Category Archives: Library building

Happy New Year and Welcome back

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Happy new Year all and welcome back!

2025 has landed and the new semester is already underway. Teaching has resumed and the Law Librarians are busy delivering new information literacy classes to postgraduate students.

The Law Library is now open but still on reduced hours until this Sunday. Please check before planning your trip there to avoid any disappointment. Normal opening hours will resume on Monday 13 January. The Main Library has resumed its normal opening hours.

3 students in the entrance of the Law Library, in the Old College

As always, we are here to help you with any enquiries you have about resources, referencing and literature searching. We offer one to one appointments most weeks; visit the MyEd Events Booking system and look for ‘literature search clinic’ and select the option relating to Law. And if you can’t see a bookable slot that suits you please email us on law.librarian@ed.ac.uk.

Warm Wishes from your Law Librarians

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With the exam period almost finished, it is time for all of us to get a well deserved break from studies, assignments and work in general. The University will be closed across the 2024 festive period from 5pm on Monday 23rd December 2024 and reopening at 9am on Friday 3rd January 2025.

The Law Library will remain closed for the period mentioned above. If you are studying or conducting research over the winter break you will find our online resources remain accessible via the usual channels, but should you run into difficulties we will not be able to respond to any messages until we return in January. Your Law Librarians will be away from Friday 20th December 2024 and coming back on Monday 6th January 2025.

The Main Library will remain open for most of the duration of the holidays but with reduced staffing and opening hours.

We wish you a restful and pleasant winter break during your time away from the University. See you in 2025!

~ Anna & Rania

Lit christmas tree in the Old college quad in Edinburgh

 

Study Spaces in and around the Law Library during your exams

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With the exam period already here and the need for more space to study and revise, one of the most common concerns for Law students is finding study spaces in the library.The Law Library is the favourite and preferred place to study but as spaces are limited, we have looked around the central campus for more options to manage demand during peak times.

ringbound notebook with screwed up bits of paper next to it, indicating multiple drafts.

From Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/photos/garbage-trash-litter-recycling-3259455/)

EXTENDED OPENING HOURS:

More information about opening hours for the Law Library specifically over the festive period can be found on the Law Library pages of the Library website. Please note that there are extended opening hours on Sundays in November (on 24th) and December (on 1st, 8th and 15th) until 18.50. Usual Sunday opening hours (open until 16.50) will resume in January.

STUDY BREAK CARDS:

Cards are situated around the library that can be used to keep your space while you take a short break. Turn the card to 15 minutes for a Short Break or fill out the time you intend to be away from your desk for longer breaks like lunch (up to one hour). This scheme has been shown to encourage healthy study patterns and help utilise the space we have available. We’ve used this system in the Law Library in the past and it’s gotten great feedback, so much so that it’s been extended to other libraries in our network.

ALL UNIVERSITY CAMPUS LIBRARIES (CENTRAL, KB, EASTER BUSH, WESTERN & ROYAL INFIRMARY)

Did you know that you can use any of the 13 site libraries that are part of the University’s library network? There are 5 within 5-10 minutes walk of the Law Library and the rest a bit further afield. Feel free to explore the different Library Locations

We believe this is a compromise that can work for students who need to use materials held specifically in this library without limiting who can work and study in the space. We understand Law students can feel that they should be prioritised when it comes to space in the Law Library, however the Law Library is part of the libraries’ network – including the Main Library, which also houses high use law books – and limiting access to one of these is neither possible nor fair. Law students also benefit from being able to use any of the campus library facilities – for example, did you know that the new KB nucleus is directly connected to the Murray Library and is open to everyone (including Law students)?

ADDITIONAL SPACES WITHIN THE SCHOOL OF LAW

For those of you that prefer to work within the space of the School of Law, there are additional spaces alongside any cafe facilities. You can also use the Dame Margaret Kidd Social Space and the Ken Mason Postgraduate Hub.

MORE STUDY SPACES AROUND THE CENTRAL CAMPUS

There are also temporary additional study spaces open at the Main Library and 40 George Square for study and revision. For all Postgraduates, the 5th floor in the Main Library is the place to be. And 40 George Square now features a Heat & Eat space! Details can be found of these and many other spaces across campus on the Study Spaces page of the website

And don’t forget, you can book group study rooms and student study spaces in all libraries by visiting the myEd Room Booking system (Booker).

