Research Support

Reference Services
You may direct your requests to the reference librarian on duty in the reference office by:

• Phone: 625-4309
  
• Email: law-ref@umn.edu
  
• New! Live Chat Reference Service Hours of operation: Mon. – Fri. 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Faculty members are given the highest priority by the reference staff. We try to respond to faculty requests immediately. If lengthy research is required, you will be contacted promptly with an estimate on the amount of time this research will take.

The Law Library's reference staff includes five librarians who are available to assist you with your research needs. Feel free to contact any of these librarians directly by telephone or email if you would like the assistance of a specific person.

Vicente Garces	624-2597	garce003@umn.edu
Michael Hannon	625-0173	mhannon@umn.edu
George Jackson	625-5596	g-jack@umn.edu
Mary Rumsey	625-2905	rumse006@umn.edu
Suzanne Thorpe	625-0187	s-thor@umn.edu

LexisNexis & Westlaw Access
University of Minnesota Law School faculty and staff are provided access to LexisNexis and Westlaw under Law Library's academic subscription to these services. To obtain a LexisNexis and/or Westlaw password contact the Reference Office at law-ref@umn.edu, 612-625-4309.

Research Tutorials
The reference librarians are available to provide personalized instruction on the use of databases and other resources. We can also arrange for a trainer from LexisNexis or Westlaw to meet with you. Feel free to request introductory overviews, refresher training, or more specialized training tailored to your immediate needs. This instruction can be arranged in your office at your convenience. To request this service, please contact Suzanne Thorpe.

Instructional Support

• Placing Materials on Reserve
  If you wish to place materials on reserve for a faculty member, such as readings, sample exams and model answers, in hardcopy or electronic copy, contact Dan Matthews in the library circulation department (5-5262 or matth036@umn.edu.

  More detailed information on placing items on reserve can be found here or by contacting Dan Matthews directly at (5-5262 or matth036@umn.edu.

  A list of items currently on course reserve is available here.

• Creating Course Web Sites, e.g. TWEN  
  Many law school faculty members use The West Education Network (TWEN) to create Web sites for their courses. LexisNexis also offers a similar electronic courseware product, LexisNexis Web Courses. In addition, the University of Minnesota offers a course management software product called WebCT/Vista. The Education Technology staff can work with faculty to create their own password-free Web sites. For further information about setting up a course Web site, please contact Mike Hannon, Associate Director for Library and Educational Technology at 625-0173 or mhannon@umn.edu.

Obtaining Materials

ASAP Retrieval Service (For Items Held in the Law Library and Other Libraries On-Campus)

The Law Library offers faculty members an expedited document retrieval service called ASAP. The ASAP staff will retrieve materials from the Law Library and other libraries on campus and deliver them to the faculty member's office (usually the same day requested). To request materials, please contact David Zopfi-Jordan at 625-1513 or email to: x-asap@umn.edu.

Interlibrary Loan (For Items Not Held at a Library On-Campus)

When an item requested by a faculty member is not available on campus, the faculty member is notified by the ASAP or reference staff. The library will then attempt to obtain the item from another library. You can request materials from other libraries by contacting David Zopfi-Jordan, email: x-asap@umn.edu or phone: 625-1513. It may take a few weeks for materials requested on interlibrary loan to arrive, so if you need them immediately, please let us know and we will try to obtain them on a RUSH basis.

Routing Service
The Law Library will route current issues of periodicals and other serials to a faculty member's office. Faculty members can have their names added to the routing list for a specific title, by contacting David Zopfi-Jordan at 625-1513 or x-asap@tc.umn.edu.

Miscellaneous Information

Faculty Publications Display Case & the Faculty Archive Collection
The Law Library maintains a collection of faculty writings, located in the Riesenfeld Rare Books Center. Recent faculty publications are displayed in the main lobby of the Law School. Faculty members are encouraged to donate copies of their publications for cataloging and preservation by the library. Please contact Connie Lenz, 5-4301, lenzx009@umn.edu for more information on donating items for the display cases and the faculty archive.

Donations
The Law Library welcomes donations from faculty members. To donate materials, please contact the ASAP staff at 5-9520 or x-asap@umn.edu to arrange for pick up. We will supply a letter of acknowledgment for donated materials.

Technology Support

Technology support within law school is organized under four main divisions:

• Law Information and Technology Services (LITS): responsible of law school network and computer hardware and software issues, including email and listserv issues.
  • Web Site: http://www.law.umn.edu/technology/lits/index.html
  • Help Desk: https://intranet.law.umn.edu/helpdesk/index.php
  • Phone: (612) 625-0740

• Educational Technology: assists faculty with all aspects of classroom and instructional technology issues, including equipment, training, course web sites (including TWEN), course listservs.
  • Web Site: http://www.law.umn.edu/technology/edtech.html
  • Support and Equipment Request Form: http://www.law.umn.edu/AV/reserve.php
  • Phone: (612) 625-6385
  • Email: LawEdTec@umn.edu

• Web Development: manages the law school web site, assists web page content managers within the law school in maintaining their web pages, manages the law school intranet and maintains selected law school email distribution lists.
  • Web Site: http://www.law.umn.edu/technology/webdev/index.html
  • Contact Form: http://www.law.umn.edu/forms/feedback.php
  • Email: law-webmaster@umn.edu

• Law Student Computing Services: manages the law student laptop program including the laptop center.
  • Web Site: http://www.law.umn.edu/laptop/index.html

Return to Top of Page

---