Newsletter Fall 2006


Dear Students,

Here we are at mid-semester. Depending on where you live, the leaves are in the midst of their annual recital of riotous color. Here at the Law School everyone is busy, absorbed, and the academic year is happily humming along. I love to walk through the Law Library in the late afternoon and see you all working in your carrels, and at the cite tables and computer terminals. I am delighted to see you stop at the information desk, confer with a research librarian, bring your laptop to the computer help desk, or collaborate with a colleague while in the Law Library.

The Law Library is both an intellectual resource and a service organization. Our mission is fulfilled when we successfully meet your information needs. Please read this newsletter to learn more about what the Law Library offers. We wish you a happy and productive fall semester.

Peace, Filippa


Filippa Marullo Anzalone

Professor and Associate Dean for Library and Computing Services, Law School


Real World Research

Want to know more about legal research before you begin that summer internship? Librarians at Boston College Law School offer a variety of legal research and research-focused courses for upper-level law students. Two courses offered in the spring of 2007 are Advanced Legal Research and Law Practice Technology.

  • Advanced Legal Research (course# LL79701) is a 3 credit course that focuses on types of legal sources and research not covered in the first year of law school (e.g., administrative law, legislative histories and legal practice materials). Print and electronic sources are explored and critiqued. Sources of legal information on the Internet are examined, and their potential impact on the way lawyers collect and disseminate legal information is discussed.

  • Law Practice Technology (course# LL62401) is a 2 credit course that introduces students to the realities of technology and technology's impact on current legal research and practice. Technologies are investigated for their utility to the practitioner and for their legal and ethical implications. The technology applications span areas from trial technologies to electronic discovery to knowledge management systems to electronic client/conflicts management.


    • Reel Justice


    Put down those casebooks and close that laptop. Give yourself some needed respite and join the Law Library for our first Movie Night on Sunday, October 29 at 7:00 pm in EW 120. Showing on the big screen will be Adam�s Rib, the classic 1949 George Cukor film starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy as husband and wife attorneys working opposite sides of a criminal case. Prof. Frank Herrmann will bring his considerable criminal defense experience to a discussion of the film and its issues. There will be popcorn and soda � and you won�t have to wait in line for tickets! Check out a review of the film.


    One of Your Library's Many Services: Document Delivery!


    Do you need a book or an article from main campus? Request delivery to the Law Library!

    1. From the Quest catalog click Sign-in to Your Account.
    2. Sign in using your BC user name and password.
    3. Fill out the form called Deliver Book/Article from O'Neill Library.
    4. You will be notified via e-mail when your item arrives.

    You can return any BC book to the Law Library. We�ll send it to the appropriate library for you.


    Research Tip: Shepardizing West Headnotes

    LexisNexis recently announced that it is no longer adding West headnotes to its Shepard�s databases. Additionally, beginning in September Lexis began removing historical West headnote analysis from Shepard's reports. This means that once the removal process is complete, researchers will no longer be able to access information using a West headnote for which a case is being cited. On a more positive note, Lexis is including its own headnotes in Shepard's online reports, and Shepard's FOCUS � Restrict By Feature tool allows researchers to zero in on specific references.


    From the Library�s Email Reference Box (lawref@bc.edu)


    Question: Do you have any suggestions on where I could get information on a Federal Judge? Such as a biography? Thanks,

    Dear Student,

    I am attaching a biographical statement about Judge X that I downloaded from Westlaw; the database identifier is AFJ (Almanac of the Federal Judiciary). There are other such directories on Westlaw and we have a number of print directories such as Federal Bench, Who's Who in American Law, etc. You may wish to look at these sources as well. You could also try the Westlaw Profiler (Database PROFILER-ALL). For example, enter "John G. Roberts." You will find nearly 1000 profile references including Litigation History reports. This database includes judges, attorneys and expert witnesses. Do drop by the Information Desk if you have any difficulty in searching these sources.


    Citation Practice


    Do you wish you had more experience checking citations and spotting problems with citation forms? Well, the Law Library wants to alert you to two free, interactive tutorials available for just this purpose:


  • CiteStation from Westlaw offers self-paced Bluebook exercises with built-in feedback and corrections. To reach CiteStation, log on to a BC Law Library-created TWEN course titled �Citation Practice Lessons.� This course is open to anyone at BC Law.

  • LexisNexis offers a similar service known as the Interactive Citation Workbook; you can access the workbook at http://www.icw.lexisnexis.com/icw. These lessons guide you through a document, analyze the citation forms and provide immediate feedback on your corrections. Anyone with a current LexisNexis ID can use the workbook.

    Please e-mail us at lawref@bc.edu with your reactions to these citation tutorials; we�d love to hear your comments.





    • What is CALI and Why do I Care?

    CALI (The Center for Computer Assisted Legal Instruction) is a consortium of law schools (including BC) that researches and develops computer-mediated legal instruction. CALI lessons offer a chance to hear faculty from many schools discuss basic legal comments and offer another way to review for exams. Some lessons are available as podcasts. Through CALI law students at BC Law School have access to a variety of computer-based lessons, tutorials, and games in subjects such as those below.



    Pick up your student password at the library Information Desk, and visit http://www.cali.org to learn more.


    New in the Rare Book Room...

    Kitty Preyer and Her Books

    This exhibit, now on view in the library�s Daniel R. Coquillette Rare Book Room, honors the memory of Kathryn �Kitty� Preyer and celebrates the bequest of her magnificent collection of rare books to BC. Highlights include multiple editions of Blackstone�s Commentaries on the Laws of England, and early English and American legal �self-help� manuals such as Every Man His Own Lawyer. [more about the exhibit]. Please stop in and take a look. The exhibit will be on view through early December 2006.

    You are invited to use the room anytime as a quiet study space � but please leave all food and drink (even water bottles) outside. The Rare Book Room is a wonderful resource and we hope you enjoy it while you�re here at BC Law!


    Computer Help

    The Law Student Computing Support Help Center is located in room 205 of the Law Library. The hours for the 2006-2007 Fall semester are:

    Monday: 8:00 am - 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
    Tuesday: Noon - 5:00 pm
    Wednesday: 8:00 am - 2:00 pm
    Thursday: 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
    Friday: 8:00 am - Noon

    To get more information about various technology issues, you can click on the Law Library's technology page.



    More About Your Library...



    Library Hours
    M-Th: 7:45 am - 11:45 pm
    F: 7:45 am - 10 pm
    Sat.: 9 am - 10 pm
    Sun.: 10 am - 11:45 pm
    Telephone Numbers
    Library Hours Recording 617-552-4405
    Information Desk: 617-552-4434
    Reference Hours
    M-Th: 9:00 am - 8:00 pm
    Fri: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
    Sat: 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
    Sun: 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm