Ten Tips for Summer Research

1. This summer, Brooklyn Law School’s continuing students will have access to their Bloomberg Law, Lexis+ and Westlaw Edge accounts.  But a summer employer might want student workers to use one of the employer’s accounts for billing purposes—check with your employer.  For continuing students, Thomson Reuters imposes a Westlaw Edge usage limit of 180 hours per month for an active (non-extended access) account.  Brooklyn Law School’s graduating students will have access to Bloomberg Law and Lexis+ (excluding public records) for 6 months after graduation. Graduating students who plan to engage in “verifiable 501(c)(3) public interest work” can apply to access selected Lexis+ content for 12 months. All graduating students can enroll in Thomson Reuters’ Grad Elite program to obtain 18 months of access (with a cap of 60 hours per month) to Westlaw Edge, Practical Law, Westlaw China, Thomson Reuters ProView eBooks and drafting tools.
2. A legal database might have a practice-focused page of sources for the area of law you need to research.  These practice pages often provide: legal news, practice notes, checklists, sample forms, tools to build forms and model clauses.  Explore these pages through: Westlaw Edge pull-down menu option: Practical Law, Lexis+ icon: Practical Guidance and Bloomberg Law home page link: Practical Guidance.
3. If you need to update someone else’s draft legal brief/opinion, or if you wish to try to find additional citations to support your own brief, try using one of the brief analysis tools that are supported by highly-regarded citators, such as Lexis+: Brief Analysis and Westlaw Edge: Quick Check.  Note: When using a Safe Harbor Project memo as a test, Lexis+: Brief Analysis provided Shepard’s treatment for both cases and BIA Decisions cited in the memo.  (Be aware of any citations in your brief analysis results that a brief analysis tool states it cannot verify.  You will need to Shepardize or KeyCite these citations.)
4. If you might need to write legal briefs, consider downloading Lexis For Microsoft Office for Law Schools.  After downloading Lexis for Microsoft Office: When you open your Word document and click tab: LexisNexis, you will be able to Shepardize citations in your document, to check the Bluebook format of citations in your document, to check the accuracy of quotes in your document (if Lexis+ recognizes the quoted sources) and to create a table of authorities.  Feel free to direct questions about this product to Brooklyn Law School’s Lexis+ Practice Area Consultant, Mary Beth Drain (marybeth.drain@lexisnexis.com). 
5. If you want to find data about the types of cases a judge has heard, how a judge has ruled on motions, or the outcome of appeals from a judge’s decisions, try using a litigation analytics tool. In Westlaw Edge, Lexis+ and Bloomberg Law, these tools are called: Litigation Analytics. Westlaw Edge: Litigation Analytics covers U.S. federal and selected state courts and includes the ability to view damages awarded in U.S. federal district courts.
6. If you need to compare laws and/or regulations in multiple states, check: Bloomberg Law: State Law Chart Builders, Cheetah: choose a practice area, like: Tax: State & Local > link to Smart Charts or Quick Answer Charts, HeinOnline: National Survey of State Laws, Lexis+: Practical Guidance> Tools & Resources: State Law Comparison Tool, State Law Surveys and Westlaw Edge: 50 State Statutory Surveys, 50 State Regulatory Surveys, Jurisdictional Surveys. An additional free tool is National Conference of State Legislatures: Research > Topics.  (Always check the dates of information provided by these tools.)      
7. Create a free account at SSRN to search for current legal working papers and pre-prints of legal articles and book chapters.  Tip: if you retrieve a lengthy list of SSRN results, try sorting the results by: Date Posted, Descending.     
8. If you do not live in Feil Hall, implement Brooklyn Law School’s proxy server instructions for one web browser.  Then, when you use that browser to search Google Scholar for articles, you will be able to link to the full text of more articles.  (Your Google Scholar search results likely will include articles from Brooklyn Law School’s subscription databases.) Use of the proxy server also allows you to search for/link to articles from Brooklyn Law School Library’s home page. (Tip: change the search pull down menu option to: I’d like to search: Articles.)
9. If you wish to identify/access Brooklyn Law School Library’s subscription e-books off campus, use a web browser that communicates with Brooklyn Law School’s proxy server and search SARA catalog.  If you are a New York State resident, you also can apply online for a New York Public Library (NYPL) digital library card. This will provide access to NYPL’s ebooks and selected databases.
10. Feel free to email askthelibrary@brooklaw.edu to ask whether there might be a useful research tool to support your summer work.  For example, those seeking New York civil trial practice aids or evidence treatises might wish to consult Brooklyn Law School Library’s New York Civil Practice research guide.  New registrants in the Safe Harbor Project might wish to review U.S. Immigration Law Research Starting Points (which describes a new library subscription to AILALink database) and to apply for FREE membership in American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).   

