Legal Research

Case Law now on Google Scholar

Posted on November 17, 2009
Google Scholar now searches legal cases and journal articles. Most of the cases appear to reside on Google's server while journal articles are materials available on law journal websites. How useful is it? The first posting I can find about it is available on the Blog Just in Case

LexisNexis 2L Career Sweepstakes

Posted on November 09, 2009
Your law degree can open any door you choose. Use LexisNexis® to discover exactly what?s next for you. This month a second-year law student at your school will win $500 to aid in career exploration. To win, all you have to do is learn about the career resources you can access through LexisNexis...

Westlaw Password Security Changes

Posted on November 06, 2009
In an effort to meet higher password security standards Westlaw is implementing a stronger password standard called OnePass. If your current username and password do not meet the stronger standard, you now have until January 31, 2010 to update your account...

Fall Semester Intensive Legal Research Workshop

Posted on October 16, 2009
Due to the popularity of last Spring's Summer Success Workshop, the Law Library has decided to hold, for the first time, this workshop in the Fall. This program is designed for 2L's and 3L's.This hands on workshop will take place on October 30th from 12-4 p...

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Perspectives on Open Access Forum

Posted on October 16, 2009
The UNC Libraries Scholarly Communication Committee invites you to a panel on perspectives on open access. Come celebrate Open Access Week! Join us as notable members across the academic community comment on their experiences with open access publishing...

Early Closing October 22nd

Posted on October 15, 2009
On Thursday, Oct. 22, the Carolina Tar Heels will host the Florida State Seminoles for a nationally televised football game at Kenan Stadium, starting at 8 p.m. This Thursday night game, which will occur during students' Fall Break, is expected to attract a large crowd of fans on campus, beginning as early as 4 p...

"NOT" operator added to HeinOnline's Search Field

Posted on September 28, 2009
For those HeinOnline users who prefer to search using the Field Search, Hein has added a small but powerful option to this search page. The 'NOT' operator is now a selectable option in addition to the AND/OR operators you are used to using. The 'NOT' operator is used in a search the same way that you would use the AND/OR operators...

Congratulations to Jamie Hester!

Posted on September 22, 2009
Jamie won the Law Library raffle for students who participated in the online 1L survey. He received a $50 gift card to UNC Student Stores.

Hein's Federal Register Coverage Updated Daily

Posted on September 21, 2009
The Federal Register in HeinOnline just keeps getting better. Regular users of HeinOnline's Federal Register Library already know that with coverage starting in 1936, HeinOnline has the most comprehensive coverage of the Federal Register available online...

Law 101 Classes

Posted on September 18, 2009
1L's Join the Law Librarians for a quick refresher on the basic components of law.All Classes are in room 3031 at 3:45 p.m.Wednesday, September 23rd: Administrative LawThursday, September 24th: Study AidsWednesday, September 30th: Secondary SourcesThursday, October 1: Case LawFor more information contact Margaret Hall, mfhall@email...

HeinOnline Print/Download Option Has Moved !

Posted on September 09, 2009
Don't be alarmed when you go to click the printer icon in the upper right hand corner of the page toolbar and it's not there! The printer icon has moved from the far right to the middle of the page toolbar. Now the printer icon is the first icon to the right of the page forward button.

Football Parking

Posted on September 03, 2009
Certain lots are RESERVED for University of North Carolina home football games beginning this Saturday (September 5) and according to the following home game schedule: - Sept. 5 vs. The Citadel at 6 p.m. - Sept. 19 vs. East Carolina at 12 Noon - Oct...

Changes in Student Printing

Posted on August 27, 2009
The ITS Computer Lab in room 3045 of the Law Library has been closed by the University because of budget pressures. Students can continue to use the printers in this room and will continue to receive their $40 per semester printing allocation.Carolina Law is providing an additional $40 per semester of printing to the Carolina Law Student printers located in the rumpus room and on the upper level of the rotunda...

Law Students: Before Using CALI

Posted on August 27, 2009
Before creating a new account at cali.org, get Carolina Law's authorization code .Use the school's authorization code just one time. During your first cali.org registration/account creation process, enter it into the box entitled "Authorization Code." You'll never, ever type or even have to think about your school's CALI authorization code again after your new cali...

