What
are the library hours?
• As a general rule, the library is open to
Hastings students & faculty from Monday through Friday 8:00 A.M.-11:00
P.M. On Saturday, the library is open 9:00 A.M.-10:00 P.M., and on Sunday
from 9:00 A.M.-11:00 P.M. However, hours vary because of holidays and
breaks, so click here
for more complete information about library hours. The access policy for
lawyers and the general public is described here.
Where
is the library located?
• We are located at 200 McAllister Street
(at Hyde Street) on the 4th, 5th & 6th floors. Click here
for directions and more information about the library location.
What
is on the 4th floor?
• The 4th Floor Reading Room / The Research
Alcove / Six student study rooms / The student Computer Lab / Magazines
& Newspapers / The Reference Desk / The Circulation Desk / The Micrographics
Room / The 4th Stacks (which includes most of the materials needed for
LW&R).
What
is on the 5th floor?
• The 5th Stacks (which includes books from
call number AC 1 through KF 5999) / Six student study rooms / Hastings
journals reserved shelving area / Library staff offices.
What
is on the 6th floor?
• The 6th Stacks (which includes KF 6000 through
ZA 6000) / US hearings / Court records and briefs / The serial set / US
Government documents / Rusty Dobbs Seminar Room / Six study rooms / Faculty
offices / Special collections.
How
do I get to the 5th and 6th floors?
• The main entrance to the library is on the
4th floor; once you are inside the library, there are stairs to the 5th
floor and an internal elevator to the 5th and 6th floors.
What is in the Gold Reading Room?
• The Gold Reading Room is a nice study space
for Hastings students. It is located on the 3rd floor of the 198 McAllister
building. It currently includes a sparse collection of California and
Federal case reporters. The Gold Reading Room is used for on campus interviews
(OCI). The Gold Reading Room study rooms can be reserved by Hastings students
during finals.
Can
I use my cell phone in the library?
• No. Cell phone usage is not permitted in
the library. Please turn cell phones off when entering the library. Thank
you for not using your cell phones in the library.
How
do I get a job in the library?
• You can ask for an application at the circulation
desk. Be sure to check the postings on the library
employment webpage or on the library bulletin board. Most of the student
assistants working in the library are second and third year students.
Why
are library users asked to reshelve their books?
• If everyone would reshelve the books they
use, it would be a tremendous help to the library and our patrons. The
library functions better for everyone when books get reshelved as quickly
as possible. If you don't reshelve the books you use, then they will sit
on a bookcart until one of our wonderful student workers has the time
to reshelve them. Thanks for your assistance.
Can
members of the public use the library?
• The general public can use the Hastings
Law Library from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm Monday through Friday. All library
visitors are required to show a state-issued ID and sign-in at the 1st
floor Security Desk. Visiting library patrons will be issued a visitor's
pass good for that day, if they can state a valid reason for entering
the library. Visitor passes must be worn at all times while in Hastings
buildings. The Security Desk cannot issue visitor passes to members of
the general public for evening and weekend access. Members of the California
Bar, Hastings alumni, and law students from other law schools are allowed
to use the library whenever it is open
(including evening and weekend hours). For more details on public
access visit our public
access webpage.
Can
I reserve a room to study in the library?
• Yes, Hastings students may reserve library
discussion rooms, but only during final exams. See the Library's Study Room Policy. During the rest of the
year, the group study rooms located in the in the the Library and the
Gold Reading Room
are available on a first-come, first-served basis. During exam time, discussion
rooms may be reserved for study groups through the Student Information
Center (SIC) on the 1st floor of the 200 McAllister building. The SIC
office also reserves any other rooms that are made available for student
study. The study rooms are for the exclusive use of Hastings students.
When
is the reference desk open?
• During the academic year, the
reference desk on the 4th floor is open Monday through Friday 8:30
A.M. - 5:30 P.M. and Saturday 9:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. The reference desk
has reduced hours over summer and holiday breaks. Typically, our reference
hours during the Summer are Monday through Friday 9:30 A.M. - 11:30 A.M.
and 2:00 P.M. - 4:00 P.M.
Does
the library have legal and tax forms?
• Yes we do. However, all of our forms are
in books and users must photocopy each form as needed. See the library
research guides for more information about California
Legal Forms and Federal
Legal Forms. You can find California
tax forms and Federal
tax forms on the Internet.
As
a Hastings student, can I borrow books from other U.C. libraries?
• Yes. The
library cooperates in several interlibrary loan networks. Students
and faculty members who need books or journal articles not held by the
library, nor accessible by online databases, may request to have the needed
materials borrowed from other libraries. More information about interlibrary
loan for Hastings faculty, students, and journals is available at the
interlibrary loan website. Hastings
students can also get a courtesy borrowing card good for one year at U.C.
