Chrysi Chrysochou, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

You’d be forgiven for thinking that the warm weather recently means we’re already in the middle of summer, but as the semester is only just reaching its conclusion we do need to alert you to some changes coming up in Old College as of Monday 26th May.

The Law School is moving to Summer Hours which means that the building will close at 6pm each day from now until September. Unfortunately this means the Quad Cafe will also be closed for the summer, so you may have to travel further afield for your caffeinated study breaks!

The Law Library will now be open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday and closed on Saturdays and Sundays. Please note that the Helpdesk will close at 4.50pm each day to allow our staff sufficient time to enact our closing procedures.

The Main Library will still have study space available at the weekends throughout the summer, check the Library Opening Hours website for more information.

Library staff will be available throughout the summer to answer any queries you have so if you need to get in touch please drop us an email.

‘Sunrise, The Meadows, Edinburgh’ by Jeannette King via WikiCommons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Now that teaching and exams are officially over for the year you may be in the fortunate position of having a long summer ahead of you away from the University. If so, we hope you enjoy it!

For those of you still working or studying over the summer months rest assured that the Law Library is still open weekdays from 9am to 4.50pm. You can find more information about the Law Library and all our other campus libraries on the library opening hours webpage.

If you’re an academic looking forward to planning your next semester’s teaching we’d like to remind you to get your Resource Lists submitted before next Monday (3rd July) to be guaranteed to have your list processed and purchases made before we resume in September. Any lists received after this date will still be processed, but in the order received (so sooner is better).

You may be pleased to hear that your Academic Support Librarian team will also be available throughout the summer! Both Anna and SarahLouise can be contacted by email at any time, so please don’t be shy about getting in touch: law.librarian@ed.ac.uk

Hi! My name is Anna and I am a new Academic Support Librarian supporting Law. SarahLouise and I are job-sharing – I take the start of the week and SarahLouise the latter but you don’t need to remember that. Just email us at law.librarian@ed.ac.uk if you have any questions.  

I am a third-generation librarian (!) and I moved here from De Montfort University in Leicester. Professionally, I am interested in the critical aspects of information literacy, particularly issues of bias and source reliability. I am also interested in how AI will impact all aspects of information literacy. Personally, I love walking and photography and can’t wait to explore all the beautiful Scottish landscapes.  

I look forward to working with you all in the coming months.

Hello, and if this is your first time visiting the Law Librarian Blog, we’re glad you made it! This is where we  post updates about training, resources, library access and anything else we think you might need to know. We hope you’ll find the blog a useful place throughout the year.

Image by analogicus on Pixabay

So welcome week has come and gone already and we’re straight into Week One of teaching. We’ve been busy running induction sessions for student at all levels but don’t worry if you missed out, recordings of all online sessions have been uploaded to our Media Hopper channel:

• UG Using the Library and Using Legal Databases
• PG Using the Library and Using Legal Databases
• PhD Sources, Materials and Bibliographies

There’s information about what’s available in the library and what we have online access to listed in DiscoverEd, which you can find here:

• DiscoverEd.ac.uk   
• Video on a simple search on DiscoverEd (6 mins)
• Microsoft Sway guide to using DiscoverEd

And finally, some other resources that can help you get started with legal research:

• Our new information skills resource to help students work through the basics of finding legal information.
• The Law Subject Guide has a lot of useful information for all levels:
• Take a virtual look around the Law Library before you visit! Find our Library Orientation Guide here.

We completely understand the first few weeks of a new academic year are swamped with information, and it’s probable that you’ll have too much to take in for now. However if you bookmark this page or these resources we hope they’ll be useful when you need them. If you have questions please feel free to get in touch at any time by leaving a comment or emailing us directly: law.librarian@ed.ac.uk.

At this time of year many students are finishing their dissertations. There are a few places where students can get some advice and support on this in relation to library resources:

• Law Librarian Resources Media Hopper Channel: We have collated several videos that cover using legal databases and also referencing.
• Law Subject Guide: This collates all the useful legal resources that the library has in one guide. With links out to useful resources it also has a section on referencing.
• List of Legal related databases: This list collates resources that students could find useful for their studies. It helps to distill ones that relate to this subject area- however if the research spans other topics then looking through the lists for those areas could also offer useful resources. If you are not sure which database will help then take some time to look at the descriptions.
• LibSmart II Legal Module: This short online module offers information and advice on finding legal resources.
• Contacting the Academic Support Librarians who support the Law School: You can contact us on Law.Librarian@ed.ac.uk .

Other help and advice:

The Institute for Academic Development have resources which offer assistance to students undertaking their dissertations.