Back to Read This First Table of Contents
6.1 Introduction
The primary mission of the UW Law Library is to support the research and learning of the Law School community. The Law Library also is an important center for legal research for the campus, the UW System, and the State of Wisconsin. Law students have full access to the rich array of campus library resources, and all UW students are able to use the Law Library.
The Law Library’s website provides comprehensive information about the library, including access to resources and services, virtual tours and maps of the library, and other useful links: http://library.law.wisc.edu.
Extensive information about Madison campus libraries can be found at: http://www.library.wisc.edu.
Law Library staff members welcome comments and suggestions about how the library might improve its services: comments-library@law.wisc.edu.
6.2 Policies
6.2.1 Library Hours
Law Library hours are posted outside the main door of the library and on its website. Handouts are available at the circulation desk. Please check for revisions because library hours are subject to change: http://library.wisc.edu/libraries/name/law.
6.2.2 After-Hours Access
Students are not permitted in the library when it is closed.
6.2.3 Study Carrels
Students enrolled in the graduate LLM-LI, LLM, and SJD programs can reserve individual study carrels for ongoing research to the extent that carrels are available. Graduate law students can apply for a reserved carrel in the administrative office on the sixth floor of the Law Library. Unreserved carrels are open to all library users. Library materials that are not checked out are routinely removed from carrels. Reserved carrel occupants should ask for “flags” when checking out materials at the circulation desk. These flags indicate to the library staff that the materials are charged to the carrel occupant.
6.2.4 Study Rooms
The Law Library has seven small rooms for group study. Each room (except Room 5350) has a white board and a podium. Three rooms (2384, 3335, 3339) have computers with large monitors. One room (5350) is equipped with a television with a built-in DVD/VCR player. Rooms can be reserved for two hour blocks at the circulation desk. Keys for study rooms, keyboards and mice to operate the computers are checked out to students as reserve materials
and reserve policies apply.
6.2.5 Food and Beverages
Beverages in covered containers are permitted in the library, but not allowed at any computer workstation. Food is not permitted anywhere in the library, including study carrels.
6.2.6 Cell Phones/Skype
Cell phone use is not permitted in the Law Library. As a courtesy
to other library users, please turn off your cell phone in the library and go
to an area outside the library to use your cell phone. Skype usage is not permitted in the library.
6.3.1 Reference and Research Assistance
Reference librarians are available to assist law students with
their research.
You can consult a librarian:
- In person at the reference desk on the fifth floor of the Law Library
- By phone at (608) 262-3394
- By email at askuwlaw@law.wisc.edu
- By live chat from the Law Library website at (http://library.law.wisc.edu).
Reference librarians are generally available at the following times
during the academic year:
Monday-Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Hours may
vary during vacations, holidays, intersession, and summer. A
schedule of reference desk hours is posted at http://library.law.wisc.edu/about/information/hours/reference.html.
Reference librarians are also available by appointment for in-depth research assistance. Contact askuwlaw@law.wisc.edu to schedule an appointment.
6.3.2 Locating Library Materials
The UW-Madison library catalog facilitates access to over six million books, periodicals, databases, websites, government documents, audiovisual materials, maps, music scores and microforms available at over 30 UW-Madison campus libraries. To search the library catalog, go to http://search.library.wisc.edu .
Use the My Accounts link to see a list of books and/or interlibrary loan items checked out on your ID, to renew items, to check the status of library requests, and to monitor any overdue fines and fees.
Use the UW-Madison campus libraries' Find-It service to locate journal articles when
you have a specific citation or as a guide to all of the e-journals available on campus. Access Find-It at http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.web/findit.
6.3.3 Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery
There are numerous services for obtaining research materials beyond the scope of the Law Library’s collections. You may have books from other UW-Madison campus libraries or from other UW System libraries delivered to you at the Law Library. When looking at a book holding in the UW-Madison library catalog, use the "Place Request" link on the right side of the screen. UW-Madison books are delivered within 1-3 business days. To search for books across all the UW System Libraries, use the "Advanced Search" mode in the catalog. An availability box appears on the right side of the screen with instructions for requesting these titles.
To obtain research material not owned by UW System libraries, use the Article/Book Delivery link on the UW Law Library home page. Electronic copies of articles are typically delivered to your desktop in 1-5 business days. The turn-around time for borrowing books is 1-3 weeks.
There is also a document delivery service to request journal articles from UW-Madison campus libraries that are not available in an electronic format. Since Inter-Library Loan (ILL) supports the research and scholarly activity of faculty and students, this service is offered free of charge, but please note that campus libraries are not able to process a large number of requests from users.
Please stop at the reference desk if you have any questions regarding Inter-Library Loans and document delivery services.
6.3.4 Checking Out Library Materials
The Law Library is primarily a reference library and many items do not circulate outside the library or to carrels. Circulating materials (books, videos, etc.) can be checked out at the circulation desk on the fifth floor. A valid UW-Madison ID is required to check out materials. Complete information about loan periods, renewals, and recalls can be found at: http://library.law.wisc.edu/about/policies/circulation.html.
6.3.5 Course Reserve Readings
The Law Library makes course reading materials available to
students through both a paper reserve system and an electronic reserve
system (e-reserves).
Print materials placed on course reserve can be checked out at the Law
Library’s fifth floor circulation desk. Use the Course Reserve Search
in MadCat (http://madcat.library.wisc.edu/) to find available materials for courses. The students at the circulation desk also can assist in locating course readings.
