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Library

Student Resources

Villanova Law Library - Matthew McGovern, Karen Gause, Casey Romero

 

Librarians are available for consultation Monday - Friday, 9 AM - 5 PM, during the fall and spring semesters and during the summer.  For evening and weekend assistance, email reference@law.villanova.edu

 

  • Reference Email – reference@law.villanova.edu.  Messages are typically handled by the reference librarians within 24 hours.
  • Study Rooms - There are seven group study rooms available in the library and three on the third floor of the classroom wing of the law school. Rooms are intended for group study and must be used by two or more students at a time. Students can reserve a room for 2 hours per 24 hour period.  Reserve one of these rooms online at villanova.libcal.com
  • Appointments - Reference Librarians are available for individual appointments via phone, email or Zoom. See the Library Staff Directory for contact information.
  • Access to other university libraries – if you would like to visit the library of another university to use materials not available on campus or through interlibrary loan, please ask one of the law librarians to assist you in contacting the library and arranging for access.

 

  • Law students may borrow print materials from the Law Library for 28 days. Items on Reserve may be checked out for 2 hours at a time and must be used within the library.
  • Students can browse the shelf and pick out items for checkout or use the Law Library Book Concierge Service to minimize handling of library materials. Requested items will be checked out to the requestor and made available for pickup in the self-service 24/7 Book Pickup Area located on the first floor of the Law Library. Orders will be bagged and labeled with student’s name. 
  • Law students also have borrowing privileges at Falvey Library, the main University library. Please utilize Falvey's Contactless Pickup.
  • Books and articles not available on campus may be requested through interlibrary loan.  Interlibrary loan requests may be submitted electronically using the interlibrary loan form.

 

  • Computers are available for student use within the Library.  Use of the Law Library computer facilities is limited to Villanova Law students by password login to the network.
  • University Information Technology Services (UNIT) offers remote assistance.
  • Print/copy machines are located on each floor of the Library.  See the library map for the location of the machines on each floor.
    • The print/copy machines are Wildcard-operated.  Each student will be allocated $100 of free printing per year.
    • Additional pages will be available via charge to the student's Wildcard for 6 cents per copy. Scanning and emailing materials is free.
    • Learn how to connect to the printers here.
    • There are two Lexis printers in the print/copy room on the second floor of the Library.  There is no cost to use the Lexis printers. Students must send print jobs to the Lexis printers using the print command from their Lexis account.

 

Electronic Information Sources

  • Law Databases – This list contains links to the databases most often used by law students.
  • Villanova University e-Journal Finder – This search the University’s online journal subscriptions.  (NOTE: does not cover materials available through Bloomberg Law, Lexis, Westlaw, CCH Intelliconnect or RIA Checkpoint)
  • Villanova University Databases A-Z – This list contains links to the databases available to all Villanova students.

Print Information Sources

  • Law Library & University Catalog – Search the location and status of materials in the Library’s collection as well as resources available from Falvey Library (Villanova University library).
  • WorldCat – Search for detailed information about materials held by libraries throughout the world.  Worldcat is often used to determine whether nearby libraries have a particular book, journal or report.  It is also useful for identifying the exact title, author, publisher and/or publication date of an item not found in the Law Library or University Library catalog.

Graduate tax students have full use of Library facilities and services, including the law school computer network.  Library staff members are available to assist in student research and to provide instruction in computer-assisted legal research. An online Federal Tax Research Guide is also available.

The Library is accessible 24 hours a day throughout the year to accommodate students.  A law school student identification card, also known as a Villanova “Wildcard,” is required for use of the library and its elevator. 

Bloomberg Law, Lexis+ and Westlaw

Student accounts for Bloomberg Law, Lexis and Westlaw are available to graduate tax students.  Information about registering for a student account is provided during the orientation for the Graduate Tax Program.  Students who are unable to attend Orientation may contact Robert Hegadorn in the Law School Library to receive the materials necessary for registering a student account. Students who enter the Graduate Tax Program directly after completing their juris doctor  (J.D.) degrees will need new Bloomberg, Lexis and Westlaw accounts to use those research systems.

