COVID-19 PANDEMIC ACADEMIC LAW LIBRARIES
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ACADEMIC LAW LIBRARIES & THE
EARLY DAYS OF THE
COVID-19
PANDEMIC
BY CLANITRA STEWART NEJDL & EDNA LEWIS
16 AALL SPECTRUM | WWW.AALLNET.ORG
How Vanderbilt University
Law Library and
UC Berkeley Law Library
reworked procedures
and services to preserve
their missions.
C
oronavirus disease The COVID-19 pandemic has sig- online. Zoom has been used to pro-
(COVID-19) and its nificantly changed how the Law Library vide recorded material to replace the
effects have dramatically has functioned. Physical access to the in-person lectures that were originally
changed the way that Law Library ceased on March 24, planned. Synchronous Zoom consul-
institutions and organiza- 2020. This was later than the originally tations were scheduled as needed to
tions function worldwide. scheduled date for closure of March address student questions.
Concerns about transmitting the dis- 20, 2020. However, students requested
ease have led to widespread changes in additional time to access the printers, Reference and Research Services
the provision of services and resources so Law Library Director Larry Reeves Traditionally, the Massey Law Library
to the public. Like other entities, law accommodated this request by opening provides in-person, telephone, and
libraries have had to make significant the Law Library to students himself email reference and research assistance
adjustments to safely meet the needs on March 23, 2020. Although physical to the Law School. COVID-19 made it
of their users. Academic law libraries, access has not returned as of July 2020, impossible to continue in-person refer-
for example, have had to creatively the services and resources provided ence and research services during the
rework their procedures and services to continue. Thus far, three major areas rest of spring 2020, but services were
support law schools’ efforts to preserve of Law Library activity have been still provided remotely. In fact, to more
their missions during the pandemic. affected by the pandemic: legal research quickly respond to user needs during
This article provides an overview of instruction; provision of reference and the closure, the Law Library imple-
how two academic law libraries—the research services; and access to Law mented a live chat reference service
Massey Law Library at Vanderbilt Library resources. using LibChat from Springshare. This
University and the UC Berkeley Law service is available from 9:00 AM to
Library—navigated the early days of Legal Research Instruction 5:00 PM each weekday and has allowed
the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the first changes to Law Library the Law School community to receive
services at the beginning of the pan- help more quickly. It is likely that online
Initial Responses to COVID-19: demic was the modification of legal chat reference will continue for the
Massey Law Library at Vanderbilt research instruction. In-person classes foreseeable future, even after the Law
University across the university were canceled on Library reopens.
The Alyne Queener Massey Law March 11, 2020. Online instruction Law students and faculty have also
Library serves the faculty and students began on March 16, 2020. For both 1L sought more extensive real-time assis-
of Vanderbilt Law School. The Law and upper-level legal research instruc- tance. It is not unusual for students to
Library director and six full-time law tion, this meant speedily adjusting class request Zoom conferences to discuss
librarians provide support to 557 JD components for online implementation. questions. Law faculty have traditionally
students, 72 LLM students, 50 full- For spring 2020, there were five 1L contacted law librarians via email for
time faculty members, 91 non-full-time legal research class sessions scheduled, assistance and that has continued even
faculty members, and five academic the last of which was to be held the with the addition of live chat reference.
journals. Students regularly use the week of April 6, 2020. Law librarians However, law librarians do provide
Law Library as a place for study and quickly made changes to the session so Zoom consultations with faculty mem-
quiet gathering. Members of the it would work virtually. For upper-level bers as needed. For example, Zoom
public are also allowed access during legal research instruction, multiple class consultations were instrumental in
limited hours. sessions had to be revamped to be held helping address many faculty members’
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 | AALL SPECTRUM 17
the Law Library stopped physically
staffing the reference desk and pro-
viding in-person student reference
RESEARCH GUIDES appointments, instead offering chat
reference and Zoom appointments. On
These research guides provide answers to ¡ “Law Library FAQ,” bit.ly/SO20FAQ March 16, 2020, the Law Library was
the most common library-related ques- still open to students when Alameda
¡ “Law Library Interlibrary Loan,”
tions, walk users through the process of County announced that effective at
bit.ly/SO20loan
requesting electronic materials, explain midnight the county would move to
the changes to the Interlibrary Loan pro- ¡ “Lawyer Professional Development,” shelter in place.