Berkeley. Students can get a U.C. borrowing card by showing their Hastings
I.D. at Doe Library
during normal business hours. (See rules and procedures here.)
The U.C. Berkeley borrowing card does not permit borrowing from the law
library at Boalt.
How
do I borrow books using interlibrary loan?
• Interlibrary
loan brochures and request forms are available at the reference and circulation
desks. Information is also available about online requests at the interlibrary
loan webpage.
Do
I have to buy a copy card to make photocopies?
• Yes. Currently, all of the library's copy
machines require a NewCal copy card.
Where
can I buy a copy card?
• NewCal copy cards can be purchased at the
NewCal Photocopy Office in the 200 McAllister building in room 445 between
8:30 A.M. and 5:30 P.M. Monday through Friday from NewCal personnel. Additionally,
a NewCal copy card dispensing machine is available in the
Library on the 4th floor. Using the card dispensers,
a user can purchase a new card or add value to an existing NewCal card.
The price per copy for card operated photocopying is 10 cents per copy
when one purchases a $1.00 card; a discount applies when $5.00 or more
is added to the copy card. Call NewCal at 565-4882 if you have questions.
Where
do I find material that my professor has placed on course reserve?
• Materials placed on course reserve may be
borrowed from the 4th Floor circulation desk for use in the
library only. In general, course reserve materials are available for 2-hour
check-out in the library, but a
limited number of course reserve items are available for 24-hour use.
How
do I borrow books from the law library?
• Your
Hastings I.D. card must be presented to check-out books and course reserve
items. All cards need to be presented
to the circulation desk prior to their first use so that the ID card's
bar code can be scanned into the library system. Scanning of student ID's
takes only a moment. Attorneys and librarians with a non-affiliated
user borrowing card may borrow a limited number of titles from the collection.
Can
I borrow books from Boalt?
• Hastings
students can only borrow books from Boalt by going through the Hastings
interlibrary loan department. Interlibrary
loan brochures and request forms are available at the reference and circulation
desks. Certain items can be requested
online.
Where
are the exams?
• All final examinations from previous semesters
are available online.
Does
the library have course textbooks?
• As a general rule, no. However, sometimes
professors place course materials on reserve at the circulation desk.
In addition, some superseded editions of casebooks are available and can
be paged from retrievable storage. To see if the library has a particular
textbook, simply search the
catalog by title or author.
Does
the library have study aids?
• Yes. Click here
to see a list of study aids and their location in the library. Most of
the study guides are kept behind the circulation desk. Second copies and
older editions of some study guides are available in the 4th & 5th floor stacks. To search for a particular study
guide search the library catalog.
Can
I access the library catalog from home?
• Yes, the library
catalog is accessible through the Internet.
How
do I complete my journal team edit?
• Each journal has a reserved section of shelf
space on the 5th floor of the libary for members to use for cite checking
and source checking assignments. These reserved shelves are located on the
North end of the 5th floor.
Journals have established their own guidelines regarding how these shelves
are to be used. Journal members working on cite-checking have priority
use of the tables near the journal shelving.
More information is available on the library's Journal
Research Webpage, including Team
Edit Procedures and Preemption
Check Guide.
How
do I do a preemption check?
• Each journal has specific requirements for
completing a preemption report. Click here
for the library guide to doing a preemption check. If you have questions,
ask for assistance at the library
reference desk.
Where
do I get help doing legal research?
• Students are encouraged to consult with a
reference librarian for advice in planning their library research, for
learning what library services may be useful to them, locating periodical
articles and books on particular subjects, helping to identify unfamiliar
citations and references, and using the variety of research tools and
computer services available in the library. Additionally, the reference
staff publishes a number of research
guides to assist patrons with legal and library research. Students
can also submit online reference
questions.
Can
you suggest any books to read before I start law school, or that might
help me as a first-year student?
• The library has several books that may be
of interest to first-year students. Click here
to see a short list.
Where
is the Current Index to Legal Periodicals?
• The Current
Index to Legal Periodicals is located in the 4th Floor Reading Room with
the other indexes in alcove 5. It is also available on Westlaw
(password required) and through an Internet
database (available on campus only).
How
do I find a case if all I know is the name of the parties?
• Digests have a "Table of Cases"
volume that lists cases by the names of the parties. West's California
Digests are located in the Gold Reading Room in alcove 9. The Federal
Practice Digests are located the Gold Reading Room (22M-24M).
The Library's
Quick Course in Using a Digest is an easy-to-use introduction to finding
cases with the digest volumes available in the library.
How
do I find cases for a particular topic?
