Law Library Resources for the Home Stretch

Whether you’re working on a writing assignment or getting course outlines in shape and preparing for upcoming exams, the Law Library has resources to help you! 

Reference Librarians

Get research help from our Reference librarians 7 days per week, in person at the reference desk and remotely via email, chat, and phone.

Study Aids

Access eBook and print copies of a wide variety of study aids covering all 1L and most 2L & 3L courses. Bear in mind that study aids are a supplement and not a substitute for your own notes or advice provided by your course instructors. You can access eBook titles for many popular study aid series from these three major publishers:

Aspen Learning Library includes Examples & Explanations, Emmanuel Crunchtime, Emmanuel Law Outlines, Glannon Guides, and others.

LexisNexis Digital Library/Carolina Academic Press includes the Understanding, Mastering, and Question & Answers series.

West Academic Study Aids includes Hornbooks, Concepts & Insights, Nutshell, and many others.

Helpful Guides Covering Exam Taking Skills

Some of our study aids cover the art of exam taking in general; a list of these resources is available here.

CALI Lessons

CALI has over 1,000 online, interactive tutorials covering narrow topics of law for a wide range of 1L and 2L-3L courses, including a tutorial on how to prepare for exams. To access CALI tutorials, you first need to register with an Authorization Code that you can get from the Law Library Reference Office (625-4309 or law-ref@umn.edu).

Are there sample exams or model answers available from my professor?

First, check your course Canvas site or ask your professor to see if they will be making them available.

Faculty members will sometimes provide copies of past exams for the Law Library to place in binders that students can access at the Circulation Desk. However, it is much more common now for faculty members to post exams to Canvas.  

UMN Law Scholarship Repository Surpasses 3.5 Million Downloads!

 

The Law Library is very pleased to announce that the University of Minnesota Law School Scholarship Repository has surpassed 3.5 million downloads! Launched by the Library in 2015, the Repository preserves and promotes the scholarship produced by the Law School's faculty and law journals. The Repository has proven to be a highly successful tool to make the Law School's scholarship available to scholars and researchers nationally and globally.

 

The Faculty Scholarship Collection forms the heart of the Repository, providing open access, when permitted by copyright law, to the scholarship of those Law School faculty members who have consented to having their work included. This was the first content added to the Repository, and it remains its flagship collection. 

 

In recent years, the Library has broadened the scope of the Repository to include the archives of all journals published within the Law School, as well as scholarship produced by the Law School's centers and institutes. In addition, recordings of programs held at the Law School, including symposia and lectures, and scholarly podcasts are included in the Repository. 

 

As the content of the Repository has expanded, the Library has focused on improving the discoverability of this impressive body of scholarship to ensure maximum accessibility and visibility. As of today, scholarship contained in the Repository has been downloaded by scholars and researchers at close to 60,000 institutions in 237 countries. The map above displays the number of downloads by region, and the Library is confident that the Repository's reach will continue to grow.

 

The Law Library is exceptionally proud to support the outstanding scholarship produced at the Law School. We continue to strive to ensure that our community's scholarship is available to scholars and researchers throughout the world now and for posterity. 

Spotlight on fastcase

 

The fastcase legal research platform provides a popular and affordable alternative for accessing federal and state primary source materials such as cases, statutes, regulations, and court rules, as well as secondary materials, such as law journal articles. Check out the fastcase Scope of Coverage page for detailed information about the legal content coverage available.

Did you know?

The Law Library’s subscription to fastcase provides onsite access to all library patrons and remote access for U of MN Law students. Access to fastcase is also offered as a free benefit to state bar members in all fifty states. Membership in the Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA) is free to Minnesota law students (apply online here). Checkout the MSBA’s Member Services Guide for more information on additional member benefits.

Using fastcase

For help on how to use fastcase visit the fastcase support page where you'll find information on webinars, video tutorials, user guides and more, or contact your friendly reference librarians.