| FOR HOWARD STUDENTS
The Circulation Desk:
is located at the entrance to the library on the first floor. Circulation employees, including law student library staff, can help you with borrowing, study rooms, photocopiers and printers. The Circulation Desk is staffed all the hours that the library is open.
The Reference Desk:
is located on the second floor, at the top of the main staircase. Please check posted hours for Reference Desk coverage.
Bar Exam Research
Judicial Clerkship Research Resources - Books and Websites
Circulation
Access
Borrowing
Fines
Reserve
Reference
Bar Exam Research
Databases
Interlibrary Loan
Library Catalog
Past Exams
Research Guides
Student Organizations
Using the Library
Audiovisual and Microfilm Equipment
Carrels
Computer Labs
General Policies
Hours
Lost and Found
Photocopiers
Printers
Security
Study Rooms
CIRCULATION
All transactions for borrowing and returning materials take place at the Circulation Desk, located at the entrance to the library. Any Circulation transactions not completed by closing will be credited to the next business day and fines may accrue.
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ACCESS
To check out materials, Howard law students must be registered in the library's Circulation system. Registration requires name, address, phone, Capstone ID number, e-mail address, and a signed acknowledgement that you are responsible for all materials checked out in your name.
To register for borrowing privileges, students must have a validated Capstone ID. Students must make sure that their IDs are validated each semester, and that they update their library patron registration each semester.
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BORROWING
The Howard University Law Library is the research library of the Howard University School of Law. As such, the majority of the collection does not circulate. In general, only single volume monographs, reserve, and A/V items circulate. Items that are part of a series or multi-volume set, or that are supplemented with pocket parts, looseleaf pages, or bound supplements, may not be checked out.
| |
Books |
Reserve |
A/V |
Study Rooms |
Howard Law
Students |
3 Weeks |
3 Hours/ in library use only |
24 Hours |
4 hours/once a day only |
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FINES
The following fines are assessed for overdue, lost, or damaged items:
| Circulating books |
|
$.25/day |
| Reserve materials |
|
$1.00/hour |
| Video and audio materials |
|
$1.00/day |
| Study room keys |
|
$5.00/hour |
| Replacement fee: books |
|
$62.50 minimum or market value and
$25.00 processing fee |
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RESERVE
The reserve collection is located in the Reserve Reading Room adjacent to Circulation. The reserve collection includes textbooks for first-year courses, hornbooks, nutshells, legal dictionaries, and selected local materials. Course reserve materials requested by faculty are located behind the Circulation Desk, and are searchable in the library's catalog, DANIEL, by course or professor's name.
Reserve materials may be used inside the Reserve Room or they may be checked out by students and faculty for 3 hours and used within the library. Reserve materials not returned promptly are subject to a $1.00/hour fine.
A photocopier is located in the Reserve Reading Room for your convenience. A stapler, tape and a 3-hole paper punch are located at the end of the Circulation Desk. Please do not remove any of these items from the desk.
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REFERENCE
BAR EXAM RESEARCH
The Howard law librarians wish to extend our support and assistance to Howard law students who are preparing to take a bar examination. Our Bar Exam research page highlights important information, including bar exam application information for each state, multistate exams, past bar exam questions and answers, commercial study courses, and tips for bar review study.
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DATABASES
Our Databases & Websites page lists legal and nonlegal information databases useful to law students. There are more nonlegal databases accessible through the Howard University Library Databases
All current Howard University School of Law students are issued passwords for LexisNexis and Westlaw, the leading commercial electronic legal research services with extensive databases of case law, statutes, law reviews, treatises and secondary resources, news, business information, and other legal and non-legal materials.
Passwords: You will receive your LexisNexis and Westlaw passwords and registration instructions at Orientation. Please contact Antonio Ellis for help with passwords.
Many professors use TWEN, Westlaw's course software, which you can access with your Westlaw password. This publication will be helpful to you as you learn to use TWEN:
Student's Guide to TWEN, 2009.