• Digests
have subject indexes that will lead you to good cases within the digest's
jurisdiction. The
Library's
Quick Course in Using a Digest is
an easy-to-use introduction to finding cases with the digest volumes available
in the library.
Where
are the law reviews?
• The library has recently published volumes
of law reviews behind the Circulation Desk. Most recent
law review articles are also available to students on Lexis
(password required) and Westlaw
(password required). Most of our older volumes of law reviews are
on the 5th floor in call numbers K1 - K29. To view articles
from older volumes of most law reviews select "Hein-On-Line" from
the library's subscription
database webpage.
Where
is the ALR?
• American
Law Reports (ALR) is located in the 4th floor stacks in rows 14 & 15.
Where
is the Decennial Digest?
• West's Decennial Digest is located in the
4th floor stacks in rows 26 & 27.
Where
are the Shepard's volumes?
• Shepard's Federal and California citations are located
in the 4th floor stacks in call number order. The California Shepard's volumes are in row 35. The Federal Shepard's citations are located in rows 8 & 27. The Pacific Reporter Shepard's volumes are located in row 22.
How
do I Shepardize?
• You can do a citation check using Lexis (Shepard's)
or Westlaw (KeyCite),
or you can consult the Shepard's books in the library. Although many students
dread the idea of Shepardizing
with the books, it is really a fairly straight-forward process once you
have collected all of the volumes you need and once you understand the
various symbols and abbreviations.
For assistance on Shepardizing with books,
consult a reference librarian.
What
is a hornbook?
• A hornbook is a scholarly one-volume treatise
that contains a fundamental explanation of one area of law. In 14th century
Europe, students used wooden paddles to learn basic texts. The hornbooks
were covered with a very thin layer of horn as a means of preservation.
West Publishing company publishes a "Hornbook
Series," a collection of treatises on particular areas of law. Today
any one
volume legal treatise is commonly referred to as a hornbook.
Where
are the hornbooks?
• Hornbooks are located at the circulation
desk. You can find call numbers for most of the hornbooks on the study
aids webpage.
Where
can I find depublished California cases?
• They are included in the Official
Advance Sheets of the Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal; the library
keeps these volumes but they are currently in storage and cannot be paged.
The librarians at USF Law Library have created a useful guide
to California's depublished cases.
Where
can I find law school rankings?
• You can find law school rankings at the reference
desk, or online at U.S.
News & World Report. An interesting discussion of the validity
of law school rankings is included on the Law
School Admission Council website in a letter endorsed by more than
170 of the country's 185 law school deans. A wide array of detailed information
about every accredited law school can be found in The
Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools, published by the Law School
Admission Council and the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to
the Bar of the American Bar Association.
Where
is the computer lab?
•The
computer lab is in the libary on the 4th floor. It is
sometimes called the LRC (Learning Resources Center). The lab is only for Hastings
students and is not open to the general public.
What
is the LRC?
• The LRC is the computer lab. LRC stands for
Learning Resources Center.
Can
I connect to the wireless network in the library?
• Yes, notebook computers with a 802.11b Wireless
Networking (either through a plug or built-in card), can connect to the
Hastings network and get access to the Internet and Hastings Intranet,
from anywhere in the library. Students with computers that have a wireless
network card, can borrow a wireless PC card from the circulation desk.
If you wish to purchase a wireless network card, Hastings Computer Services
recommends the Orinoco WiFi 802.11b wireless card. More information on
the wireless network is available here.
What
is the Hastings Online Catalog?
• The Hastings
Online Catalog (previously known as "HOPAC") allows users
to search the Hastings library catalog to find books, journals, videos,
and other items held by the Hastings library. The Catalog indicates if
a particular title is in the collection, on order, checked out, or placed
on course reserve. The Catalog records also show the most recent issue
received of serial titles such as law reviews. Detailed
instructions are available on how to access and use the Catalog.
Can
I access the library Catalog from home?
• Yes, the library Catalog
is accessible through the Internet.
Where
are the Lexis and Westlaw labs?
• The law school used to have separate Lexis
and Westlaw labs in the library. Currently, all Lexis and Westlaw guides,
printers, and printouts can be found in the 4th floor computer lab.
The computer lab is open during regular library
hours. Only Hastings students have access to the computer lab.
How
can I get my Lexis and Westlaw passwords?
• First year students are trained in computer
assisted legal research during the second semester. Students are given
their passwords during Lexis and Westlaw training. LL.M. students receive
Lexis and Westlaw passwords during their first semester.
Where can get I get help with printing in the computer lab?
• The library's computer services department
has compiled a help-sheet
with information about printing in the computer lab.
FCIL Librarian