Faculty Services

About TTU Law Library

The Texas Tech University School of Law Library (Law Library) is the largest legal information center in the area covering western Texas, eastern New Mexico, and southern Oklahoma. The Law Library and its staff serve the educational, instructional, and research needs of the Texas Tech University School of Law.

The Law Library collection contains over 400,000 volumes in books, treatises, periodicals, microforms, government documents, and other materials in law, social sciences, and other subjects. Additionally, the Law Library provides faculty free access to multiple full-text legal databases, including LexisNexis, Westlaw, Bloomberg Law, and other national databases. As part of a comprehensive research university, the Law Library works in conjunction with the University Library to provide faculty easy access to its respective collections and databases.

The Law Library’s website offers information and updates about library hours, staff, services, programs, and access to electronic databases.

Faculty of Texas Tech Law can access the Law Library 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with few exceptions. To receive this privilege, faculty must obtain a security card issued by the University police department by contacting the administrative assistant for a security card.

Law Library and Reference Hours 

Law School ID cards provide law students and law faculty access to the Law Library 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

The Library is open to the public and members of the legal community during regular operating hours.

Please Note: Special hours are set for holidays and inter-session periods. For updates, visit the Library’s website or the Library Hours calendar.

REFERENCE

CIRCULATION

Law Library Hours

Law School ID cards provide law students and law faculty access to the Law Library 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

The Library is open to the public and members of the legal community during regular operating hours.

Please Note: Special hours are set for holidays and inter-session periods. For updates, visit the Library’s website or the Library Hours calendar.

REFERENCE

CIRCULATION

Holiday Hours

Contact the Law Library

You can also email or call the Circulation Desk:

            Email: circulation.law@ttu.edu

            Phone: 806-742-3957

For Reference assistance, please stop by the Circulation Desk. You can also contact the Reference Group via email, phone, or chat services.

            Email: reference.law@ttu.edu

            Phone: 806-742-7155

            Chat: Use the "Ask a Librarian" chat feature on the Law Library's Homepage.

Texas Collection

The Texas Collection includes Texas legislative codes, session laws, journals, and historic compilations; administrative code and regulations; attorney general opinions; case digests; encyclopedias; form books; and municipal codes. The collection is located in:

• 2nd Floor, East Wing holds Texas materials. 

The current edition of the Vernon’s Texas Codes Annotated are located in:

• 1^st Floor, West Wing

Faculty can also access Texas Government Materials from the following sites

Law Reviews and Periodicals

Current issues and bound volumes of law reviews and periodicals are housed in the Lower Level Basement, East Wing. The volumes are arranged alphabetically by title. Law reviews and periodicals can be searched using the Index to Legal Periodicals. The Law Library also subscribes to HeinOnline, a searchable database that contains many law journals, particularly older volumes not carried by either Lexis Advance or Westlaw. The following are a list of databases to search law reviews and periodicals

New/Recent Acquisitions

Faculty who are interested in learning more about new books received by the Law Library can view the “Recent Acquisitions List” each month on the Law Library Blog. 
Faculty can also peruse the bookcase located in the Collaborative Commons in the first floor of the Law Library. New books are placed on shelves in the Collaborative Commons before they are shelved in the main collection.
New databases or electronic resources are announced to faculty via email or the monthly Law Library newsletter. 

Permanent Reserves Collection

The Permanent Reserves Collection is located behind the Circulation Desk. The Permanent Reserves Collection includes:

• Textbooks
• Hornbooks & nutshells
• Commercial outlines and flashcards
• Selected high-use loose-leaf services, treatises, and form books

Microform/Microfiche

The Law Library has an extensive microform collection, which is located in the lower level basement. This collection contains archival collections of:

• Congressional material
• United States Supreme Court Briefs
• American Digests
• Fifth Circuit Records & Briefs
• Texas Session Laws
• Texas Superseded State Codes
• Texas State Attorney General Opinions
• Supreme Court of Texas Cases
• Hein's Legal Theses & Dissertations
• Texas Bar Journal

A reader/printer/scanner is available free of charge.

