Law Library Feedback Blog

Yes. We now have a completely new system for Georgetown Law students to access copies of past exams. Over the summer, the law library worked with the Registrar's Office and developers in the Information Services Technology (IST) department to create a completely new system for accessing past exams.  This includes all prior documents and adds several system improvements.

Access the Law Library Exam Archive to find copies of past exams from 1998 through the present.  This new system includes the more than 8,000 exam documents available through the library's online archive.  All new documents the library receives from the Registrar's Office are added to the new system as we receive them.

In the new system, there's an improved search form, which displays matching professors or course titles as you type. In addition, students will see a personalized list of professors teaching courses for the current term. Fall 2011 data should be active now, so students can log in and quickly see a list of exam documents from your professors. 

An added feature of the system lets you download all documents from a professor/course list in a single zip archive.  For instance, with a single mouse click to 'download all', you can get all twenty documents from Professor Spann's Contracts class or all eighteen documents from Professor Cohen's Property course.

In 2009, 2010 and again in 2011, exam access was the most popular content our students sought on the library's website.  Hopefully the improvements will help make it easier and more efficient for all of our students.

This entry was posted on August 19, 2011 at 11:09 AM and has received 8659 views. There are currently 1 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.

We are happy to help.  Just stop by either the Williams or Wolff libraries.  Both locations have orientation packets with Westlaw and Lexis passwords.  Feel free to ask for them at a reference or circulation desk.

This entry was posted on September 3, 2010 at 9:25 AM and has received 18522 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! Beginning November 16.

The library is pleased to announce that an online reservation system is now in place for the Group Study Rooms in both the Williams and Wolff libraries.  You can reserve rooms online starting the week of November 16th.  To use this new service please visit the “Study Room Reservation System”

The new system incorporates library operating hours, so you can book available rooms during all library operating hours. The system integrates email notification, allowing one person to pick a study group location and notify all included group members.

You can also see details about each room, such as number of seats (from 6 to 10), availability of overhead projectors or writing boards. This information is found in Option 4  “View the List of Rooms“ on the Reserve a Room home page.

Students should use their NetID and Georgetown Law password to access the system.

You can now book a room in five easy steps:

1. Enter the netID
   of at least three persons (the minimum to qualify to reserve a room, including yourself).   Note on the right side of the page there is a “Georgetown University Directory Search” where you can search for the netID’s of your group.
2. Pick a date.
   A drop down calendar menu is presented when you click on the box.  Please note you can make only one room reservation per day, and you can reserve up to 1 week in advance.
3. Select a start and end time
   in 15 minute intervals. The maximum time allowed time is 3 hours.
4. Select the room
   from those available at your chosen date and time.
5. Review the data and submit the request.

We’ve built the system to incorporate existing policies for group study access, and we hope everybody likes having online access to the system.  Of course, for now, you’ll still have to be physically in the library to actually use a group study room.  You just don't have to come here to get one at another time.  :-)

This entry was posted on November 11, 2009 at 10:58 AM and has received 20143 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

With the advent of near-ubiquitous wireless internet access, distractions are hard to avoid.  The complete question we received was "Has the library ever considered having an internet-free room? That is, a study area where there is no internet/wireless access but computers are allowed. Just a (crazy archaic) thought for increasing paper-writing productivity.

We haven't yet considered this option, but we think it might not work very well in practice.  This is partly for technical reasons, and moreso because we think most students won't want it.

The technical issue is that it's difficult to reliably limit wireless internet access to a specific location. Wireless access points tend to overlap coverage areas, so we don't think it's easy to, say, turn it off for one area while not impacting another part of the library.

From a student perspective, we think people are concerned with more (and more reliable) Internet access, instead of technical restrictions.  A few years ago, we had a laptop-free zone in the library, but we found that many people didn't use it.  To better assess student preferences for quiet study, our 2007 Law Library Student Survey included the question: "What would your perfect quiet study space consist of?"  Almost everybody answering the survey responded to this question.  Somewhat to our surprise, the majority of students wanted laptops as well as headphone music, which you can see in this chart.



For students wanting to limit personal distractions, turning off your laptop wireless access might be the best way to avoid online distractions.  More advanced users might want to read "The Productivity Guide for a Computer Geek". The tips range from the obvious (e.g. turn off your computer, use a pen and paper) to the more advanced (e.g. altering your Windows host file).

One suggestion in this guide is to use a Firefox add-on called LeechBlock. This is a productivity tool that lets you block selected time-wasting sites you find most distracting. All you need to do is specify which sites to block and when to block them.

We have no plans to selectively disable wireless access, but we welcome ideas for other things we can do to help you be more productive.

This entry was posted on November 5, 2009 at 9:34 AM and has received 19846 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Yes! We think this is a good idea. This past weekend, we opened the Williams reference desk on Saturday and Sunday based upon the suggestion of a student and will continue to do so through exams. So, stop by the reference desk in the Reading Room with research questions or use the LiveHelp service to chat with a Georgetown librarian. We're open from Noon to 6pm each weekend day during exams.

This entry was posted on April 30, 2009 at 10:11 AM and has received 20362 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

We've had reports of students not being able to access Westlaw through the Law School Portal.  

One work-around is to use the general sign-on page at www.westlaw.com. 

• If you're used to using your customized username and password instead of the official Westlaw password, just look for phrase "switch to sign on using your own username and password" for a link. 
• You need to enter something into the Client Code box, but it doesn't matter what you enter.

This entry was posted on November 26, 2008 at 9:08 AM and has received 29086 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Librarians participate in new student orientation by providing critical information and materials students need before the first day of classes.  In particular, we provide Westlaw and Lexis passwords for all new students.  The best way to get this information is by attending an orientation session that is part of a formal program put on by the Law Center.

We try to publish onilne all important information we have available, which you can find on the orientation page on our website.

For obvious reasons, we cannot give out new password accounts online or on the phone.  If you are a new student at Georgetown and you did not receive your Westlaw or Lexis account information, stop by the reference desk in the E.B.Williams library and we can get you the necessary information.

This entry was posted on August 25, 2008 at 11:00 AM and has received 34883 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.