Category Archives: GSU Law Library

11.15.10
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Court-Watching Made Easy

We’re a little over 1 month into the Supreme Court’s 2010 term, and there have already been some interesting arguments touching on, among other things, the sale of video games to minors and the Westboro Baptist Church. You can follow the developments at the Court on the news, but there are also some great websites that track what’s going on, from grant of certiorari to decision.

SCOTUSblog, one of the best sources for Court news, keeps track of the most interesting recent petitions for certiorari and recently granted petitions. To prepare for oral argument, you can check the Legal Information Institute’s oral argument previews, and SCOTUSblog’s collection of briefs and other case documents. And, of course, after the argument you can check out the audio on the Supreme Court’s website and at the Oyez Project; starting with the 2010 term, transcripts and audio will be posted on Friday of every argument week. When the opinion is finally handed down, you can follow the happenings live at SCOTUSblog, get the syllabus sent automatically to your email account from the LII, see a visual representation of the votes from Oyez, and download the full slip opinion from the Supreme Court.

If that’s not enough, you can play some Oyez Baseball and find out where your favorite former Justice is buried. Or you could use all of this information to dominate your own FantasySCOTUS league!

11.10.10
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Telephone Room Reservation

Starting Nov. 22nd, law students will be able to reserve study rooms at the College of Law Library by phone.  Students should call the Circulation Desk at 404-413-9100 to reserve a room.  Students may also continue to reserve a study room in person at the Circulation Desk.  Phone reservations will last through the exam period only.

Students can reserve a study room up to a week in advance.  In addition, students are allowed to check out a study room for 3hrs per person.

For more information on study space at the College of Law Library, go to the Study Space page on the Law Library Website.

11.08.10
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New Food Policy

by flickr user _sk

Think back to your first week of law school. Do you remember the tour you had of the library? Yes? Good. And remember how you were told bringing food into the library was forbidden? It was sad, wasn’t it? Now think of all the times since then you’ve snuck food into the library inside your backpack and furtively gobbled a granola bar while reading your Con Law textbook. Good news! You don’t have to sneak it in anymore.

The law library recently changed its food policy. We realized a complete food ban can be difficult to follow. You can now freely eat items such as granola bars, carrot sticks, cookies and other snack/finger foods in the library. Does this mean it’s pizza party time in the study rooms though? Sorry. Smelly, greasy foods are still out, as well as other foods which might disrupt your fellow library users. You can read more about the new policy — and see some examples of acceptable and unacceptable foods — on the library’s new website.

The librarians and staff hope you enjoy your new-found freedom from food-related guilt. Don’t hesitate to let us know of any spills or messes you may need help with. A quick clean up will help us in continuing to allow food and drinks (in the acceptable containers, of course) in the library.

11.03.10
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Chat with a Librarian

The College of Law Library debuted its new chat reference service with the debut of the new College of Law website.  We’re hoping that our library users–students, faculty, staff, public–will use the chat service. 

You can access the service by visiting the library home page–use the Ask Ref! box to begin the conversation.  Our chat reference service is available during regular reference hours.  We’re logged in, ready to help, Monday through Thursday from 9-9, Friday from 9-5, and weekends from 10-6. 

We look forward to chatting with you soon!

11.01.10
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Be an Informed Voter

Ballotpedia is one of the more fascinating sites that you’ve probably never heard of. It’s a freely editable wiki, like Wikipedia, but much, much more specialized. With a couple of clicks, you can find out what measures are currently on the ballot across the country, details on all of the state legislative elections, and all sorts of information on what’s going on with the Georgia elections.

Ballotpedia also has a lot of historical information. Want to see what measures were on the Georgia ballot in 2004? Or 2000? You can find them there. In many cases you can even find a link to the full text of the measure or the official election results. And, of course, Ballotpedia will be updating the site tomorrow with all of the latest results.

10.22.10
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Additional Study Rooms

From October 25th until December 17th, law students will be able to take advantage of 3 new study rooms at the Georgia State University College of Law.  The Career Services Office will be allowing students to use rooms 141, 142, and 143 as study rooms during this time.

Students can check out these rooms at the Career Services Office from 9am to 5pm, Monday through Friday.  After 5pm and on the weekends, students can check out these rooms at the Law Library Circulation Desk.

10.19.10
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We’re Hiring!

The law library has several GRA openings for the Spring 2011 semester. Research GRAs report to Pam Brannon, Faculty Services Librarian, and assist with faculty research requests. Reference GRAs work at the Reference Desk, answering research requests for library users, and report to Deborah Schander, the Reference/Student Services Librarian. If you are interested in either type of work, we encourage you to apply. You can apply for one or both types of position.

Library GRAs receive a one-half reduction in tuition as well as a $1,000 stipend each semester. Applicants must have completed all 1L requirements by December 2010. To apply, submit a completed application, resume and your anticipated Spring 2011 class schedule to Pam Brannon by Friday, November 5.

10.15.10
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Use FDsys.gov for federal gov docs

If you’ve been using www.gpoaccess.gov to access federal government documents, prepare yourselves for a long-awaited arrival:  the Federal Digital System, found at www.fdsys.gov!   The Government Printing Office has announced that, at the end of 2010, FDsys will be the GPO’s electronic system of record for government publications.

From now through the end of 2010, the sites will operate concurrently, but in 2011 you’ll have to use FDsys to retrieve the United States Code, Code of Federal Regulations, presidential documents, the Federal Register, the United States Government Manual, and many other useful government resources.  The COL Library encourages you to take the time to explore the FDsys site and how it functions.  There are helpful tutorials available, demonstrating how you can search or browse using the site.  Because the site is currently in public beta, the GPO is seeking public feedback.  Now is the time to share your thoughts about the new site!

An exciting feature of FDsys is the number of authenticated government documents.  The GPO takes a number of steps to assure that many of the electronic government documents are unaltered from their original publication.  The authenticated  documents available on FDsys have visible digital signatures.  A verified, authentic document will contain a Seal of Authenticity.  The seal is a graphic of an eagle and the words “Authenticated U.S. Government Information.”  Visit www.fdsys.gov and click on a recent piece of popular legislation–like the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act–to see the digital signature.

10.12.10
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Angelo Herndon: Race, Communism, Free Speech, and Atlanta

The College of Law’s Henry J. Miller Distinguished Lecture Series continues on October 21st, when Harvard’s Mark Tushnet will talk about a case that originated in Atlanta in a lecture entitled “The Hughes Court’s Treatment of Radical Dissent: The Angelo Herndon Case.”

Angelo Herndon, an African-American, member of the Communist Party, and labor organizer, was arrested in Atlanta in1932 for attempting to “incite insurrection” and convicted the following year. His case, which went to the Supreme Court in 1935 and 1937, features a stunning cast of characters, including future 5th Circuit judge Elbert Parr Tuttle, renowned historian C. Vann Woodward, poets Don West and Langston Hughes, and Charles Hamilton Houston, special counsel for the NAACP. The final verdict in Herndon v. Lowry was a narrow 5-4 reversal of Herndon’s conviction.

Of course, the Law Library has much more information on this fascinating case. The Law Library has put together a display of books and videos related to the case and its major issues, and you can find the complete record of the case in U. S. Supreme Court Records & Briefs, a database available through the College of Law Library.