Friday, August 31, 2007

Library Hours for Labor Day Weekend

The Law Library Annex will be open during Labor Day weekend at normal academic semester hours.

Saturday: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday: 2:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Monday: 7:30 a.m. - midnight

The Reference Desk will be staffed on Sunday, 2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. and Monday, 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Duke Law students have 24-hour access to the Law School and Law Library with a valid DukeCard.

Friday, August 24, 2007

IM reference: Buddy up to a librarian!

The Law Library Reference Desk has always been just a telephone call or e-mail away. But did you know that you can also reach us by instant message, at any time the reference desk is staffed?

Add “DukeLawReference” to your buddy list for your AOL Instant Messenger, MSN Messenger, or Yahoo! Messenger account.

Stuck on a computer with no IM software? Try Meebo (http://www.meebo.com/), a free service which allows you to send messages straight from the Web, with no software installation required.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Library seeking applicants for RA

The Law Library is seeking applicants for the Faculty Research Assistants Program. The program provides participating students with opportunities to work on short-term research projects assigned by various members of the faculty, with supervision and training by the reference librarians. The program will give students the chance to work closely and build relationships with a variety of faculty members and polish their legal research skills, while providing valuable research assistance to the faculty.

Applicants must have successfully completed LARW and have good interpersonal and communication skills. Prior research experience is a plus. Some faculty projects require particular substantive or language skills, so please identify in your cover letter any such skills not readily identifiable from your resume.

Applicants must be willing to commit 8-10 hours per week for the fall semester, August 27 through December 4. Starting Faculty RAs are paid $ 10.50/hour.

To apply, forward a resume and a cover letter expressing your interest and outlining any special skills to Lauren Collins, Reference Librarian, at collins@law.duke.edu or 613-7120.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Test-Drive ILLiad!

This semester, the Duke Law Library will be implementing a new system for interlibrary loan (ILL) service. Items which are not available at any Duke campus libraries will be requested through ILLiad. (ILLiad may be familiar to any law students who attended Duke for undergrad, as it is the same system used by the Perkins Library.)

Join the “early adopters” by visiting the new ILLiad site at https://illiad.lib.duke.edu/illiad/NDL.

ILLiad offers several advantages over the previous web request form, including the ability to save personal information and preferences, track the status of pending requests, view your request history, download electronically-received documents, and submit renewal requests online. However, the first time you access ILLiad with your NetID and password, you will be asked to register with the system.

Please report any problems with the service to the Reference Desk.

Blogwatch: Legal Conferences and Calls for Papers

Law School faculty and ambitious student researchers: have you written a paper that’s still in need of a loving home? Two relatively new blogs may help you locate an appropriate conference at which to present your work.

The Gallagher Law Library at the University of Washington School of Law has recently announced the relaunch of Legal Conference Watch (http://depts.washington.edu/lawref/confblog), a blog announcing law-related conferences around the world. The blog is searchable by keyword, and browseable by date and/or topic.

In addition, the Legal Scholarship Blog (http://legalscholarship.wordpress.com/) from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law provides similar access to conference announcements by subject, in addition to calls for papers.