Electronic Resources

Many legal and law-related online databases are within the Law Libarry's subscription. Among the database providers are HeinOnline,  Bloomberg Law, Lexis+, and Westlaw. For a complete list of databases, please see the Law Library’s Electronic Resources List.

In addition, law students can also access a wide variety of databases, electronic journals, and e-books through the University Library’s website.

Government Documents

The Law Library serves as a selective depository for U.S. government publications. You can find information on holdings of government documents using the Law Library’s online catalog. You can find more information at the Goverment Document Guide.
In addition, the University Library houses a full depository, and its resources.

Teaching and Curriculum Support

In addition to presenting on materials available in the Law Library, the Law Librarians are available to provide classroom presentations on effective, efficient legal research techniques. Law Librarians can also assist faculty members with Teaching and Curriculum Support by:

• Teaching specific legal or scholarly research to seminar courses
• Developing bibliographies or research guides for specific topics
• Giving customized library tours to students

Contact your Library Information Consultant for more information.

Document Delivery & Pick-Up

Faculty can request for document delivery by contacting your Library Information Consultant. Individual faculty may also request resources from other libraries through interlibrary loan (ILL) services. 

The Law Library can also schedule to pick up books or other library materials that need to be returned. Books or library items checked-out through the University Library are returned via campus mail. In instances where you need main University Library materials returned, please provide notice three (3) business days before the due date to ensure your items are returned and processed by the due date.

Book Purchase & Collection Development 

The Law Library performs monthly monograph review to  strengthen and enhance the Law Library's collection.
If there is an item that you would like the Law Library to purchase and add to the collection, please submit your request through your Library Information Consultant. 
If the Law Library cannot purchase the requested item, you will be contacted immediately and your Library Information Consultant will suggest that you request the item through interlibrary loan (ILL). 

Faculty Research Trainings

The Law Library facilitates multiple training programs per semester to keep faculty up to date on new developments in research. For more information, please check your email, see the Law Library's blog, The Reporter, or the Law Library monthly newsletter.

Westlaw, Lexis +, Bloomberg Law Registration

Faculty who need to register for Westlaw, Lexis, or Bloomberg Law usernames and passwords, please contact Electronic & Digital Services Librarian Dajiang Nie at Dajiang.Nie@ttu.edu or  806-834-6028.

Research Support

Law Librarians are ready to assist faculty with their research endeavors. The following research support
services are provided to faculty:

• Finding books and articles
• Compiling bibliographies on any topic
• Assistance with database research
• Individual training sessions on particular databases
• Developing research guides, pathfinders, or other materials for a specific area of law
• Monitoring and informing faculty of current developments in news, technology, databases, etc.
• Tutoring faculty research assistants in legal research
• Answering any reference or research questions

Contact your Library Information Consultant for more information.

Annual Faculty Account Reconciliation

Each spring the Law Library works with faculty to reconcile and renew checked-out items. A Law Library Circulation staff member will send faculty members a list of items found on their Law Library account. Faculty are encouraged to advise Circulation staff on whether to renew the item or pick-up the item to be returned to the Law Library. Circulation staff will work with faculty regarding items on the faculty member’s account that cannot be located.

Please contact the Circulation Desk at circulation.law@ttu.edu or by calling 806-742-3957

Library Liaison List

All faculty members are formally assigned an individual law librarian who serves as your information consultant. While we encourage you to use any of the departmental contacts listed throughout this page, your consultant is your best contact for information about Law Library services and research requests because the consultant focuses on knowing your areas of teaching and scholarship.

Faculty Display

Submitting Manuscripts

When to Submit:
Peak submission times for student journals are February-March (as new editorial boards are looking toward the next volume) and August (as student editors are returning from their summer jobs). 

How to Submit:
The Law Library can assist you with finding the right law review to submit your work and can offer step-by-step guidance on submitting publications through Scholastica.

Faculty Publications

The Law Library will advertise your published works using the following:

Faculty Display and Announcements—The Law Library maintains a display in the foyer of the Law Library to exhibit the latest books, articles, and other publications authored by TTU Law Faculty.

Faculty Publication Promotion— Publication announcements may be made via the Law Library’s social media channels. 

