Want to read the latest legal scholarship before it is actually published? If you answered yes, then the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) is your ticket to paradise. Scholars from around the world submit abstracts and upload working papers on SSRN prior to publication in books, journals, and magazines.

In addition to staying abreast of current developments, you can also use SSRN to follow the scholarship of faculty at your own institution. You can access the working papers of the Georgia State University College of Law faculty by going to our SSRN Research Paper Series webpage, Georgia State University College of Law Legal Studies Research Paper Series.

It’s October, which means the Supreme Court of the United States is back in business. The Court began hearing oral arguments on  Monday, October 5th. The following are a few helpful resources for those interested in keeping up with the latest term of the Court.

• Supreme Court of the United States website: Your first place to turn for information on the court. What better place to get information than straight from the source. Some important resources available on the website include slip opinions; oral argument calendars, audio, and transcripts; hearing lists; and general information about the Court.
• Oyez.org: A product of the Chicago-Kent College of Law, Oyez is a multimedia archive that aims to be the authoritative source for all audio recorded in the Court. Additionally, users can find summaries of cases; opinions; and justice votes, which are organized by vote, seniority, and ideology.
• SCOTUSblog: SCOTUSblog is a great source for statistics, recent news, and analysis of everything Supreme Court.

For those interested in learning more about the Court, the Law Library has several books on the Court:

• Landmark Supreme Court Cases: The Most Influential Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States, by Richard Leiter and Roy Mersky.
• The Supreme Court A to Z, by Jost Kenneth.
• The Supreme Court of the United States: An Introduction, by Thomas Walker.
• Supreme Myths: Why the Supreme Court Is Not a Court and Its Justices Are Not Judges, by Eric J Segall (Kathy and Lawrence Ashe Professor of Law at GSU Law).

flickr photo by greeblie

The course readings for the first couple of weeks of law school can be tough for new students due to the use of latin phrases and “legalese” in court opinions. Legal dictionaries are a great source to consult when trying to define legal terms. Not only will legal dictionaries define a term, but they may also give an example of how the term is used, as well as provide references to cases, statutes, or secondary sources that relate to the term.

Below are a couple of legal dictionaries available in the Law Library and online.

• Black’s Law Dictionary
  • 10th Edition located in the Reference Collection
  • Also available WestlawNext
• Ballentine’s Law Dictionary
  • Available through Lexis Advance
• Barron’s Law Dictionary
  • Available on Bloomberg Law (access by typing in legal term in the <GO> bar)
• Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary 
  • Locted in the Reference Collection
  • Available on Nolo.com (free)

The Law Library is rolling out a new program this fall called the Applied Legal Experience, Research, & Technology (ALERT) Program. The ALERT Program is a non-credit program that provides students with additional opportunities to learn advanced legal research and technology skills outside of the College of Law’s curriculum. By completing the ALERT Program, students can demonstrate to potential employers that they have obtained practice ready skills that will enable them to hit the ground running.

To get more information about the ALERT Program, check out the program’s webpage.

We will be holding an information session about the program on Wednesday, August 26th, at 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. Food will be provided, so please RSVP if you plan to attend.

RSVP: 12 p.m., Room 241

RSVP: 5 p.m., Room 346

On this day in 1965,  President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Social Security Amendments of 1965 into law. This act is notable because provisions within it created Medicare and Medicaid.

Social Security Amendments of 1965, Pub. L. No. 89-97, 79 Stat. 286 (1965) (full-text of act).

For more information on the Social Security Amendments of 1965, consult the following online sources:

• History of SSA During the Johnson Administration 1963-1968 (Social Security Administration)
• Vote Tallies for Passage of Medicare in 1965 (Social Security Administration)
• Legislative Histories 1935 – 2004 (Social Security Administration)
• The History of Medicare (Social Security Administration)

We also have several books in the Law Library that cover this act.

• Medicare and Medicaid:the 1965 and 1967 Social Security Amendments, by Margaret Greenfield
• Medicare, the Social Security Amendments of 1965: Special Report, by American Psychological Association

While many attorneys utilize Bloomberg Law, Lexis Advance, or WestlawNext to conduct federal legal research, there are plenty of free options that researchers can use to conduct legal research. Below is a selected list of free resources, organized by source type.

