Baylor Law Library - Sheridan & John Eddie Williams Legal Research & Technology Center

Sheridan & John Eddie Williams Legal Research and Technology Center

Library Tour

Welcome to the Baylor Law Library.

While the immediate use of the library is self-evident, some of the most useful, and most enjoyable services can be overlooked by the inattentive patron. It is my hope that this online tour (when used in conjunction with the in-house tour) will highlight the services from which you will benefit the most.

First of all, please note that we keep a copy of the Title Locator at the circulation desk. This Title Locator not only will direct you to the various materials within the overall collection; it provides a usable map to the entire library. This can be useful to find facilities such as the copiers and the computer lab, as well as others.

The primary source for finding the materials you seek will be BearCat. BearCat is the Baylor University Online Catalog. You can type in title, author or subject and search, and further refine your search so that the results listed are only those held in the Law Library. We have provided an online help guide for BearCat, and you are highly encouraged to learn how to use this valuable tool.

It is important to keep in mind that our most frequently demanded titles are either kept in Reserve or Reference. The circulation desk also houses both our video collection as well as the majority of our course/title supplements on CDROM. Most of these items are either 12 hour or 3 day checkout, although in some cases, they will be limited to a much shorter specified time period.

On the first floor we have two copiers, both of which take BearBucks. BearBucks is the university's debit card system for students, staff and faculty. You can "load" your student ID card at the Cashier's office and then you can use it for many things, including making copies here in the Law Library. Also, if you choose to use the BearBucks option, you will pay the lowest cost-per-copy that we offer, 7¢.

We do sell copy cards, and those are $6.22 which give you $5.00 of copies at 7.5¢ per copy. If you use cash, it will cost 10¢ per copy. Please note that only the two copiers on the first floor take BearBucks, but there are copiers on both the second and third floors as well that take cards or cash. On all three floors, there are copiers to the right of the stairs as you face them. On the first floor, the fourth copier is located at the back of the Reserve area on the right.

While you are encouraged to use the Title Locator (online and printed), it is useful to have a brief overview of the collection.

The first floor is devoted to Reference (green labels on the spines), Reserve (yellow labels on the spines), the 'Texas Collection' and the Federal Room. Please note that our 'Texas Collection' refers to a collection of law books specifically dealing with Texas laws and not THE "Texas Collection" that is housed in another library on campus. The 'Texas Collection' and the Federal Room are both within and adjoining the First Floor Reading room. That reading room is to your right as you walk toward the stairs in the library lobby.

Directly to the left of the stairs as you face them is the office of the Reference Librarian, and you will see the Reference collection at that point as well. Any books within the Reference collection are limited to use within the library and are not to be removed without the approval of either the Reference Librarian or the Library Director.

As you enter the library through the security portals, to your immediate left is the circulation desk. At that desk, please feel free to ask any questions you may have. If one of us cannot help you, we will be able to direct you to people who can. Behind the circulation desk (and another set of security portals) is the Reserve collection. At some point during your law school career you will handle most of the books in that area.

Many times professors will leave assignments or materials at the circulation desk for either pick up or check out. Please ask the desk worker for your assignments if you are expecting them to be ready; it is uncommon for a professor to allow the students to sort through a stack of graded assignments, preferring instead to have our desk workers perform that task (for a level of privacy).

The Cinema Collection is both online and in printed form - the printed form is on the back of the circulation desk, near the entry into the Reserve collection. Please decide which movie you would like to borrow and then have the desk worker notify one of the full time staff members who will retrieve that movie from the locked multimedia cabinet. Also, when returning these movies, please do so during normal staff hours to ensure that they can be secured upon their return.

One of the major services offered at the circulation desk is the availability of laptop computers for use by students, staff and faculty of the Law School. During finals, it is expected that all laptops will be in use by students. We will accept reservations for laptops for finals approximately two weeks prior to the start of finals. Reservations can be obtained by getting one of the first six positions on the reservation sign-up sheet when it is placed at the circulation desk.

Whether it be movies, laptops or books, you will be using the circulation desk to "check-out" materials. When you check out materials, please be sure to present your student ID card. Using the card helps us to eliminate errors. Also you will find that some items are "special items" that require you to exchange your student ID for the material, and generally for a very small amount of time. These materials are not to be removed from the library.

Again, when you have questions/comments/suggestions, please come to the circulation desk as we are here for you.

Moving to the second floor, there are two major collections. If you take the stairs up, you will find yourself in the middle of the Regional Reporters collection. You will be primarily concerned with the Southwestern Reporters as those contain Texas cases as well as the other states within the Southwestern region. Please note that on the first floor in the 'Texas Collection' you will find the Texas edition of the Southwestern Reporter for cases specific to Texas. In this way, you have two printed sources for viewing the same case.

Also on the second floor are the study rooms. We have seven study rooms for law student use that are able to be reserved/used for a 3 hour block of time each day. A quick list of some of the rules for the study rooms are: (1) no food or drink; (2) no more than one three-hour reservation per day per student; (3) if you wish to extend your usage there must be at least two other study rooms currently available during the same period; and (4) you can only reserve study rooms on the current day and the next day. These study rooms are very popular and frequently fill up quickly. During finals, these rooms are constantly packed from opening until closing. It is important that you vacate the room at the end of your time period in order to prevent delaying the persons after you. If you have the room from 10am until 1pm; please be sure to turn in the key at or before 1pm, please do not wait until 1pm to begin packing up. The hallway to the study rooms is to the right if you come up the stairs or if you take the elevator. The hallway for them is between the Jaworski Office and the Rare Book Room, (both are clearly marked).

As you come up the stairs to the second floor, if you turn right along the wall, you will come to the beginning of the General Collection, and more specifically the "A" through "KF" section of the General Collection. The "call numbers" refer to the Library of Congress Call Numbering classification system. KF refers to national and general laws, while KFT refers to Texas Laws.

The General Collection is continued on the third floor beginning at the south wall of the library. To reach the KFA section from the stairs, exit the stairs, turn right and walk to the far wall. From the elevator, exit to the left and walk to the windows. The Texas Resources section within the third floor General Collection area are marked on the "end panel" signs.

Since the General Collection occupies less than half of the third floor, the remainder of the third floor houses three other collections. The Periodicals Archive collection contains back issues (hardbound) of law journals, legal trade magazines, etc. This collection begins to the immediate right as you exit the stairs on the third floor. If you want to read a 1954 article in the Harvard Law Review, it can be found in this area. Please note however that for our own beloved Baylor Law Reviews, they are kept next to the circulation desk and are part of our Reserve Collection.

Periodical indexes are kept in the "short shelves" that are directly in front of the stairs, and in front of the computer lab. You will find how to use that valuable resource when you take LARC II.

The other collection housed on the 3rd floor is found in the Federal Government Documents area. There are regional reporters, and copies of many of the volumes you will find in the Federal Room on the first floor. Again, this allows you to use a second source if the primary is being utilized by someone else in the Federal Room.

On all three floors, in addition to the copiers, we have study carrels along the outside wall and in some of the small rooms/spaces adjoining the reading rooms. None of these carrels can be reserved, and are simply first come, first served. Please do not leave the light on or any books stored in the carrels. Please also understand that the rule regarding no food and drinks applies to all carrels, study rooms and reading rooms. No patrons are allowed to bring food or drink into the library.

The entire faculty and staff of the library are genuinely hopeful that all students and patrons of the law library will have a pleasant and fulfilling experience with the library, and we will do what we can to make that happen. Please let us know at the circulation desk if you have any questions.

Title Locator | BearCat | Online BearCat Guide | Video Collection | BearBucks