FAULKNER UNIVERSITY, JONES SCHOOL OF LAW
THE LIBRARY LINK
Vol. 2007, No. 1
January 2007
WELCOME BACK!
Maybe everyone doesn’t feel this way, but your library staff is glad to be back in business for the Spring Semester. Some new and exciting things will be happening over the next few months. The law librarians will be teaching an Advanced Legal Research course. If you were unable to get in this capped course, don’t worry – we hope to offer it again during the summer and next year. Also, we will be conducting our annual user survey – your input can help us make the library more effectively meet your needs now and in the future.
SPRING SEMESTER LIBRARY
HOURS ANNOUNCED
During Spring Semester the library will be open 97.5 hours per week to help you with your study and research needs. We are open Sunday from 1:00 pm to 11:00 pm, Monday through Thursday from 7:30 am to 11:00 pm, Friday from 7:30 am to 9:00 pm, and Saturday from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm. Our Research Office on the first floor has a librarian on duty every day except Saturday. Feel free to stop by, call (334-386-7533), or email (jslreference@faulkner.edu) us.
JANUARY “DATABASICS” SCHEDULE
Is upgrading your legal research skills at the top of your New Years Resolution list? If so, be sure to take advantage of the library’s series of “Databasics” workshops. These short small-group sessions are held in our Computer Training Lab on the first floor of the Library. Here are the Databasics sessions that will be offered during January 2007:
Ø Raiders of the Lost MARC: Hidden Secrets of the JSL Library Catalog – Join our intrepid Bibliographic Services Librarian DeDe “Alabama” Bradsher as she shows you how to unlock the hidden secrets of our library catalog, your gateway to the information universe. (Wed. 1/17 at 1:00p; Fri. 1/19 at 3:30p; Tue. 1/23 at 4:00p; Fri. 1/26 at 11:00a)
Ø Microform Mania – Come see how the big cabinets, tiny print, and weird looking machines in the back of the library’s first floor can help with your research. (Thur. 1/18 at 10:30a; Fri 1/19 at 11:00a; Mon. 1/22 at 4:00p; Fri. 1/26 at 3:30p)
DIGITAL SPOTLIGHT:
“HEIN ONLINE” DATABASE
HeinOnline is an electronic research tool offered by William S. Hein & Company, a leading preservation publisher and the world’s largest distribtor of legal periodicals. Database users have access to millions of pages of material. The service can be accessed from our electronic database page at /jsl/library/databases.asp. You can access it from on or off campus. The content contained in HeinOnline is extensive, impressive, and constantly expanding. For law journal research, this service is hard to beat. The Law Journal Library features full text access to nearly 1000 journals (including Jones Law Review). HeinOnline is unique among legal research databases because articles accessed through HeinOnline are not just text but actual scans from the original journals with page numbers, graphics, and photos appearing just as they do in the print versions! Direct citations can be retrieved easily via Hein’s drop-down menu system, and the journal library allows for title, author, and full text searches. Hein Online also offfers access to several other useful libraries of information, including the following:
- U.S. Supreme Court Library (including published decisions as they appear in U.S. Reports)
- U.S. Statutes at Large
- Historical editions of both the Code of Federal Regulations, and the Federal Register
- Treaties & Agreement Library
- U.S. Attorney General Opinions
- Classic Legal Treatises
- Mersky & Dunn’s Index to Periodical Articles Related to Law
For more information or training for HeinOnline, stop by the Research Office, call (334) 386-7533, or email jslreference@faulkner.edu.
SO YOU WANT TO BE A
TAX LAWYER?
If you are interested in becoming a tax lawyer, you should take the law school’s tax courses and check out the library’s solid resources for tax research. Capitalize on your opportunities to become familiar with these resources while you have free access as a law student! Beyond Westlaw and Lexis, the library has valuable tax law databases such as CCH OmniTax TotalConnect. This CCH database is a favorite of tax lawyers, providing seamless access to both current and retrospective collections of tax law content (including the significant 1939 and 1954 codes). Case law spans from recent decisions of the U.S. Tax Court back to early 20th century decisions of the Tax Court’s predecessor, the Board of Tax Appeals. CCH coverage even extends to an amazing array of administrative documents of the I.R.S., such as private letter rulings, TAMs (Technical Advice Memoranda), AODs (Actions on Decisions), GCMs (General Counsel Memoranda), FSAs (Field Service Advice), LGMs (Litigation Guideline Memoranda), and more! To assist you in using the primary sources of tax law, CCH provides a helpful finding tool (the CCH Master Tax Guide) along with insightful commentary and practice tips. For the latest news in tax law, users may sign up for email delivery of the CCH Federal Tax Day or the CCH State Tax Day. BNA, another online service available through the library, also allows users to receive daily email tax law updates (most notably the Daily Tax Report.) To further assist you in your tax law research, the library has produced a research guide for tax law and periodically offers DataBasics training sessions for tax law research. Check it out at: /jsl/library/publications.asp#taxguide.
Watch for the next issue of The Library Link!