EXPANDED LIBRARY SERVICES FOR FINAL EXAMS

by Keith Buckley

The Library will make its semi-annual switch in scheduling and procedures in order to accommodate students' needs. Here are the most important changes as well as a few tips on taking advantage of the Library collection.

The Library's extended hours are:

Dec. 6 Saturday 8 a.m.-12 midnight

Dec. 7 Sunday 9 a.m.-2 a.m.

Dec. 8-12 Mon.-Fri. 7:30 a.m.-2 a.m.

Dec. 13 Saturday 8 a.m.-12 midnight

Dec. 14 Sunday 9 a.m.-2 a.m.

Dec. 15-19 Mon.-Thurs. 7:30 a.m.-2 a.m.

Dec. 20 Friday 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m.

As you might expect, demand for study materials dramatically increases during the exam period, and the Library will be shortening circulation periods for these heavily used items. Hornbooks and nutshells, which usually circulate overnight, only circulate for four hours during exams, so please bear in mind that you must renew these materials on a frequent basis if you wish to keep them. If you're not sure what subjects are covered by the Library's collection of hornbooks and nutshells, you'll find a complete listing of these study aids at the Circulation Desk.

During your exam preparations, don't forget the Library's extensive collection of non-print sources. The Library carries audio-visual tapes and computer-assisted legal instructional series, both of which are designed to provide better understanding of classes such as contracts, torts, civil procedure, labor law and evidence. A guide to the Library's A-V collection is available at the Circulation Desk, while CALI's computerized legal instruction programs have been installed on all the computers in the Library's Computer Center. If you plan to use the CALI programs, or need to prepare/print notes and outlines, please remember that exam time is one of the busiest times in the Computer Center.

For those of you who intend to work in the Library over the semester break, the Library will be open for limited hours on the weekdays. We will be posting break hours in the very near future. If you plan on using a law library at another university remember that many require advanced notice of your visits and that you may need assistance in getting permission to use other collections. Be sure to contact a librarian to make any arrangements.

Finally, please remember that a vast majority of students preparing for exams require extra concentration while working in the Library, so please make an even greater effort to keep as quiet as possible. Please do not converse above a whisper at your carrels or in the stacks, and please do not hold the first floor door open while you are speaking to people in the lobby. Your fellow students will certainly appreciate your consideration!

Good Luck on your exams!

Table of Contents

COUNTRY PROFILE: THE LAW OF GERMANY

Germany is a key European jurisdiction, and one for which the Law Library maintains a comprehensive collection. To take full advantage of the German legal resources available in the collection, the researcher must be able to read German; however, some English-language materials are available, especially in the area of constitutional law.

Research in German law begins with commentaries, which are something like the multi-volume treatises with which American lawyers are familiar. However, the well known ones are more authoritative than any common law treatise, and are often relied upon by courts. This reflects the culture of German legal science, which has always favored the theoretical elaboration of whole bodies of law, rather than the comparatively piecemeal development of principles on a case-by-case basis, which is characteristic of the common law. In consequence, the Law Library collects a representative sampling of commentaries in all the major areas of German law.

The other indispensable source for those conducting research in German law is the language of the law itself. As in other civil law jurisdictions, German law is almost exclusively statutory. Of course, statutory texts are reproduced in commentaries, but for those who need only the text, there are looseleaf collections of statutes, in which the texts are reproduced in alphabetical order with a subject index. The Law Library has several of these titles.

Since German law recognizes no doctrine of stare decisis (except in some areas of constitutional law), cases are less important than they are in common law jurisdictions. This is reflected in the fact that there are no official case reports in Germany, even for the highest courts. However, decisions still have value as relatively authoritative interpretations of the law; thus, it is important to consider them in the course of doing German legal research. The best method of finding case citations is through consultation of the commentaries, particularly the large commentaries, which provide exhaustive case annotations. There are also several different comprehensive case indexes, one of which is available in the Library. The citations refer primarily to one of several legal periodicals, which print summaries of decisions. The Law Library subscribes to all of the major periodicals noted for their case summaries. The decisions of the Bundesgerichtshof (supreme court) and the Bundesverfassungsgerichtshof (federal constitutional court) are reprinted in full in semi-official reporters. The decisions of these two courts are especially important, and the Law Library maintains a very complete collection of them.

The Law Library also has a large collection of German legal periodicals that cover a wide range of subject areas. These are indexed in the Karlsruher Juristische Bibliographie, which is shelved in the Reserve area.

For Americans who wish to do comparative research, the first task is to identify which German code covers the relevant area of law. The best strategy is to look up the area of law in Foreign Law: Current Sources of Codes and Legislation in Jurisdictions of the World (Law Ref. K38 .R49 1989). This will provide a reference to the German statute or code which covers the area in question. For a more general introduction to the structure of the German law, the researcher should read the article on German law in the International Encyclopedia of Comparative Law, vol. 1 (Law Ref. K530 .I5). In addition, for those who wish to do their research in English only, the Law Library collects all statutory translations available.

