Well, it’s that time of year again. Whether you are just starting law school, or returning from your summer break, we are very excited to have you join us here in the library! If you are new to the Washington, D.C. area, we hope you are settling in and making new friends. This is a great place to call home, if only for a few years. If you are returning from the summer break, we hope that you have had interesting work opportunities, and maybe even found a little time for the beach. Whatever your path, we want to wish you much success in the coming school year. If there is anything the library can do to support you in this year’s endeavors, please don’t hesitate to let us know. A directory of library staff is available on our web site for your convenience (http://www.law.gmu.edu/library/staff). If you would prefer, you may also leave a comment in our electronic suggestion box (http://www.law.gmu.edu/library/suggestions).
Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Welcome (Or Welcome Back) to the GMU Law Library!
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009The Library Will Be Closed This Weekend
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009Due to a scheduled power outage, the library will close at 5pm on Friday, July 31 and will reopen on Monday, August 3 at 10am. No one will be admitted to Hazel Hall during this time.
Complete information on the library’s hours is available on our web site.
The CRS Report on Judge Sotomayor
Thursday, July 16th, 2009The Congressional Research Service has issued a report analyzing the opinions of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. CRS reports are an excellent research source, but many researchers are not familiar with them. CRS has “nationally recognized experts in a range of issues and disciplines, including law, economics, foreign affairs, public administration, the information, social, political sciences, natural sciences.” (About the Congressional Research Service.)
Congress does not release these reports to the Government Printing Office for public distribution (as they do for other Congressional publications). Because the reports are government documents, several private entities have posted them on web sites or created databases for them.
George Mason Law professors and students can find them on the LexisNexis Congressional database, which contains the all CRS reports published since 1916. If you are not on campus, follow the directions for remote access to sign on. Then click on the “advanced search” tab.
For assistance with CRS reports, or any other research, please contact the Reference Desk at 703-993-8076.
Library Usage Survey Results
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009During the last two weeks of March, law library staff conducted a user survey to determine who is using the library and why. A total of 687 library users completed a survey. Not surprisingly, the vast majority of those who responded were law students (81%). The rest of the users consisted of other GMU students (6%), members of the general public (6%), attorneys (4%), faculty (1%) and others (2%).
The survey asked users to select their purpose(s) for visiting the library. The overwhelming majority of law students (480 out of 554) responded that they were using the library to study or prepare for classes. An equally large number of law students (466) indicated that they were going to use electronic resources. The most popular were Westlaw (240), Lexis (150), Loislaw (28) and the Library Catalog (29). A much smaller number of students indicated that they planned to use the print collection (109). The most frequently used print materials were cases and digests, followed by law journals, treatises, and statutes. Law students selected a number of other purposes for using the library including use of their laptops (217), use of the computer labs (130), photocopying (28) and reference assistance (18).
Usage by other GMU students followed a similar pattern with study coming in first followed by use of the print collection, computer labs, laptops, and reference help. Attorneys and other public patrons indicated that they were using the library primarily for the print collection, but some also planned to use photocopy services and reference. A number of public patrons indicated that they were using the library primarily for study.