The very great Hein Online has a new blog.  Take a look!

According to the blog, new Hein features this month include:

• Title search capability
• A new Federal Agency Decisions library

During the next two weeks, you will attend two online legal research classes, in which you will be introduced to the basics of conducting effective and efficient legal research on Westlaw and LexisNexis.

Your writing instructor has told you the times when you can attend these classes. However, if you can’t remember those times, you can always check available class times for your section on the 1L Tour and Training Schedule.

Section C students: Please note that on Tuesday, Oct. 9th, the Law School will be following a Monday schedule of classes, given the holiday on Monday, the 8th. So, there will be no conflict with your Criminal Law class on the afternoon of Tuesday the 9th, as you will be following a Monday schedule on that day.

If you’re not able to attend one of the online legal research classes scheduled for your section, please contact me in advance to attend either an alternative class or a make-up class on Friday of each week.

If you have not already done so, please register your Westlaw and Lexis passwords before your online legal research classes, which begin next week.  In the classes, you will be able to follow along on your laptop.  So, please make sure you have both passwords registered well in advance of class.

If you have any difficulties in registering your passwords, please contact me (my office is in Rm. 332 and my email address is rlsweet@bu.edu).

The BU Library Catalog is an amazing resource.  If you’re looking for a particular book or journal, just do a Title Search (or Journal Title Search) in the catalog to see if we have it.  The catalog also provides links to electronic resources, so a search through the catalog is always a good first step when researching.

Having some trouble with legal research?  You can always ask a law librarian, but if you’re at home or otherwise away from the law school, reach for the library’s selection of online research guides.  We’ve got everything from Asylum, Immigration, and Refugee Law to Verdicts and Settlements.  Take a look!

Mandatory 1L Research Tours will take place next week. The Research Tours are organized by Legal Writing Section. In class this week, your Legal Writing Instructor announced the date and time for section’s tour. However, if you can’t remember the date/time of the tour, you can easily check the 1L Tour and Training schedule.

If you’re not able to attend your scheduled tour, please contact me to make arrangements to attend another tour. My office is Rm. 332 and my email address is rlsweet@bu.edu.

If you’re looking for 19th Century and earlier legislative histories, there are two good places to turn.  The first is the U.S. Federal Legislative History Library provided by Hein Online (which contains both compiled legislative histories and information keyed to individual public laws), and the second is the Century of Lawmaking database provided by the Library of Congress through the American Memory Project (which contains the Annals of Congress, Register of Debates, Congressional Globe, and early House and Senate Journals).

You can find free opinions from Massachusetts state courts on the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly website.  The opinions database is updated by noon daily and you can find the decisions here much quicker than on Westlaw and Lexis.  Did I mention it was free?

The new shipment of cables has arrived and we are ready to start distribution again.  We are currently distributing cables to 1Ls, and LL.Ms in American Law, Banking & Financial Services, and Tax.

From GPO Access, the Government Printing Office web site, you can print, download or bookmark this Pocket Edition of the Constitution, including the Amendments, an index, and the Declaration of Independence.