13

Law School Faculty, Administration, and Services

Law Librarians

Whitney Alexander

Associate Librarian; Director of Technical Services

Whitney Alexander was born in Camden, Arkansas, and raised in Little Rock. He graduated from Louisiana State University with a bachelor’s degree in architecture (1985) and a master’s degree in landscape architecture (1987). He received his MLS in 1995, also from LSU.

Alexander’s library experience includes working in the LSU library system as a graduate assistant and library associate. He then took a position as head of serial cataloging at Texas A&M University. After moving to the Bay Area, he worked as a systems librarian at Innovative Interfaces, Inc. before joining the Heafey Law Library staff as head of acquisitions in 1998. He assumed his current position as director of technical services in 1999. Professional memberships include the American Association of Law Libraries, the American Library Association, and the Innovative Users Group.

Alexander currently lives in San Jose. His interests include woodworking, travel, watching old movies, and working in his yard.

Prano Amjadi

Librarian; Head of Reference

Born in New York City, Prano Amjadi grew up in northern New Jersey. She graduated from Duke University in 1979, with a double major in history and psychology. Amjadi attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa in a graduate Asian Studies program and was then employed for a few years in retail management dealing with Asian imports.

Upon receiving her MSLS from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1988, Amjadi joined the staff at Heafey Law Library as the electronic services librarian. She is currently the head of reference. She earned her J.D. from Santa Clara University and became a member of the California Bar in 1994.

At SCU, Amjadi has taught advanced legal research courses, and is active in professional associations, both locally and nationally. Her professional interests include copyright in libraries, legal research, and social responsibility.

Amjadi lives in San Jose with her husband, Hadi, who also is a librarian, and their cat, Asha.

Thomas De Guzman

Senior Assistant Librarian; Access Services Librarian

A native of Florida, Thomas received his B.S. in Social Studies Education and M.L.I.S. from Florida State University.  After graduating from the University of Arizona School of Law in 2000, he worked for two years at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law Library before joining the Heafey Law Library Staff at Santa Clara University.  Thomas, formerly a reference librarian at Heafey Law Library, currently holds the position of Access Services Librarian and manages the circulation department. He resides in San Ramon, Calif.

 

Marilyn Dreyer

Senior Assistant Librarian; Catalog Librarian

Marilyn Dreyer received her B.A. in liberal studies from San Jose State University in 1978 and her MLIS from San Jose State in 1995. She joined the staff of Heafey Law Library in 1986 as a library assistant in the acquisitions department, and in 1990 she moved into cataloging. She currently holds the position of catalog librarian in the cataloging department. She also works part-time at the reference desk. She is a member of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL).

Dreyer currently resides in Santa Clara. Her interests include reading (especially mysteries), music, and gardening.

 

David B. Holt

Assistant Librarian; Electronic Services Reference Librarian

David Holt grew up in a small logging town in Southern Oregon.  He has a B.A. in English from Southern Oregon University and his MLIS from San Jose State University.  He is currently a law student at Santa Clara in the part-time program.  His duties at the Heafey Law Library include creating, and maintaining, the content on the library’s website – including research guides and Library 2.0 digital initiatives (Facebook, Flickr, SecondLife, toolbars/widgets, etc.).  He also works at the reference desk, and is the contact on campus for CALI (Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction).

Prior to joining the staff at Heafey Law Library, David worked for the public library in downtown Santa Cruz.  He also taught elementary school in Salinas.  His academic interests include intellectual freedom, copyright issues in libraries, internet filtering, and LGBT issues.  His professional associations include the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) and the American Library Association (ALA).  He also serves on the AALL Committee for Gay and Lesbian Issues.

David joined the Heafey Law Library staff on a temporary basis in 2005, and then permanently, in 2006.  He currently resides in Santa Cruz with his partner, Harold, and their parrot, Simon.  He enjoys social activism and reading novels on the beach.

Mary Dullea Hood

Librarian; Executive Law Librarian

Mary Hood was born in Fargo, North Dakota, and at the age of six moved to Santa Clara Valley. She attended Santa Clara University and received a B.A. in social sciences in 1970.

She began working at Heafey Law Library in 1968 as a student assistant. She started full-time employment at Heafey in 1970 and completed law school at Santa Clara in the part-time program, graduating in 1975. After passing the California Bar, she continued her part-time studies at San Jose State University, graduating with an MLS in 1979.

During her tenure at Santa Clara, Hood has held a variety of positions in the law library and is currently the executive law librarian at Heafey Law Library. Among her interests are legal research, computers, and access to information. She has taught Legal Research at Santa Clara’s Paralegal Institute and has given numerous presentations on computer-assisted legal research. She has also taught advanced legal research at the law school. She is an associate member of the American Bar Association, a member of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), the International Association of Law Libraries (IALL), and the local law library association NOCALL.

Hood currently resides in San Jose.  She is an avid reader, particularly of mysteries, and enjoys needlepoint and stained glass.

William P. Logan

Senior Assistant Librarian; Reference Librarian

William P. Logan is from San Francisco, CA.  He has a B.A. in History from the University of California, Berkeley; a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law; and an M.L.I.S. from the University of Washington. He is a member of the State Bar of California.

Before coming to Santa Clara, Logan worked as a reference librarian at the law libraries at the University of San Francisco and the University of Utah. He is a member of the American Association of Law Libraries and its local chapter, NOCALL. He lives in San Francisco.

 

 

Ellen J. Platt

Associate Librarian; Senior Reference Librarian

Ellen J. Platt was raised in Eugene, Ore. She received as B.S. in history in 1983 and a J.D. in 1991 from the University of Oregon, and then an MLS from the University of Washington in 1992. She is a member of the Oregon State Bar.

Prior to coming to Santa Clara, Platt was a reference librarian, and then head of reference at Marquette University Law Library in Milwaukee, Wis. Her duties at Santa Clara include coordination of the faculty liaison services and general reference support of LARAW and other law school community research needs. She is also heavily involved in campus activities and serves on several committees as a staff representative. She has been active in the American Association of Law Libraries and is currently involved in its Northern California chapter, NOCALL, where she has also served as a past board member. Her interests include renovating her house, gardening, cycling, hiking, fly fishing, and sculpture.

Mary Sexton

Librarian; Foreign, Comparative and International Law Librarian

Mary Sexton is a native Chicagoan and a member of the Illinois Bar. She has a B.A. in English from Barat College and an M.A. in English literature and linguistics from Northwestern University. Her law degrees are from the University of Michigan Law School (J.D.) and New York University School of Law (LL.M. in Taxation). She has taught business law at Loyola University of Chicago and worked as a tax law editor for Commerce Clearing House (CCH).

After completing library school at Rosary College (Dominican University), Sexton worked as a reference librarian at the University of Maine School of Law, where she was responsible for government documents, including European Union publications. She moved to the University of San Diego Legal Research Center and then to the University of Iowa Law Library to specialize in foreign, comparative, and international legal research.

Sexton joined the Heafey Law Library staff in 2006 and resides in Santa Clara.