Category Archives: 1Ls

Finding Casebooks & Study Aids in BLS Library

Questions & Answers, Torts
by Prof. Anita Bernstein

In its first-floor Reserve collection, BLS Library provides current editions of casebooks/textbooks that are required for classes.  There also are current editions of many treatises, hornbooks and other study aids in the Reserve collection.  Note: Study aids are only supplements to required course readings.  These print books circulate for two hours.  You can search for a specific source by title, author or keywords in SARA catalog.  Feel free to email askthelibrary@brooklaw.edu or to text (718) 734-2432 if you have questions about finding or accessing specific sources.

BLS Library’s guide 1L Resources, Tips and Tools highlights 1L casebooks and study aids available through BLS Library in both print and digital formats.  The top-level guide tab: 1L Course Study Aids provides a pull-down menu of subjects.  Click a subject, like: Civil Procedure.  There are “quick links” to boxes highlighting:

  • Selected CALI Lessons (online lessons on specific legal topics created by law professors/librarians – these lessons include review questions)
  • Casebooks
  • Treatises & Hornbooks
  • Study Aids Containing Multiple-Choice Questions
  • Additional Study Aids

In the 1L guide, sources in a box appear in reverse chronological order (“newest first”).  Guide pages also include a search feature (top right).  Recently, vendor EBSCO began supporting BLS Library’s desire to circulate Reserve copies of ebooks for two hours.  So, EBSCO ebooks like Mastering Multiple Choice for Federal Civil Procedure and A Short & Happy Guide to Torts circulate for two hours.  BLS Library’s e-copies of study aids in the Q&A, Understanding and Gilbert Law Summaries series (available through Lexis Digital Library) circulate for three days. 

Additionally, the 1L guide identifies print sources and online tools to support legal research and writing.  Top-level guide tab: Research, Writing & Citation provides a pull-down menu of resource pages on:

  • Legal Research
  • Legal Writing & Analysis
  • Legal Citation

Please reload the 1L guide’s web page when you visit this guide – BLS Library frequently adds new sources.  Reference librarians are happy to help you identify BLS Library’s sources!   

Getting Ready for Exam Time? – Check Out the Study Guides Available from BLS Library

Exam Resources

It’s that time of year! As exam season approaches, there are several resources that the library offers to assist you in your studying. The library’s 1L Resources, Tips and Tools: Library Information Guide has links to study aids and other resources to help you succeed on your law school exams. Both 1L and upper-class students may want to check out the Nutshell series of study guides or the Examples & Explanations study guides.

If you are not on campus, you can access several digital resources such as the Lexis Digital Library which includes the Understanding study aid series.  As you can see below, this series contains study aids for both first year and upper-level courses. 

Keep in mind, that if you want to access digital resources off-campus, you will need to install the proxy server. If you would like to study in the library, you will need to reserve a seat beforehand. Remember that you will need to submit a negative COVID test and abide by the law school’s safety procedures in order to enter and use the library.

Finally, if you have any questions, please reach out to us at askthelibrary@brooklaw.edu or use the chat feature on the library’s homepage.

Stay safe and good luck on your exams!

Keeping Up with Legal Publications through SmartCILP

If you are writing a note, seminar paper, or you are interested in a particular area of law, you will want to be apprised of the latest publications on that topic.  An easy way to stay up-to-date on new journal articles is to set up an alert that will inform you of any new publications in the topic areas of your choice.  


HeinOnline recently introduced SmartCILP, a weekly publication that alerts you to the latest articles indexed in the Current Index of Legal Periodicals, also known as CILP.  CILP indexes by subject heading, the most recent issues of primarily American law journals and includes more than 650 legal publications organized within 104 relevant subject headings. The University of Washington Marian Gould Gallagher Law Library has maintained CILP and sent out weekly updates to subscribers for nearly 90 years.  Now users can subscribe directly to these updates through HeinOnline. 

