Library Summer Research Workshop Series

The Ross-Blakley Law Library is pleased to announce the 2017 Summer Research Workshop Series. Five different workshop topics are being offered; each topic is intended to help Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law students participating in summer associate or externship opportunities improve their real-world legal research skills.

Each workshop will be offered at three different times to accommodate varying work schedules – please feel free to come to any session of any workshop. We look forward to seeing you this summer! Please contact Tara Mospan with any questions at tara.mospan@asu.edu.

Workshop #1 – Best practices for starting a research project
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
– 7:30-8:30am – BCLS 352

Wednesday, May 17, 2017
– 12:00-1:00pm – BCLS 450
– 6:00-7:00pm – BCLS 352

Workshop #2 – Researching state and federal statutes
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
– 7:30-8:30am – BCLS 352

Wednesday, May 24, 2017
– 12:00-1:00pm – BCLS 450
– 6:00-7:00pm – BCLS 352

Workshop #3 – Researching state and federal regulations
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
– 7:30-8:30am – BCLS 352
– 12:00-1:00pm – BCLS 250
– 6:00-7:00pm – BCLS 352

Workshop #4 – Terms & connectors/advanced search techniques
Tuesday, June 06, 2017
– 7:30-8:30am – BCLS 352

Wednesday, June 07, 2017
– 12:00-1:00pm – BCLS 650
– 6:00-7:00pm – BCLS 352

Workshop #5 – Free (and reliable!) research resources
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
– 7:30-8:30am – BCLS 352

Wednesday, June 14, 2017
– 12:00-1:00pm – BCLS 250
– 6:00-7:00pm – BCLS 352

Summer and Post-Graduation Use of Bloomberg Law, LexisNexis, and Westlaw

Wondering which research tools you can use this summer?  We have outlined both summer access and post-graduation use policies for Bloomberg Law, LexisNexis, and Westlaw below.

Remember that you also have unlimited access to many other legal databases in addition to hundreds of interdisciplinary databases through the ASU Library this summer! The library staff is also here all summer long to help you with research. Call, e-mail, or stop by for assistance during reference hours.

Bloomberg Law
Bloomberg Law provides unrestricted summer access to all law students for any research purpose, whether academic or commercial.  You do not need to take any additional steps to secure summer access to your registered Bloomberg Law account.

Graduating students: Graduating students will automatically have full access to Bloomberg Law for six months after graduation, ending November 30, 2017. You do not need to take any additional steps to secure this post-graduation access.

Please contact our Bloomberg Law representative, Shaina Zamaitis, with questions.

LexisNexis
LexisNexis provides unrestricted summer access to all law students for any research purpose, whether academic or commercial.  You do not need to take any additional steps to secure summer access to your registered Lexis Advance account.

Graduating students: Graduating students will automatically have full access to Lexis through the end of November.  You do not need to take any additional steps to secure this post-graduation access.

Please contact our LexisNexis account executive, Alan J. Mamood, with questions.

Westlaw
Westlaw offers full access to Westlaw, Practical Law, Drafting Assistant, and Doc & Form Builder to current ASU law students who are participating in select academic pursuits over the summer. Permissible uses include the following:

  • Summer classes and study abroad programs
  • Law review or journal research
  • Research assistant assignments
  • Moot court research
  • Externship sponsored by the school

You do not need to do anything to gain summer access to these tools. Students with any other type of summer employment must use their employer-provided password for Westlaw access.

Graduating students:  Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law graduates now have 60 hours a month of Westlaw access for 18 months after graduation; this access can be used for either commercial (paid) or educational purposes. Graduating students will need to activate their 18 month password extension within their Westlaw account for this extended access.

Please contact our Thomson Reuters Academic Account Manager, Melissa Hagar, with questions.

Chelsea Gulinson ’18 & Jameson Rammell ’18 Honored for Exemplary Student Research

The Ross-Blakley Law Library at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law is pleased to announce the 2017 recipients of The Ross-Blakley Law Library Award for Exemplary Student Research.

Chelsea Gulinson is the first place award recipient for her paper Embryonic Stem Cell Tourism. Jameson Rammell takes second-place honors for his paper Polarizing Procedures: Transsexual Inmates, Sex Reassignment Surgery, and the Eighth Amendment. Their papers demonstrate sophistication and originality in the use of research materials, exceptional innovation in research strategy, and skillful synthesis of research results into a comprehensive scholarly analysis.