Finally, those wishing to conduct research in German law should pick up a handout available in the Reference Office, entitled Bibliography of German Law. The handout provides a comprehensive introduction to the German legal sources available in the Law Library.

Other articles in the Country Profile series: Nigeria (vol. 6, no. 3, Nov. 1995). Available on the Library's web page.

Ralph Gaebler

Foreign & International Librarian

LAW SCHOOL EXAMS ON THE WEB

IU Law School Exams are available online through the Library's web site. Visit the Exam File online at http://www.law.indiana.edu/exams/

The online Exam File contains selected exams from the past 10 years. Exams will be added as they become available. You can print these exams from the convenience of your own home or from the Library computing facility.

Accessible exclusively to IU Law School students and faculty, the Exam File is password protected. The Library has already e-mailed the password to you. However, if you have forgotten the password, you can contact me (jlbryan@law.indiana.edu) in the Library, and I will provide you with the necessary information.

Jennifer Bryan

Head of Circulation & Patron Services

Table of Contents

ELECTRONIC GREETINGS

No longer do you need to stop by the Hallmark store for that special birthday or holiday card. Numerous web sites offer electronic greeting cards that may be sent for free to friends and family with email addresses. In addition to colorful graphics and witty prose, some sites have greeting cards featuring animation and sound. The card recipient receives an email message from the web site indicating that a greeting card is waiting for him or her at a particular web address. The recipient then goes to that web address and sees the card created for him or her. Here are some sites that provide electronic greetings:

Blue Mountain Arts

Build-A-Card

Awesome Cyber Cards

AdOnWeb's EnviroCards

Webcards

Juliet Smith

Electronic Services Librarian

Table of Contents

HOLIDAY HAZARDS

From mid-October through mid-January several cultural and religious holidays are observed that share traditions and methods of celebration. However, these usually joyful celebrations can sometimes can take a dangerous turn. Just ask the cook who was severely burned by spilled turkey broth while using a poorly designed roasting pan. Or the merry maker who was injured by a cork making an explosive exit from a champaign bottle. Or that romantic who contracted mononucleosis under a cluster of mistletoe. Too many celebrations have gone up in flames, not only by candles left to burn too long, but by an unfortunate turn of events.

Court reports are full of attempts to remedy a celebration gone bad. Consider the hazards of an after holiday sale in a crowded store with over zealous shoppers and their unruly children. Federal regulations attempt to safeguard our celebrations by requiring warning labels on products such as decorative lights, ornaments, fireworks and other holiday consumer products that may cause injury if used improperly. The government even takes eggnog seriously by strictly regulating the combination of ingredients that food manufacturers may use in concocting this traditional holiday beverage.

The display in the hallway just outside of the Library takes a fun look at some of the dangers of this holiday season. We hope you enjoy it, as well as the holiday that you celebrate, but you'd better watch out.

Marianne Mason

Documents Librarian

Table of Contents

NON-LAW STUDENTS IN THE LIBRARY

During this time of the semester we typically have an increased number of non-law students in the Library doing research assignments for various classes. We have received a few reports from non-law students doing research in the Library that law students (not Library employees) have approached them and asked them to leave the Library. Under no circumstances should law students question these students about their presence in the Library or tell them to leave the Library. The Library staff conducts routine patrols for students who are not using the collection and we will ask those students to leave. Please understand that our collection is unique within the University and we have an obligation to serve all members of the University community. We hope that you will cooperate with the policy and make the non-law students feel welcome during the times they must be here to use our collection. If you have any questions about this policy or would like to report a problem, please see a member of the Library staff.

Linda Fariss

Associate Director

Table of Contents

WORKING THE HALLS

Happy December Birthday to:

Professor Craig Bradley, on December 5th;

Professor Lauren Robel, on the 8th;

Jennifer Walker on the 2nd floor, on the 14th;

Professor Ann Gellis, on the 22nd; and,

Kris Skjervold in the Library, on the 29th.

Welcome Back!

Cindy Smith as a faculty secretary.

Hope you all have a great day!!!

Table of Contents

The Suggestion Box

(Each month in this space Associate Director Linda Fariss replies to suggestions received by the Library)

Suggestion: More pencil sharpeners - on all floors. Thanks!

Response: As preparation for exams heats up, who wants to walk all the way to the Circulation Desk to sharpen a pencil? Fortunately, you don't have to! Although you cannot easily see them, there are currently pencil sharpeners on all floors of the Library. They are located in the back stairwell landing on each floor of the Library. Thanks for the suggestion and good luck with exams!

Table of Contents

BOOK OF THE MONTH

Burlingame, Michael, editor. An oral history of Abraham Lincoln: John G. Nicolay's interviews and essays. Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press, 1996. E457.2.N67 1996.

