From the Desk of Brian L. Baker

Director of the Law Library

It has been a busy summer in the Law Library. Plans are underway to provide more space and a redesigned circulation and office suite. When the renovation is completed, the Law Library will be a remarkably different place.

The Law Library has moved ahead in a number of different directions. We recently received a donation of Microform Reader/printers and some microform cabinets from the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler, and Pickering. In addition, the library staff has ordered an additional microform Reader/ Printer that should be delivered shortly, and purchased the United States Serial Set on microfiche as well as the cataloging records for the CIS Congressional Index. These purchases will bring the Law Library’s collection over the 200,000-volume mark and make congressional materials more accessible through the Law Library’s online catalog.

The Law Library recently hired two new staff members. Mr. Barrett Graham, a graduate of Case Western Reserve Law School, with a broad computer background, will join the staff as an Electronic Services/Reference Librarian. Ms. Bridget Tucker, who has a BA in Library and Information Studies from John Moores University, Liverpool, England, and an MS in Information Science from University College, London, England, will also join the staff as Evening Circulation Technician. Please welcome Mr. Graham and Ms. Tucker to the School of Law community when you meet them.

The wireless LAN is now working and being used quite a bit in both the Law Library and the classroom suite. For those not yet using the system, you need to purchase a PCMCIA wireless card adapter. We suggest a D-Link DWL-650 card. It works very well, and is one of the cheapest models available at approximately $85.00. A high-speed Network Printer for the Wireless LAN will soon be installed for all your printing needs.

Many students in the first-year class have asked about e-mail addresses. Once the Registrar’s Office provides the Law Library with the final first-year class list, e-mail accounts will be created. Your e-mail address will be "the first initial of your first name and your whole last name"@lawmail.udc.edu. For example, John Smith’s address would be jsmith@lawmail.udc.edu. You can access your e-mail at http://lawmail.udc.edu. Once you log in, you will find instructions for how to forward mail to and from your e-mail account, if desired.

Finally, the Law Library would like to say goodbye to one of our staff members. Dr. Peter Curtis has been the Acting Head of Technical Services and Acquisitions Librarian. Dr. Curtis will be leaving the Law Library to become the Director of the Library at the Catonsville Community College. The Law Library wishes him continued success in his new position. Dr. Curtis will be greatly missed.

The 4-1-1 on Interlibrary Loan

One of the great things about attending, and working in, a law school in Washington, D.C., is the wide and varied legal collections housed within the numerous law firm, courthouse, government agency, and law school libraries found here. But the question becomes: How do you access all of the materials?

Some of these law libraries are accessible to the public, but many are not. To overcome that problem, and to share resources, librarians developed ILL. Through the ILL process, students and faculty request a title from a librarian responsible for ILL. S/he will then search various databases, or post requests to librarian discussion lists. If another librarian sees the request and can spare the book for a few weeks, they will respond and then mail the book, or fax the article, to the ILL requestor. The caveat is that the lender can recall the loan at any time if they need the book, and the borrower must be willing to comply.

At UDC-DCSL, the librarian responsible for ILL is Mr. Eddie Caparas. Mr. Caparas’s office is in Public Services, and he can be reached by phone at 202-274-7357 or by email at ecaparas@udc.edu. ILL request forms are available from Mr. Caparas or from the handout area across from the Law Library’s circulation desk.

Please remember to plan ahead. While some local libraries will allow you to come and pick up the material, most want to use the mail. This usually causes at least a three day delay in getting the material, and if the ILL person needs to go further afield to find an available title, it can stretch into at least a week.

The ILL service is designed to make access to collections easier for all involved. Please, if you need a book, ask your ILL librarian.