Ross-Blakley Law Library Blog

Westlaw Passwords

Amy Levine — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:17:52 +0000

Westlaw has new format requirements for your sign-on user name and password. Between today and January 31, 2010, you will need to change your Westlaw user name and password according to their new “OnePass” requirements. You will be prompted to make these changes when you sign on using your current sign-on information. More information about the changes is available at the OnePass site.

What’s the law regarding haunted houses?

Serene — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:00:01 +0000

Many states have stigmatized property laws that deal with disclosure of information to potential buyers about incidents that occurred on the property. Murders, suicides, and in some states even ghosts and haunted houses fall into this category. Stambovsky v. Ackley 572 N.Y.S. 2d 672 (1991) is a well known “haunted house” case. Read the opinion online.

Happy Halloween!

Sandra Day O’Connor Exhibit

Amy Levine — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:52:39 +0000

An exhibit about the life of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has opened at the Arizona Historical Society Museum at Papago Park. The exhibit is called “Sandra Day O’Connor - A Citizen for All Seasons” and is a joint project between the O’Connor House and the Arizona Historical Society. For more information about the exhibit and museum hours see the Arizona Historical Society’s website.

Missing Something?

Leslie A. Pardo — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:14:37 +0000

The Law Library has a lost & found located at the Circulation desk. Some items that you can always find in our lost & found include books, sunglasses, clothing, jump drives, and the occasional electronic device. Please stop by the Circulation desk if something comes up missing.

High School Groups in the Library

Amy Levine — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:35:14 +0000

This Wednesday, October 21st, the law library is hosting high school students from two local schools. The students will be touring the library and then working on a research assignment in the reading room. Some of the tables in the core will be reserved for them and there will be library materials on them for their use. There will be a group of students in the morning and another group after lunch. If the reading room is your favorite place to study you will find quieter places on the 2nd and 3rd floor all day on Wednesday.

Greatest Legal Movies

Nicole — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:28:26 +0000

For those of you who have some extra time on your hands this week, you may be interested to know that the Law Library has several law-themed movies available for checkout. Many of them were chosen from the ABAs list of the 25 greatest legal movies. Some of the popular titles are:

To Kill A Mockingbird

My Cousin Vinny

A Few Good Men

DVDs are kept at the Circulation Desk and may be checked out for one week.

Keeping Up to Date

Amy Levine — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 23:52:23 +0000

Keeping track of developments in an area of law can seem like a daunting task. But both Lexis and Westlaw have capabilities to help you keep track of current developments in the law of your choice.

On Westlaw you can create alerts called Westclips. You can create a Westclip by clicking on the “Add Search to Westclip” link on the top of your search results page. You can also create an alert by accessing the alert center via the link to it on the upper right side of any page.

LexisNexis has a similar capability. From the results page of your search click on the “Save as Alert” link above the list of results in the middle of the page.

If you are interested in setting up alerts and have some questions there is more information online at the publisher’s websites (Scheduling Lexis Alerts & WestClip). You can always ask a librarian too!

What’s New at the Law Library?

Serene — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:09:21 +0000

Check out some of the new books now available at the Law Library.

U.S. Supreme Court Now in Session

Amy Levine — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:49:13 +0000

Today is the first Monday in October and marks the day the U.S. Supreme Court goes back to work. If you want to keep track of the court, using any of the sources listed in last weeks Fast and Furious post will do the trick. Another excellent source is BNA’s Supreme Court Today. You can access this database from the law library homepage but must sign into the system using your ASURITE i.d. and password.

From the library homepage use the Recommended Databases pull-down menu and choose BNA Databases. From under the General heading click on the Supreme Court Today link. This will connect you to the most recent action page. Browse the links running down the left side margin. You will see there are many links including links to find the status of a case.

You can also sign up for updates that will come directly to your email address. You can do this by clicking on the logging into this page link on the main BNA list page. Then click on the BNA news service link located in the first paragraph and then enter your email on the resulting page. From the next page click on the sign up link and fill in the necessary boxes.

Shush…This is a Library!

Leslie A. Pardo — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:04:09 +0000

The Law Library staff has received a number of complaints from law students concerning the level of noise in the Law Library. The Law Library serves as a quiet place to study. Please respect those around you by keeping noise to a minimum. If you would like to study in a group, please take advantage of the Law Library’s 17 group study rooms. You may sign up for a study room at the Circulation desk or online at the following link: Online Study Room Reservations.

If someone around you is disruptive, please do not hesitate to come to the Circulation desk and let us know. We will be happy to remind them of our noise policy.

If you would like to learn more about library policies, please refer to the Law Library Code of Conduct.

Thank you for your cooperation.