The University of Alabama School of Law
The University of Alabama School of Law
As faculty, you are able to borrow books from our library for a full academic year and there are several ways you can go about checking out books from our library. One way is to come to the library and check out the book yourself. Another is to email Lauren Hash, and she will retrieve the books from the collection, check them out, and bring them either to your office or to your Administrative Assistant. If you want the book brought to your office and you aren't in at the time of drop off, the book will be placed in your door box for when you return.
Main campus libraries are moving away from the proxy system so, going forward, we ask that you use Gorgas' book requesting system when you need to request a book from a library on campus. To check out a book from main campus libraries, first, find the book in the catalog. Once you've found the book or item you're looking for, select "Request Item."
This will take you to a log in page, where you will log in using your MyBama account. After you log in, you'll be taken to a page asking you to select a document delivery type, where you'll want to select "UA Materials Express." The easiest option is to select the link on the homepage, but you can also find it under the "New Requests" tab.
After selecting "UA Materials Express," you will then have to fill out a form, part of which you can see below, where you will need to input information about the resource, such as Author, Title, etc. If you are on this page after following the "Request Item" link, it should populate the information for you.
There are several things to note. First, at the very top of the form, you'll notice a question asking if this is a "Serial loan request." Make sure you remember to switch it to "No."
For "Status," you'll want to put in "Faculty." You might notice that, as soon as you've changed the status to "Faculty," a new text box pops up asking for your "Campus mailbox." Put your individual P.O. Box here and they will deliver the requested material to you within 2-3 days following your request. You will likely get an email about your request about your book being delivered but you will not have the book yet. It is our understanding that this email is sent either when the book has been checked out to you or once it has been placed in the mail for delivery. Please allow for another 1-2 days upon receipt of this email for the book to be delivered. If it still hasn't been delivered, please contact Gorgas' ILL department at 205-348-2366 or illstaff@ua.edu.
You might also notice that there is a question asking for the "Call Number" and if the book is an "Archival Facility Item." To find this information, simply go back to the catalog page for the book and scroll to the bottom. Please note that, for the question asking if the book is from the Archival Facility, you aren't required to answer it to submit the request, however, if the book is located at the Archival Facility, you will probably get the materials faster if you say yes.
We do ask that you primarily follow their request process when you need something from across campus, however, if there is ever a request that must be obtained quickly, a member of the library staff can retrieve the item. Please reserve this for when it is absolutely necessary.
We can still return items for you once you are finished with them.
Books that have been borrowed from the Law Library will be automatically renewed, however, books from Gorgas will need to be individually renewed. If you ever need to renew a book throughout the semester, simply go to Gorgas' main page and look for the account icon in the top right hand corner.
Once you've found that and you've selected it, you will see the option for "My Account (Catalog)." Follow this link to the log in page, where you will need your CWID to finish the log in process. Once you've logged in, you'll be able to see what books you currently have checked out, when they're due, and the option to renew.
Additionally, a librarian from Gorgas visits the Law School once a year, usually around May or June, to renew their books. Please make sure that, when it comes time for the renewal, have all of the Gorgas books that need renewed available and ready as they do want access to the book when they renew it.
Lauren Hash serves as the intermediary between the Law Library and the faculty, providing a convenient, single point of contact for all library-related services and assistance to help ensure prompt, consistent, and high-quality faculty support services. The Faculty Services Liaison will provide support services to members of the faculty and will coordinate with others in the library or other campus department as necessary.
Some examples of services that are provided by the Faculty Services Liaison may include:
Course Reserves contains any additional materials that UA faculty want to make available to their students during a semester. Before the start of a new semester, a librarian will contact UA faculty to determine whether professors wish to place materials on Course Reserves, and, if so, what materials they wish to place on Course Reserve. A member of library staff will then locate these materials and move them from the main collection or general reserve onto Course Reserve. These materials will then be placed behind the circulation desk, where they can be checked out for a 4 hour period. At the end of the semester, a librarian will take the materials off of Course Reserve and will take them back to where they came from.
If you decide to add a source to the Course Reserve during the semester, please provide the library with 24 hours notice to process the request before announcing to students that the materials are available on Course Reserve.
Please contact Lauren Hash with any questions or if you have any materials you wish to place on Course Reserve.
At the conclusion of each semester, you will receive an email containing a survey from the Registrar's Office. One of the questions on the survey asks whether you want to make your exam for the semester accessible to students. If you decide to do so, the exam will be given to the library so that we can post it on our website for students to see. You can also directly provide the exam to Iain Barksdale.
Occasionally, you will encounter a situation where you aren't able to locate a resource in the Bounds Law Library catalog or the University of Alabama library system's catalog. When that happens, you can request a book from a library that is outside of our collection through a process known as Interlibrary Loan (ILL). There are several ways you can request a book. One way is to use this form to place an interlibrary loan request. Please include as much information as possible about the resource you are requesting. You can also email the request to Lauren Hash.