis Advance password, you can use Lexis Advance for academic purposes without taking further action. For Lexis and Westlaw (including WestlawNext), you will have to fill out the form for summer access by June 1. The link is on the right on Westlaw and is the 3rd “story”/button on the top of the Lexis page. Bloomberg Law is available for you to use all summer with no restrictions (e.g., you can use it at work) and you don’t need to take any action to have summer access.

 

Happy Law Day 2012

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President Obama followed a tradition established by President Eisenhower by proclaiming May 1, 2012:  Law Day.  In 1961, Congress officially designated May 1 as Law Day, 36 U.S.C. § 113.  Each year, the American Bar Association selects a theme for the Law Day celebration.  This year’s theme is:  No Courts, No Justice, No Freedom.

For more information about Law Day, please see the ABA’s Law Day Page.

Students: Get Free Two-Day Trial of West Online Study Aids—Full Access Coming This Fall!

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Starting in the Fall Semester, the library will provide students with access to electronic study aids.  Our new West Study Aids subscription will include titles from eleven popular series including:  Concise Hornbooks, Nutshells, Gilberts, Sum & Substance—and more!.

Just in time for exams, Westlaw is offering a free two-day trial.  Click here, and use your Westlaw One Pass to start the trial.

World Intellectual Property Day 2012

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Since 2000, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has designated April 26 as “World Intellectual Property Day.”  This year’s theme is “Visionary Innovators”:

Behind every great innovation, either artistic or technological, is a human story – a tale in which new pathways open as a result of the curiosity, insight or determination of individuals.

The WIPO is an agency of the United Nations focused on “developing a balanced and accessible international intellectual property (IP) system.”  It administers a number of international treaties focused on copyright and related rights.  World Intellectual Property Day was established to increase public awareness and understanding of the significant role of IP in fostering “music, arts and entertainments” and ”all the products and technological innovations that help to shape our world.”

Resources on the WIPO website include an overview (including links to PDFs) of United States IP-related statutes and regulations, and WIPO-administered treaty membership.  Please consult the law library’s Intellectual Property Research Guide to locate additional useful resources related to copyright, trademark, and patent law.