Lastly, did you know about the Lister Learning & Teaching Centre? A beautiful space, not that far away from Old College, it offers space for teaching and revising. You can visit or book a space (through Booker) to revise or work on your assignments

All this information can be found in a handy leaflet we have prepared for you. Make sure you pick one up from the Law Library or download it and you can access the different locations by scanning the QR codes.

While we can appreciate the issues with finding space in the Law Library we find it a great compliment that so many students want to study with us. We are limited in the number of seats available but we hope you’ll understand we’re doing what we can to maintain a pleasant and peaceful study environment; the fantastic Helpdesk team are always on hand to assist where they can.

Our Helpdesk staff are ready to assist you in the library.

If you have queries or want to speak to someone directly about our libraries and collections, you can contact us by email: law.librarian@ed.ac.uk. We’d love to hear from you.

Library Tours for Staff 2024

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Are you a new or existing staff member who would like to find out more about the University’s libraries?

Join an Academic Support Librarian on a 20 to 30-minute in-person tour of one of our ten Library sites. Find out about key library services including EdHelp, borrowing, printing, and study spaces. Discover the general print collections at the Library and explore the subjects covered. These tours are suitable for staff in all roles across the university and staff can visit as many of our libraries as they wish.

The currently scheduled dates are listed below. To book a tour, visit Event Booking.

Schedule of library tours:

Main Library

22 January @ 09:30, 6 February @ 10:30, 6 March @ 14:00, 2 April @ 10:30, 8 May @ 14:00, 12 June @ 14:00 (additional tours to be confirmed)

Art and Architecture Library

5 March @ 09:15

 

Edinburgh College of Art Library

6 February @ 09:15, 9 April @ 09:15, 7 May @ 09:15, 11 June @ 09:15

 

Law Library

12 February @ 10:00, 21 March @ 11:00 (additional tours to be confirmed, or email law.librarian@ed.ac.uk for more info).

 

Moray House Library

25 Jan @ 11:00, 22 Feb @ 11:00, 21 Mar @ 11:00, 25 Apr @ 11:00, 23 May @ 11:00, 20 June @ 11:00

 

Noreen and Kenneth Murray Library

14 Feb @ 15:00 (additional tours to be confirmed)

 

New College Library

30 Jan @ 16:00, 27 Feb @ 16:00, 26 Mar @ 16:00 (additional tours to be confirmed)

 

Royal Infirmary Library

26 Jan @ 10:00, 7 Feb @ 10:00, 26 March @ 09:30 (additional tours to be confirmed)

 

The Lady Smith of Kelvin Veterinary Library

24 Jan @ 14:00 (additional tours to be confirmed)

 

Western General Hospital Library

25 Jan @ 10:00, 19 Mar @ 12:30, 22 May @ 13:00

Did you know…? Study Space Traffic Lights

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We’ve recently heard from students and staff that they would love for some kind of indicator of how busy the Law Library is when it comes to finding a study space. But did you know we’ve already got this information on our website?

If you visit the Law Library Location & Contact page you will find a traffic light panel that will tell you exactly how busy the library is at any time, and this information refreshes every 5 minutes! This is based on anonymised data taken from the swipe entry gates to the library, so while it doesn’t give us a seat-by-seat count of which spaces are available it’s a pretty good indicator of busy periods.

Screenshot of the traffic light occupancy bar which is displayed on the Law Library Locations webpage.

You’ll see above the colour coded lights that the bold text tells us that at 12.15 today the library is NOT BUSY. If you use your cursor to hover over the bar on the website a pop up text box will appear, which currently says “Library is at 20% of occupancy. You will find a choice of spaces in the library.”

If the library is full when you’re trying to visit you can check out the Study Spaces website for suggestions of where else you can go on central campus. You should also be aware that during the lead up to exams we make the MacLaren Stuart and Quad Teaching Rooms open for study. When these are available there will be large signs posted at the entrance to the library directing students to the available rooms.

