Tip: BLS Library generally provides (on Reserve) 1 copy of adopted course texts. During the fall/spring semesters, workers staff BLS Library’s circulation desk beginning at 8 am on M-F. The availability of adopted course texts is often good on early weekday mornings. Also, the BLS student chapter of the National Lawyers Guild organizes a textbook exchange, and BLS students can contact this chapter at nlg@brooklaw.edu
Note: BLS Library determines course adoptions using faculty submissions to Akademos.
If your textbook publisher is Aspen Publishing:
Aspen Publishing created a BLS-specific purchase portal, so that all BLS students (not just those new to Aspen) can obtain a 15% discount on their orders of educator-selected Aspen course texts. Note: This portal facilitates purchase of current editions of Aspen course texts. BLS students can purchase their course materials by searching a course number or a professor’s name, clicking on the “View Course Titles” button, and adding the corresponding products to their cart. Tip: BLS students need to register with a BLS email address and to select "Brooklyn Law School" as their school.
Aspen Access will provide a 15% discount on all educator-selected Aspen course titles purchased through its BLS-specific purchase portal, regardless of the format. In order for this discount to be applied at checkout, BLS students simply need to create an account on Aspen Publishing.com using their BLS email address, then to verify the BLS email address. (No coupon code needed.) Verification is most often done at the time of creating an account but can also be done on the My Account page when logged in. Any unverified account will see an "Email Address Not Verified" warning on the My Account page.
If you experience any issues, Aspen Publishing.com provides both “Visit Our Help Center” and “Contact Us” links (near bottom of web page).
If your textbook publisher is West Academic or Foundation Press:
Beginning on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024: Brooklyn Law School opted in to West Academic’s Early eBook Access Program. This program provides BLS students free, temporary access to adopted West Academic and Foundation Press ebooks one week before classes start and for the first two weeks of class. It is designed to help with any inventory, shipping, financial aid, or drop/add period issues.
Beginning on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024: BLS students can create an account or sign in with their school email address at eproducts.westacademic.com. Students who experience any issues or have specific questions can contact the account manager for Brooklyn Law School: Dan Madonna, Dan.Madonna@WestAcademic.com.
West Academic stated in a recent email: “If students would like to continue their access after the trial ends, they have the option to purchase a discounted eBook on their bookshelf. A 15% discount will be applied at checkout and all notes and highlights will appear when they sign in.” BLS students also can refer to the West Academic instructions linked below.
BLS Library provides first-year casebooks adopted by BLS faculty and a wide selection of related study aids. Click the links below to view sources by subject. