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The staff at the Reference Desk are available to help students, faculty and alumni engaged in legal research to locate materials, use legal resources effectively and answer questions about the collection.
The reference staff can be contacted in the following ways:
LibrarySearch
The library catalog, called LibrarySearch, provides a search that incorporates most of the databases UST subscribes to. We are also part of a resource sharing consortium called CLIC. Member libraries include Hamline, Bethel, St. Kates, Northwestern, and Concordia. There is a courier service that runs between the libraries allowing you to borrow books and have them delivered to you at the UST Law Library. To request books from a CLIC library or another UST library, sign in to LibrarySearch with your UST username and password and click the Request link under the "Get it in the Library" section of the item's information page. Delivery times vary, but most available materials are generally received within 1 - 3 day.
Interlibrary Loan
If you don't find what you need in LibrarySearch, consider placing an interlibrary loan request. An interlibrary loan comes from a library outside of UST and CLIC. Depending on where the material is coming from, it may be 5 - 10 business days before your request arrives. Click here for instructions on how to place an ILL request. If you have any questions, please stop by the service desk.
Course Reserves
Some professors place books and other materials on reserve for students. You can determine whether a professor has materials on reserve by doing a course search in LibrarySearch. Do not hesitate to stop by the service desk if you need help locating materials for a particular course.
Practice Exams and Study Aids
Some professors place sample midterms and final exams on reserve for their students. You can determine whether a professor has placed a final exam on reserve by doing a course search in LibrarySearch. Do not hesitate to stop by the service desk if you need help locating exams for a particular course.
We also have a variety of study aids in print and e-book. Print copies are generally kept on the reserve shelves and may be borrowed for up to 3-hours. You can find and access the e-books by title in LibrarySearch, or you can directly search in the West Academic Study Aids database.
A Note on Class Texts
The law library does not buy course textbooks. Sometimes a professor may place a course text on reserve for the class. Other times the library may have a class text in the collection but not specifically for class use. The library does not have casebooks for courses.
Group Study Rooms
Group and individual study rooms are available in the law library. Please reserve a room. If you do not reserve the room and another group does, you will be asked to leave the room. A key for each room is available to check out at the service desk so you can lock up your belongings while while using the restroom or going to get coffee or a snack. Please do not leave the room empty for more than 15-20 minutes.
Group study rooms have whiteboards. Please erase the board when you are done using the room.
FLEX
The FLEX space is located on the second floor of the library on the far side of the glass half wall. There is a Smartboard that can be used for group study, presentations, streaming video, and meetings. The furniture in the space is easily moveable to fit group needs. If you want to use the FLEX area, please make a reservation.
Carrels
Study carrels are available throughout the library. No personal belongings should be left in the carrels.
Research Guides
Research Guides provide quick and concise summaries of the research tools available for a specific legal subject area or class. This includes the important books, electronic resources, blogs/internet resources and other material potentially useful for researching a specific topic. In creating these guides, the library staff has attempted to tailor them specifically for classes offered at University of St. Thomas School of Law.
Research Guides on legal subjects and courses can be found here. Other Research Guides on topics like business or the social sciences may also be useful in your research. You can view a complete list of Research Guides created by UST librarians here.
Computer Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI)
Our subscription to the CALI library includes over 600 lessons covering 32 legal education subject areas. These are often very helpful for the common 1L courses such as property, torts, criminal law and civil procedure. Faculty and students can access the CALI via the web at cali.org. Please stop by the library service desk or call us at ext. 2-4900 for a CALI authorization code. Librarians can help identify CALI lessons that would be useful to you.
First Year Student Resources
For a helpful listing of books for 1L exams, check out the Law Book List.