Study Aids for OneLs Have Arrived!

You asked and we listened!  As a result of the Study Aid Survey conducted in the Fall, we have dramatically increased the quantity and quality of study aids available for the first year core classes.  Whether you need a little help with Property or Civil Procedure, Criminal Law or Torts, Contracts or Future Interests, we have the study guides that you need.

What are study guides?  Which ones do we have?  Check out the Law Library’s Academic Success LibGuide for answers.  Browse through the tabs on the LibGuide to see what is available.  We have study aids for visual learners, audio learners and those who prefer a format like flash cards.  Visit the Circulation Desk and talk to our student workers for their recommendations.  We are here to help!

Don’t wait until reading period to check out our newly revamped collection of study aids for the first year law students!

Coming up next!  Improving the study aids available for upper level classes.  We welcome your input and feedback.  Come see us in the library and share your comments and suggestions.

~Mary Susan Lucas~

What’s Behind the Circulation Desk?

For today only I am here to inform you of some of the resources held chaste and secure behind the CIRCULATION DESK.

Course Reserves

Voted “Subclass of materials you are most likely to know about” the Course Reserves are the materials recommended by the professors at CSL that you use if you want to pass the class. They can be checked out for a 3 hour period and if not returned on time you will be charged $3.00 per hour until our property is returned.

Academic Success

Academic Success materials have a long and twisted history that I will not get into at this time but what you need to know is most of your study guides come from this section.  E&E, Q&A, Emanuel, Horn, Seigel’s, Understanding, Nutshell,  and the almighty FINZ call this section their home.  The materials are well loved by students mostly because they can be checked out for a 3 day period giving them a chance to actually look over the materials.  Also the late fees for AS materials are $1.00 per day.

Course Reserve permanent

CRP are materials that were on reserve for a previous class but have been deemed worthy for permanent reserve status. Many of the study aides found in AS are also in held for you in CRP.   CRP books checkout for 3 hours and $3.00 late fees apply.   These materials are mostly treated as a last resort for students cramming for a midterm or final exam when all of the Academic Success materials have been checked out.

Flash Cards

Some of you may not know that deep in the bowels of the circulation desk flash cards covering a variety of subjects  await.  The flash cards are a part of the Academic Success materials and can be checked out for three days and also have the $1.00 a day late fees.  (And let it be known that this is the only kind of flashing allowed in the library)

Audio Study Aids

Audio Study Aids mostly consist of lectures on one given subject of law.  Academic Success audio checks out for 3 days and Reserve Audio checks out for 7 days. The late fees are the same at $1 per day.   Audio Materials are a hybrid of Course Reserve and Academic success this could only be explained by the long and twisted history that I said I would not bring up but it is safe to say that you should never listen to these while driving and tired. (I almost injured myself this way because of a long winded and somewhat boring Stephen King novel.)

Movies

Hidden and never spoken of your CSL library has a……bewildering selection of movies.  The collection centers around films relating to legal issues but frankly some of them are a stretch.  We have some quality films back there and you should give a try some time. The DVDs check out for a 7 day period and $1.00 per day late fees apply.

There are some materials that students can’t even checkout so, na-na-na-na boo-boo.  I am not even going to tell you about them.

~Aaron Greene~

There’s an App for That?

With the bar exam fast approaching for our recent graduates and rising first years through third years waiting with bated breath for the start of the fall semester, all with SmartPhones planted firmly in their hands, this seemed like a fantastic time to introduce you to some of the legal research and bar prep assistance your mobile app store has to offer.

From iPhones to Blackberrys to Androids, it seems like everyone’s connected these days, and the mobile application markets have been growing exponentially, offering endless support for you both personally and professionally.

Did you know that there’s an app that allows you to search, bookmark, copy, share, and annotate text of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Evidence, Appellate Procedure, Criminal Procedure, and Bankruptcy Procedure on your Droid device?

Did you know that there are apps that offer free flashcards and instructional videos that you can use to supplement your studies for the bar exam?

Did you know that there’s a deposition question and answer outline app, which allows you to select from over 150 deposition questions by category, to organize the sequence of questions, and to link questions to exhibits?

If you want the latest scoop on these apps and more, Vicki Steiner, from the Hugh and Hazel Darling Law Library at UCLA, has created an amazing Apps for Legal Research LibGuide featuring links to tons of current mobile applications that may be of interest to both law students and lawyers.  We are currently adapting this LibGuide for our own CharlotteLaw students with phenom Vicki’s blessing, so stay tuned, and be sure to let us know what your favorite apps are!

~Ashley Moye~