Year-End Time Sheets

Your hours for the last pay period of 2006 (12/10 - 12/23) MUST be entered into PatriotWeb by 11:59 am on MONDAY, 12/18. Filling out the paper time sheet at the circulation desk is not a substitute for entry into PatriotWeb.

Because it is the last pay period of the year, I cannot accept any late submissions, so please be on time.

Good Luck on Your Exams!!!

This time of year, we get questions on study rooms and old exams. A couple of things to keep in mind:

Old exams - We have a small collection of old exams given by our professors. The most recent exams are located in the course reserves filing cabinet. The older exams (pre-1999) are located in bound books at the bottom of the audio reserves shelves.

Study rooms - During exams, peak usage rules apply. Use of the seven smaller rooms requires a minimum of two users, while the two large conference rooms require at least four. These rooms must be reserved in advance, and we do take reservations over the phone.

After hours study halls - Although they are not run by the library, we get questions about this. Rooms 120 & 121 are available until 2:00 am. Students must be in the building before 11:00 pm (when the building closes), and must have a current GMUSL ID card with them.

Happy Thanksgiving!

As you know, the library will be closed Wednesday - Friday for the Thanksgiving break. We will reopen on Saturday at noon and resume normal hours on Sunday.

Thank you all for the good work that you do. Have a safe and joyous holiday.

Westlaw Classes

The librarians are teaching Westlaw to the 1Ls this week. Classes are at noon, 4:00 and 8:00 pm. All classes meet in room 222 - the electronic classroom outside the library. Questions about registration should be directed to Iva or Paul.

Motivational CPR

This time of year is particularly tough on law students in their second or third years. The 1L newness has worn off, you're tired, and there is waaaaaaaay too much to do. This article on mid-semester doldrums has lots of useful tips to address boredom and burn-out, and keep yourself motivated and healthy. Hang in there!

New Seating Policy

Due to increased demand for seating in the Library, carrels are now reserved for law student use only. Non-GMUSL patrons should use the tables instead of the carrels.

Library Classes for 1Ls

This week, the librarians are teaching case research to 1Ls as part of their LRWA class. See the schedule here.

Please pay particular attention to the second floor when shelving this week; they will be using the digests and reporters.

Celebrate Intellectual Freedom

September 23 kicks off Banned Books Week. This annual event, sponsored by the American Library Association, raises awareness of books that are challenged or banned.

20th Century classics such as To Kill a Mockingbird, The Grapes of Wrath, All the King's Men, and The Lord of the Rings have been banned or challenged.

Celebrate your fREADom and read a banned book!

Another New Face at the Circulation Desk

Tracy Connor is the newest addition to the circ. staff. She received her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania (2000) and B.A. in Psychology from Cornell (1996). Tracy is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Social Work here at George Mason. Please join me in welcoming her to the law library.

Library Classes on Secondary Sources

This week, the Librarians are teaching classes on using secondary sources. These sessions are for 1Ls as part of their LRWA class.

When shelving this week, please pay particular attention to the first floor, especially CJS and the Restatements. Students will use these sets for in-class exercises. Thanks!

All classes meet in Room 222 (outside the Library)

Monday: 12 noon - 1:30, 4: 00 – 5:30

Tuesday: 12 noon - 1:30, 4: 00 – 5:30, 8:00pm – 9:30pm

Wednesday: 12 noon - 1:30, 4: 00 – 5:30, 8:00pm – 9:30pm

Thursday: 12 noon - 1:30, 4: 00 – 5:30

Welcome Back

And welcome to our new student workers! Emily Lengerich and Megan Mittelstaedt joined us over the summer.

Emily is starting her second year here at Mason. She is a 2005 grad of Tulane.

Megan is a 2005 graduate of Gonzaga in Spokane. She is also starting her second year.

If you notice a new face at the desk, please stop by and introduce yourself.

Loaning Materials to Other Libraries - ILL

All requests from non-GMU affiliates to borrow our materials should be directed to the reference staff. We loan only to other universities. We do not loan to public libraries or to private firms.

Study Room Policy

Please review the policy for study rooms, below. They are available only to LAW students, faculty, and staff. Please check the status of the patron in Voyager before making a reservation for a study room. Thanks!

