Law Library Feedback Blog

Library hours for the semester are listed in an online calendar on our site, and today's hours continue to appear on our home page and several other pages on the library website.  Note that building hours may differ between our two locations, so we now list these separately, including a note on reference availability in each location.

Continuing a practice begun last semester, we now provide access to the entire Williams building for all hours it is open.   In addition, the E.B.Williams library opens an hour early on many days.

Service hours for both circulation desks are currently the same, and they can be found on the library's online calendar . Note that on some days, building access hours extend longer than circulation service.  For these days, you'll want to be sure to plan when you check out books or access reserve materials.

Enjoy the rest of the semester, and let us know if you have any questions.

Photo Source: Time check 2 / Howard Stanbury / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

This entry was posted on January 26, 2012 at 2:38 PM and has received 458 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

An after hours book drop is a great idea but impractical at our location, When it first opened, the E.B.Williams Library building offered a drop off slot that emptied into a bin behind the circulation desk. It became a disposal site for just about everything – not just books. Books were regularly destroyed by the additional items thrown in. The library closed the after-hours book drop to protect the collection and keep out trash.

The idea of an after-hours book drop resurfaced again about 6 or 7 years ago. At that time the library polled other institutions about the topic. Several overwhelmingly negative responses included a report of a raccoon that started a family inside the book drop. Others explained that the boxes were once again used as a place for trash.  The idea of a drop box failed.

At any time of the day, you're always welcome to renew your library books online.

This entry was posted on July 1, 2011 at 10:58 AM and has received 11276 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Thanks to new maps, it's now much easier to find library materials, equipment and destinations.  For instance, the bound international law journals are found on the 4th floor of the John Wolff International and Comparative Law Library, as shown on this map:

Find all of our maps online here:  www.ll.georgetown.edu/maps/

These new maps highlight book locations, group study rooms, bathrooms, scanners, printers and many features of our two library locations.  The same maps are used on four touchscreen systems found in the library, and they should work well on a mobile phone or tablet such as an iPad.  It's also possible for us to provide customized map views, so people can easily find all group study rooms on the Williams 4th floor, Lexis and Westlaw printers in Wolff, and even the canteen.

This entry was posted on June 1, 2011 at 3:25 PM and has received 13698 views. There are currently 2 comments. Print this entry.

Return them! Your account will be charged a replacement fee for any books that are not turned in prior to the end of exams, even if they are not officially due by that time. In addition, Student Accounts and the Registrar will be unable to release your final transcript and diploma for graduation until your account is settled.

If you do have books out beyond the end of exams, return them no later than noon on Wednesday, May 18th. The replacement charge will be dropped and your final transcript and diploma will be released in time for the graduation ceremony.

After noon on Wednesday, May 18th, the library will be unable to waive the $120 per book charge for any unreturned books.

Any fines you may have incurred for late books prior to May 1st must be paid at Student Accounts.

Please contact Laura Piacenti at (202)662-9138 or Craig Lelansky at (202)662-9155 with any questions

This entry was posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:42 AM and has received 18359 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Some do, but most don't.

Here at Georgetown Law Library, we recently discovered a copy of the Rotunda and Nowack "Concise Hornbook" on Constitutional Law that was much more concise than expected.  Chapters 1 through 9 had been ripped out.  The book now starts on Chapter 10, "Individual Liberties - An Overview".  Apparently somebody took individual liberties with this book, which will force us to throw it away and buy a replacement copy.  

This book, published in 2010, is found in the library's reading room reserve collection, and is meant only for in-library use so all students can access it.  Seeing a book mutilated like this is thankfully a rare occurrence.  Most people treat our books well, but this one case is a reminder that not everybody does.

In the library, thousands of our titles are available in electronic format, and some content (such as cases) are available from multiple sources.  Sometimes though, users want access to exactly one book, which won't work with pages removed.

If there's a book that can't leave the library, remember that you can take a small section with you for personal use by using either a photocopier or scanner.

Thanks in advance for treating our books with respect.  We like them and like to share them with all our patrons.

While we prefer to spend library money on new items, rest assured:  we'll purchase replacements for damaged items when we discover them or others bring them to our attention.

This entry was posted on March 17, 2011 at 11:53 AM and has received 21406 views. There are currently 2 comments. Print this entry.

The majority of exams and authorized feedback are currently online. However, the registrar's office still occasionally delivers additional items, especially feedback.

As the registrar sends exams and feedback to the library we strive to make them available to students as soon as possible.

If you do not see your exam or feedback, please check back regularly or contact the Williams Circulation Desk and we will try to get copies of that item as soon as possible.

This entry was posted on March 2, 2011 at 12:47 PM and has received 19067 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Currently, the library provides access to more than 20,000 electronic book titles in several subject areas through our online catalog GULLiver. For one example, eBrary has thousands of books in twenty subject areas, including more than 1400 law titles. We do not yet subscribe to any services that support downloading ebooks to your personal devices, but publishers are beginning to increase downloadable access to scholarly titles. We look forward to offering this option when we can.

For content you can use on mobile devices, the AudioCaseFiles service provides access to recorded cases downloadable as MP3 files. In addition, most online journals publish articles in unencrypted PDF files (such as HeinOnine and JSTOR). You can view these on mobile devices that read these formats. Also, WestlawNext provides an option to send documents to your Kindle. Currently, there are no options to download books from our catalog to view on ebook readers.

We’ve looked into lending ebook readers such as the Kindle or Barnes & Noble Nook. However, so far we’ve focused library resources on databases and content accessed through a web browser. The Kindle is difficult to configure for institutional access, and we have not seen demand for titles available on this platform that we don’t have elsewhere.

DC Public Library and many reciprocal local jurisdictions provide access to downloadable ebooks. All Georgetown Law students may get a library card from the DC Public Library and through them for other local libraries, and download books to a variety of devices. DC Public Library offers a service called OverDrive, which provides access to some audio books, electronic books, videos and music. Their law subject area currently includes 79 books, mostly from Nolo Press. Other local library systems provide options for ebook downloads.

Some of our librarians are great fans and avid users of the public libraries’ downloadable books, so if you need help, or more information, let us know.

This entry was posted on September 29, 2010 at 1:24 PM and has received 18841 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Earlier this week a few students were not able to access past exams online. The library has since solved the problem, and you should be able to use the collection now.

If you are still experiencing trouble with our exam collection please contact the circulation desk in person or by calling 202-662-9131. Every circulation desk staff member is able to correct the problem on the spot and provide you with instant access.

For more information about our exam collection, please consult our exam login page.

This entry was posted on December 10, 2009 at 4:53 PM and has received 20006 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Yes! In order to accommodate the needs of students participating in on-campus interviews this week, the Library will open both locations at 8 a.m. from Tuesday through Friday this week (8/ 25 to 28).

This entry was posted on August 25, 2009 at 6:57 AM and has received 19321 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.