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Resources for First-Year Law Students

This guide contains information to help first year law students (1Ls) survive their first year of law school. It provides information on many different library resources to help them succeed in their first year classes and beyond.

Introduction

Welcome

The NCCU School of Law Library extends a special welcome to the first year law students! The Law Library occupies a central place in the lives of law students and faculty. Law students, especially 1Ls, spend a great deal of time in the library studying and doing legal research. The Law Library staff is a group of highly skilled persons who are here to assist you with your legal research needs.

This LibGuide will help 1Ls locate resources found in both the NCCU Law Library and online to assist them with succeeding during their first year of law school.  

During 1L year, required coursework includes civil procedure, contracts, criminal law, legal research and writing, property law, and torts.  These courses are all challenging in their own ways.  To learn about resources available to help meet those challenges, select the appropriate course tab on the left. These resources include books, CDs, and online materials focused on preparing for law school course work and exams, resources for each 1L course, and resources for navigating the Law Library.

The mission of NCCU Law Library is to provide information services and resources that promote the performance of high-quality legal research activities by our faculty, students, staff and community. The Law Library accomplishes this by providing: (1) research and reference services by trained legal and library professionals in support of the needs of the university, alumni, legal and local communities; (2) access to information resources that support the law school’s curriculum, programs and organizations; and (3) space for faculty and students to engage in collaborative work, quiet study and innovative research using new and ground-breaking research products and techniques.

The Law Library's hours can be located here.

Information about borrowing materials can be found on the Borrow, Renew, Request Page.

CALI Lessons

CALI LogoThe Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI), is a non-profit consortium of mostly US law schools that conducts applied research and development in the area of computer-mediated legal education.  CALI was formed in 1982 by the University of Minnesota Law School and Harvard Law School.  CALI lessons are online exercises written by law professors and librarians.  CALI also offers a limited number of podcasts that are stand alone or paired with CALI Lessons.  These lessons allow law students to work through exercises in a variety of legal subjects and provide real-time feedback.  To access CALI for the first time, you will need to acquire an authorization code from your orientation packet or a Reference Librarian.

Registration is a simple process that should take about 2 minutes.  To register, you will need 1) NCCU's authorization code and 2) an email address.  For more information, visit CALI's Frequently Asked Questions page.  Then select REGISTRATION under USER ACCOUNTS.  Video walkthroughs are linked below for setting up your CALI account and retrieving your password.

The individual topic pages in this guide will link to 1) the Subject Area Index, which lists all CALI lessons covering the listed topic, and 2) select lessons for each topic.  Each Subject Area Index contains many more lessons on each topic.

How To Get Help

Navigating the array of resources available to you may appear a daunting task.  Our highly trained reference librarians are available to help 1Ls navigate this new territory.

Ask a Law Librarian

Professional librarians are available to assist students with the location of information and efficient use of print and electronic resources. The Law Library provides reference services via email, text, phone, and virtual appointment. To schedule an appointment, please utilize the form available here

Email

Students may also contact members of the Law Library reference staff directly at referencelaw@nccu.edu. Reference staff check this email daily, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays and vacation periods. You may expect a reply to your question within one business day from the time a librarian receives it.