The library has nine group study rooms for GMUSL students, staff, and faculty use only. Use of the seven smaller rooms generally requires a minimum of two users, while the two large conference rooms requires at least four. A sign-up book is kept at the circulation desk, and these rooms may be reserved up to a week in advance. During non-peak study periods, two-person study rooms are available for individual walk-ins for one non-renewable four hour period and cannot reserved in advance. Non-peak study periods end two weeks before the exams begin.

Good Luck on Exams!

We wish you all the very best success on your exams. Thanks for all of your hard work this year. We could not run the library without you.

Online Calendar

We are experimenting with an online schedule, to eventually replace the white board behind the circ desk. This will allow all of us to view the schedule from anywhere. Just follow the link at left. Please let me know what you think. We expect to phase out the white board sometime over the summer.

It's National Library Week!

National Library Week is the time each year that communities nationwide celebrate and promote the contributions of our libraries and librarians.
Every day, all over the country, libraries connect millions of people with a remarkable wealth of resources. Despite the Internet and downloadable media, the number of items circulated in the nation’s public libraries has grown every year since annual figures became available in 1990. If you haven't been to your public library in a while, go check it out.

Here at Mason, we are offering two programs this week. On Tuesday at noon, it's Summer Survival Skills and on Wednesday at 5:00, Preparing to Practice in Virginia. Please join us. Evaluation forms for these programs will be returned to the circulation desk. Please forward these to Mike and Maya. Thanks!

Redesigned Web Site

The Law School's web site is newly revised. Take a look!

Welcome Back

I hope you enjoyed your spring break and got at least a little bit of rest.

Please be mindful of the deadlines for payroll. In order to get paid, you must fill in the paper time sheet and submit your time electronically. Mike and Maya verify your paper time sheet against the circ schedule and forward them to me. Based on these paper time sheets, I use PatriotWeb to approve your time and submit it to payroll. Thanks for your cooperation.

Spring Break

We will be open fewer hours during spring break, Saturday March 11 - Saturday, March 18. Please see Maya's e-mail for details concerning your work schedule.

Spring Break Hours:
Sunday Noon - 11:00pm
Monday-Thursday 8am-11:00pm
Friday 8am-6:00pm
Saturday Noon-6:00pm

Snow!!

The weather is supposed to turn nasty this weekend. Please review the law school's official policy on inclement weather, which appears below. If you are scheduled to work and the library is open, you are expected to arrive on time. Please call me, Maya, or Mike to let us know whether you will be able to make it here for your shift. Please be sure you have our home and cell phone numbers with you. If the library closes, we will call you and let you know.


In the event of inclement weather, we will communicate information about the operating status of the law school and the law library in three ways:
E-mail notice via the law school listservs
Notice on the law school web site
Recording on the law school main telephone number (703-993-8000).

For a weather event that develops overnight, we will try to make a decision and have it communicated before 7:30 a.m. the next morning. Important note: The law school and the rest of the university do not always respond to a weather event in the same way. As a result, you should rely on one of the aforementioned means of communication from the law school to learn the operating status of the law school and the law library. Do not rely on public announcements made by the media or by the university because those announcements might not apply to the law school.

Is it Circulation? Or is it Reference?

Many library patrons do not distinguish between circulation help and reference help. Consequently, you may get some reference questions while sitting at the Circulation Desk. Please be very careful to refer ALL reference questions to the Reference Desk. If no librarian is on duty, tell the patron to call or come back during reference hours. Under no circumstances are the student workers to answer reference questions, even if you feel able to do so.

There are several reasons for the policy. The reference librarians are educated and highly trained for this work. They are skilled in conducting reference interviews to ensure the patron receives the correct information. They are also well aware of the restrictions against unauthorized practice of law and trained in ways to help patrons without violating these restrictions.

So, how do you tell the difference? Circulation questions include those wanting to know whether we have a book or other material, or where something is kept. Questions about how to use a code, how to look up a case, where to find rules about a legal topic - these are all reference questions. If you have any doubts, please ask a reference librarian. Thanks!

Change to Loan Periods

As you know, students may borrow most library materials for a period of 3 weeks. One notable exception is CD-ROMs, which are loaned for only 1 week.

There are some books in the general collection that have a CD included, so currently these items have different due dates, even though they are part of a set. We have decided to be change this policy so that CDs which are part of a book can be borrowed for the full 3 weeks. Note, this does NOT affect the CD-ROMs that are not part of a book set. That lending period will remain at 1 week.

These changes will be made through the catalog/circulation system, so you will not need to take any special steps. Please let us know if you have any questions.