Tag Archives: resources

Finding key resources: Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia

Posted on by
Reply

For those rejoining us in January for Semester Two, welcome back! For those who are new to the Law School or just this blog, welcome! This is where we report news, updates and offer tips for training in library resources. The blog is currently written by SarahLouise, the Law Librarian who works Wednesdays to Fridays, as we have a vacancy for the other half of the post. We hope to have a new Law Librarian joining the team over the next few months and will introduce them when they start!

We’ve received quite a few queries about locating some key resources for research and study over the last few months so we wanted to clarify how best to access these. First up, the Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia. This is a resource which is core for our undergraduate students as they get to grips with Scots Law. We do have instructions listed on the Law Databases Help & Training page under ‘Resources for Scottish Legal System’, but we wanted to add some screenshots here for the visual learners.

  • To log in to Lexis+, you will need to select ‘academic log in’. You may then be presented with a dropdown box to select ‘UK Access Federation’. Select ‘University of Edinburgh’ from the list, and you will be logged in. Alternatively you may have the option to select ‘University of Edinburgh from the front page – do this if available!

Screengrab of login page for LexisLibrary/Lexis+. The words 'use academic sign in' and 'university of edinburgh' have been highlighted in yellow to indicate areas to click on.

  • You may be asked to log in with your UUN at this stage if you’re not on-campus. Use your usual student ID and password.
  • In the middle panel in the centre of the page, select ‘content’ from the navigation menu.

Screengrab of main panel when logged in to Lexis+. In the central pane there are a number of links across a navigational bar, and in this image the link to 'content' is highlighted in yellow.

  • The resource will be one of the first items listed as ‘Halsburys Laws and Stair’. Click this.
  • Then you will see a link to Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia. Click the title, and use the plus and minus boxes to navigate through to find the section you need.
  • If you want to, use the pushpin icon near the title to add this to your pinned sources. This bookmarking tool means that a shortcut will appear under ‘My Sources’ on the main panel when you log in to Lexis in future, which will save you a few steps.

Screengrab of the contents page of the Stair ebook is shown. There is a pushpin icon in the top right of the image which has been highlighted in yellow.

Screengrab of main panel of Lexis+ again, this time with 'My Sources' selected. Below the navigational bar the direct link to the Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia is highlighted in yellow.

We hope this is helpful. If you have a resource you’d like a little more advice on accessing, please let us know by email (law.librarian@ed.ac.uk) or by commenting on this post.

Warm wishes from your Law Librarian

Posted on by
Reply

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.

 

Meet your LexisNexis Student Associate for 2022/23!

Posted on by
Reply

You may have seen that we’ve featured LexisNexis quite a lot on the blog this semester, due to the launch of their new platform, Lexis+. We’ve provided a fair bit of information about how to access items and how to get further training, but one person we have yet to mention is your Student Associate, Olivia Riddell. Lexis employ Olivia to provide peer support for students at the University of Edinburgh who want to work with Lexis and use it for their studies or research. We had a quick word with her to ask her more about what her role entails:

Tell us a little bit about yourself! Who are you and what do you study at Edinburgh?Photo of Olivia, a person with long blonde hair who is smiling at the camera. Photo is shown in round frame.

My name is Olivia, and I am a fourth-year law student at Edinburgh. I am from the North of England but wanted to study at Edinburgh as a bid to broaden my horizons. It has been nice to experience the quieter life and scenery that Scotland offers before accessing work opportunities in the City.

Why did you apply to be the student representative for LexisNexis?

I wanted to have experience related to law. My previous experience working in retail taught me soft skills and resilience, but this role has truly developed other areas needed in a professional capacity such as marketing strategies, proactiveness and negotiations. This is especially necessary if students want to harness their skills in preparation for a role requiring good capacity of leadership and business relations. It also challenges me personally. For example, it has improved my confidence (in reaching out to students, and teaching sessions) and stretched my ability to form professional networks with students in the law school, and with faculty staff.

What do you think is the best feature that Lexis offers for students in the Law School?

The ability to type in key words and find related journal articles and added references for essays. It enables you to find related sources that have an affinity with your argument or essay title meaning your assignment will be much stronger based on accuracy and relevancy.

