Finding Articles: Get Help from Reference Librarians

Ask a Librarian in the Main Reading Room, chat, e-mail, or schedule an appointment. Librarians can:

• Suggest a strategy if you do not know where to start.
• Help you decipher an abbreviation, using abbreviations dictionaries such as Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations or others.
• Advise you on hard-to-locate sources. 
• Confirm that you have exhausted all possible Library and publicly available resources. 
• Give you a pass to certain local libraries (required for most academic libraries). Note: You usually will not have check-out privileges at libraries if you are given such a pass.

Articles Editors: The Reference Desk can provide time-saving assistance in advance for especially difficult articles. Please contact Jay Shuman at least one week before distributing the assignment.

The Law Library Reference Desk (in Main Reading Room) is staffed by a rotation of nine librarians, and the librarian who assisted with a footnote at a first stage edit may not be there when you bring the same footnote to the Desk at a later stage. Sharing information saves time and avoids frustration. If possible, bring the complete article text and footnotes when you come to the Library. Context often helps to identify a source, and text and footnotes not assigned to you may be helpful for your footnotes.

Reference Desk Hours