Assistance: For search help when the law librarians are not available, use Lexis and Westlaw online chat or call a Lexis/Westlaw reference attorney. At designated times Lexis and Westlaw student representatives are available in the Computer Lab for assistance. Their names and schedules are posted on the first floor bulletin boards.
Training: The law librarians schedule mandatory training sessions in January for all first year students. Both Lexis and Westlaw offer certification training on cases, statutes and secondary sources. Certification is also a component of the Howard Law Journal and Advanced Legal Research classes. Certification is highly regarded by potential employers.
Printing: There are dedicated Lexis and Westlaw printers in both library computer labs, LL102 and LL313. Please use these printers as they are included in the cost of our contract.
Restrictions: Your LexisNexis and Westlaw accounts are for educational use only. Students are not permitted to use their passwords for non-educational use or to allow anyone else to use their passwords. Howard's contracts with both Lexis and Westlaw demand prosecution of violators of the academic use clause. Violators may be subject to loss of LexisNexis/Westlaw privileges and further disciplinary action from the university.
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INTERLIBRARY LOAN
If you need a book, article or other research material and the law library does not own it, we are frequently able to borrow it from another library for you. For information about placing requests for materials, see Interlibrary Loan.
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LIBRARY CATALOG
The library's catalog is named DANIEL in honor of Allen Mercer Daniel, the first African American law librarian, who served Howard University for many years. The catalog is web-based and can be searched from any place that you can access the internet. For assistance using DANIEL, please see our Daniel Online Resource Guide.
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PAST EXAMS
The law library maintains a collection of Howard Law School Past Exams for students to study and review. They are the actual exams given to students in previous years. Individual professors decide whether, or when, to include their exams.
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RESEARCH GUIDES
The law library's reference librarians maintain a collection of research guides to provide helpful tips for finding and using resources in our print and online collections. Submit your suggestions for additional topics for research guides to Reference at 806-8208.
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STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS
The law library extends an invitation to all student organizations to contact us if we can be for help, we can give group presentations on search strategies or special topics, and creating research guides.
Howard Law Journal
Human Rights & Globalization Law Review
Trial Advocacy and Moot Court Teams
Clinic Programs
Student Organizations, Associations, Societies
Assistance can include, for example, topic selection and development, pre-emption checking, source collection, and interlibrary loan; search assistance with international and foreign legal materials; trial practice videos; legislative history and government reports. To inquire for yourself or your organization, contact Reference at 806-8028.
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USING THE LIBRARY
AUDIOVISUAL AND MICROFILM EQUIPMENT
The library has two televisions with built-in DVD/VCR players available for educational viewing purposes. The AV equipment is in room LL180, along with the library's collection of AV, microfilm, microfiche materials, and a microfilm and microfiche reader/printer.
The IT Department provides AV instruction support. For AV equipment set-up and assistance in a classroom, please contact the Information Technology Department.
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CARRELS
There are 30 study carrels on the second, third and fourth floors of the library. They are wired to access the law school network, in addition to having wireless access. On the third floor several carrels are reserved for use by designated LL.M. students only. All other carrels are available for general use by any library patron. The library is not responsible for the security of personal materials left unattended. Library books left on carrels will be reshelved, and personal items will be taken to the Lost and Found in the Student Affairs office, HH200.
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COMPUTER LABS
The library has three computer labs and one smart classroom, LL101. The smart classroom is used primarily for database training, although classes are also scheduled in that room. The main computer lab is located on the first floor, in LL102. This lab is designed to provide current Howard law students with a multi-purpose computing facility equipped to meet their research, writing, and communication needs. A variety of software and applications are available at each computer workstation. Also, Internet connectivity and printing are readily accessible across the library's computing infrastructure. The IT department operates this lab. Please address questions or requests for lab assistance to Frank King at 806-8030.
A smaller research lab is located on the third floor in LL313. This lab is used primarily for Lexis and Westlaw training. However, the lab is available to students when training sessions are not being held. Additionally, LL213 is an ADA lab, dedicated to those who have identified special needs to the Office of Student Affairs. The ADA lab is kept locked; the key can be checked out at the Circulation Desk by those authorized to use it.
