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Last updated: July 2007
Services
Circulation
Reference Desk
The Reference Desk is located to the left as you enter the Library. This desk
is staffed by experienced reference librarians. They are available to assist
with research questions.
LawReference
LawReference is Seattle University Law Library’s e-mail reference service.
With this service, law students, faculty, staff, and alumni may e-mail a question
and a reference librarian will answer it, generally within one business day.
This service provides legal research information, not legal advice. Send your
question to LawReference@seattleu.edu or for
more information, please read the FAQs.
Appointments
Reference librarians are available either at the Reference Desk or by appointment.
Use the staff directory to contact a librarian
to schedule a convenient meeting time.
Independent Studies
Law students working on independent studies should contact the Library Director,
Kristin Cheney, for assignment of
a research librarian. This librarian will assist the student in crafting successful
research strategies, identifying relevant materials and creating a complete
bibliography.
Starting Points
These legal research guides have been written by Seattle University law librarians.
They are designed to introduce student researchers to research areas, and to
provide suggestions for efficient and effective research. They are available
at www.law.seattleu.edu/library/research/startingpoints.
Lexis and Westlaw: Training and Passwords
Lexis and Westlaw are available to students through the Library's educational
contract with the companies. These contracts require that the systems be used
for law-school related work only: they may not be used for employment-related
work. Misuse of these systems is a violation of the Law School's Code of Conduct.
Westlaw and Lexis require passwords, which can be obtained at the Reference Desk. Printouts may be picked up in the DDC.
Lexis and Westlaw instruction is initially provided to students during their first year; advanced and refresher courses for all students are scheduled throughout the year.
Summit Borrowing
Summit is the shared library catalog of the Orbis Cascade Alliance, a consortium
of 31 colleges and universities in Washington and Oregon. This service provides
access to over 27 million books, DVDs, videotapes, sound recordings, government
documents and significantly expands access to resources for faculty and student
research. Direct borrowing is available to students and faculty at member institutions
and materials are delivered to campus from member libraries within 2 - 3 business
days. Books check out for 21 days with one renewal in most cases. Some items,
such as CDs, check out for 3 days with one renewal.
Although there is no cost to borrow materials, each borrower must honor the due dates for materials or he/she will be assessed a fine of $0.50/item/day for the first 10 days, then $1.00/item/day for subsequent days. In the event that a borrower allows total fines to reach $10, he/she will be blocked from further use of the Summit system until the account has been resolved.
You’ll find a link to the Summit catalog on the SU Law Library catalog.
To borrow materials through Summit and retrieve them, you will need your seven digit university ID # preceded by two zeros (e.g. 001234567). Students will see this number when accessing SU Online or can contact the law school registrar’s office for assistance.
For more information on Summit, read the FAQ or contact the Seattle University Law Library at (206) 398-4221.
Interlibrary Loans (ILL)
Research materials not available in our collection, in Summit, or at Lemieux
Library may be requested through interlibrary loan (ILL). The Law Library’s
ILL policy is based on the National
Interlibrary Loan Code for the United States, 1994, revised 2001, and is
governed by the Copyright
Act of 1976. Requests are filled either by loan of original items or by
photocopy.
Most requests can be filled within one or two weeks if available locally, and within three to four weeks if outside our regional area. Items not available in the U.S., or requests submitted with incomplete or imprecise bibliographic information may require extra time to process or obtain.
The following material is often not available through ILL:
Interlibrary Loan request forms are available on the Library Web site and at the Circulation Desk. Telephone or e-mail requests are also accepted. Direct requests to Susan Kezele (ext. 4227).
You will be notified by e-mail when your interlibrary loan material arrives. Pick up and return your items at the Circulation Desk.
ILL material is occasionally recalled by the lending library before its due date. The Library will notify the borrower when a recall is in effect. Please return the material promptly.
While the Library makes every effort to secure ILL materials at no or low cost, requests for materials incurring significant charges are subject to review.
Policy
The Library has a wide variety of materials available for research. The majority
of items in the collection (case reporters, statutes, periodicals, looseleaf
services, etc.) may not be checked-out. The policies for each type of material
are enumerated below.
Overdue notices are mailed to your home and e-mailed to your SU e-mail address. If books are not returned or fines have not been paid by the end of the semester, a hold will be put on student records, including grades. You may renew books by phone at 398-4228 if they are not already overdue.
Treatises
Treatises are texts which provide substantial treatment and analysis of a broad
area of law. The treatises in this Library are generally shelved on the 3rd
and 4th floors. To determine if a treatise can be checked-out, look at the listing
for that book in the catalog.
If under status it says "not checked-out," the book may be checked-out.
If under the status it says "lib use only," the book may not leave
the Library.
Reserve
Reserve materials, located on the 2nd floor of the Library, include study aids
(hornbooks, nutshells, etc.), videotapes, faculty course reserves, multi-volume
works, looseleaf services, restatements, formbooks, practice aids (Washington
Practice series, Washington Lawyers Practice Manual, deskbooks and court rules),
and bound exams.
The location of reserve material will be indicated in the catalog by reserve. Reserve materials are not to be taken from the building, except as mentioned below for overnight check-out.
Selected reserve materials, mostly hornbooks, other study aids, and course reserve materials, may be checked-out overnight. Overnight materials are marked with a star on their spines.
The circulation period for overnight books may be extended through the weekend on Thursdays, from 3 p.m. onward. Overnight books (those reserve books with stars on their spines) checked-out between 3 p.m. on Thursday and closing time on Sunday are not due back until 11 a.m. Monday for day students or 6 p.m. Monday for evening students. Note that weekend checkout is not available during exam periods.
Professors who place materials on course reserve sometimes specify a circulation period which is different from those listed above. Either the professor or the circulation staff will advise of any special circulation policies.
Research stations for those without laptop computers may be used to access the Library's research databases and for internet searching. Research sessions should be limited to 30 minutes to allow others an opportunity to use the stations.
Ready Reference
The Ready Reference area (wooden shelving directly behind the Reference Desk)
contains general reference material, including indexes, directories and dictionaries.
Use of these materials is limited to the reference desk area.
Reference Stacks
The Reference Stacks area, located on the 2nd floor behind the Reference Desk,
contains federal and state codes and Washington materials. Materials located
in this area will have a designation of "reference" in their catalog
record. Records for some items may also indicate the stack number location.
Micromedia Room
The Micromedia Room (Room 204 in Reserve) houses the Library's collection of
microforms (microfiche and microfilm). Microform holdings include international,
federal, and state materials, bar journals, briefs from the U.S. Supreme Court,
Washington State Supreme Court, the Washington Appellate Court, and much more.
Microform materials are listed in the catalog as located in "micromedia." The Microform Collection Guide in Room 204 organizes this collection by title and author and further indicates the cabinet drawer and tray in which a specific title can be found.
The Library is run on an honor system. Please handle materials with care and be thoughtful of other library users. Do not remove materials from the Library unless you have checked them out. Violating a provision of the Library’s regulations is a serious offense subject to Law School disciplinary proceedings. Some of the Law Library’s regulations have been incorporated into the Law School’s Code of Conduct. The Library reserves the right to amend its regulations by publication and posting.