Library & Technology

DULL News, April 15, 2007

April 15, 2007 – No. 130

Headline

Library Renovation

Duke Law Library begins an exciting renovation project in May that is scheduled to be completed in August 2008. The project expands the strengths of the library in providing collaborative and quiet study places, services for reference, computing help, and media projects, and of course, a tremendous collection of electronic and print resources.

Frequently-Asked Questions about the Library Renovation

  1. Why does the Law Library need to close temporarily?

    The plans call for major renovations and reconstruction on all four floors of the library wing. In addition, it is necessary as part of the project to completely replace the library’s forty-year-old heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems, including the ducts on each floor, and to add more fire-proofing to the underside of each floor. For this work to be done efficiently and to protect the books from damage, it is necessary to remove the collections, as well as all staff offices and equipment during the project.

  2. When will the Library close, and where will Library services be provided during construction?

    Shortly after regular exams end on Friday, May 4th, professional library movers will begin removing books, shelving, computers, tables, and other furniture. These items will be moved from the library reading room and Level 4 to the interim library that will be set up in the Gross Chemistry Building across Towerview Road (or “Law School Annex”). Our goal is to have the Annex Library in full operation by Monday, May 21st. We expect the present library to remain open until Friday, May 18th, but work related to the moves and preparation for the renovation will make it increasingly noisy, particularly on the upper floors.

  3. What services and space will be available in the Library Annex?

    The building and library will provide the same access and hours as the current law school building, including 24 hour access for the Law School community with Duke ID. The Annex Library will be similar in size to the present library reading room. It will seat more than 100 users at tables and carrels, and have public computer terminals, full wireless coverage (without table-top power), as well as shelving for a small collection of books. Tables will also be provided outside on the covered porch and soft seating in the large adjacent open area. A computer lab will be set up near the library with printers.

    Library staff will continue to provide the same high quality services, including staffed circulation and reference desks.

  4. How much of the collection will be brought to the Annex?

    The Annex Library has space for about 25,000 volumes, or about 4% of the current Law Library collection of more than 625,000 volumes. However, since the Library will continue to purchase and process new books and journals, some of the Annex shelf space has been set aside for incoming materials. The Annex collection will include primary treatises on core subjects, current state and federal codes, hornbooks and other student aides, reference books, current journals, and course reserve materials. The remainder of the Library’s collection will be placed into storage, and will be inaccessible for the duration of the construction.

  5. How will I be able to get a book that I need?

    Reference librarians will help in determining how best to get what you need as quickly as possible. As always, books available at other Duke University libraries may be requested through the online catalog. Duke Law students, faculty and staff may continue to use the Law Library’s Interlibrary Loan service (http://www.law.duke.edu/lib/ill/) to obtain copies of materials that are not available on campus.

    Duke students, faculty and staff may also use their DukeCard to borrow circulating materials in person from other libraries in the Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN). TRLN includes the libraries of UNC-Chapel Hill, North Carolina Central University, and North Carolina State University.

  6. Where will the library & technology staff offices be relocated?

    The reference librarians (Donna Nixon, Jennifer Behrens, Lauren Collins, and Katherine Topulos) will be in offices in the faculty wing of the law school, readily accessible to faculty, staff, and students. They will also staff a reference desk in the Annex Library, and will be available as always via phone (919-613-7121), email (ref@law.duke.edu) and instant message (dukelawreference).

    The Library’s Collection Services (Circulation) and Technical Services staff will be housed in or near the Annex Library. In addition, the Media Services and Web Services groups will be in Annex offices. Ken Hirsh and other members of the Computing Services and classroom support staff will move to the Burdman Lounge.

  7. Who should I contact with questions about the move to the Annex?

    The Library’s Deputy Director, Melanie Dunshee, can be contacted at Dunshee@law.duke.edu with questions or concerns about the 2007-2008 construction project.

Research Tip

Online Full-Text Books

Much of the Law Library’s existing book collection is heading to “cold storage”, and will be inaccessible for the duration of the renovation period. As noted above, you will still be able to obtain materials through the interlibrary loan service, as well as in person at other TRLN libraries. However, you may not know that some of the Library’s book collection is available in electronic full-text through e-book publishers. These e-books will appear in a search of the Duke Libraries Catalog with the notation “[electronic resource]” next to their titles. A link to the online version will appear in the item’s catalog record.

The most common sources for full-text e-books in the legal field include:

Note that some e-book resources may place restrictions on printing a large number of pages, due to copyright concerns.

Research Stumper

No new stumper in this abbreviated exam-season issue. Watch for a similar feature in the revamped D.U.L.L. News at the beginning of the fall 2007 semester!

Answer to last month’s stumper: In the last issue of D.U.L.L. News, we asked: If you have a citation to a book which was originally published in a foreign language, how can you determine whether it has been translated into English?

There is a wide variety of strategies for locating English translations of foreign-language works. Here are just a few of the most popular:

Comments to Jennifer L. Behrens.