All library computer labs are restricted to current Howard Law students with valid CAPSTONE IDs only. Users may be required, upon reasonable request by security officers, IT staff or Library staff, to show proof of enrollment. Students must have a valid network login to access lab computers. Network logins are obtained from the IT department. Problems with lab equipment should be reported to the IT department, LL140. Please do not attempt to make repairs to lab equipment.
Computer labs are open during all library hours, but close fifteen minutes prior to the library closing. All users are required to sign off of their computers and finish all print jobs before closing time. Students will not be permitted to print or access lab computers after the lab closes.
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GENERAL POLICIES
No food is allowed in the library. Non-alcoholic beverages are allowed in either the special law library spill-resistant cups or any similar spill-resistant cup. Howard law students, faculty, and staff receive one cup courtesy of the library. Patrons may purchase designated cups at a cost of $3.00. Cups are available for sale from Maria Knatt, Library Administrative Assistant, in Room LL130.
Smoking on library premises, including the fourth floor terrace, is strictly prohibited.
Since the law library is a research library, it is imperative that it be a place for quiet study and research. Thus, talking in the open areas of the library - the reading rooms, foyer and study carrels - must be kept to a minimum. Cell phone use in the open areas of the library is prohibited. The stairwells, building foyer and the library telephone rooms (Rooms 214, 215, 315 and 316) are available for cell phone use. While visiting the library, please be considerate of other patrons and switch your cell phone, pager, etc. to their silent settings. Campus phones are located at the opposite ends of the stacks on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors. There is a pay telephone on the first floor in Room 1-C, directly across the hall from the Student Computer lab (Room 102).
Please exercise caution with your personal belongings in the law library. Do not leave computers or other electronic equipment, handbags, briefcases or backpacks unattended. If you notice anything missing, report it to Library Security immediately.
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HOURS
See hours for detailed information about library hours during the regular schedule, as well as the final exam schedule, bar review schedule and reduced hours schedule.
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LOST AND FOUND
Lost and found items are centralized for the law school campus in the Office of Student Affairs on the 2nd floor of Houston Hall. Items found in the library are sent to Student Affairs, with the exception of textbooks. These are held in the reserve reading room.
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PHOTOCOPIERS
The photocopiers in the library are located in the Reserve reading room and in Rooms 2-C and 3-C on the second and third floors. Copy cards are available from the dispenser in the Reserve room at a cost of $1.00, to which funds must be added. Copies are $.15 each. Please be aware that the photocopy machines only accept copy cards, not coins or bills.
For additional paper, copy assistance, or refunds, speak to a Circulation Desk attendant. In order to obtain refunds (on your copy card - no cash) for faulty copies, patrons must complete a refund form at the Circulation Desk. Refunds will be available within four days.
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PRINTERS
There are three networked printers in the Law Library: two in the main Computer Lab (LL102), and one in room 313. These are part of the Law School's network resources and are managed by the IT Department. Please direct any concerns regarding printer performance problems to Frank King at 806-8030. The staff at the Circulation Desk oversees day-to-day maintenance of the printers, including replenishing paper or toner, or correcting paper jams.
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SECURITY
Library security officers are on duty twenty-four hours every day. The officers check identification for everyone who enters the library. They patrol the library, as well. To gain access to the library, Howard law students, faculty and staff must show the officer on duty their Capstone ID card. Students, faculty or staff who cannot present a Capstone ID upon entering the library must show another current photo ID and sign in at the security desk.
All visitors must present a current photo ID and also sign in at the security desk. Security is responsible for stopping library patrons when the security gate alarms sound as they enter or exit. If the gate alarms do trigger, the patron's packages are subject to search.
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STUDY ROOMS
Individual students or groups must sign up for study rooms in person at the Circulation Desk. No student room reservations will be made over the phone. Please see our study rooms page for more information.
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updated: March 19, 2012
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