To set up your SmartCILP alerts, and customize the topic areas for which you would like to receive updates, go to: https://heinonline.org/HOL/CILPDownloads?collection=cilp and click on “Create New SmartCILP User.”

Then, enter a BLS email address, and choose the topics, subjects and/or specific legal journals of interest.  Remember that if you are off-campus, you will need to have the proxy installed (https://www.brooklaw.edu/Library/Proxy-Server).

Note that you likely would receive your first SmartCILP email on a Monday.  This email could be caught in Mimecast, so please check Mimecast and click “Permit” to allow future SmartCILP notifications to appear in your “Inbox.”If you have any problems or questions, email askthelibrary@brooklaw.edu. 

Exam Resources

It’s that time of year! As exam season approaches, there are several resources that the library offers to assist you in your studying. The library’s 1L Resources, Tips and Tools: Library Information Guide has links to study aids and other resources to help you succeed on your law school exams. For upper-level students, the library has created several research guides to aid you in your research: Library Research Guides.

If you are not on campus, you can access several digital resources such as the Lexis Digital Library which includes the Understanding study aid series in first year and upper level courses.

To access digital resources off-campus, make sure you install the proxy server. If you would like to study in the library, you will need to reserve a seat beforehand. Remember that you will need to submit a negative COVID test and abide by the law school’s safety procedures in order to enter and use the library.

Finally, if you have any questions, please reach out to us at askthelibrary@brooklaw.edu or use the chat feature on the library’s homepage.

Stay safe this holiday season and good luck with the remainder of the semester!

Study Aids at the Library

Need a little extra help with your classes? The library has a robust collection of study aids to assist with your mid-semester cramming. Check out the following resources:

“Understanding” Series from LexisNexis  
Check out the LexisNexis e-Book library at the link above for practice guides and study aids, including the “Understanding” series which covers a range of topics including Administrative Law, Contracts, Criminal Law, Civil Procedure, Torts, Evidence, Property, International Law, and the First Amendment.

“Nutshell” Study Aids

Constitutional Law in a Nutshell
Civil Procedure in a Nutshell
Contracts in a Nutshell
Criminal Law in a Nutshell
Property in a Nutshell
Torts in a Nutshell

Examples & Explanations Series
Civil Procedure
Constitutional Law
Contracts
Criminal Law
Property
Torts

This is just a sample of the available study aids. The Nutshell and Examples & Explanations Series also cover upper level courses such as Conflict of Laws, Bankruptcy and Corporations.

1Ls: Remember to refer to the 1L Research Guide for links to study aids and library resources. And remember you can always stop by the reference desk for assistance in finding study aids to help you get through the semester.



Welcome Back and Welcome to the BLS Library!

The BLS Library staff welcomes new and returning students to school for the 2019-2020 academic year.  We are here to help in whatever way we can with your print and electronic use of the Library.

You may borrow reserve and circulating books from the first floor Circulation Desk and you can ask for reference and research assistance at the first floor Reference Desk.  Also, we want to let you know that there are now more ways than ever to reach the Reference Librarians.  You can visit us at the Reference Desk, call us, text us, or email us.    See above for Reference Librarian contact information and reference hours.

We also invite you to use our chat function.  Visit the library homepage and click on our chat icon (see below) – you’ll be chatting with a friendly librarian in no time!

Good Luck in the fall semester!  We look forward to seeing you in the Library!

First Floor Open for Business!

If you stopped by the law school over the summer, you would have noticed that the first floor of the library was closed for renovations. What was going on behind those closed doors? What was all of that hammering and drilling for?

Good news: the first floor of the library is now open for business! The circulation desk, which was temporarily located on the third floor for the summer, is back on the first floor. Stop by if you need to borrow a textbook or other materials in the Reserve collection. The reference desk is also back on the first floor, and you can consult with a reference librarian if you need research assistance or a pass to another law library.

Enjoy the brand new, comfortable furniture and the new space!

Welcome 1Ls!

