We do training in one service in the fall, usually in October, and one
in the spring, usually in January. We alternate which service goes first.
We take advantage of the similar connector structure in both and try to
build on the fall training in the spring. For example, we concentrate on
the process of designing and drafting a boolean search in the fall semester
and move on to field searching, keynote searching and other means of refining
a search in the spring.
Mary Brandt Jensen University of South Dakota
Director of the Law Library School of Law
Associate Professor of Law 414 E. Clark St.
MJENSEN@CHARLIE.USD.EDU Vermillion, SD 57069-2390
(605) 677 6363 Fax (605) 677 6357
-------------------original message--------------------------
Subj: Westlaw/Lexis training
From: pgeorge@Law.USC.EDU (Paul George - x06482)
Bruce Johnson, currently at OSU and formerly at
USC's east coast campus, raised a good question the
other day about the timing of the Westlaw/Lexis
training for first year law students. At
the University of Southern California we switched our
training from the spring semester to the fall
semester about three years ago. We thought this
might integrate the online services more with the book
sources and help demystify CALR. Students tended to
believe we were holding something back from them. To
help with this we required the students to complete
exercises which combined questions that could be
answered using online sources as well as those that
could only be answered with book sources.
While we have attempted to integrate book and online
sources, students have tended to do all of their research
online. Moving the training back to the spring would
at least provide one semester during which they have
to become more familiar with the book sources and possibly give them some (minimimal) basis for later
making well-reasoned choices between book and
online sources. We are also attempting to respond to
information from law firm librarians (and students
returning from summer associate positions) that CALR
is declining and a greater emphasis is being placed
on book sources.
I would like to hear whether other schools have
switched the initial CALR training to the fall
semester and whether you have found the results
to be better or any different than when training
was in the spring semester.
For those schools who still train in the spring
semester, what do you do about first year students
who want to search NALP and MARHUB in November and
December?
If I get enough responses, I'll be glad to summarize
for the list. Thanks.
Paul George
University of Southern California Law Library
University Park MC 0072
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0072
(213) 740-6482
pgeorge@law.usc.edu
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