The Bluebook on Goodreads

“Books are kind of expensive. Do I really need to get this one?” It was the week of orientation and a 1L student, who had stopped by my office with a few questions, pointed to a book on my desk.

The Bluebook.  

1Ls ask the darndest questions. The first thing that came to mind was to recite a long, prepared speech I had made many times before in class about the importance of standardized legal citation, and helping others find sources efficiently and accurately. My next thought was to tell the student a few choice quotes about The Bluebook from Goodreads.

Wait a minute. Goodreads? You turn to Goodreads when BookTok recommends Ali Hazelwood’s vampyre-werewolf novel, and you wonder if it measures up to her STEMinist titles. But for law school textbooks?

Well, it turns out there are plenty of reviews of popular legal textbooks on Goodreads. 

Some students loved Civil Procedure (Glannon et al.): “So clear and well written. Would honestly read again.”  

Others were baffled by Criminal Law and Its Processes (Kadish et al.) and perhaps by some aspects of legal education: “this textbook felt like playing where’s waldo for every criminal law concept….like just tell us?”   

Yet others took the practical and likely still ethical approach to Ethical Problems in the Practice of Law (Lerman et al.): “If I had to read a whole textbook about legal ethics, I’m FOR SURE going to count it in my Goodreads goal. 😤😤”

When it comes to The Bluebook, there’s plenty of love from some quarters: 

  • “It is well-organized, gives good examples and some of the examples are actually funny (e.g. Pink Cadillac).”  
  • “Okay, so I do like the Bluebook and I actually LOVE citations. I can’t help myself! I am a meticulous person who likes to have certain things follow a certain order.”  
  • “Yes, I am a nerd, but I LOVE the Bluebook.”   

Along with a bit of confusion when it comes to the recurring characters: “Like literally what is the deal with Id.? He’s everywhere and way too easy – totally seems like a player.” 

And it wouldn’t be law school without detractors, but even those reviewers often recognize the important role the Bluebook plays in legal education and beyond: “A necessary evil, it is the only book to which I have feelings of resentment. However, it is helpful and organized fairly well, I couldn’t have got through law school without it!”

In the end, I responded to the student with a pared-down version of the speech about becoming proficient in legal citation, and the importance of helping readers accurately identify sources and find them quickly. I emphasized that the Bluebook is used heavily in the 1L Gateway classes, and throughout one’s legal education at BLS. I didn’t cite any of the Goodreads quotes, though I may have paraphrased that last one about needing the Bluebook to get through law school. 

I also told the student that while they should procure their own copy, BLS Library does have several copies of the Bluebook on Reserve. These copies can be borrowed for two hours at a time from the Circulation Desk, and while they will not substitute for a personal copy, they can be used in a pinch.  

After we had chatted on the topic for several minutes, the student was convinced to get their own print copy. Who knows, maybe one day they will leave a review for The Bluebook on Goodreads?

Library Food Policy

As you settle in, we’d like to remind you all of our Library’s food policy.  These guidelines are in place to protect our Library’s collections, equipment, and furnishings, as well as to maintain a pleasant and clean environment for everyone.

While dry, nonperishable snacks are permitted in the Library, other types of food are not allowed. Specifically, please avoid bringing meals, hot foods, foods with strong odors, messy foods, or any food that requires utensils.

If you do bring food that isn’t allowed, you will be kindly reminded of the policy and asked to relocate to areas designed for dining that offer a comfortable place to take a break, such as the cafeteria on the fourth floor, the student lounge on the first floor, or the courtyard.

The Library’s full food and drink policy is available here: https://guides.brooklaw.edu/LibraryOverview/Courtesy

Welcome and Welcome Back to the BLS Library!

The BLS Library staff welcomes new and returning students to school for the 2024-2025 academic year.  We are here to help in whatever way we can with your print and electronic use of the Library.

You may borrow reserve and circulating books from the first floor Circulation Desk.  Also, there are now more ways than ever to ask for reference and research assistance from Reference Librarians.

  • Visit the Reference Librarian on Duty in the third floor Nash reading room
  • Email: askthelibrary@brooklaw.edu  
  • Text: (718) 734-2432
  • Chat: Visit the library homepage and click on our chat icon (see below) – or get started by clicking here – you’ll be chatting with a friendly librarian in no time!

Good Luck in the fall semester!  We look forward to seeing you in the Library!

Casebook & Study Aid Access & Casebook discounts

As we approach the start of a new academic year, I’m excited to welcome our new students and welcome back our returning students on behalf of the library team, who have been busy preparing to support your success in the months ahead. Below you will find important information about casebooks and study aids to help you get ready for your first week of classes, ensuring you start the semester on the right foot.

CASEBOOK INFORMATION

Current editions of required print casebooks adopted by BLS faculty & many print study aids are in BLS Library’s first-floor “Reserve” collection.  Students can borrow these sources for 2-hours at BLS Library’s first-floor circulation desk.  The circulation desk is staffed starting at 8am M-F, and availability of adopted course texts is often good on early weekday mornings.  Also, the BLS student chapter of the National Lawyers Guild organizes a textbook exchange, and BLS students can contact this chapter at nlg@brooklaw.edu

If your textbook publisher is West Academic or Foundation Press:

  • Brooklyn Law School opted in to West Academic’s Early eBook Access Program. This program provides BLS students free, temporary access to adopted West Academic and Foundation Press ebooksone week before classes start and for the first two weeks of class.  It is designed to help with any inventory, shipping, financial aid, or drop/add period issues. Access is available starting today.
    • You can create an account or sign in with your school email address at eproducts.westacademic.com. Full instructions for access are available here.  Students who experience any issues or have specific questions can contact the account manager for Brooklyn Law School: Dan Madonna, Dan.Madonna@WestAcademic.com.
    • “If students would like to continue their access after the trial ends, they have the option to purchase a discounted eBook on their bookshelf.A 15% discount will be applied at checkout and all notes and highlights will appear when they sign in.”

If your casebook publisher is Aspen Publishing:

  • Aspen Publishing created a BLS-specific purchase portal, so that all BLS students (not just those new to Aspen) can obtain a 15% discount on their orders of educator-selected Aspen course texts, regardless of format.
    • If your purchase your Aspen text using this portal, you will receive temporary access to the digital copy while you await delivery of your physical copy.
    • You can purchase your course materials by searching a course number or a professor’s name, clicking on the “View Course Titles” button, and adding the corresponding products to your cart.  
    • In order for this discount to be applied at checkout, create an account on Aspen Publishing.com using your BLS email address, then verify the BLS email address.  (No coupon code needed.)  Verification is most often done at the time of creating an account but can also be done on the My Account page when logged in.  Any unverified account will see an “Email Address Not Verified” warning on the My Account page.
    • If you experience any issues, Aspen Publishing.com provides both “Visit Our Help Center” and “Contact Us” links (near bottom of web page).
    • Note: This portal facilitates purchase of current editions of Aspen course texts.  If your professor has selected a previous edition of a course text, the discount is not available using this portal.

STUDY AID INFORMATION

BLS students can also access a digital collection of many study aids in Aspen Learning Library (In BLS Library’s SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION – (ASPEN)).

More information on the casebooks and study aids available through the BLS Library can be found here

4/11/2024: National Library Week Presentation in BLS Library on Free Sources for Legal Research

This Thursday (April 11) at 1 pm on the first floor of BLS Library, BLS Reference Librarians/Adjunct Professors of Law Loreen Peritz and Sue Silverman will offer a program on free sources for legal research. To accompany their program, Loreen Peritz also created this publicly-accessible research guide: Sources of Free Legal Research. Knowledge of reputable free sources can help you to conduct cost-effective research. Refreshments will be served at this program!

Also, our staff noticed that the two bulletin boards for student announcements of BLS events (located outside of BLS Library’s Nash reading room, by the third floor main elevators) were often overflowing with notices.  So, there are now additional bulletin boards for your announcements.  There are signs on the two center bulletin boards stating: This Week: Events.  BLS students can place announcements about the current week’s BLS events on these two central boards.  Students can place signs about BLS events occurring farther in the future (or events that might not have a specific date) on the additional bulletin boards.

Happy National Library Week!

Noon today: free Zoom program on New York’s history + exhibit: New York Before New York: The Castello Plan of New Amsterdam

Below is a description of a free, half-hour Zoom program tracing the history of languages in New York City. This program requires free online registration.  Note: BLS Library is purchasing multi-user electronic access to Ross Perlin’s new book, Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues in New York. (We expect the vendor to provide us with access to this ebook within a few days.)

Free Talk at noon today: Live From New Amsterdam: Language City (via Zoom):

Featuring: Ross Perlin & Russell Shorto    

The description of this program at New York Historical Society’s website states: “Four centuries ago, what had been a Lenape-speaking archipelago suddenly became New Amsterdam—a crossroads of Native American, European, and African cultures. Here, 18 languages were reported as being spoken within the first few decades, and the number is likely far greater. Join Ross Perlin, author of the new book Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues in New York, and Russell Shorto [director of the New Amsterdam Project at the New-York Historical Society] as they trace this history of language and how it set the template for the city’s extraordinary transformation into one of the most linguistically diverse cities in the world.”

Also, New York Historical Society has a new installation: New York Before New York: The Castello Plan of New Amsterdam.  New York Historical Society states it offers “pay as you wish” admission on Friday evenings from 6-8 pm.  (NYHS generally charges students $13 for admission.)  Also, beginning on April 1 at midnight, those with Brooklyn, New York or Queens Public Library cards will be able to try to reserve one of the limited number of free “Culture Passes” offering free admission to New York Historical Society.  (Each month, a new group of Culture Passes becomes available.)  

Happy Valentine’s Day: BLS librarians love to support your work!

Today we are highlighting new and updated library research guides to support our patrons’ work during the spring 2024 semester:

Animal Law – updated to support students’ research in Prof. Rodriguez’s Animal Law course.

Housing Justice – developed to support the BLS Housing Justice clinic and seminar, supervised by Prof. Barry.

Law and Capitalism – created to support students’ research in Prof. Winsberg’s Law and Capitalism in U.S. History course.

