Where are those green books
     that used to be . . . ?

Returning faculty and students will notice some major changes in the Law Library.  During this past summer, we reorganized the physical layout of the collections, moving over 120,000 volumes.  This reconfiguration of the collections is designed to make your legal research both easier and more efficient.  All current U.S. law has been relocated on the second floor, while the third floor now houses foreign, international, comparative law resources, law-related texts, and superseded materials.  The first floor reading room remains essentially the same with a core collection of Louisiana materials as well as decisions of the United States Supreme Court.

The reference section (Ranges 201-207) on the second floor has been expanded, with such additions as legal encyclopedias and dictionaries, formbooks, the Restatements, the Decennial Digests, and ALRs.  Near this expanded section of high-use items, a professional librarian will provide you with reference assistance.  Take an opportunity to introduce yourself to these librarians who can assist you not only with manual resources but will also be eager to help you develop optimal search queries for computerized research.

After the reference section, we have gathered together at least one copy of all the Louisiana materials in classified call number order (Ranges 208-210A).   The rest of the second floor, Lowerline Street bank of ranges contains federal digests and reporters (Ranges 210B-216A), followed by regional and state digests and reporters (Ranges 216A-226).  The Pine Street bank of ranges houses the classified collection of U.S. law, beginning with primary federal statutory and regulatory sources and continuing with secondary resources (Ranges 227-265A).  The last few ranges of this bank contain state statutes and related secondary materials for states other than Louisiana (Ranges 265B-270).  With the minor exception of the Restatements, we have not changed call numbers for any of these materials – only the physical layout of the collections.

The third floor continues to house the periodical collection in its old location (Ranges 301-324).  The Pine Street bank of ranges, however, has changed significantly.  It begins with law-related areas such as philosophy, history, and political science in call number order (Ranges 327-334A), followed by comparative and transnational materials classified in K (Ranges 334B-338), and in turn by British and Canadian materials (Ranges 339-347).  Above the ramp, foreign materials continue encompassing Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania (Ranges 348-356A).   Primary and secondary materials in public international law follow (Ranges 356B-361A).  Additional law-related materials, such as education, journalism, medicine, and bibliography continue this bank (Ranges 361B-364A).

This bank ends with what we have denominated the “Inactive Collection.” (Ranges 364B-370) Here, you will find materials which generally do not represent current law, such as superseded statutes, older editions of treatises, and other items useful for historical research.

Throughout the collection, we have also improved signage.  End panel rangefinders now indicate not only the call number span, but also include the principal areas of law or jurisdictions housed on those shelves.  We have new maps reflecting the new locations for collections.  You may pick these maps up at the circulation desk.

We believe that this relocation of collections will make your research more effective and will eliminate much of the constant going between floors necessitated by the previous collection layout.  The second floor will become a much more active area, concentrating research for the legal research and writing assignments as well as general research in current U.S. law in close proximity to a professionally staffed reference station and a secondary laboratory for computerized research.  Inevitably, this may create a somewhat noisier environment.  For a quieter study area when you just want to read a casebook, you may want to consider using the third floor, where the resources will be used much less frequently.
      --PMW
 

Clerks & Mallrats

Silent Bob and Jay, despite their film experiences, may not be familiar with all varieties of clerks and mallrats. Some of these must be intelligent, talented, and, most importantly, aware. Judicial clerkships and internships in Washington can be highly rewarding, but the number of slots is limited, and competition is tough. For law students interested in becoming clerks or mallrats, this is dogma: begin planning now, or you’ll be chasing any potential job lead.

The Reference Collection houses many books which should prove invaluable to the job seeker.
The Judicial Yellow Book contains information on federal judges and state appellate judges, including basic biographies, contact information, and staff listings. The Congressional Yellow Book contains similar information for members of the U.S. Congress. Congressional Quarterly’s Federal Staff Directory does the same for executive departments, independent agencies, and quasi-official organizations. The American Bench provides larger biographies for many judges, including the schools that they attended, association and board memberships, publications, and even hobbies and interests.

Information is also available online. Every member of Congress has a webpage, as do many judges. Federal judicial clerkships can be searched at http://lawclerks.ao.uscourts.gov/. Many individual courts will post their own vacancies.

Remember, the library is an information center!
 

Do Not Feed The Creature
 

In movies, food and drink can turn a cute Mogwai into a nasty gremlin. In libraries, food and drink can have similarly deleterious effects.

Some library predators are simply in a class by themselves: insects. They are lured into the library by people snacks, and remain to eat their way through the collection.

In John Carpenter’s movie The Thing, the creature could change its appearance at will in order to deceive its prey. There is a far more sinister creature, however, that lurks in many libraries; besides changing its composition at will, it can also become invisible, and attack even when it is dead: mold. This creature consumes book pages (cellulose) and bindings (starch). Filaments grow on a host, and produce spores, which land on new hosts, and begin the process anew. Molds can produce toxins which can injure or kill people.

Libraries do what they can to preserve collections, including spraying for pests, and maintaining optimum temperature and humidity to retard mold growth. Preservation efforts, however, include the actions of patrons. Please restrict snacks to the first floor reading room.

Staff Announcements

The members of the New Orleans Association of Law Librarians (NOALL) elected Elizabeth Moore to be their new  Vice Chair/ Chair Elect. Within a month, the members of the Innovative Law User’s Group (ILUG) elected Elizabeth to be their new Vice Chair/ Chair Elect. Insiders report that Elizabeth  may soon be drafted in the upcoming race for Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District.

P. Michael Whipple was appointed to the American  Association of Law Libraries’ (AALL) Price Index for Legal Publications Advisory Committee.

At the AALL meeting in Orlando, Brian Huddleston moderated a program called Practical Legal Research Exams: The Connection Between Theory and Practice.
 

Profile:  Celine Sullivan

Library staffs traditionally are split between Public Services and Technical Services. While the public does see one side, they usually don’t see or know about the “backstage” folks. Technical Services members build, operate, and maintain the stage upon which the rest of the library staff  “perform.”

A law library’s collection consists predominantly of serial titles, such as law reviews, newspapers, reporters, statutory and regulatory compilations, citators, and supplemented treatises. Celine Sullivan, the Serials Assistant, is responsible for checking in over 2100 non-document titles, creating item records for them, and claiming missing issues from vendors. These serial titles vary greatly in their periodicity, with some issues coming in daily, while others have weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual updates. She also monitors serials changes, revises records, and maintains statistics.

This last July, Celine marked her eighteenth year at Loyola. The Library has changed dramatically since she first began. In 1984, the Law Library was located on the main campus. It had a different director. And serials were checked in with the paper Kardex system. Today Celine uses software developed by Innovative Interfaces, Inc. She compares the transition from paper to software as “going from a Ford to a Jaguar.”

Celine’s dedication is not limited to her work duties. She enjoys the people at Loyola, and the opportunity to attend Thursday Mass here at the school.  An active participant in the East Jefferson Hospital Volunteer Association, you may find her smiling face at that hospital’s Information Desk. Celine wishes that she had more time to give back to the community through volunteer activities.

A native New Orleanian, Celine was graduated from McDonough High School. She raised both of her children here. In her spare time, Celine enjoys spoiling her three grandchildren: Mel; Yvette; and Caroline. She is also fond of gardening among her camellias and sasanquas.

Celine is currently “cross-training” at the circulation desk. Drop by to say hello!

Library News

New Furniture for the Second Floor

We have ordered new furniture for the public areas of the second floor of the Law Library.  The furniture is from the Worden Company’s De Gilde line, a modern design that combines rich cherry wood with black metal accents and medium gray work surfaces.  We expect this furniture to arrive between semesters.  Please excuse any disruptions during installation of the new carrels and tables.

Food and Drink Policy

Please help us by complying with the Law Library food and drink policy.  You may drink beverages from spill-proof containers anywhere in the Law Library.  Covered containers such as those from Starbucks do not qualify.  We will be giving a spill-proof mug to all first-year students as well as returning upperclass students.  Ask about your mug at the Circulation and Reserve Desk.

There should be no food on the second or third floors of the Law Library.  In the first floor reading room, you may consume non-microwavable vending machine snacks such as potato chips, corn chips, and candy.  Please dispose of wrappers appropriately.

Please cooperate with this food and drink policy.  It is designed to protect the Law Library from an invasion of little creatures that not only feed on any leftovers but on paper, bindings, and glue in books.  It will also serve to protect the new furniture from any inadvertent spills.

New Computer Instructional Laboratory

Over the summer, we converted two offices and part of the old photocopy room into an instructional laboratory.  We will be using this new facility for Westlaw and Lexis instruction, training sessions on other internet resources, and law school staff development.  During times when instructional sessions are not scheduled, students may use it as a secondary computer lab.  The tables and chairs have already arrived, and computers will be installed in the next ten days, along with a backlit projection system.  We expect this new laboratory to be fully operational by September  20th.

Library Hours

Please call the Circulation Department at 861-5545 if you have any questions regarding the hours of operation.

Regular Schedule:  August 18, 2002 -
November 31, 2002

Sunday: 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Monday - Thursday: 7:30 a.m. - 12:00 mid.
Friday: 7:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Saturday: 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
 

Exceptions:

Friday, November 1, All Saints Day, Closed
Thursday, November 28, Thanksgiving Holiday, Closed

Reference Desk:

Monday - Thursday: 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Friday: 9:00 a.m.  - 4:30 p.m.

Sunday: 2:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.