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Library Resources Archives
February 3, 2010
You find a reference to a book or an article that is on point for a seminar paper – but it isn’t at Biddle, on campus, or available as a pdf. Do you give up in defeat and look for a substitute resource that you can get on campus? Your topic is somewhat obscure and a search of LOLA and Franklin by subject or keyword just doesn’t give you the “right” hits. Are you resigned to look for a new topic? The answer to both questions is “No!” You have a valuable resource available to you that can solve both problems – the WorldCat database with FirstSearch Interlibrary Loan functions. WorldCat is a database of titles owned by over 10,000 libraries around the world, with over 1.4 billion items available through interlibrary loan (ILL). What is ILL? ILL is a service offered by Biddle that enables you to get articles and borrow books not available on campus. It’s an easy-to-use online service that not only lets you request items that you already know about, but also has search capabilities to identify unknown materials through subject and keyword searches.
Continue reading "Using ILL to Supplement Library Resources" »
February 11, 2011
Eat Local – buy Local – much is made of these current popular movements for food and local businesses. But don’t forget to Research Locally also. City and county ordinances are important sources of law that may in fact be more relevant to your research needs than state and federal law. A recent article by a fellow law librarian, Mary Whisner at the Marian Gould Gallagher Law Library, University of Washington School of Law, points out some interesting and noteworthy facts, about the importance of city and county ordinances. City and county ordinances have a far greater impact than most of us realize. In fact, the city laws for larger cities, such as New York and Philadelphia, can actually affect more people than the laws of many states. At the same time, we often fail in law school to emphasize the importance of this source of law. Whether the issue is parking, zoning, health and safety, discrimination, or even cleaning up after your dog, the answer to your research question may lie in a city or county ordinance and not in state of federal law. Philadelphia City Hall, August 29, 1946. Searching city and county ordinances was difficult before modern search engines. Now all you need to do is Google the name of your city and the word “ordinance” to see the table of contents of most city ordinances. Here are the links to a few cities that might be of interest to you. Don't forget, research locally!
February 22, 2011
Fictional lawyers can be found in literature and drama dating back to Shakespeare and Dickens. More modern day examples include Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird and the many fictional lawyers and judges in Scott Turow and John Grisham novels. If you have some down time, why not check out some of these fictional lawyers? Biddle's video and dvd collection contains many of the titles included in the ABA’s list of top 25 and notable characters. You can search for the titles in LOLA or in the Video Library - just take the call number to the circulation desk. Additional copies and titles may be located in Van Pelt’s online catalog, Franklin, and can be borrowed based on Van Pelt’s lending policy.
October 5, 2011
Biddle Law Library has recently acquired several electronic resources useful for those interested in foreign law research.  Israel Law Reports, the reporter for key Supreme Court of Israel decisions in English translation, is now available as part of HeinOnline. By selecting the Israel Law Reports library on HeinOnline, you can browse the published cases or conduct keyword searches on the contents to find cases on a particular topic. The Israel Law Review is also available as part of this library. If you prefer to see the cases in hard copy, Biddle also receives Israel Law Reports, formerly Selected Judgments of the Supreme Court of Israel, in print, as well as reporters for the Supreme Court and rabbinical courts in the original Hebrew.
 Manupatra is the leading database of Indian law. It contains full-text cases from the Supreme Court of India and the state High Courts, as well as decisions of various specialized tribunals, commissions and boards. In addition to the text of national and state legislation and regulations, Manupatra offers commentaries on selected key acts and a variety of other useful secondary sources. Material in Manupatra can be searched by subject or keyword, and cases include citator functionality. Because access to this database involves an extra step, please see the LOLA entry for Manupatra for instructions on how to start using it.
 While vLex is a globally-oriented database presenting primary and secondary legal resources for 134 countries and international organizations, it is particularly helpful for those researching the law of Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. vLex provides the full text of constitutions, legislation and legal codes, plus law journals, newspapers, and treatises, all searchable in multiple languages. Please note that although vLex includes a translation feature, the translations produced are not official and are only intended to help researchers use the material within vLex.
For assistance accessing and using these and other Biddle foreign law databases, and with help planning and conducting research in foreign law, email Gabriela Femenia, Foreign and International Law Librarian, at gfemenia@law.upenn.edu, or stop by Tanenbaum 412.
November 2, 2011
You need to find books for a research paper on antitrust in baseball. Are you a Shelf Browser or a LOLA Browser? Do you find the area in the Biddle stacks where books on your topic are shelved and browse, making you a Shelf Browser? Or are you a LOLA Browser, searching for books using Biddle’s online catalog? While both methods will help you find relevant materials, if you only use the Shelf Browser method you may be missing important titles.
The ideal is to use both methods. There’s nothing wrong with browsing, and it can be rewarding to surreptitiously find a key resource. But not all books on your topic will be in the same shelf area due to either different subject content or to a shelving location. Biddle has several shelving locations – Biddle, Closed Reserve, Reserve Reading Room, and Lewis to name a few. In addition, a LOLA record will provide links to online pdfs and databases.
Continue reading "Shelf Browser Versus Lola Browser : Finding Books in Biddle" »
February 22, 2012
By Merle Slyhoff, Collection Development Librarian Many law students and faculty depend on the William S. Hein Company for easy access to pdfs of journal articles, U.S. Code, U.N. materials and more. Access is now even easier with the new HeinOnline app. HeinOnline (HOL), the largest image-based legal research database, has created an app that allows you to search for and download pdfs to your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. Available to Penn Law students and faculty through Biddle’s subscription to HOL, access is through IP authentication, available when in the law school or through Biddle’s log-in proxy when off-site using your LawKey login. After logging in you will be able to search by HOL library, by citation, by title, or by browsing in the publications. You will also be able to download the pdfs to your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. More detailed information is available on HeinOnlineApp_UsersGuide[1].pdf. You can download the free app in the iTunes App store by searching for "HeinOnline 2012."
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