Native American Law – created to support students’ research in Prof. Benally’s Native American Law course.

Pension Benefits and Executive Compensation – updated to support students’ research in Prof. Neumark’s Pension and Executive Compensation course.

Researching Mass Incarceration and Prison Abolition – updated to support students’ research in Prof. Hoag-Fordjour’s course: Abolition: Imagining a Decarceral Future.

Note: BLS librarians have created 50+ research guides to support your work, and we encourage you to submit your research questions through email: askthelibrary@brooklaw.edu and text: 718-734-2432.

What Could You Read on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2024?

Available through BLS Library:

King: A Life (2023) by Jonathan Eig (call #: E185.97.K5 E44 2023, location: Main collection)

Excerpt from author’s website: “The first King biography written with access to thousands of recently released pages of FBI files as well as thousands of personal papers from King’s associates and friends.”

Letter from Birmingham City Jail (April 16, 1963) by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (available in HeinOnline’s Civil Rights and Social Justice database, remote access requires implementation of BLS proxy server instructions)

Dr. King wrote this letter while imprisoned for participating in nonviolent protests against segregation.

Publicly accessible:

A Proclamation on Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 2024 (January 12, 2024) by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

Excerpt: “Dr. King’s mission was a moral one: from bridges and ballot boxes to pulpits, protests, and courthouses, he courageously stood for the sacred idea that embodies the soul of our Nation — we are all created equal in the image of God and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives. He vocalized that idea on an August day in 1963 when he told our Nation about his dream. He saw that idea realized for many Americans with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, ushering in a new era of greater equality and opportunity in our country. That work is not yet finished. It is the task of our time to take up Dr. King’s mantle and make his dream a reality.”

Recording of Library Presentation on Preparing for Remote Work During Winter Recess

Occurred on December 5 @ 12 pm

We understand that some students will be working remotely during the BLS Winter Recess (Dec. 22 – Jan. 2). We recorded our BLS Library presentation on how to prepare to access digital books, encyclopedias and databases from remote locations. The recording of this presentation is now available in Canvas (within BLSConnect). The Canvas “course” is: Librarians’ Research Presentations > see module: Material From Librarians’ Alcove Academy Presentations > click link: Librarians’ Presentation: “Preparing for Remote Research During Winter Recess.” A key point was: email: askthelibrary@brooklaw.edu or text: (718) 734-2432 soon for help identifying and collecting sources to use during Winter Recess.

During the presentation, we noted that there is now a new BLS research guide: Constitutional Law Research. We recently enhanced the guide: United States Supreme Court Research. We also stated that during the next month, librarians and Library Fellows will be editing guides that support spring 2024 courses, such as Animal Law and Researching Mass Incarceration and Prison Abolition.

Thank you to those who attended! We always appreciate your feedback on the library/our services, and we look forward to providing you with research suggestions.

Recognizing National Native American Heritage Month by Highlighting the Work of Lenape Center & Providing Our Patrons with a New Database

The website of Lenape Center describes Lenapehoking as “homeland of the Lenape.” Lenapehoking includes the land on which our school currently stands.  See: Brooklyn Law School, Programs on Creating a Living Land Acknowledgment Held with the Lenape Center.

Lenape Center is a nonprofit organization that states it is “[c]ontinuing Lenapehoking through community, culture and the arts” and “[w]orking towards the creation of a cultural center.”  Lenape Center’s work includes curating exhibitions (including the virtual exhibit Lenapehoking), developing educational programs, and creating Lenapehoking: An Anthology. Brooklyn Law School Library, Brooklyn Public Library and New York Public Library provide multiple copies of this insightful and powerful book. On p. 14 of the Introduction, Joe Baker (Co-Founder/Executive Director of Lenape Center) states: “This anthology of essays and interviews features leading Indigenous scholars, culture bearers, and artists offering important new scholarship and knowledge of Lenape culture and history that is not readily available to the general public.” On March 6, 2023, there was a “Live from NYPL” event at which contributors to Lenapehoking: An Anthology “explore[d] the personal journeys of people seeking welcome in their ancestral homeland while pushing back against their erasure.” This event video is available here.

Members of the BLS community now have access to HeinOnline’s searchable database: Indigenous Peoples of the Americas: History, Culture & Law:

This database includes: the subcollection Indigenous Peoples Treaties (400+ full-text treaties) and treaty-related publications; each edition of United States Code Title 25 and Code of Federal Regulations Title 25; the Indian Law Reporter (published: 1974-2013) and additional serials; a subcollection of tribal codes (published: 1981 and 1988); a subcollection of constitutions, acts and by-laws; selected Native Nations Law & Policy Center publications such as The Need for Confidentiality within Tribal Cultural Resource Protection and Tribal Implementation Toolkit; Model Tribal Probate Code; nearly 50 federal legislative histories; Congressional hearings; scholarly articles; other related works (books and pamphlets); and a bibliography. This database is accessible on campus through the BLS network or off campus through a web browser that communicates with the BLS proxy server. The library team hopes this database will assist BLS students in the spring 2024 seminar: Native American Law. Feel free to email: askthelibrary@brooklaw.edu or text: (718) 734-2432 for help in using this new resource.