New HeinOnline Searching Feature

Posted on August 11, 2009
The new search tool allows HeinOnline users to easily search for words or phrases in the section, or the page they are currently viewing.The new search option is available throughout HeinOnline. When viewing a page, you will see a new magnifying glass icon located above the page image...

Library of Congress Sonia Sotomayor Resources

Posted on August 04, 2009
Here is a Library of Congress webpage with links to cases, articles, congressional documents, and other web resources related to Sonia Sotomayor.Sonia Sotomayor Resources

Disappearing Legal Materials

Posted on June 25, 2009
Nearly 14 percent, or approximately one in seven, of the online publications archived by the Chesapeake Project Legal Information Archive between March 2007 and March 2009 have already disappeared from their original locations on the Web but, due to the project?s efforts, remain accessible via permanent archive URLs...

Westlaw for Deferred Graduates

Posted on June 09, 2009
Westlaw has instituted a program to give limited Westlaw access to recent graduates whose employment has been delayed or deferred. The offer applies only to those graduates whohad offers of employment before graduation that have been either delayed or deferred, and provides limited access to Westlaw for pro bono research...

Emerging Issues Law Center

Posted on May 28, 2009
Check out the Opinions and Articles written by U.S. Supreme Court nominee Justice Sonia Sotomayer and much more on the LexisNexis Emerging Issues Law Center websiteURL: http://law.lexisnexis.com/practiceareas/Emerging-Issues

Introducing OpenJurist

Posted on May 22, 2009
Introducing OpenJurist.org. OpenJurist.org provides access to US Supreme Court and Federal Appellate opinions at no cost. Their mission is to make access to the laws of United States more readily accessible to all.They are the sole provider of US court opinions to Wikisource...

LexisNexis Associates Serving Public Interests Research (ASPIRE) program

Posted on May 05, 2009
Graduating 3Ls who have accepted a position at a law firm with a deferred start date and will be engaged in non-profit work during their deferral periods may register to access certain LexisNexis services free of charge. Additional information and the registration form are available at www...

Library Staff Awards!

Posted on April 24, 2009
April has been a good month for the Law Library Staff. Several people have received awards in recognition of their hard work. Congratulations go to:Jesse Griffin, Processing Clerk, & Jean Rouleau, Serials Technical Assistant, who received Star Heel Awards, a campus-wide program designed to recognize and reward excellent employees...

Firms swapping Lexis for Lois

Posted on April 08, 2009
As firms deal with the difficult economic environment, they're looking for ways to cut back on costs (that don't involve firing their associates). Kirkland got rid of the granola. K&L Gates went to one-ply toilet paper. A LittleLaw firm in Minnesota said goodbye to Kleenex...

New Martindale-Hubbell Career Center on Lexis Nexis

Posted on March 30, 2009
The new Martindale-Hubbell Career Center http://www.martindale.com/careercenter launched on Monday, March 23rd. This new site offers students the opportunity to search actualjob postings for both summer and permanent employment. Students can also post their resume for employers to view...

Student Printing

Posted on March 24, 2009
The computers in the Electronic Instruction Center, room 3031 of the Law Library have been reloaded with Microsoft Vista and can now print to the ITS Student Printers in the Computer Lab, room 3045, and the Carolina Law student printers in the upper level of the rotunda and the rumpus room.

Student Writing Competition for $2,500

Posted on March 24, 2009
The Planning & Law Division of the American Planning Association is pleased to announce its 26th Annual Smith-Babcock-Williams Student Writing Competition. The winning entry in the competition will be awarded a prize of $2,500 and will be submitted for publication in The Urban Lawyer, the law journal of the American Bar Association's Section of State & Local Government Law...

Electronic Instruction Center

Posted on March 19, 2009
The computers in the Electronic Instruction Center, room 3031, have been upgraded to Windows Vista. Access is limited to Carolina Law students, faculty, and staff. They must log in using their onyens.The computers can now print to the Carolina Law student printers in the upper level of the rotunda and the rumpus room in addition to the student printers in the ITS Computer Lab in room 3045...

Summer Success

Posted on March 05, 2009

See Oxford or Prague!