cess, and highlight some COVID-19 issues bit.ly/SO20prodev (provides students With the Law School’s physical
and resources, respectively. with information on available continu- closure, the Law Library shifted to
ing legal education and professional a remote services model. The Law
¡ “Accessing Law Library Materials
development opportunities, as some
Online,” bit.ly/SO20Remote Library quickly produced a LibGuide
students have had their summer jobs
¡ “COVID-19 and Racism: Legislative postponed and need information about
entitled “Law Library in the Time
Responses,” bit.ly/SO20COVID (tracks activities to aid in their professional of COVID-19: General Shutdown
state and local laws passed to address growth during the hiatus.) Information,” explaining how services
racism and xenophobia since the would work during shutdown (read
pandemic started.) the guide at bit.ly/SO20libguide).
Our “Student Computing Guide”
was modified to add information on
using Zoom and to provide computer
chat support, since the computer lab
questions about their own online Berkeley School of Law (approxi- was inaccessible (read the guide at
instruction. In some cases, Zoom con- mately 1,100 students, 170 faculty, and bit.ly/SO20libguidecomputer). Like
sultations with the law librarians have other instructors), as well as several at Vanderbilt, the shutdown mostly
helped faculty members feel comfort- clinical programs and 13 student-run affected how the Law Library provided
able using the program. journals. As part of one of the state’s legal research instruction, reference
university systems, we are also open and research services, and access to
Law Library Resources to the public. There are 30 people on legal resources.
Of all the initial changes due to our Law Library staff, 10 of whom
COVID-19, perhaps most extensive routinely provide reference services. Legal Research Instruction
were those related to providing and We provide in-person, telephone, and The Zoom course instruction that
expanding Law Library resources. chat reference services. Students can began just prior to the shutdown contin-
Access to print Law Library materials schedule one-on-one focused research ued for the remainder of the semester.
was halted from March 23, 2020, until appointments with reference librarians. Law Library instructors met individu-
June 1, 2020. During that time, the Faculty use an online faculty research ally with students on Zoom as necessary.
Law Library was able to provide elec- request service and an online faculty Michael Levy, associate director and
tronic versions of many print resources. paging service. Librarians also teach Advanced Legal Research instructor,
Additionally, negotiation with vendors two legal research classes—Advanced notes that “every Zoom class session
often resulted in new or expanded Legal Research, and Foreign and was a learning session for instructors,
access to electronic resources on a International Legal Research. Students as we tried to find the most effective
temporary basis. On June 1, 2020, a routinely use the Law Library’s reading and inclusive use of the Zoom platform
book pick-up service was implemented rooms to study, our small study rooms (polls, breakout rooms, chat, live video
to allow students and faculty members to collaborate with other students, and of guest speakers). I would try different
to request print items by completing a our student computer lab for on-site approaches to engage students, but I
form provided in the library catalog. tech assistance and computer work. never knew in advance what would
Image © iStockPhoto.com/loops7/blackred
The item is then routed to a specific The COVID-19 impact on the Law work.” Instructors met during the
pick-up location. This service has School, and in turn the Law Library, semester and throughout the summer
proven to be very popular across the unfolded over a period of weeks in to discuss what worked and how best to
university library system. early March as the crisis in the San build a virtual classroom community to
Francisco Bay Area mounted. In prepare for fall virtual instruction.