When students book a training session with you, what can they expect to get from the meeting?

There are different types of sessions. I will be organising certification sessions (Foundation and Advanced) which will enhance your professional profile and experience. These downloadable and professional certificates will make you stand out, and you can showcase these on LinkedIn. In addition, I will be running assignment training in December 2022 and Easter 2023 to ensure you know how to use LexisNexis to help in your upcoming assignments. In semester two, I will also be conducting commercial awareness sessions in 2023 to help with future internship and vacation scheme placement applications, and how you can access such material on the LexisNexis site.

You can reach Olivia by email with any queries or training requests: s1925406@ed.ac.uk. 

If you need help with any other databases or would like to discuss other available training please let the law librarian team know by email: law.librarian@ed.ac.uk.

Study Spaces in the Law Library

Posted on by
Reply

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.

Lexis+ database training: LexisNexis Certification

Posted on by
Reply

You may remember last week we posted a reminder about the Lexis+ training we had scheduled. That training took place yesterday and those that attended found it very helpful, so we’re putting the recording and information about how to get certified with LexisNexis up here too.

LexisNexis offers four levels of certification for students in the UK – Foundation level for England and Wales, Foundation level for Scotland, Advanced level for England and Wales, Advanced level for Scotland. Our students can pick whichever is the most relevant for them, or complete all of them if they want to collect the set!

First, you’ll need to watch the Foundation level training video (recorded yesterday by Claire Black of Lexis UK). You can find that on our Media Hopper Channel or by clicking the image below.

Screencap of the paused training video, showing a demonstration of the Lexis+ platform. Image links to video recording hosted on Media Hopper.

Next you will need to log in to Lexis+. The best way to do this is using the link on the Law databases page; it currently says ‘LexisLibrary’ but I’m in the process of getting that updated to Lexis+. If when you’re logged in you arrive at the screen that says ‘Nexis’ at the top of the page, click the nine dots in a square next to the Lexis logo, and you should be able to click ‘Lexis+ UK’ instead.

screengrab showing the nine dots arranged in a square which reveals a dropdown menu, with options for Lexis+ UK, Nexis, or Nexis Dossier.

Then Claire has provided the following instructions:

  1. Make sure you are logged in to Lexis+ through the University – you will need to use the site to answer the questions.
  2. In a new tab or window, access the LexisNexis Student Hub: https://www.lexisnexis.co.uk/law-students/overview.html
  3. Register your details – your choice whether to choose university or personal email. It gives you access thereafter if you need to retake the test or want to do other certifications. Course end date is the date you intend to graduate.
  4. Once registered, scroll down the page to where it says ‘Get Certified’ and choose Lexis+ UK Legal Research Certification (there is the option for the Practical Guidance one, but given access to practice areas can vary, it’s probably safer to stick to research)
  5. You will then see a page which lists 6 steps to being certified. Scroll past this to the bottom and there are 4 options: Foundation and Advanced Certifications for either England and Wales, or Scotland.
  6. You will then enter your email address (which allows you to come back later and will allow you to retake the test if necessary)
  7. 15 multiple choice questions which are completely randomised. 13/15 correct to pass. You must use Lexis+ to answer the questions.
  8. You can take the test as many times as you need to pass.
  9. Certificate will be emailed to you upon passing within 24 hours.

Our thanks to Claire and all at Lexis for making sure our students are well trained and well prepared for legal research! Good luck to anyone choosing to take one of the Certification tests. If you encounter any issues please let us know on law.librarian@ed.ac.uk.

Ridicule and research support: Library Twitter strikes back!

Posted on by
Reply

Library and research branches of Twitter were outraged recently when two American Law students published a paper in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy relating to abortion rights. The anger centred around the hypothesis that because the students didn’t find any historical literature relating to the term ‘abortion’ in their searches, that abortions simply didn’t exist in American history.

Tweet from Jacqueline Antonovich which reads: Fun story: These two law students published a paper about how they typed in the word "abortion" in a primary source database, didn't find much, and therefore conclude that "Founding Era Americans" didn't really know what abortions were and it was synonymous with miscarriage.