Monthly Faculty Publication Information—Faculty should view the Law Library's alert compilation in the Law Library Newsletter or by viewing the Law Library Blog. 

Keeping Current and Alerts 

The Law Library offers services to keep faculty abreast of current developments in their area of study or interest. The Keeping Current service is tailored to meet the needs of faculty and is available through the following services:

• SmartCILP—This service is provided by HeinOnline, compiling the week's newest law journal articles arranged by subject or by indexed law journal. Faculty can set up alerts to be delivered straight to email inboxes using this guide. 
   
• Lexis and Westlaw—Both Lexis and Westlaw have alert notification features. Faculty can ask Law Librarians to design research alerts to their specifications and have notices delivered daily, weekly, or monthly.
   
• Bloomberg BNA Email Updates—Faculty members have the option of signing up to receive regular updates to titles of their choice on various legal subjects such as antitrust, banking, bankruptcy, criminal, environmental, and family, etc.
   
• RSS Feeds for Blogs—The Law Library can assist you with setting up RSS feeds to particular blogs or news sites.
   
• Email Alerts Available:
  • Chronicle of Higher Education—Academe Today (weekdays)—Receive news from the authoritative source of news, information, and jobs for academia and higher education. This source links to fully accessible articles and offers email alerts for Academe Today.
  • SSRN—Includes Legal Scholarship Network (LSN) Legal Writing eJournal, LSN Law Educator, LSN Professional Announcements, and Calls for Papers.
  • BNA Highlights (150+ to choose from)—Weekly (Account set up required).
  • The Texas Supreme Court Journal—Weekly, every Monday in PDF.

For a complete list of databases or blogs that offer email alerts in your area of interest, please contact your Library Information Consultant.

Routing

At the request of faculty, the Law Library can route serial items to faculty mailboxes. Some of the more popular routed materials include:

Law School Exam Database

PDF copies of past law school examinations are available in the Exam Archive. The Exam Archive is a wonderful tool for students looking for sample multiple choice or essay questions for exam study. Faculty might assign specific questions from the Exam Archive to provide formative assessment to students during the course of the semester.

Other Library-Related Matters

Faculty will be notified via email or the monthly Law Library newsletter for other library-related matters such as:

• Information regarding orders for books or other items
• New library services or changes in procedures
• Comments and suggestions about library services

The Law Library is happy to assist you. Faculty who are in need of assistance can contact their Library Information Consultant. 

Reference Service

The professional Law Librarians have considerable experience providing assistance to all patrons who visit the Law Library.

Reference services include assistance with:

• Searching and locating traditional law library materials (e.g., books, law reviews, looseleaf services).
• Using online databases (e.g., HeinOnline, Lexis Advance, ProQuest Congressional Publications, Bloomberg Law, and Westlaw).
• Research involving any legal and non-legal subject matter. 

For reference assistance, please stop by the Research & Information Desk in the first floor of the Law Library OR by any of the following methods:

• E-Mail: reference.law@ttu.edu
• Phone: (806) 742-7155

Check Out/Renew Items

The first time that faculty check out items from the Law Library, they must present a current Texas Tech University identification card to a Circulation Desk attendant. Once Circulation has entered the necessary information, faculty will NOT need an ID when borrowing Law Library materials.

Renewing items can be done in person, by phone, or via email. The loan period for books is generally one year. All other loan periods vary.

Interlibrary Loan Service (ILL)

If faculty need an item that the Law Library does not own, the faculty member can obtain the item through ILL.

ILL generally takes six business days to arrive at the Law School. Please be mindful that it is up to the lending library to fill or decline the request. 

To place an order for ILL, please fill out the ILL request form. 

Course Reserves

The Law Library can set up course reserves for classes at faculty request. Course reserve items are held behind the Circulation Desk during the length of the course. Textbooks:  Required textbooks are obtained and placed on course reserve at the start of each semester.

At the end of each semester, course reserve items are automatically removed from reserve and put back into the regular collection. Contact the Circulation Desk at circulation.law@ttu.edu or by calling 806-742-3957 if you wish to place any materials on course reserve.