Posted on February 04, 2009
Once again, SILS at UNC-Chapel Hill is sponsoring summer seminars open to all information professionals. Spend two weeks this summer exploring the libraries of Oxford or Prague, meeting other information professionals, and enjoying the culture. The dollar is stronger than it has been in many years so it is a great time to travel to Europe...

Section 108 Spinner

Posted on January 30, 2009
Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Code can be confusing. There is now an online version of the spinner that was distributed by the American Library Association.

Daily Bulletin

Posted on January 29, 2009
The School of Government publishes the North Carolina Legislature's Daily Bulletin which "provides clear and concise summaries of bills, committee substitutes, and amendments and a complete record of all floor action taken every day." The Daily Bulletin is published each day that the North Carolina Legislature is in session...

Legal and Political Milestones in Black History

Posted on January 29, 2009
Please take time to view the new library display "Legal and Political Milestones in Black History". This display, mounted in recognition of Black History Month, portrays some of the challenges and achievements of blacks in America. This informative and dramatic library display was coordinated and mounted by Catherine Sam and members of the Black Law Students Association...

No more Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents

Posted on January 23, 2009
"The Office of the Federal Register (OFR), which is part of the National Archives, has created a new publication, to be called the Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents. The Daily Compilation will appear on the Government Printing Office's (GPO) new Federal Digital System (FDsys) January 20, 2009, to coincide with the incoming President's term of office...

Can You Subpoena a 'Tweet'?

Posted on December 29, 2008
An article on Law.com's Legal Technology News cautions that postings on Twitter can be subpoenaed, are legally binding, and are subject to electronic discovery. There are also issues of defamation, invasion of privacy, workplace retaliation, wrongful termination, and compliance with discovery of electronic records...

Law School Student Printing

Posted on December 02, 2008
Two new Pharos printing stations were recently installed in the law school, providing a convenient alternative to all Carolina Law students wishing to print wirelessly from their laptops. One printer is located in the upper level of the rotunda, while the other can be found just off the rumpus room, to the right of the TV viewing area...

Citizens? Guide North Carolina Banking, Home Loan & Foreclosure

Posted on November 26, 2008
North Carolinians, like much of the country, are feeling the stress of the economic fluctuations of recent months. Many of us are concerned about the value of our homes, the security of our savings and any recourse we may have to recover from debt. Here is a North Carolina-focused guide that links you to information about your rights and options...

Settlement in Google Copyright Case

Posted on October 29, 2008
Google, the Authors Guild, and the Association of American Publishers announced a settlement of the case dealing with Google's book scanning project. Google will pay $125-million to establish a Book Rights Registry, for compensation to authors, and to cover legal costs...

Two Million Free E-books

Posted on October 13, 2008
Two million digital books are now available from a HathiTrust, a consortia of university libraries. These materials were scanned as part of the Google Book Search. Unfortunately, only 16 percent, about 327,000 volumes, are available in full-text because the other 84 percent are still in copyright...

Presidential Debates will be Streamed

Posted on September 24, 2008
MySpace will provide real-time video streaming of the three presidential debates and the debate between the vice-presidential nominees. Viewers will be able to watch live and recorded video of the events without advertisements.See: http://www.mydebates...

Become a Fan of CALI on Facebook

Posted on September 24, 2008
CALI now has a Facebook page. Take a look.

Congratulations!

Posted on July 24, 2008
Professor Eric Muller's Blog, "Is that Legal?" was listed in the top 25 of law professor blogs by number of visits.

Free access to Casemaker X

Posted on July 22, 2008
Casemaker X is now providing a social network and free research tools for law students. These are the same materials used by 475,000 attorneys through the Casemaker Bar Consortium. Take a look!

New Web Platform for BNA Coming Soon!

Posted on July 16, 2008
BNA will soon move all of its Current Reports on the Web to a new platform. The new platform will significantly improve the functionality of the Reports and offer personalization options. The beta versions of the new design are now available for preview and use...

What is Ning?

Posted on July 01, 2008
If you don't know what Ning is, you need to read "7 Things You Should Know about Ning" from Educause.

What is Social Bookmarking?

Posted on June 25, 2008
Take a look at this video on YouTube if you are interested in Social Bookmarking. It is an excellent introduction to Diigo, an excellent free web research tool.

Altlaw.org

Posted on June 23, 2008
AltLaw is a free, open-source legal research tool, an alternative to Lexis and Westlaw. It provides a database and full-text search for over 700,000 Supreme and Federal Appeals court cases. Take a look!For more information about free, open-source software tools for legal research, go to LawCommons...

New E-book Collection

Posted on June 17, 2008
The Law Library has added a large number of new e-books to our collection with the purchase of the Hein World Trials Library.HeinOnline?s World Trials Collection contains not only trial transcripts and other critical court documents, but also trial-related resources such as monographs which analyze and debate the decisions of famous trials...

Easy Chat with a Law Librarian

Posted on May 28, 2008
It is easier than ever to ask a question of the law library's reference staff. You no longer need an instant messaging account.Just go to the Library's website and click on the chat button. The button is programmed to tell you if a librarian is available to help you...

Two New Displays!

Posted on May 12, 2008
Start your summer with a look at the Law Library's "Summer Reads" display. This informative library display which includes lots of titles recommended by library staff is bound to have something for everyone! The display was coordinated by Nick Sexton, Margaret Hall, Jesse Griffin and Sandy Jones...

Changes to Copyright Act on the Horizon?

Posted on April 18, 2008
Are changes to the Copyright act way overdue? Professor Laura N. Gasaway and a national group appointed by the Librarian of Congress say yes. The group, the Section 108 Study Group, just issued a report recommending some important changes to help bring Copyright into the digital age...

Summer Access to Lexis and Westlaw

Posted on April 15, 2008
Lexis Summer Use PolicyLexisNexis is pleased to offer you the opportunity to extend your full access privileges during the summer through August 1, 2008. In order to do so you will need to register for summer full access through the Summer Access Registration at www...

Gay Rights and the Law

Posted on April 15, 2008
The new library display "Gay Rights and the Law" was spearheaded by Elizabeth Trivette under the sponsorship of the Lambda Law Students Association.This display reveals how far our nation has come in granting equal rights and equal protection for gay, lesbian and bisexual citizens...

HeinOnline Law Journals Are Being Indexed by Google Scholar

Posted on March 31, 2008
HeinOnline Law Journals Are Being Indexed by Google Scholar It's no secret! As Due Process, WisBlawg and ZiefBrief have all reported, Google Scholar is indexing the Law Journals in HeinOnline to make the more than 1,100 titles searchable in the Google Scholar interface...

New Faculty Papers

Posted on March 27, 2008
New papers have been added to the UNC Legal Studies Research Paper Series on the Legal Scholarship Network including works by Melissa B. Jacoby, Richard Myers, Mark C. Weidemaier, and Eric L. Muller.

Problems with Westlaw, PDFs, & Internet Explorer

Posted on March 17, 2008
There are two issues with explorer. First, users need to make sure they have upgraded explorer to the latest version. Older versions should work as long as they are newer than 5.6, but newer is better.Second, IE blocks almost everything that is a pop-up (printing, second research windows, PDFs), so users will have to hold down the ctrl key while clicking on the PDF link to disable the popup blocker...

UNC joins the Internet Archive

Posted on March 13, 2008
As a member of the Open Content Alliance, the University Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is contributing digital content to the Internet Archive from our Rare Book Collection and North Carolina Collection, including rare Spanish dramas, UNC Yearbooks, and North Carolina legislative materials...

New Legal Database, PreCYdent

Posted on March 07, 2008
A member of the faculty at the University of San Diego is involved with the development of a new open source legal database called PreCYdent. It employs a unique search strategy incorporating network science as described by Thomas A. Smith in "The Web of Law," San Diego Legal Studies Research Paper No...

Empirical Legal Studies

Posted on March 07, 2008
Through the collaborative efforts of Cornell and UCLA, there is now available a bibliographic database of empirical legal studies and scholarship: the ELS Bibliography.The database is a work-in-progress, and they welcome any comments or suggestions that users may have...

English Medieval Legal Documents

Posted on March 06, 2008
A compilation of published sources of English medieval legal documents, AD 600 - AD 1535, is now available online from the Law Library of the University of Southern California School of Law. Hazel D. Lord, Senior Law Librarian, has created an interesting resource loaded on a Wiki to enable other researchers to add to, edit, or comment upon the content on the website.

North Carolina Lawyers Weekly

Posted on February 22, 2008
North Carolina Lawyers Weekly is giving every Carolina law student and faculty member a complimentary pdf subscription to their newspaper and access to their website. Both subscriptions will last until after you graduate.The current edition of North Carolina Lawyers Weekly will be available on this webpage each week in pdf format...

New Printing Options from HeinOnline

Posted on February 21, 2008
In response to user requests, HeinOnline has created some new options for printing. Now, you can print pages accross multiple sections, download as a text file, or download as a PDFText File. Go to the HeinOnline Weblog for more information.

Two New Displays!

Posted on February 07, 2008
The Law Library is pleased to announce that two new library displays were mounted recently.In recognition of Black History Month the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) has mounted an inspiring display entitled "Celebrating Black Pioneers." The display was coordinated by BLSA Secretary Regina Achempong and President Derrick Pitts, with the assistance of several BLSA members...

Google Tips

Posted on January 22, 2008
1. Find related terms and documentsOk, this one's direct from any straight-up advanced search operator cheat sheet, but it's still one of the lesser-used tricks in the book. Adding a tilde (~) to a search term will return related terms. For example, Googling ~nutrition returns results with the words nutrition, food, and health in them...

Another YouTube for Intellectuals

Posted on January 10, 2008
Fora.tv describes itself as "The brilliant ideas network, bringing you video discourse, discussion and debate on politics, technology, business and culture." Take a look and see what you think about it!

YouTube for Intellectuals

Posted on January 09, 2008
Have you heard about bigthink? It is being promoted as YouTube for intellecutals. The site includes videos from academics, policiticians, artists, and business people. It was started by Peter Hopkins, a 2004 graduate of Harvard University.from The Chronicle's Wired Campus Newsletter and the New York Times

How can I reduce my CO2 (carbon) footprint?

Posted on January 09, 2008
How [you may wonder] can I reduce my CO2 (carbon) footprint? Take a look at the Environmental Law Project's new library display! It is filled with practical ideas to help you treat the earth more kindly. And, if the recent drought doesn't provide sufficient incentive, check-out the books in the exhibit that focus on environmental law...

Wireless Printing with Vista

Posted on December 20, 2007
CCI has released the wireless client for Windows Vista!! Students can print to the printers in the ITS Lab in room 3045 using their Vista laptops. See the instructions at:http://cci.unc.edu/printing/

New E-Research Tools

Posted on December 05, 2007
UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES ADDS NEW BOOK SEARCH SITES TO E-RESEARCH TOOLSGoogle Book Searchhttp://eresources.lib.unc.edu/eid/description.php?resourceID=172781Google Book Search is a tool that searches the full text of books that Google scans and stores in its digital database...

Interested in Empirical Research?

Posted on December 05, 2007
The Department of Statistics and Operations Research offers free statistical consulting services, in the context of a course on statistical consulting, STOR 765 (formerly Stat 190). This graduate level course aims to both serve the university community, and to instruct students in the art of consulting...

New Library Display

Posted on December 04, 2007
Look to the past, present and future of Asian Americans in the library's newest display. This display combines striking cultural beauty with literary works that will inform you about Asian American history, culture and legal challenges.This library display was mounted by Kristan Cheng, Sumeet Chugani, Daniel Chun, Taiyyaba Qureshi and Kuhe Queen on behalf of the Asian American Law Students Association (AALSA)...

CALI Tutorials

Posted on November 29, 2007
CALI TUTORIALS With finals fast approaching, don't forget that CALI lessons are a free way to help you prepare. If you're unfamiliar, CALI lessons are interactive, computer-based tutorials provided by the non-profit Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction...

Amazon's eBook Reader

Posted on November 20, 2007
Amazon has released its new eBook reader, Kindle. This device weighs 10 ounces and can store up to 200 books. It uses the EVDO cellular network, so the user does not need to connect to a PC or find a wireless network to download. There are no monthly charges for the cellular network, it is included in the cost of the books...

