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Heafey Law Library
- Reference Desk 408-554-4452
- Circulation Desk 408-554-4072
- Interlibrary Loans 408-554-5133
The Edwin A. Heafey Law Library houses the basic reference and research collection for the students and faculty at the School of Law. The holdings presently comprise over 360,900 volumes and volume equivalents, including the standard digests and annotated sets, court reports, and current statutes of all U.S. jurisdictions. The library also houses a comprehensive collection of legal periodicals and treatises, the major loose-leaf services, specialized collections pertaining to specific areas of law, a representative selection of materials from other common law jurisdictions, and a rapidly growing microform collection, including congressional documents and records and briefs of the Supreme Court. The collection also provides access to a wide variety of electronic resources, such as indexes and full-text databases. For details, see www.scu.edu/law/library/electronic_resources.html.
Special collections include the Stauffer Reserve Collection (located directly behind the circulation desk), which contains treatises and loose-leaf sets in various subject areas, Academic Success Program materials, past SCU law school exams, course reserve items, and the library’s collection of popular videos; the California Collection (located on the first floor just off the main reading room), which contains all California materials; the Periodicals Collection (located on the second floor, above circulation), which contains most law journals and reviews; the Reference Collection (located on the first floor across from circulation), which contains encyclopedias, legal directories, and the library’s CD-ROM collection.
The law library also maintains a collection of historically significant legal materials and the Aaron Director Collection of materials dealing with law and economics. These collections are housed in nearby Loyola Hall, for quick retrieval when needed.
For security purposes, entry to the law library is controlled through a gate, which requires the use of the University’s ACCESS card.
Resources
Laptops may be used in the law library. All carrels are equipped with electric outlets and active network jacks, as are approximately half of the study tables in the library. The law library has a wireless network that almost doubles the networking capacity available to students. Check with Law Computer Services for technical requirements. The library has a small number of laptops available for students to use in the library. Check at the circulation desk for availability.
The law library provides eight conference rooms for student use. Each room has one hardwired network jack. The four conference rooms on the second floor are available for group study or viewing library videotapes or DVDs. The four conference rooms on the first floor are available for group study. All conference rooms must be reserved at the circulation desk for a three-hour period.
Microform reader/printers, additional video equipment, and other specialized workstations are located on the first floor of the library.
The library provides three copiers for student use. A copier is also available in the Leavey Student Lounge in Bannan Hall. The University’s ACCESS card may be used to make copies on these machines if a Flex Account has been established. Check with the ACCESS Card Office in Benson Center for details.
OSCAR: oscar.scu.edu
The law library, in conjunction with the University’s main library, has automated the card catalog and other library functions. OSCAR (Online Santa Clara Automated Retrieval) allows students to search the OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog) for materials in the law library or the University’s main library. Other automated library catalogs and databases such as periodical indexes and full-text sources are accessible through OSCAR. At the Main Menu in the WebPac students should look at the right column to explore additional databases available to them. Students may also make interlibrary loan requests through OSCAR. Students should follow the instructions after selecting the interlibrary loan option. Also available to the SCU community is LINK+, which is a consortium of many state universities and private California colleges. This service permits the library patron to search the catalogs of other institutions and request materials to be delivered to SCU’s main library.
ClaraNet: claranet.scu.edu
ClaraNet is the law library’s electronic reserve system. Check OSCAR’s course reserve module for both library and professors’ personal materials placed on course reserve. Check with the library staff if you have questions about ClaraNet or locating course reserve materials.
Legal Information Retrieval Computer Systems
The law library subscribes to both the Lexis/Nexis and Westlaw legal information retrieval computer systems. All computers in the law library’s computer labs have access to these systems. In addition, there is one public access station dedicated to Lexis and Westlaw located in the reference CD-ROM area. Students are strongly encouraged to download their search results or print them to the Lexis or Westlaw stand-alone printers.
Training for certification on either system is required of law students during the first-year Legal Research and Writing course. Training dates and times are coordinated with the Legal Research and Writing instructors. After certification, law students may also access Lexis and Westlaw via the internet on their home computers. See a reference librarian for information.