This book is a collection of interviews conducted by John G. Nicolay, who was Abraham Lincoln's chief White House secretary. In addition, the book contains two previously unpublished essays written by Nicolay, one discussing the campaign of 1860, and the other concerning Lincoln's journey from Springfield to Washington to take the oath of office.

Lincoln first met Nicolay in 1856 in Springfield, Illinois. In 1857, Nicolay went to work as the clerk for Ozias Hatch, the Illinois Secretary of State (and staunch support of Abraham Lincoln). After Lincoln was nominated for President, he hired Nicolay to be his personal secretary, and then kept him on after he was elected President. After President Lincoln's assassination, Nicolay served as Consul in Paris, and as the marshal of the United States Supreme Court. However, for 18 years (from 1872 to 1890), he mainly worked on his huge ten­volume biography of Lincoln. In preparation for writing this book, he and John Hay (Lincoln's assistant secretary) interviewed many men who knew Lincoln. These interviews were conducted through the 1870's and into the 1880's, and were done in both Springfield and Washington. However, when it came time to write their biography, Nicolay and Hay made little use of the interviews. Some details were suppressed due to concerns as to how the family (particularly Robert Todd Lincoln) would react. Also, Nicolay and Hay were mistrustful of human memory. Eventually the Springfield interview transcripts were deposited at Brown University in 1958, and the Washington interview transcripts were deposited at the Library of Congress in 1949.

The interviews themselves are a fascinating window into the personal and professional lives of Abraham Lincoln. The Springfield interviews discuss for the most part his life and law practice in Springfield, while the Washington interviews deal more with Lincoln's presidency. There are extensive endnotes and explanations. It is a very interesting book, and I recommend it.

Michael Maben

Cataloging Librarian

Table of Contents

New & Noteworthy: From the Vault

On April 18, 1946, Grolier Club members and their guests were invited to the headquarters of the famed New York City bibliophiles' club, to attend the opening of an exhibition of original editions of "One Hundred Influential American Books Printed Before 1900." The exhibit's purpose, as dictated by the Club's Council, was to "prepare an exhibition of American books that would arouse in all who saw it a feeling of pride in the accomplishments of our countrymen." Not surprisingly the list of books includes some predicable classics: Poe's The Raven, Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Melville's Moby­Dick, Thoreau's Walden, Whitman's Leaves of Grass, Alcott's Little Women, and Mark Twain's duo The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

What is a little more surprising is the number of law related titles found in "the 100." Perhaps influenced by the fact that two of the three members of the Selection Committee were lawyers, the list includes several trial reports (A Brief Narrative of the Case and Tryal of John Peter Zenger; Marbury v. Madison; Dred Scott versus John F. A. Sandford) as well as some important government documents (one of four known surviving broadside copies of The Declaration of Independence; a copy of the Northwest Ordinance; James Madison's personal copies of both an August 6, 1787 draft of the U.S. Constitution and his copy of the final September 17, 1787 document; an original copy of The Bill of Rights; and original copy of The Monroe Doctrine; and an original printing of the Emancipation Proclamation.) Two other listed titles, of special interest to the legal community, were George Washington's personal copy of the complete collection of The Federalist and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.'s masterpiece, The Common Law.

While copies of all of these law­related titles are available in the Law Library, in one form or another, the only "original edition" we own is of Holmes' The Common Law. The Law Library's first edition of Holmes' work was presented to the Law Library by Law School Alumni, Karsten Schimdt ('59), in 1994 as the 500,000th volume added to our collection. One of the newest book on the Grolier Club's list (published in 1881), The Common Law quickly became a legal classic. Upon its publication, the American Law Review called the book "extraordinary," "ingenious," and "brilliant." The Albany Law Journal referred to Holmes as "master of his subject" and said the book was "indispensable." Overseas, the reviews were equally, if not more, positive. The London Spectator called the book "the most original work of legal speculation which has appeared in English since the publication of Sir Henry's Maine's Ancient Law."

Unlike most books, the acclaim continued far past the early reviews. Eight years after its publication legal historian Frederic William Maitland wrote "for a long time to come [it] will leave its mark wide and deep on all the best thoughts of Americans and Englishmen about the history of their common law." Thirty­eight years later, W. S. Holdworth, Professor of English Law at Oxford, noted that "it is remarkable how well most of Holmes' opinions on points of legal history have stood the test of time during the ensuing period of active historical research." By 1935, the year of Holmes' death, Felix Frankfurter was calling The Common Law "the single most original contribution thus far to legal scholarship." More recent scholars have called it "a landmark in intellectual history" (Mark DeWolfe Howe), "a coldly passionate expression... a work of art" (Sheldon M. Novick), "one of the greatest works of American legal scholarship." (Joseph M. Bessett) and simply "the classic account of the great formative ideas of English law (Julius J. Marke.)

The Law Library has several copies of The Common Law (KF 394 .H65), in addition to our first edition shelved in the Rare Book Room. If you would like to see the first edition copy, just ask a Reference Librarian.

Dick Vaughan

Acquisitions & Serials Librarian