The thread of tweets goes on to explain that the furore surrounding this published paper is not that there was an investigation into historical abortions (which is topical worldwide since the recent overturn of the US Roe V Wade case), but that the flawed methodology was passed through teams of reviewers and editors and allowed to be published. Jacqueline Antonovich goes on to cite an article by Dr Lauren MacIvor Thompson published in the New York Times in 2019 entitled ‘Women have always had abortions’. (This article is behind a paywall but staff and students at the University of Edinburgh can read it in full using some of the news databases that the Library subscribes to.)

Aside from there being an entire school of academic research dedicated to the history of birth control rights, you may be wondering ‘what did those students actually do wrong?’ Dr Gillian Frank (@1gillianfrank1) provides some guidance in his tweets:

Fun fact: Just because you don’t find evidence in one database when you type in the word “abortion,” doesn’t mean a practice didn’t exist. Better historical questions are: Am I using the right keywords? Under what conditions could matters relating to abortion be spoken about?

Ronit Stahl (@ronitstahl) agreed:

And from there, ask questions like *Who* would be talking about this? Who would *write* about this? What *kinds* of documents/sources might include mention of this? *Where* might we find those sources? *How* do we think about/interpret silences?

More information about how to critically assess a search like this can be found by reading through Dr Frank’s twitter thread. Twitter can be an excellent tool for sharing resources and promoting discussion. This example is not only relevant because of the current news cycle but also because awareness of the importance of interrogating research methodologies rigorously is crucial if you are to publish well respected pieces of research.

Consider the bias in all your sources.

  • What power structures led to this work being published?
  • Who is speaking and why is their viewpoint important?
  • Who is missing from the conversation?
  • If there is a solitary viewpoint, why is this one in focus?

Librarians talk about bias quite often when discussing critical information skills with students and staff, because we want to be sure that the inferences you make from your source material are sound and fully considered. The Academic Support Librarian team have recently been working with one of our student interns to produce an online resource to help students to expand their searches and diversify their reading, due to be published this summer. We’ve also been crafting a toolbox to help our academic staff colleagues start conversations about including a wider range of resources in their core reading lists. Watch out for more news of both of these going live on the ASL blog.

In the mean time, if you’re struggling with your research and would like some advice on more robust search methodologies, you can contact the Law Librarians by email: law.librarian@ed.ac.uk, or any of our colleagues from the ASL team using the contact information on the ASL by subject area page. Although classes and exams are finished, we are around all summer so please contact us to make an appointment!

Getting resources not available in the Law Library Collections

Posted on by
Reply
Image of books stacked on a small table in the foreground on the mezzanine of the Law Library, looking out across a room full of students studying in the Senate Room (out of focus).

Books stacked on a table on the Law Library mezzanine. Photo by Sam Stills, copyright University of Edinburgh.

We often get asked by students how they get access to a particular item that we do not have in the Law Library collection. So here are a few ideas about how and where to get access!

Online or in print?

Some items are available both online and in print, others are only available in one format. It is worthwhile searching to see if the item is available in another format.

It’s useful to check on the databases (especially Westlaw, Lexis and HeinOnline) to see if we have online access. Although some material from these databases is added to DiscoverEd- not everything is!

Some print copies of key texts are in other libraries across the university (as well as the law library) so it may be that the item you want is available in another location.

  • For items outside the central area you can place a hold and collect them centrally.
  • For items held in the central area you need to visit the holding library and borrow from there.

We do not add all print journal article details to DiscoverEd, so if you cannot find the article online then it’s worthwhile looking to see if we hold the print journal.

Scan and Deliver

If you cannot come on to campus (you are studying online or perhaps self-isolating) then you can request a scan of a book chapter or journal article be emailed to you. There are limits (due to copyright law and if it has been requested previously) but the service has been well used during lockdown periods.

The library does not post out books to users, so if you want a full print book you would need to come in and borrow the item. Full detail of the service are at:

Interlibrary loans

Interlibrary loans (ILLs) are where you request an item and we see if we can borrow it on your behalf from a partner library. On campus students can request journal articles and book chapter scans and also print books (which will be collectable from a campus library). Online students can request book chapter scans and journal articles.