American Indian Heritage Month

Posted on November 19, 2007
Enjoy fall colors in abundance in the recently mounted library display as you take time to welcome American Indian Heritage Month. Honor, integrity and distinction are reflected in this display which features the civil rights, legal analysis and recognition of Native Americans and their role in North Carolina's history...

Changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

Posted on November 19, 2007
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) have been changed effective December 1, 2007. The new rules can be seen on the U.S. Court's website.

No Smoking Policy at UNC

Posted on November 09, 2007
While the University has banned smoking inside its buildings and facilities for years, starting in January the no-smoking boundary will be extended to all outdoor areas controlled by the University up to 100 feet from University facilities, both on and off campus...

A Classroom Copyright Crisis

Posted on October 29, 2007
There is a brief article in The Wired Campus from the Chronicle of Higher Education about a report released by American University?s Center for Social Media entitled ?The Cost of Copyright Confusion for Media Literacy.? The full report is available here.

Silent Witness

Posted on October 02, 2007
This dramatic display portrays North Carolina women murdered in acts of domestic violence. These victims, and the publications featured in the display, are somber reminders of the continuing need to educate the public and enforce laws enacted to protect victims of violence in our community...

Legal Scholarship Blog

Posted on September 11, 2007
This blog is a collaborative service from faculty and staff at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and the Gallagher Law Library at the University of Washington School of Law. The blog features law-related calls for papers, conferences, and workshops -- with links to relevant websites and papers as well as an event calendar -- along with scholarly resources for Research Deans and current and prospective law professors...

Attorneys and Plagiarism

Posted on September 10, 2007
Rules regarding citation and plagiarism are not just a problem for students and academics. This is clearly something that should be learned before graduation. Read about what a court thinks about plagiarism.

Is Blogging Scholarship?

Posted on September 06, 2007
There is an interesting posting by Kevin Smith regarding blogging as scholarship on the Scholarly Communications Blog at Duke University. Kevin cites an article by Margaret Schilt that may be of interest to the law school community entitled "Is the Future of Legal Scholarship in the Blogosphere...

Welcome, Carolina Law students!

Posted on August 23, 2007
We have made a few changes in the library Reading Room to answer your call for more electrical support at the tables. You?ll see 40 table seats newly supplied with electrical outlets for your laptop use and 4 upholstered chairs newly located near outlets...

New Scanner

Posted on August 22, 2007
The Law Library has replaced the scanner /computer on the fourth floor of the library. The new setup has the latest versions of Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, and Flash in addition to Microsoft Office 2007. PDF Converter 4 provides easy OCR (optical character recognition) for converting your scans to Word or WordPerfect formats...

CALI

Posted on August 21, 2007
As you are starting your new classes, we?d like to remind you about CALI lessons.If you are unfamiliar, CALI lessons are interactive, computer-based tutorials provided by the non-profit Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (www.cali.org). There are over 625 lessons available to help you study 32 different legal subject areas at www...

Shakespeare and the law

Posted on May 17, 2007
"Tranio: And so as adversaries do in law, strive mightily but eat and drink as friends." This quote, from The Taming of the Shrew, is just one of several from Shakespeare's works featured in the library's newest display.Please take a look at this entertaining display and learn more about how lawyers and legal themes have been used by this literary giant...

Poverty in America

Posted on May 07, 2007
Poverty in America -- a new library display presented by the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity brings into sharp focus the challenges faced by the poor in America today.Please visit the Law Library's latest display and discover facts, figures and an array of books dealing with this sobering issue...

Carving the Paths to Justice

Posted on March 28, 2007
The Asian American Law Student Association (AALSA) is "Carving the Paths to Justice" in a stunning new library display. This display blends the beauty of Asian culture with works on diversity, legal history and politics as East meets West in the U.S...

Wireless in the library

Posted on March 06, 2007
ITS has made some changes to the wireless access points in the Van Hecke Wettach that should improve reception in the building. In addition, we are recommending that all Windows XP Sevice Pack2 users install the following Microsoft update that fixes some other known issues...

New Blog!!

Posted on February 21, 2007
Take a look at the Law Library's new blog: The Random Reader