You must have a valid campus ID to check out course materials from the
Law Library. Course materials have short loan periods to ensure that
all students in the class have sufficient access. Be sure to return
materials on time.
The e-reserve system provides easy access to electronic copies of
readings from any computer connected to the Internet. Access to
e-reserve materials is limited to students enrolled in the class. To
access e-reserves, students need to know their "Netid" and password,
which are the same as the email username and password that are provided
by the University.
To access the e-reserve system, go to "My UW"; "Learning" tab; "Course Resources" link. A list of your courses
that have electronic materials posted will appear. Although large files will be compressed to allow download
via modems, we recommend that you use a broadband connection or that
you access these files from a computer or laptop on the Law School network.
6.3.6 Copiers, Printers, Scanners and Copy Cards
The library maintains two photocopy machines in the Copy Center on the fifth floor, and one photocopier in a copy room on the third floor, in the east wing. Free scanning is available on all three of the photocopiers and on a separate scanner specifically designed for books.
Printers are available in the computer lab on the second floor and near the reference desk on the fifth floor. You may print from your laptop to the Law Library's printers. For instructions on configuring your laptop, see http://library.law.wisc.edu/services/hardware.
The library’s photocopiers and printers use
the copy cards. Copy cards can be purchased in the library’s Copy
Center. Photocopies are ten cents per copy; the printers charge seven cents per page; and copies from microforms are seven cents
per page. Additional information about the Copy Center and Copy cards
can be found at: http://library.law.wisc.edu/services/hardware/copiers.
6.3.7 Recreational Reading
The library maintains a collection of popular magazines and daily
newspapers at the north end of the fifth floor Habush, Habush, and
Rottier Reading Room near the windows.
6.3.8 Legal Fiction and Feature Films
The library has a large collection of novels with law-related subjects. Most of these are in the general collection on the second floor and have call numbers beginning with “PR” and “PS.” The library also offers a collection of feature films with law-related themes. The films (in VHS or DVD format) are stored behind the circulation desk on the fifth floor. Individual film titles can be located through the library catalog. An annotated guide to the Law Library’s feature film collection can be found at:
http://library.law.wisc.edu/services/find/guides/location/videos.
6.3.9 Purchase Recommendations and New Books
Suggestions for additions to the library’s collection are
welcomed. Every effort is made to purchase recommended materials if
the materials are within the scope of the library’s collection and meet
the library’s acquisitions criteria. A selection of new books is
available for browsing near the reference desk on the fifth floor. New
additions to the collection are announced in a monthly Selected Recent
Acquisitions list, which is available on the library website and via
email delivery: http://library.law.wisc.edu/services/recacq/.
The library’s website contains links to an
online purchase recommendation form at http://library.law.wisc.edu/services/purchase/.
6.4 Technology in the Law Library
6.4.1 PC Labs
The library has two PC labs for law student use with 42 networked workstations that provide access to word processing, email, the Internet, and other resources. Lab B (Room 2387) is a general purpose lab, and Lab A (Room 2386) is an instructional lab. Lab A is available for general use when it is not being used as a classroom. When Lab A is in use as a classroom, the use of unoccupied workstations is at the discretion of the instructor.
Three printers are available in Lab B from which lab and wireless network users can print at a rate of seven cents per page. Payments are made by means of a Debitcard that can be purchased at the Copy Center on the fifth floor of the Law Library. There is no charge for printing from the Westlaw and LexisNexis printers.
More information about the library’s PC labs can be found at: http://library.law.wisc.edu/services/hardware/computers/labinfo.html.
6.4.2 Networked Connections
Wireless access to the Law School network and the Internet is available throughout the Law Library. For more information about networked connections in the Law Library see: http://library.law.wisc.edu/services/hardware/computers/network.html.
6.4.3 Laptop Use
Laptops may be used anywhere in the library except in the Quarles & Brady Reading Room on the fifth floor, which has been designated a “laptop-free zone.”
6.4.4 Email Access
Email access is available in the PC labs on the second floor of the
Law Library and through any network connection. Public workstations in
other areas of the library are intended for research. As a courtesy to
other library users, students are asked not to use those workstations
for email.
6.4.5 Electronic Legal Research (LexisNexis, Westlaw, Bloomberg Law, etc.)
The Law Library offers law students access to many legal databases,
including LexisNexis, Westlaw, Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg BNA, CCH Internet Research
Network, Hein Online, and many more. These databases are available
from the Law Library website at http://library.law.wisc.edu/ and many can also be accessed remotely with your UW-Madison username and password. With the exception of LexisNexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law, no passwords are required
to access them in the Law School.
All law students are given access to the LexisNexis, Westlaw and Bloomberg Law either during orientation or later through the Legal Research and Writing program.
LLM-Legal Institutions students are issued passwords to LexisNexis, Westlaw and Bloomberg Law through the Graduate Programs office.
All other transfer, visiting, and graduate students wishing to
obtain a password for LexisNexis, Westlaw or Bloomberg Law should contact Bonnie Shucha, Head of Reference, at bjshucha@wisc.edu. Ms.
Shucha can also arrange for training on these and other electronic legal
resources.
For lost or forgotten LexisNexis, Westlaw or Bloomberg Law passwords, you may also contact Bonnie Shucha, at: bjshucha@wisc.edu.
(From a trial transcript):
Q. When he went, had you gone and had she, if she wanted to and were able, for the time being excluding all the restraints on her not to, gone also, would he have brought you, meaning you and she, with him to the station?
Mr. Brooks: Objection. That question should be taken out and shot!