The BLS Library is excited to welcome a new class of students and begin the 2019-2020 academic year! As you settle in and begin your classes, keep in mind the following library resources:

Course Books on Reserve: The BLS library keeps 1 copy of every 1L course textbook on reserve. You can check out textbooks for 2 hours and use the book scanner to make copies of the sections you need. The reserve collection is located on the ground floor behind the circulation desk.

Scanning:  The library has two scanners, one of which is also a photocopier, located on the first floor. The copier/scanner allows you to email scanned documents, while the large book scanner allows you to email or save your documents to a USB drive. Both allow for color or black & white scanning. There is no charge for scanning.

Printing:  The library has printers on the cellar, first, second, and third floors of the library. There is also a networked a printer on the fourth floor in the cafeteria. The IT department is responsible for student and faculty printing accounts. Instructions on how to install the printing software, known as Pharos, and instructions on how to print using the networked printers can be found at the IT Printing & Pharos User Guides page on BLSConnect.

Searching the Library’s Collection:  You can search the library’s collection using SARA, OneSearch, or Find a Source. The SARA Catalog is used for searching books, journals, and databases. You may use OneSearch for searching articles and books. To find out whether we have a specific e-journal or database, use our Find a Source page.

Research Databases:We subscribe to a large number of subscription databases and journals to support research and scholarship at Brooklyn Law School. You can browse our A to Z Guide to Databases, which lists our major databases organized by subject area or alphabetically.

Off-Campus Access:  

You can access Westlaw, Lexis, and Bloomberg using the username and  password that you received when you set up these accounts (you will receive instructions for setting up these accounts during orientation). To access other subscription databases when you’re not on campus, you will have to set up the proxy server. To set up a proxy server, select your browser and follow the instructions below:

Microsoft Edge Proxy Instructions
Safari (Mac) Proxy Instructions
Firefox (PC) Proxy Instructions
Firefox (Mac) Proxy Instructions 

Note that Google Chrome is not recommended for accessing e-resources because many of these databases do not function optimally with this browser.

Research Guides: BLS’s Research Guides are written by Brooklyn Law School’s reference librarians to help you conduct legal research in different subject areas. Be sure to check out the 1L Resources, Tips & Tools Research Guide and the A-Z Databases Research Guide.

Reference Services: Reference services are available 9 am – 8 pm, M – Th, 9 am – 5 pm on Friday, and 12 pm – 4 pm on Saturday. You can email askthelibrary@brooklaw.edu, call the reference desk at 718-780-7973, use the chat feature on the library’s website, or visit us at the reference desk, located on the ground floor.

Good luck and we look forward to meeting all of you!!!

Did You Know The Library Offers Ebook Study Aids?

The library has dozens of study aids available to help you ace your finals!  Just come to the circulation desk and you can check out a study guide to help you create an A+ outline.  Did you know that the library also has study aids in the ebook format?  For example, if you want to borrow a study aid from the “Understandings” series, you can go here: http://brooklyn.law.overdrive.com/A277C1C7-3692-4CF7-BE2A-4E65154FAC2F/10/1334/en/Default.htm.

To find out more about the study guides BLS library has available for you, visit here:http://guides.brooklaw.edu/c.php?g=330909&p=2222538

Westlaw Edge Coming to BLS

As of January 1, 2019, BLS Students will have access to a new version of Westlaw – Westlaw Edge.  In addition to a new look, Westlaw Edge will offer users:

  • An enhanced, AI-powered version of the KeyCite citator providing new warnings about cases may no longer be good law.
  • WestSearch Plus, an AI-driven legal research tool designed to aid students in discovering answers to specific legal questions.
  • Integrated litigation analytics, providing detailed docket analytics covering judges, courts, attorneys and law firms, for both federal and state courts.
  • Statutes Compare, a tool that allows students to compare changes to statutes.

Stop by the reference desk and the reference librarians would be happy to give you a quick tutorial on how to use these new features on Westlaw Edge.