Book Festival in My Backyard

After a hellish mid-week commute that trapped me underground for nearly an hour, what could possibly lure me back to Brooklyn on a Sunday?  BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL!

My literary life partner, Ken, accompanied me.  He is hard at work on his new novel, tentatively titled Love Like Rain, which foretells of an apocalyptic world where a handful of survivors fight for the last source of water.  (Intrigued?  Draft first chapter available here.)

Ken and I joined a large crowd in Brooklyn’s Borough Hall Plaza to hear Dr. Brittney Cooper, Daisy Hernández and Mychal Denzal Smith discuss “Intersectionality and Activism.”  Mr. Smith asked the audience: “After the Women’s March [on Washington], what will be the political program that we follow?”  Ms. Cooper explained how she is actively involved in the Black Lives Matter movement—she used humor and passion as tools to encourage the audience to act.  (Ms. Cooper’s newest book, Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower, will be available in February 2018.)

As I scanned the Brooklyn Book Festival program, I was proud that my employer, Brooklyn Law School, was a host site for free panels on topics ranging from big data to immigration to young adult fiction.  These Sunday afternoon programs were packed!  BLS President and Dean Nicholas Allard moderated the panel discussion: “Culture, Politics and the Supreme Court.”  You can view the recording of this discussion (and many others) through C-SPAN’s 2017 Brooklyn Book Festival Book TV.

The Festival’s Literary Marketplace showcased friendly authors and their recent works.  At Brooklyn Law School’s booth, I greeted authors/professors William Araiza (standing on the far right in the photo below) and Heidi K. Brown (standing next to Professor Araiza in the photo below).

Professor Araiza’s most recent book is: Animus: A Short Introduction to Bias in the Law (2017).  He notes in the introduction: “Animus matters more than ever today. At a very practical level, animus has become one of the Supreme Court’s favorite tools when considering claims that a plaintiff’s equality rights have been violated.”  I encourage you to read this book to discover what the constitutional law concept of “animus” means today.  Professor Brown’s thoughtful new book is: The Introverted Lawyer: A Seven-Step Journey Toward Authentically Empowered Advocacy (2017).  Earlier in her career, Professor Brown had to address her own fear of public speaking while litigating.  Her work to conquer this fear inspired her book.  Come hear her book talk about The Introverted Lawyer on the evening of October 3, 2017.  Other notable featured titles by BLS faculty were: Dana Brakman Reiser & Steven A. Dean, Social Enterprise Law (2017); Christopher Beauchamp, Invented by Law: Alexander Graham Bell and the Patent That Changed America (2015); K. Sabeel Rahman, Democracy Against Domination (2016); and Nelson Tebbe, Religious Freedom in an Egalitarian Age (2017).

At “Refugee Reportage,” journalists Deborah Campbell and Lauren Wolfe explained the great value of a skilled “fixer” (= interpreter + guide + excellent source of contacts) to a foreign correspondent.  They noted that a good fixer, working with foreign journalists, places her or his life at risk.  When Ms. Campbell read from A Disappearance in Damascus, I, like, the audience, was spellbound.  What had happened to brave Ahlam, the Iraqi refugee in Damascus who provided so much help to Ms. Campbell in 2007?  I am eager to read this beautifully written book to find out.

Finally, I met volunteers from NYC Books Through Bars, which sends free, donated paperback books to people who are incarcerated in the U.S.  This group’s website describes how (and when) to donate books, as well as how to donate funds or packing supplies.

Conclusion: Well worth the trip, and I’ll be back next year!

Scholarly writing for law journal competitions

BLS Library offers these sources that discuss scholarly writing for law journal competitions:

Elizabeth Fajans and Mary R. Falk (BLS professors), Scholarly Writing for Law Students: Seminar Papers, Law Review Notes, and Law Review Competition Papers.  BLS Library has copies of the latest edition (4^th ed., 2011) in the first-floor Reserve collection and copies of older editions (that students can check out) in the Main collection (cellar level).

Also, the Reserve collection contains the current editions of: Eugene Volokh, Academic Legal Writing: Law Review Articles, Student Notes, Seminar Papers, and Getting on Law Review and Wes Henricksen, Making Law Review: The Expert’s Guide to Mastering the Write-on Competition.