NOTE: The traffic light sign is usually also displayed on the plasma screens next to the Helpdesk when you visit the Law Library, near the entrance to the Reserve section. At present this is not working properly but we are in the midst of getting it fixed, and will update when it is available again.

Warm wishes from your Law Librarian

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Working in the Law Library today has been like night and day since the study space scramble of last week, and that’s because most students have now finished up for the term and are beginning their winter breaks. The Law Library is still open until 4.50pm tomorrow (Thursday 22nd December), and we will then close our doors until Wednesday 4th January 2022. If you are studying or conducting research over the winter break you will find our online resources remain accessible via the usual channels, but should you run into difficulties we will not be able to respond to any messages until we return in January. Alternatively the Main Library is available during the holidays, you can find out more on their page on the website.

It’s been a bit of a tricky year in the land of Law Libraries as we’ve been short staffed for much of Semester One both on the Helpdesk and in the Academic Support Librarian team. We appreciate your patience while we do what we can in the time available, and look forward to Semester Two where we hope we’ll be back up to a full complement before too long.

We wish you a pleasant and restful winter break and hope for your health and happiness during your time away from the University. See you next Semester!

 – SarahLouise 

Christmas tree on display in the quad at Old College.

 

Study Spaces in the Law Library

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One of the most common concerns for Law students at this time of year is finding study spaces in the library to help them get ready for assignments and exams. We know the Law Library is a favourite place to study, so here are some ways we’re trying to help manage during peak periods.

EXTRA STUDY SPACES:

Library Services book out other rooms in the University to help meet demand for study spaces during the revision and exam period. The spaces closest to the Law Library are the MacLaren Stuart and Quad Teaching rooms in Old College, and there are helpful signs pointing the way to these at the entrance to the Law Library:

G.158 Quad Teaching Room (seminar room, 15 seats) and G.159 MacLaren Stuart Room (large classroom, 55 seats)
Open daily from Saturday 3 December to Wednesday 21 December.
Opening hours as per Law Library opening hours: Monday to Thursday 09:00-21:50 ; Friday 09:00 to 18:50; Saturday 09:00 to 16:50 ; Sunday 12:00 to 18:50 on 4, 11, 18 December.

There are also temporary additional study spaces open at the Main Library and 40 George Square for study and revision; details can be found of these and many other study spaces across campus on the Study Spaces part of the website.

More information about opening hours for the Law Library specifically over the festive period can be found on the Law Library pages of the Library website. Please note that there are extended opening hours on Sundays in December (on 4th, 11th or 18th) until 18.50. Usual Sunday opening hours (open until 16.50) will resume in January.

STUDY MONITOR:

We’ve asked our student staff to work as study monitors from Monday 12th to Friday 16th December. They will be helping students find spaces, take counts and to monitor how the study space cards are being used.

STUDY BREAK CARDS:

Cards are situated around the library that can be used to keep your space while you take a short break. Turn the card to 15 minutes for a Short Break or fill out the time you intend to be away from your desk for longer breaks like lunch (up to one hour). This scheme has been shown to encourage healthy study patterns and help utilise the space we have available. We’ve used this system in the Law Library in the past and it’s gotten great feedback, so much so that it’s been extended to other libraries in our network.

RESERVE COLLECTION DESIGNATED DESKS (NEW):

One of the concerns we’ve heard from students is that at peak times there’s nowhere to consult Reserve (3-hour loan) materials as it’s impractical to take these items far from the library for use. We listened and are now trialling a system where the 18 desks nearest the Reserve collection on the ground floor are Designated Desks in order to use materials from the Law Library specifically. If students require use of these desks they should alert Helpdesk staff who will put out a call for those not using Law Library collections to vacate this bank of desks within 20 minutes. Signs indicating this procedure are posted on these desks.

Designated Desk sign with Library branding. Sign reads: Reserved for the Consultation of Law Library Books You may be asked to move in 20 minutes if this desk is required by a student for this purpose.