A review panel comprised of librarians Victoria Trotta and Beth DiFelice and Clinical Professor Kimberly Holst selected the winners from a number of very competitive entries.

To read more about Chelsea and Jameson’s papers, please follow this link: Announcing the 2017 Recipients of the Ross-Blakley Law Library Award for Exemplary Student Research

Congratulations to our 2017 Winners!

Summer Research Workshops Survey

The Law Library is planning a series of early summer Research Workshops for summer associates and externship participants. We will also be hosting sessions specifically for our recent graduates later this summer, after the bar exam. We are seeking student input for the topics to be covered as well as the timing of the workshops. Please take this three question survey to offer your opinion: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8GBVR9Y

Please e-mail Tara Mospan at tara.mospan@asu.edu with any questions, as well as to get on the notification list for upcoming workshops. Thank you and we look forward to your response!

Last Call for Library Student Research Award Submissions

There is one week left to submit your paper for the Ross-Blakley Law Library Award for Exemplary Student Research – the deadline to enter is Monday, April 3rd at 9am.

The award offers a $500 first place prize and $250 second place prize for a piece of scholarly writing that exhibits exceptional research.

To learn more about the award, including eligibility and application procedures, visit: https://law.asu.edu/LibraryResearchAward

Exciting Westlaw Update

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The Law Library is pleased to announce that thanks to a new agreement with Westlaw, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law graduates will now have 60 hours a month of Westlaw access for 18 months after graduation; this access can be used for either commercial (paid) or educational purposes.

In addition, all current and graduating students are gaining immediate access to Drafting Assistant and Doc & Form Builder, as well as a number of other powerful practice-ready transactional tools on Westlaw.

* Graduating students must activate their 18 month password extension within their Westlaw account.

Combating link rot: U.S. Supreme Court Web Citations

“Link rot,” when the URL provided via a hyperlink no longer functions, is a troublesome issue for legal scholars and practitioners.  A 2014 study found that half of the links provided in Supreme Court opinions and over 70% of links cited to in the Harvard Law Review “do not produce the information originally cited.”  As Jonathan Zittrain, one author of the study, put it in an April 2014 interview with NPR, this is “extraordinarily bad for the long-term maintenance of the information we need…to understand the law.”

An exciting new tool for combating link rot was recently unveiled by the U.C. Berkeley Law Library: U.S. Supreme Court Web Citations.  This web application captures snapshots of all web citations in new Supreme Court opinions immediately after publication. The snapshots are archived using perma.cc’s API. U.S. Supreme Court Web Citations users have the ability to browse citations by opinion or by justice and can also subscribe to receive notification of new citations.

Law Library Student Research Award Deadline Approaching

Reminder:  The deadline to enter the annual Ross-Blakley Law Library Award for Exemplary Student Research is April 3rd at 9am.

The award offers a $500 first place prize and $250 second place prize for a piece of scholarly writing that exhibits exceptional research.

To learn more about the award, including eligibility and application procedures, visit: https://law.asu.edu/LibraryResearchAward

Law Library Award for Exemplary Student Research

Do you want to win $500?  Would you like to have your work published in the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law Faculty Scholarship Repository?  How about all the pats on the back you will get from family and friends if you win this prestigious award?  You better get to work!  The deadline to enter the annual Ross-Blakley Law Library Award for Exemplary Student Research is April 3rd at 9am.

The purpose of the award is to encourage students to focus on practical skills and to refine their research abilities beyond ordinary proficiency to achieve their personal best. The award also serves as a means to showcase extraordinary student research.

Two award recipients will be selected.  The first place winner will receive $500.00 and a Certificate of Recognition.  The second place winner will receive $250.00 and a Certificate of Recognition. Winners will be invited to publish their paper in the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law Faculty Scholarship Repository.

A panel composed of two Law Librarians and one Legal Writing Instructor will judge submissions based on how well they demonstrate the following:

  • Sophistication, originality, or unusual depth or breadth in the use of research materials, including, but not limited to, print resources, electronic search engines and databases, primary and secondary legal resources, interdisciplinary
  • resources, and empirical resources
  • Exceptional innovation in research strategy, including the ability to locate, select, and evaluate research materials with discretion
  • Skillful synthesis of research results into a comprehensive scholarly analysis

To learn more about the award including eligibility, acceptable papers, selection criteria and application procedures, please visit: Ross-Blakley Law Library Award for Exemplary Student Research

And remember, if you need help with your research, don’t forget to Ask a Librarian.

Good Luck!