Good luck to all students who choose to participate in the writing competition.

 

Redirect Notice for BLS Library Blog and URL

With the launch of the Fall 2013 Semester, the librarians at the Brooklyn Law School Library are pleased to announce that its two blogs, the BLS Library Blog and the Brooklaw Library Weblog, have merged into one combined blog. The newly merged blog will use the name BLS Library Blog. Its new home is http://www.blslibrary.com. To continue reading blog posts by the librarians at the Brooklyn Law School, readers need to update their bookmark to the new URL.

All of the older posts from the two former sites, along with reader comments and resources remain available at the new site. We look forward to seeing you again at http://www.blslibrary.com.

The blog, Government Information, which Brooklyn Law School Library Government Documents Librarian Rosemary Campagna writes retains is about Politics, Legislation and Documents in the News. Its URL is http://governmentinfo.wordpress.com/.

Access Library Databases from home

Virtually every library database available to you on campus can also be accessed from home, most without a password (with the exception of BloombergLaw, Westlaw, and Lexis – they always require passwords). However, in order to access databases such as HeinOnline, Academic Search Premier, and other useful resources without coming all the way to school, you must first implement the Proxy Server Instructions so that you are communicating with these websites via the BLS server. Instructions for the browsers that work best with these databases can be found on the law school’s website. Please note that once you set up the Proxy Server, you will be required to enter your BLS Username and Password each time you attempt to access the web on the selected browser.  Therefore, you may want to use a browser different from the one you normally use for web browsing.

If you have any difficulty setting up your browser using these instructions, feel free to stop by the Reference Desk and a librarian will be happy to assist you.

2nd Charging Station Available in the Library

The Library recently installed a second mobile charging station.  This charging station is in Library room 104M, which is our lounge for students.  It is to the left as you enter the room and is a gift from Westlaw.  The first charging station is on the ground floor and was described in the Library blog of July 3, 2013.

These charging stations are for cell phones and tablets only.  When using either charging station, remember to sit nearby while your device charges.  The Library is not responsible for unattended devices.

Chat Reference Now Available

This week Brooklyn Law School’s Library instituted a new chat reference service.  The service is accessible through the Library’s

BLSConnect page, and is available for Brooklyn Law School’s students, faculty, and staff.

Librarians are available to chat during regularly scheduled reference hours.   Reference librarians attempt to respond to instant message questions as quickly as possible.  If you do not get a response back, please leave your email address or phone number, and someone will get in touch with you as soon as possible.

The service is best suited for short, fact-based questions and general questions on finding the relevant resources for a given topic.   If you have a more detailed question, we may encourage you to arrange a meeting with a reference librarian, or to stop by the reference desk during our normal reference hours.

Reference Hours

Monday	9:00am-8:00pm
Tuesday-Thursday	9:00am-9:00pm
Friday	9:00am-6:00pm
Saturday	9:00am-5:00pm

Reminder- Late Summer Library Hours

Now that the NYS Bar Exam is over the library will be scaling back its hours till the beginning of the Fall school semester.

The BLS Library hours through Sunday, August 11th will be as follows –

Monday – Saturday 9:00am – 10:00pm

Sundays – 10:00am – 10:00pm

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

New Library Database: Legal Source

The library recently acquired a new legal research database:  Legal Source. This database may be accessed from the library homepage in the alphabetical list of databases or here.

Legal Source is a single resource for the extensive content previously found in the Index to Legal Periodicals and Books from the H. W. Wilson Company as well content from EBSCO Information Services, a provider of research databases and e-journals.

Legal Source includes over 1,200 full-text journals and over 2.5 million records.  Included is the Index to Legal Periodicals Retrospective covering 1908-1981 and the Index to Legal Periodicals and Books with full-text available for over 400 periodicals as far back at 1994.

Please Play Nicely!

An incident occurred in the library this past Saturday involving one our study rooms. A student was studying in a room on the second mezzanine and left to have lunch. When she returned to the study room, she found a note.
The note contained expletives and accused her of being a “(study)room stealing slime”. I am in possession of said note.

Now, I myself, find it hard to believe that someone apparently studying for the bar, would handle a situation like this, in such a childish and immature manner. Having said that, I realize that it’s hot, it’s humid and nerves are on edge. However, there is no need for name calling and F word usage.

So please, everyone, remember to be polite and courteous to your fellow students. I am sure if the student who was using the study room had been informed that said room had been reserved by another student in a polite way, the first student would have moved and found another study area.

Please play nicely!