We believe this is a compromise that can work for students who need to use materials held specifically in this library without limiting who can work and study in the space. We understand Law students can feel that they should be prioritised when it comes to space in the Law Library, however the Law Library is part of a network of 13 site libraries – including the Main Library, which also houses high use law books – and limiting access to one of these is neither possible nor fair. Law students also benefit from being able to use any of the campus library facilities – for example, did you know that the new KB nucleus is directly connected to the Murray Library and is open to everyone (including Law students)?

While we can appreciate the issues with finding space in the Law Library we find it a great compliment that so many students want to study with us. We are limited in the number of seats available but we hope you’ll understand we’re doing what we can to maintain a pleasant and peaceful study environment; the fantastic Helpdesk team are always on hand to assist where they can.

If you have queries or want to speak to someone directly about our libraries and collections, you can contact us by email: law.librarian@ed.ac.uk. We’d love to hear from you.

Law Library: Changes to opening times

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As the end of semester approaches, you may be concerned about the hours the library will be open in the run up to exams. We’ve increased weekend hours as we get closer to the exam period by opening later on Sundays in December:

Monday 29th November 2021 to Monday 20th December 2021

Monday – Thursday 9am – 9:50pm
Friday 9am  – 6:50pm
Saturday 9am – 4:50pm
Sunday 12 noon – 6:50pm

There will also be changes to the opening hours over the winter break, as follows:

Tuesday 21 December 2021 to Sunday 16 January 2022

Tuesday 21 – Thursday 23 December 2021 9am – 4:50pm
Friday 24 December 2021 – Tuesday 4 January 2022 Closed
Wednesday 5 – Friday 7 January 2022 9am – 4:50pm
Saturday 8 & Sunday 9 January 2022 Closed
Monday 10 – Friday 14 January 2022 9am – 4:50pm
Saturday 15 & Sunday 16 January 2022 Closed

Normal semester opening hours will resume on Monday 17th January 2022. 

If you find the times above don’t suit your schedule for study, you may want to look at the Main Library opening hours, or for a complete list of library opening information please check the Library website.  

Visit the Law Library… virtually!

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students exiting the Law Library building in Old College quad

Law Library exterior, Old College

As the semester gets going you may be keen to visit our beautiful Law Library at Old College to find materials, use a study space, or generally just soak up the atmosphere.

However we know that after the past year some students may be anxious about coming on to campus, and may be worried about what to expect. In order to help with that we’ve prepared a short Sway as a guide to the Law Library. It includes information on what’s in the collections, photos of the library, and links to other helpful resources you may want to use. You can find it here:

Law Library Library Orientation Guide

We’ve made different guides for each of our site libraries which you can find on the Library Orientation Guide page on our website. You’ll also find a guide to Using the Library Online, which we think will be helpful for our online or distance students, or those who are self-isolating or in quarantine.

Other preparations for visiting campus may include looking at maps ahead of time. Did you know we’ve got an interactive campus map? If you visit the Maps page and use the key to select the Layers tab, and then click the eye icon to make Libraries and Study Spaces visible, you can see all our locations across the city! We’ve highlighted the Law Library icon in the image below in pink.

Map of the central part of campus, with buildings highlighted in a variety of colours. Several black circles featuring white book icons are visible on the screen, to indicate the location of libraries.

We look forward to seeing you on campus soon!

Note: The Microsoft Sway platform uses moving images in their templates, and each of the above Sways use one moving image at the top of the page. If you require the information in an alternative format please contact us by email: law.librarian@ed.ac.uk.

Re-Opening of the Law Library

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As many of you know the rules on lockdown have begun to change. From the 26th April 2021 this means that library services can offer more access to premises – including the Law Library.

It is not a return to business as usual!

Staff and students will be able to access the premises and collections, with self-issue machines being available so that self-service borrowing can resume.

All users will need to adhere to the rules relating to Covid-19 restrictions including physical distancing, wearing a face covering (unless exempt) and the booking of study spaces before coming to the library. Full details on study spaces and how to book is available on the Study Spaces pages.

The opening hours are available at the Law Library pages.

As access to the library starts the Click & Collect service will come to an end, but any requests made before the 19th of April will still be processed.

For students who have not had the opportunity to visit the Law Library this short presentation will give you an idea of what is available during usual service: Law Library Tour

The Library staff look forward to seeing you again!