Staff
- Mary B. Emery, Associate Dean
- Mary D. Hood, Librarian, Executive Law Librarian
- Nancy Diaz, Administrative Associate
- D. Prano Amjadi, Librarian, Director of Public Services
- Jorge Juarez, Senior Assistant Librarian, Electronic Services/Reference Librarian
- Ellen J. Platt, Associate Librarian, Senior Reference Librarian
- Mary Sexton, Associate Librarian, Foreign, Comparative, and International Law Reference Librarian
- Virginia Moore, Interlibrary Loan and Reference Specialist
- Thomas De Guzman, Access Services Librarian/Head of Circulation
- Whitney Alexander, Associate Librarian, Director of Technical Services
- Marilyn Dreyer, Senior Assistant Librarian, Catalog Librarian
- Diane Cascio, Head of Acquisitions
- David Holt, Assistant Circulation Manager
- Maria Barnard, Mary Sue Crawford, Douglas Clapp, Agnes Lam, and Tamara Prichard; Information Specialists in the Technical Services Department
- Carl Frazier, Sarah Goebel, Maria Quinonez, Hazel Yabes; Information Specialists in the Circulation Department
Regulations
Eating and smoking are prohibited in the library. Beverages are allowed in approved spill-proof containers only, e.g., the Law Library’s MUG.
The University’s ACCESS card is the student library card. Students must present their ACCESS card to check out library materials. Student library cards are given the first semester and are updated automatically until graduation. For two years after graduation (or until passing the bar), students may renew their library cards at no cost. Attorneys (and graduates who have passed the bar or who graduated more than two years ago) may purchase courtesy cards. Information on courtesy cards is available at the circulation desk.
The library contains both circulating and non-circulating materials. Circulating books may be checked out for varying periods of time, depending on the nature and location of the materials. Non-circulating materials are stamped “Library Use Only”; such materials are for use in the library only. Non-circulating materials may not be checked out except to faculty, research assistants, or law review members.
Unless another patron has placed a hold on the material, renewals may be requested by telephone (408-554-4072) or in person. The library may restrict renewals during exams.
Material not located on the shelf can be searched by personnel at the circulation desk. Patrons may request a hold on items already checked out to another patron. Students, faculty, and staff may request materials not available in the library through inter-library loan at the reference desk.
Patrons should not re-shelve books. Instead, books should be placed on a table or a library book cart for daily re-shelving by library staff. Patrons may request a “save slip” from the circulation desk to prevent books from being re-shelved.
Books that have been checked out must be returned to the circulation desk. Leaving them on library tables may result in fines.
Personal materials left on library tables will be taken to the circulation desk, where patrons may reclaim them.
There is open access to the Stauffer Reserve Room. A library assistant is on duty at all times. All books from the Stauffer Reserve Room must be checked out before they can be removed from the room. Neglecting to check-in books when done may result in fines. Books checked out of the library should be returned to the main circulation desk.
Students are issued personal Lexis and Westlaw identification numbers, generally after completing their first-year training. These numbers remain active while the students are enrolled, except during the summer. The numbers can be activated for summer–school students. Lexis and Westlaw research must be for educational purposes only.
Use of the computers in the computer labs is limited to law students only. Courtesy Card patrons may use the Lexis and Westlaw terminal located in the reference CD-ROM area if they have their own account number.
Books are considered overdue the day following the due date. Fines are assessed according to the following schedule:
Fine Schedule
|
Location |
Amount Charged |
Notes |
|
Three-week books and California Collection (3 day) |
25¢ per day per book |
|
|
Stauffer Reserve Collection books |
25¢ per day per book |
|
|
Stauffer "Library Use Only" books |
25¢ per day per book |
"Library Use Only" materials must be must be returned before closing on the day of checkout |
|
Course Reserve-two-hour books |
25¢ per hour per book |
|
|
Course Reserve-24-hour books |
25¢ per day per book |
These may be returned anytime the following day |
|
Cassette tapes, CD-ROMs, VHS tapes, and DVDs |
25¢ per day per item |
|
|
Non-circulating materials |
25¢ per day per book |
Faculty, faculty research assistants and Law Review personnel only (seven-day checkout) |
|
Laptops |
$10 per hour for 1st hour; $20 for any additional hour |
|
- In-demand fee: A fee of $2 will be added to the fine for any overdue item with a hold on it. A fee of $2 per day (or $2 per hour for hourly books) will be added to the fine for any overdue item that has been recalled.
- Lost items: The charge for lost items is the list price of the item plus a $20 processing fee. As soon as they know an item is lost, patrons should declare it lost at the circulation desk so the fine will be stopped and the item can be replaced as soon as possible.
- Blocks: Patrons who owe fines in excess of $10 will be blocked from further checkout activity until fines are cleared.