For journal articles and book chapters we request a scan and send it via email. There is a limit per academic year about how many you can request, but usually the amount is sufficient. The library does not post out books to users. Full detail are at:

Borrowing locally from another library

If you are living in/near Edinburgh then joining the National Library of Scotland might be an option. The National Library has access to the Advocates Library collection, which is an extensive legal collection.  Full details of how to join are at:

Requesting a purchase for the library

Students can request that the Library purchases an book for research or study. The Request a Book scheme (RaB) has been running for several years and the majority of the items requested have been purchased. Library staff may get back in touch with questions or suggestions depending on the item and the cost, but more often than not items are purchased. Full details are at:

If there is a journal that you think the library should get then contact us on law.librarian@ed.ac.uk to chat it over.

More details on each of these services and more are available on the Library webpages:

New resources: Cambridge University Press Etextbooks

Posted on by
Reply

We like to keep our staff and students updated on any new items we have access to in the library. This month we bring news of several ebooks which have been added to our collection from Cambridge University Press:

Cover of Contract Law book    Cover of Foundations of taxation law book   Cover of Public international law book   

If you’d like to explore our collection further you can use DiscoverEd to search for books that interest you. A guide to using DiscoverEd can be found here, or alternatively there’s a video on searching here.

If we don’t have what you’re looking for, you could request new materials for our library using the Student Request A Book (RAB) form here, or if you are a member of staff you can use the CAHSS form to request materials for your research.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion resources in Law

Posted on by
Reply

This month the Academic Support Librarian team are highlighting resources linked to Equity, Diversity & Inclusion in the areas of Law and Social and Political Science. You may be aware that Justice Week 2022 is nearly upon us (28th February to 4th March), and we thought this would be an excellent time to shine a light on a number of legal materials which are free to access, and therefore help to make the understanding of law more accessible to a greater number of people. We list several useful resources on the Law subject guide under ‘More Legal Resources’, including:

  • Free legal dictionaries
  • Links to Scottish, UK and European court websites
  • Links to legal regulatory and advisory bodies
  • Links to resources that offer free case details e.g. BAILII
  • Human Rights – free databases from UN and IJRC

The University subscribes to even more databases which offer staff and students additional access to support their study and research. You can find these by visiting our Law Databases page:

  • Jutastat – containing legal content from Africa
  • Slavery and the Law – a collection of petitions on race, slavery and free blacks submitted to American state legislatures and county courthouses 1775-1867
  • China Law Info– also known as Beida fabao
  • Making of Modern Law: Legal Treatises, 1800- 1926 – the world’s most comprehensive full-text collection of British Commonwealth and American legal treatises from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
  • Proquest Law Sources via the History Vault Platform – including African American Police League Records, 1961-1988, Law and Society since the Civil War

You may also be interested in our short video (9 minutes) which demonstrates how to access international legal resources via library services online.:

Thumbnail of the opening slide of the 'Finding International Legal resources via the University Library' presentation video

Video: Finding International Legal resources via the University Library

As well as databases we have some great books and eBooks including:

We hope this will inspire you to explore the library’s collections further when considering Equity, Diversity and Inclusion themes – so now over to you to take a look!

NEW: UK Dockets on Westlaw

Posted on by
Reply

Westlaw are pleased to announce the launch of UK Dockets on Westlaw UK. A docket is a record of litigation events as a case goes through the courts, starting when a claim is filed through to judgment.

A screengrab capturing a section of the homepage of WestlawUK. The dropdown for 'Cases' is selected from the navigational bar, below which there are a list of options. Dockets is the third option, highlighted in green.

You can access UK Dockets from the Cases menu. This brand-new content set containing over 230,000 litigation events will make it easier for you to receive daily updates of new cases filed in the High Court — all in one place.

With UK Dockets on Westlaw, you can easily:

  • create daily alerts on new cases, specific courts or parties, and other events
  • track individual cases and be alerted to any changes
  • access every step of the case journey from a claim being filed to judgment and through to the appeals process

We hope this will be an easy to use service for our staff and students, but if you’d like to attend any training on using UK Dockets please contact the Law Librarians for more information: law.librarian@ed.ac.uk