Reserve Room / Course Reserves
Reserve materials are divided into two categories within the Library: (1) items that are placed on reserve by our faculty for the benefit of students enrolled in a particular course, entitled "Course Reserves," and (2) books that are shelved in our Reserve Room, the area adjacent to the Reading Room. In the Reserve Room, library patrons will find a collection of forms books, nutshells, hornbooks, restatements, encyclopedias, current codes for foreign jurisdictions, and other materials. The books are shelved in call number order. On the first range of this collection you will find a section of recently received books that are placed there for the convenience of our patrons who like to browse new titles as they are received by the library. On the last two ranges of this collection you will find the library's audiovisual material. Materials kept in the Reserve Room can only be used in the Reading Room; they may not be used in other parts of the library and they do not circulate for use outside the library. The only two exceptions to this policy are: (1) audiovisual material (video tapes, DVDs, cassette tapes); and (2) new books that are shelved in the "New Books" section. Audiovisual material and new books may circulate for different periods of time, depending on the item itself.
Course Reserves
There is a special reserve collection behind the Circulation Desk that contains photocopied articles, packets, video tapes, CDs, or books that law faculty have placed on reserve for one semester for class use. This area is known as our Course Reserves collection. Items that require extra security are also kept behind the circulation desk (popular nutshells, course books, Bluebooks, etc.). All other reserve materials reside in the "walk-in" Reserve Room located adjacent to the Reading Room on the third floor of the library. Each semester faculty members have the option of placing items on reserve for a particular course. Students should, therefore, routinely check our online database for new items placed in the Course Reserve database. Most photocopied items are kept at the Circulation Desk. Some photocopied items, however, may be available electronically (see Electronic Course Reserves below). Video tapes, CDs, and DVDs are also kept at the Circulation Desk when placed on Reserve for a particular course. All of these items circulate for three hours when properly checked out. They may also be removed from the library during checked-out. If a faculty member wants to place a book on reserve for a course, it is typically not kept at the Circulation Desk; instead the book will be shelved in the Reserve Room. These items do not circulate and they must be used within the Reading Room. If the online catalog indicates that a particular book is available at the Circulation Desk, however, the book may circulate for three hours per the request of the faculty member. Items received by the library for placement in our Course Reserves collection will be processed within 24 hours.
Accessing the Course Reserves Database
There is a link to the library's Course Reserves database in the online catalog. A user ID and password are not required if you are accessing this database from a computer terminal on campus. If you are off campus, you will need to login using your Law School email user ID and password.
Searching Course Reserves
The Course Reserves database can be searched in two ways: (1) by faculty name, or (2) by course.