 

Specialty Tax Databases

  • BloombergLaw Tax Practice Center (Requires BloombergLaw Login)– This database provides electronic access to a large collection of BNA’s tax and accounting materials including current awareness reports and newsletters as well as the Tax Management Portfolios.
  • IntelliConnect (formerly CCH IntelliConnect) – This database provides electronic access to many of CCH’s tax publications including the material contained in the looseleaf service, the Standard Federal Tax Reporter.
  • Checkpoint (formerly RIA Checkpoint) – This database provides electronic access to many of RIA’s tax publications including the material contained in the looseleaf service United States Tax reporter and the Warren, Gorham & Lamont (WG&L) treatises.  RIA Checkpoint registration expires at the end of each semester.  For continued use students must register through an on-campus computer each semester or contact Robert Hegadorn for assistance.

Please see the Law Library Conduct Policy for expections for and limits on use of the library and its materials by community members and visitors.

  • Law Library Research Guides – These guides identify the best topic-related information sources available both for free and from library print and electronic collections. 
  • Villanova University Subject Guides – These guides identify the best topic-related information sources available in Falvey Library’s print and electronic resources.

Study Aids

  • Course Reserves – Books and other materials that the faculty requested the Library to keep on Reserve may be checked-out for limited periods of time at the Circulation Desk.

  • Hornbooks & Summaries – A collection of the most popular treatises, hornbooks and condensed legal summaries, including Nutshells, Examples & Explanations and the Black Letter Law series, are kept in the Library Reserve Room (on the first floor).  Please ask for them at the Circulation Desk or request pickup using the Law Library Book Concierge Service. Lists of available hornbooks can be found in the Study Aids, Strategies & Exam Prep LibGuide. 

  • Lexis Digital Library - online access to ebook versions of the Understanding and Questions and Answers series. Also offers audiobook versions of some Understanding titles. See the Study Aids Libguide for more information and links to specific titles by course. Also accessible directly from lawschool.lexis.com

  • Aspen Learning Library (formerly Wolters Kluwer Online Study Aids Library) - Collection of study aids in ebook format including Examples & Explanations, Glannon Guides, Crunchtime outlines and many more. See the Study Aids Libguide for more information. Must download the Aspen Learning App to download/read materials offline.

  • CALI Exercises – Online tutorials maintained by the Center for Computer Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) are available for student use.  Please visit the Library Circulation Desk to ask for a CALI card with the Law School login code or email Lori Corso for the access code.

Study Advice & Exam Strategy

Sample Exams

  • Students may access law school exams from prior semesters through the exam database.  NOTE: to access the exam database when off campus,  you must log in (using your single-sign credentials used to access Blackboard, MyNova etc.) through vDesktop. Please see the FAQs for vDesktop for more information.

Study Spaces

  • There are seven study rooms available in the Library, two each on the Second and Third Floors and three on the Lower Level.  Library study rooms must be used by groups of two or more students can be reserved online for a maximum of 2 hours per 24 hour period. 

  • Need a private space for a Zoom job interview? Career Strategy offers several interview rooms for students. 

  • Head phones and dry-erase markers for use in Library study rooms are available at the Circulation Desk.

 

Search for Library Resources

search.law.villanova.edu

Request a Law Library Book

 

Reserve a Study Space

 

New Library Acquisitions

Research Quick Links

Contact Us

Email Reference Librarians

Library Staff Directory

To see past exams of VLS professors, go to the Exam Database

Reference Hours:

Academic Year:
Mon - Fri: 9 AM - 5 PM

For evening and weekend assistance, email reference@law.villanova.edu

These hours are subject to change due to government orders or changes in university and law school policies.

For resources related to studying and exam preparation, click here