Initial Responses to COVID-19: Law accordance with university guidelines,
Library at UC Berkeley Law School all Law School classes moved online Reference and Research Services
The UC Berkeley Law Library serves on March 9, 2020, using the Zoom Despite the physical closure of the Law
faculty, staff, and students of the UC platform. Beginning March 10, 2020, Library, our reference and research
18 AALL SPECTRUM | WWW.AALLNET.ORGservices adapted well to a remote format. electronically, and due to licensing 3 Remote reference services can be
The chat reference service continued restrictions and/or cost, it is not feasi- effective given the abundance of
Monday through Friday during regular ble to provide certain print resources electronic resources available. Still, the
reference desk hours. Students also used electronically.” process lacks the warmth of in-person
our online student reference appoint- The Law Library also reached out consultations;
ments service to schedule individual to the Law School with community
3 Access to casebooks, ebooks, data-
research appointments that the reference building resources during this extraor-
bases, and digital resources carried
librarians set up on Zoom. Since faculty dinary time. Reference librarians
academic law libraries through the
typically request research assistance presented a Zoom research series for
end of the spring semester. Still, some
through our online faculty requests ser- staff on basic legal research topics (e.g.,
portions of the collections exist only
vice, our interaction was relatively unaf- case law, statutes, secondary sources),
in print and cannot easily be replaced
fected, and we responded via email and which included remote access tips. We
electronically; and
Google document sharing. In general, used our “Hot Tips” scrolling fea-
reference librarians were able to assist ture on our website to post ongoing 3 Even though law librarians have
faculty and students effectively using a COVID-19 related news and resources proven their ability to endure through
combination of databases, ebooks, and of interest to the Law School com- tough times, we still miss the law stu-
other electronic resources. Dean Rowan, munity. The Law Library created two dents and faculty, our colleagues, and
director of reference, states, “I think lists based on recommendations from being at our wonderful law libraries.
students might have gotten more from the Law School community: “Gimme
individual Zoom meetings than they did Shelter,” a list of books, audiobooks, READ
from in-person ones, because they had and podcasts, and “Gimme Shelter, AALL’s Academic Law Librarians Special
no choice but to watch how we identified Part 2,” a list of streaming movies and Interest Section My Communities post
and navigated the tools via the screens TV shows that we posted to our web- “4 Student Services Topics in 4 Weeks” at
bit.ly/SO19ALLSIStopics.
we shared with them. It demonstrated site. (View “Gimme Shelter, Part 1” at
the superiority of showing rather than bit.ly/SO20part1 and “Gimme Shelter, AALL’s COVID-19 Resources & Information
telling.” Still, reference librarians missed Part 2” at bit.ly/SO20part2.) Since page at bit.ly/AALLCOVID19.
the easy on-site collaboration with col- we could no longer furnish our typical
leagues, the casual interactions with finals stress busters (e.g., candy, jigsaw
students in the Law Library, and the puzzles, plastic emotional support
Teaching + Training
print research collection. animals), we created and shared with
students a list of virtual “Top 10 Stress
Law Library Resources Busters from the Law Library” (bit.ly/
© 2020 BY CLANITRA STEWART NEJDL
With the closure, all access to print SO20stressbusters).
books and other physical material
ceased. We used our existing cata- Lessons for the Future
log to identify electronic sources for To quote from a classic Monty Python
materials on course reserve, although sketch: “Nobody expects the Spanish CLANITRA STEWART NEJDL
not all were available. Many publish- Inquisition!” Certainly, academic law RESEARCH SERVICES LIBRARIAN
libraries did not expect the changes AND LECTURER IN LAW
ers stepped up to provide temporary Vanderbilt University
access to casebooks through the end of brought about by COVID-19. There Alyne Queener Massey Law Library
spring semester, and the Law Library has been much commiseration about Nashville, TN
the rapid pivot needed to quickly plan clanitra.s.nejdl@vanderbilt.edu
created a “Casebook Access Guide”
for students posted on our website. We for providing exclusively virtual refer-
expanded our efforts to increase our ence and research services, modifying
© 2020 BY EDNA LEWIS
digital collections to support research legal research instruction, and enhanc-
and instruction by purchasing/licensing ing access to databases, ebooks, and
more digital content, as well as relying other resources. The good news for the
on services such as HathiTrust (a col- Massey and UC Berkeley law librarians
laborative effort with our main library). is that this period of learning has sharp- EDNA LEWIS
We modified our library catalog to ened our skills and led to some import- REFERENCE LIBRARIAN
ant realizations: UC Berkeley Law Library
create special electronic collections Berkeley, CA
and to add linking for new electronic 3 Class instruction via Zoom works and elewis@law.berkeley.edu
resources in both our database list and there are many ways to use the plat-
catalog. Yet, as our associate director form to engage students. However,
Marci Hoffman emphasizes, “Many it is not a perfect replacement for
of our print resources are not available in-person instruction;
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 | AALL SPECTRUM 19You can also read
