Change in Library Hours This Week.

With finals ending, the Fred Parks Law Library will be closing at 9pm this week, starting on Wednesday. The library will also be closed on Sunday.

Library Closed to public December 23

The Fred Parks Law Library will be closed to the public to allow the library staff to work on special projects. Students, staff, and faculty may still request services and the use of the library if necessary. The front doors will be locked, however if members of the South Texas College of Law community would like to use the library or request a service they may call the Patron Services Desk at 713-646-1711.

Library Gets New Color Scanner!

Students and other patrons of the Fred Parks Law Library will be happy to know that the library now officially has a scanner for public use. The new scanner is located near the front entrance of the library by the Patron Services desk. Some features of the new scanner:

• Scans in color or black and white
• Document feeder to scan multiple pages at once
• Scans can be saved to a USB drive or emailed
• Scans can be saved as Word, PDF, or TIFF files
• A touchscreen to guide users through simple steps

The library staff hopes the new scanner will help students and visitors have a more enjoyable and helpful library experience.

New Library Policies on Food

For those of you returning to the Fred Parks Law Library this fall you will probably notice a large sign near the 2nd floor elevators alerting you to a new and, probably, long awaited policy regarding food in the library. Patrons visiting the library are now allowed to bring food in and eat while they study. There are of course some guidelines, which are prominently displayed on the new sign: Covered Drinks, Cold Snacks, Clean up.

Covered Drinks: the policy regarding the types of containers you can use to drink liquids remains the same. All containers must have secure lids to prevent spilling. Examples of appropriate and non-appropriate containers are located in the glass case by the 2nd floor elevators.

Cold Snacks: As a courtesy to other patrons, we ask that you not bring in food that is hot or smelly. Basically, if you have to heat it up, it isn't allowed. Examples of appropriate and non-appropriate foods are also located in the glass case by the 2nd floor elevators.

Clean Up: When you are done eating, please dispose of your trash in the large trash cans that will be located on each floor. There will be one located by the elevators and and another convenient location on each floor, including extras in the lounge area on the 3rd floor.

Please keep in mind, the library has approved this new policy on a trail basis. We are depending on our students, alumni, and other visitors to the library to be responsible and follow the guidelines, in the hopes that everyone can enjoy their experience while visiting.

Extended Hours for Library During Finals

Fred Parks Law Library will extend hours April 29-May 14 2010. We will be open until 2:00am during this period (no library services from midnight until 2:00am).

The Fred Parks Law Library provides a variety of spaces for study and meetings by currently enrolled South Texas students. Room capacity varies from 2-8 persons. Rooms are available on a first come, first serve basis. Rooms left unattended for more than 20 minutes will result in loss of room.

Group size has to be appropriate for room capacity.

Serveal areas of the library are reserved specifically for quiet study during finals. During finals the 1st floor, 4th floor, and 5th floor are ultra quiet areas. Cell phones, beepers, and coversations are not allowed as a courtesy to other patrons.

Food and beverages in unapproved containers are not allowed in the library.

Library Hours

The hours of the Fred Parks Law Library have returned to normal operating hours. The staff wishes all our graduates good luck on the bar exam!

EBSCO Titles on Google Scholar

Many members of the South Texas College of Law should be familiar with the databases available via Stanley in the Electronic Resources channel on the Library tab. This conveniently allows you to access databases away from the South Texas campus.

The Fred Parks Law Library has recently joined a program with Google Scholar to allow you to access the same journals available in EBSCO databases, such as MEDLINE and Academic Search Complete, in Google Scholar search results. Now if you are on the South Texas campus and searching for titles in Google Scholar a link will automatically appear next to the title of a result linking to the full text.

There is nothing extra you as a researcher need to do. Simply type your query in Google Scholar, hit search and if the result is available in an EBSCO database there will be a link next to the result taking you directly to the article.

The Fred Parks Law Library Honors Banned Books Week

by Adrienne Cobb, Reference Librarian

The week of September 27-October 4 the Fred Parks Law Library will be honoring Banned Books Week. Banned Books week was started to celebrate the freedom to read. You can learn more about this observance at the American Library Association (ALA) website. Each year they also post a list of the most frequently challenged books on their site.

Books are banned in schools and libraries in the United States for a variety of reasons including political, sexual, religious, and social. Banned Books week helps to raise awareness in hopes of challenging the banning of books in order to promote the free flow of ideas in American society. There have been a number of legal cases and laws involving censorship that legal scholars may be interested in. These include:

Sund v. City of Wichita Falls, 121 F.Supp. 2d 530: Public library patrons brought action to enjoin enforcement of city's resolution that gave library card holders the right to censor children's books by having books removed from children's area of library to adult section.

Campbell v. St. Tammany Parish School Board, 64 F.3d 184: Parents brought suit against school board that removed all copies of book from parish school libraries.

Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, 484 U.S. 260: Staff members of high school newspaper filed First Amendment action seeking injunctive relief, money damages and declaration that First Amendment rights were violated by censorship of certain articles.

Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District No. 26 v. Pico, 457 U.S. 853: An action was brought seeking declaratory and injunctive relief with respect to removal by defendant board of education of certain books from school libraries.

The Patriot Act section 215: (P.L. 107-56)

To honor this event the Fred Parks Law Library will join the ACLU in hosting an event at the South Texas College of Law campus. During this event several members of the South Texas College of law and the ACLU will be reading passages from books that have been banned. This year's event will take place in the student lounge on Thursday October 9 from 12:00pm-2:30pm. Refreshments will be served.

Please also feel free to view the display in the foyer of the Fred Parks Law Library honoring Banned Books Week.

New Weekly Legal Information Resources

Starting this week, the Fred Parks Law Library will begin offering links and information on legal resources available through the library.

Each Tuesday you will learn about a particular legal resource available through the Fred Parks Law Library. These resources will include information on databases, print materials, and other sources that law students and legal researchers may find valuable.

So be sure to check in every Tuesday to learn more!

New Summer Holiday Hours

On Friday, July 4th of 2008 the Fred Parks Library will be closed. Regular summer hours will resume the next day on Saturday.