Student Services

Quick Links

• Law Library Collections for students
  • Exam bank, DVDs, textbooks, and more
• Research Assistance and Services
• Reserving a Study Carrel
• Computer Lab
• Reserving Rooms
• Posters

 

Law Library Collections and Links for Law Students

The Sarita Kenedy East Law Library seeks to provide the best possible learning environment for its students. The law library seeks to support student scholarship by maintaining and expanding collections that are both comprehensive and diverse and targeted towards student needs. We welcome student suggestions.

The Law Library is home to several collections that are designed to enhance the law school experience. Collections of particular interest to law students are:

• Databases: The law library provides access to many legal and non-legal databases for student use. Titles include Heinonline, Index to Legal Periodicals, and CCH Intelliconnect.
• Course Reserve: The law library has your required textbooks. You can check these out for 4 hours at a time, with a 50 cents per hour late fee. The collection also has Nutshells, hornbooks and other study aids available for 4-hour checkout and browsing.
• Exam Bank: View old exams given by St. Mary's professors.
• Moot Court 1L Best Briefs: Every year a committee of members from the St. Mary's Law Journal selects the best briefs from the 1st year Legal Research & Writing/Moot Court competition. These are the winners from previous years.
• Movies about Lawyers: DVDs with legal themes or with attorneys as characters are available with a 3-day checkout.

Research Assistance for Law Students

Reference: The law library provides reference assistance from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday. Inquire at the Circulation Desk for a Reference Librarian.

Research Appointments: If you have an in-depth research question or just need help beginning a project, feel free to schedule an appointment at the reference department. These appointments are conducted one on one and are scheduled through the associate director, Charles Finger cfinger@stmarytx.edu .

Computer Lab: Law Library Room 105

Room 105 of the law library houses the law library computer lab. All computers are password protected. To use a computer ask for a password at the circulation desk on the ground floor. All computers have Microsoft Word 2010 and WordPefect installed.

Instructions on printing are on another page. Click here to view instructions on printing.

Files saved to the computer will be deleted overnight and when the computer restarts. Therefore, it is recommended that you bring a USB thumbdrive or plan in some other way to save your files.

Additionally, public access computers are located in the reference area on the open floor just as you enter the first and second floors. Computers in the open area can be used by students, as well as the public.

Resources for Student Organizations

Reserving rooms:

• Rm 106, Law Library
  • Theater seating for 20 people
  • Projector and Screen with attached computer
  • To reserve: Contact Yvonne Olfers (yolfers@stmarytx.edu)
• Rm 217, Law Library
  • Table and chair seating for 17 people
  • Projector and Screen with attached computer
  • Furniture can be rearranged
  • Must return furniture to the original locations, when your meeting is over!
  • To reserve: Contact Yvonne Olfers (yolfers@stmarytx.edu)
• Alumni Room, Law Library 1st Floor
  • Table and chair seating for 51 people
  • Projector and Screen with attached computer
  • Do NOT move furniture here yourself
  • Furniture can be rearranged only through a work order through main campus
  • To reserve: Contact Ofilia Rodarte (orodarte@stmarytx.edu)
• Conference rooms and small group study rooms
  • Study rooms are located along the edges of the library on the 1st and 2nd floors.
  • You cannot reserve these rooms. Rooms are first come, first served, but groups have priority.
  • Study rooms are not sound proof, so please plan to participate in only quiet activities in these rooms.

Posters and signs:

• Hanging Signs: Signs can be hung in two places: On the bulletin board by the 1st floor restrooms, and on the bulletin board by the 2nd floor restrooms. Signs need an approval stamp before you hang them. Bring the sign to the Circulation Desk, and we can stamp it for you.
• Poster printing: The Law Library can print a poster for your student group, at no charge. We have a machine that will take an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and enlarge it to 23 x 31 inches. The poster will have two colors only: black on a solid color background. The backgrounds can be white or a variety of neon colors. To make a poster, print a black and white 8.5 x 11 inch ad, and bring it to the Circulation Desk.
  The law library can also put the poster in a frame on a stand near the library entrance.
• Scrolling TV ads: A scrolling TV ad display is located next to the 1st floor restroom in the Law Library. To put your ad in the scrolling news announcements and photos, make a Powerpoint slide and email it to Brandon Vasquez (bvasquez@stmarytx.edu).

Study Carrels: Reserving a Carrel

The purpose of this program is to provide students with a library location to store research materials during any short period of academic legal research and writing required by the faculty or for academic credit. This program is not designed for research and writing associated with normal class preparation.

Carrels are provided on a first come first served basis to students who also have priority need. Reservations are generally made on a yearly basis. If you have any questions email Brandon Vasquez, the Head of Circulation.

The following procedures and requirements are in effect for carrel reservations and use:

1. NO FOOD OR TOBACCO PRODUCTS ARE ALLOWED IN THE CARRELS. DRINKS ARE ALLOWED BUT ONLY IN SPILL-PROOF CONTAINERS.
2. Since there is a limited number of carrels in the law library, carrels will be assigned only to students on the Law Journal and the Scholar, law faculty teaching or research assistants, LLM students, independent study students, and students (St. Mary's Alumni) studying for the BAR exam.
3. Law Journal and Scholar students will be assigned a carrel at the beginning of the Fall semester. After that Carrel reservations are on a first-come, first-serve basis.
4. Up to ten (10) library items may be stored in a carrel at one time. All materials must be stored in a single row, right side up and in an orderly manner on the carrel's elevated shelf (if provided). Stored materials may NOT include:
   • Loose-leaf services
   • Shepard s citations
   • Unbound journals
   • Materials labeled: Reserve, Index, Micro, or Reference
   • Federal statutes or regulations
   • State statutes or regulations
   • Popular reading materials
5. The Law Library staff may remove library items stored in a carrel in violation of the above criteria.
6. The Law Library is not responsible for lost, stolen, or inadvertently shelved items from a carrel. It is strongly recommended that students lock up personal items in the filing cabinet provided by the library.
7. No personal items should be posted on the carrel itself (e.g., white boards, posters, etc.)
8. Coffee makers, refrigeration and other personal appliances are NOT allowed in the carrel. In addition, personal file cabinets are not allowed in the carrel.
9. Carrel reservations expire on the date posted on the Carrel Reservation Form. All items must be removed by the expiration date posted; the library staff will remove items and clean up carrels after the reservation expires.

STUDENTS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT HAVING A CARREL IS A PRIVILEGE, NOT A RIGHT. CARRELS MAY BE REVOKED FOR VIOLATION OF THE CARREL RESERVATION POLICY.