For additional resources, consult our Free Legal Resources research guide.

Constitution of the United States of America

• National Archives
• Legal Information Institute
• Annotated Version of the Constitution 

United States Code

• Office of Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives (current version, full-text searchable)
• FDsys (1994 – 2013)
• Legal Information Institute (current version)

U.S. Congress Bills, Resolutions, and Reports

• FDsys
• Congress.gov

Code of Federal Regulations

• FDsys (1996 – present)
• Legal Information Institute (current)
• e-CFR (regularly updated, unofficial, non-legal edition of the CFR)

Federal Register

• FDsys (1994 – present)
• FederalRegister.gov (current version, full-text searchable)

Federal Case Law

• Google Scholar (U.S. federal district, appellate, tax and bankruptcy courts since 1923 and US Supreme Court cases since 1791).

Secondary Sources (Analysis & Commentary on the Law)

• Nolo’s Free Dictionary of Law Terms and Legal Definitions
• Legal Information Institute’s Wex Legal Encyclopedia
• Digital Commons Network, Law Commons (open access law review and journal articles written by law professors, attorneys, and law students).

Research Guides

• Georgia State University Law Library Research Guides
• Georgetown Law Library Research Guides
• Law Library of Congress, Guide to Law Online
• Law Library of Congress, Legal Research Guides

flickr photo by Mic445

Summer 2015 Exams begin next week for the College of Law. To help you prepare for exams, here are links to some of our best blog posts over the past couple years on exam prep.

• Summer Exam Prep by Deborah Schander
• Exam Tips by Joshua Kahn
• Fast and Easy Food for Exams by Deborah Schander
• Cute Animals v. Exam Stress by Deborah Schander

For the most up-to-date information on exams, consult the Exam Information webpage maintained by the Registrar’s Office.

The law library faculty and staff have completed their move over to the new building, but most of the library collection is still in transit, and large portions of the new law library are still under construction. Therefore, for the time being, only students enrolled in summer classes and students needing assistance with summer research assignments will have limited access to the law library.

Study Aids and Reserve Items

To utilize the study aids and the reserve collection, students must show their Panther ID and sign in at the security desk at building’s entrance. Students must then take the elevator directly to the 5th floor, and proceed to the main service desk for assistance.

Reference Assistance

Students needing reference assistance can contact the reference librarians by chat reference, email, phone, or in person. Of the four, chat reference is by far the best method to communicate with us during this transition period.

To access chat reference, students should click on the chat reference tab, located on the left side of the Law Library’s homepage:

Once you click on the red tab, a chat box will pop out from the side of the screen.

While the Circulation and Reference phones are currently inoperable, you can contact the librarians directly using their office phone numbers or their email addresses. This information is provided on the Law Library’s Directory webpage.

We encourage students needing in-person reference assistance to contact us ahead of time by chat or email. To access the law library for reference assistance, students must show their Panther ID and sign in at the security desk at building’s entrance. Students must then take the elevator directly to the 5th floor, and proceed to the main service desk for assistance.

Printing, Scanning, and Computer Access

The printers, KIC scanners, and computers are currently inoperable, but we encourage students to utilize the options available in the University Library. The University Library’s Computing webpage provides information on current computer availability, and also printer locations.

To locate the University Library, refer to the Campus Map.

Continuing Updates

For the most up-to-date information about the law library, follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Today marks the last day in the Urban Life Building for the College of Law Library. Starting Monday, June 22, 2015, the Law Library will operate out of the top two floors of the new College of Law building. Here are a few images to remind everyone of our time in the Urban Life Building.

Urban Life Building

Urban Life Law Library, 1st Floor

Urban Life Law Library, 1st Floor

Urban Life Law Library Computer Lab

Former GSU Law Librarians

2009 Law Library Faculty & Staff

2012 KIC Scanner Delivery

2nd Floor Flood, Former Assoc. Dir. Ron Wheeler

2013 Mario Kart Tournament

Current Law Librarians at the Reference Desk

Groundbreaking Ceremony, Former Dir. Nancy Johnson & Dean Steve Kaminshine

New College of Law Building

One last stroll through the Law Library in the Urban Life Building