Services and Resources
for Law Students at the
James Hardiman Library
Kathleen Burke
James Hardiman Library
Today’s session
• Library Subject Support Team
• Essential Library Services
• Library Resources
• Finding your books, journals and cases
• Further Help & Support
• Questions
• Tour of Law Floor
Law Subject Support Team
Hugo Kelly Law & OP Librarian
– hugo.kelly@nuigalway.ie
091 493359
Gabi Honan – Information Assistant Law & Business
(mornings)
– gabi.honan@nuigalway.ie
091 493895
Bernice Walsh – Information Assistant Law & Business
(evenings)
– bernice.walsh@nuigalway.ie
091 493895
School Institute Name to go here
Law Subject Support team…
• We can explain and show you how to find items from your reading
list -Books , Cases , Journal articles, Legislation
• Assist with researching for essays, assignments and projects
• Advise on the many other Library resources and services available
• Help you evaluate quality information and avoid non-academic
sources
• Help you research across the many law and interdisciplinary
databases
• Advise you on citing sources correctly and avoiding plagiarism
• Provide on-going Library training programmes to continually
enhance your academic skills
Hugo Kelly
James Hardiman Library
Our Law page contains information
and assistance……
Hugo Kelly
James Hardiman Library
Essential Library Services
James Hardiman Library
Library Opening Hours during Term
• 830am - 10pm Mon to Friday
• 830am - 530pm Sat
• 10am - 5pm
Sun
Library & IT Service Desk
• Library Foyer
• Library Enquiries
• IT Queries
• Borrowing, Renewing, etc.
• Self Check Machines
3 Library PC Suites
Kathleen Burke
James Hardiman Library
Self Issue Machines on 3 floors
Kathleen Burke
James Hardiman Library
Book Return Machine
Kathleen Burke
James Hardiman Library
5 Group Study Rooms
Kathleen Burke
James Hardiman Library
Library Resources
James Hardiman Library
2nd Level v 3rd Level Expectations
• Set textbooks
• Teacher notes & Exam
Aids
• Set textbooks + Further
Reading
• Range of sources (Primary
& Secondary)
• Popular websites – Google
• Lecture Notes
• No bibliography
• Academic Sources
• Bibliography (Cite &
Reference)
Types of Sources
• Primary Sources
A primary source is a document or physical object which was written or created
during the time under study. Examples include diaries, manuscripts, letters,
interviews, official records;
In Law cases and legislation are considered primary sources.
• Secondary Sources
A secondary source interprets and analyses primary sources and related
subjects. Secondary sources include textbooks, journal articles, histories,
criticisms, commentaries, encyclopaedias.
Your Law books and journal articles are all secondary sources.
Hugo Kelly
James Hardiman Library
Academic Sources:
– identify the qualifications and expertise of the writer
– are careful to credit the origins of information and ideas, usually by means of a
reference list or bibliography.
– are peer-reviewed: other academics have read the source and checked it for
accuracy
– academic sources aim to examine a topic fairly. This does not mean that they
never take a side, but that the source does not ignore alternative positions on
the topic.
– the most common forms of academic sources are: Books, Journal articles,
published reports
Hugo Kelly
James Hardiman Library
Books
Borrowing & Renewing
• Law books between 340-349.9 on the ground floor
• Social Science books on floor 1 very relevant
• 6 books borrowable for up to 7 days
• 7 day loan
• 3-Day loan
• 1-Day loan
• 3-Hour loan
• Renew books and avoid fines!
Academic Journals
•
Scholarly journal articles are written by
legal academics or legal specialists
•
Aimed at academic audiences or
specialist legal audiences
•
Valuable sources of information for
students and researchers
•
Can cover narrow fields of research
•
Online and Print formats
Examples:
•
Irish Jurist
•
Dublin University Law Journal
•
Irish Journal of Family Law
Hugo Kelly
James Hardiman Library
Newspapers & Magazines
Hugo Kelly
James Hardiman Library
Library Databases
• Definition
– Collections of cases,
journals and legislation
– Produced by publishers
– Remote access
– Multi access
– Search by keyword
• Subject specific or
multidisciplinary
Hugo Kelly
James Hardiman Library
Finding your books, journals
and cases
James Hardiman Library
Reading Lists guide you…..
Library Catalogue
• All material held by the Library – Books, Journals,
Theses, Government Publications, Newspapers, etc.
• Material to which the Library has access
• Link to electronic full text if available
• How many copies, where located, if borrowed, etc.
• Request material that is out on loan
• Library Account details
Hugo Kelly
James Hardiman Library
Searching the Catalogue
• http://www.library.nuigalway.ie/
• Sign in for Full access
• Search the collections (excluding articles)
• More search options (to include articles)
Hugo Kelly
James Hardiman Library
Finding a case
Parties involved:
Plaintiff, defendant
McGee
Year of
Report
v. Attorney General [1974]
Volume of Report
If no volume number
present, this indicates that
there was only one volume
published that year
Page number
within report
1 IR 284
Abbreviated
Title of report
Justis Database for Irish Reports
WestlawIE for Irish Journals and
Irish Cases (ILRM)
Citing and Referencing
• You must refer to all sources you quote or paraphrase within your document
this is known as citing
• The reference list of your sources is known as a bibliography
• The Law School uses the OSCOLA citation style
•
“How to think, Write and Cite: Key Skills for Irish Law Students” by Jennifer Schweppe,
Rónán Kennedy, Elaine Fahey and Lawrence Donnelly. Available on floor 1 at 808.06634 HOW
• Plagiarism Policy
Hugo Kelly
James Hardiman Library
OSCOLA is a footnoting style
Further Help & Support
James Hardiman Library
Academic Writing Centre
Remember our Law page contains
information and assistance……
Hugo Kelly
James Hardiman Library
Other Training
• Catalogue Training & Library Tour
- Daily at 1100, 1400 & 1900
- 1100 on Saturdays
- No booking required
• Training
– Introduction to Law Sessions
– Legal Referencing
– Booking Required
Any Questions?
James Hardiman Library