Poetic Justices

The Poor Poet by Carl Spitzweg

If you haven't already heard, the McKusick Law Library has been collecting entries for our "Poetic Justices" poetry contest.  Winners will receive a $10 Amazon gift card and a signed copy of Professor Pommersheim's latest poetry chapbook. See previous blog entry for contest details.

Hurry and get your entries in! Friday is your last day to enter for a chance to win!

APRIL!

Image courtesy poets.ca

Dearest Law Scholars and Burgeoning Bards,

To celebrate National Poetry Month and National Library Week, the Law Library is hosting a poetry writing contest - with a legal twist of course!

The Details:

• For your poem, select a major case covered in one of your 1L classes (think International Shoe, etc.) and rewrite it as a poem. The format is up to you; limerick, verse, prose, haiku, whatever. It must however, fit on the one page submission form.
• Professor Pommersheim has agreed to serve as the juror and will select the top 5 submissions. (The Law Library staff will redact student names before sending the poems off to Professor Pommersheim in Oregon, so it will be a blind review.)
• The top 5 will each receive $10 in Amazon gift cards courtesy of Lexis, as well as a signed copy of "Local Memory & Karma," Professor Pommersheim’s most recent poetry chapbook.
• Forms can be picked up at the Circulation Desk and must be placed in the submission box at the desk by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 22.  We will then send the poems off for review and the winners will be announced on Friday, April 29.

Need some inspiration? Visit our display on the Main Floor of the Law Library, which includes case citations to some actual legal opinions written in poem form (yes, they exist!), as well as some of Professor Pommersheim’s poetry chapbooks and other literary titles from our collection.   

April 12-18 is National Library Week

Next week, April 12 through 18, is National Library Week.  Law students, faculty and staff are invited to join in celebrating this important event!

We are still seeking your "shelfie" photo submissions for display on the law school's electronic bulletin boards during National Library Week.  The photos can be taken anywhere in the Law Library or next to your own personal shelf of books!  Please send submissions to Sarah Kammer by 9:00 a.m. on Monday, April 13!

The Law Library is also featuring a display on the main level of the Law Library for National Library Week that features information about the Law Library staff and our student workers.  It also highlights some of the materials in our collection pertaining to law librarianship as well as publications of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), such as AALL Spectrum and Law Library Journal.  You can browse AALL publications via their website here. 

The display also features works published by Law Library Director, Darla Jackson.  More of Director Jackson's publications are available here on her USD School of Law Selected Works author page. 

Free Coffee During Finals is Back!

The Law Library and the Law School administration are pleased to again offer free coffee at the Circulation/Reference Desk for the remainder of the finals period.  The coffee will be available from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. weekdays through Friday, May 9.

Please stop by for a caffeine boost! 

The M&M Results Are In!

Congratulations to Liz Chrisp, the winner of the M&M Contest sponsored by the Law Library for National Library Week!  Liz's guess of 1555 was closest to the actual number of candies in the jar, which was 1576.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the contest and the celebration of National Library Week!

National Library Week - Contests, Prizes, Display!

This week, April 13 to 19, is National Library Week, a time to celebrate and recognize the important roles that libraries play in our communities and institutions.  This year's theme is "Lives change @ your library."

The McKusick Law Library is sponsoring two contests for law students for National Library Week.  The first contest is a Legal Research Trivia Contest.  A 5-question legal research trivia quiz will be available at the Circulation/Reference Desk.  Entries to the trivia contest are due by Thursday, April 17 at 5:00 p.m.  All law students who correctly answer all questions will be entered in a drawing for a study night (for the winner and three friends) in the State Bar Room during the week before finals.  The Law Library will provide a basket of treats and snacks for the Study Night.  The winner will be notified by email and announced in the Prairie Law Blog on Monday, April 21.

The second contest is an M&M Contest.  A jar of M&Ms will be at the Circulation/Reference desk this week.  The law student who has the closest estimate of the number of individual M&Ms in the jar (either over or under) will win the jar of candies.  Guesses are due in the blue bag at the Circulation/Reference Desk by Thursday, April 17 at 5:00 p.m.  Students may submit one guess per day.  The winner will be notified by email and announced in the Prairie Law Blog on Monday, April 21.

Note:  To avoid the same student winning both contests, the trivia contest winner will be drawn first.  If the person who guesses closest to the number of M&Ms is also the winner of the trivia contest, then the second closest entry will win the M&M contest.

The Law Library is also featuring a display for National Library Week and National Library Workers Day, which is April 15.  The display features information about members of the Law Library staff and Law Library student workers, titles in the library's collection about the library profession, information from the American Association of Law Libraries about law librarianship as a career, as well as ways to connect with others celebrating National Library Week through Twitter and other sites sponsored by the American Library Association.

Free Coffee During Finals

Studying for law school exams and in need of a little caffeine boost?  The law school and law library are offering free coffee during finals from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  The coffee is available at the Circulation/Reference Desk in the law library.  Please come and help yourself.  However, the library staff asks that you please be careful with open coffee containers in the library.

Surplus Print Law Reviews Available

Are you looking for legal publications to add to the decor of a law office or some raw materials for a craft project? Bound law reviews and journals can provide important legal information and may also fit many other uses. Click here to see some creative ways of repurposing law books.  In order to expand the open study space in the Law Library, we are currently deacquisitioning a number of surplus print law review and journal series.  Only those titles that are accessible electronically via HeinOnline are currently being removed from the collection. The surplus print resources are available for very reduced prices.  The cost of individual bound items is ten cents ($.10). You may purchase an entire series of a law review or select individual volumes on a cash and carry basis by submitting a cash payment to Gordana Filipovic in Room 132A.

The surplus print law reviews and journals are being temporarily shelved on the East side of the back shelving range on the main floor of the Law Library.  Those bound volumes not sold will be removed from the shelves on a rotating basis for recycling.  As a result, if you are interested in purchasing a particular title, you should come early and claim the title.  Also, because we anticipate conclusion of the project by August 10, 2013, we encourage you not to delay. 

All of the print volumes that are being removed have been stamped as "WITHDRAWN" from the Law Library Collection. If you pick up a volume that is not stamped as withdrawn, it is NOT one of the surplus volumes and is not available for purchase.

(This entry was originally written and posted by Darla Jackson)

And the Winners Are...

Nathan Chicoine and Nathan Chicoine! Nathan is the winner of both the M&M contest and the Legal Research Trivia contest sponsored by the Law Library for National Library Week. Nathan's M&M guess of 1112 was the closest of all the 58 entries to the number of candies in the jar, 1180, without going over. Nathan was one of three contestants to correctly answer all the Legal Research trivia questions, and his entry was randomly selected from the three eligible entries. Nathan and up to four friends will receive the grand prize of a study night with treats in the State Bar Room, courtesy of the Law Library staff. The library encourages greater participation in next year's trivia competition and will likely modify the contest elgibility rules to ensure more than one winner.
Congratulations to Nathan!

(This entry was originally written and posted by Sarah Kammer)

National Library Week Contests and Display

This week (April 14 - April 20) is National Library Week, a national observance week sponsored by the American Library Association and recognized by libraries across the country. This year's theme is "Communities matter @ your library." In light of the theme, the law library is hosting two special contests for the law school community at the Circulation/Reference Desk. When you pass by the desk this week, you will notice a large jar of M&M candies. Forms are available to guess the number of candies in the jar. The person who guesses closest to the actual number of candies will receive the jar of M&Ms. The other contest is a Legal Research Trivia contest. All contestants who correctly answer all five trivia questions will be entered into a drawing for a "study night" for the winner and up to four friends in the State Bar Room, complete with treats, courtesy of the Law Library. There are also some fun freebies available at the desk to pick up, so be sure to stop by.

The library is also featuring a display highlighting all the members of the library staff and their publications and work. Tuesday is National Library Workers Day, an important occasion to recognize the many contributions made by all library workers.
 

Click here for more information on National Library Week.

(This entry was originally written and posted by Sarah Kammer)

Summer Associate Legal Research Refresher Training - April 17

On April 17 at Noon in Room 101, Marsha Stacey, the Asst. Director of the Law Library, will be offering a brown bag legal research refresher training session designed to assist students who will be serving as clerks or engaging in internships and externships this summer.

(This entry was originally written and posted by Darla Jackson)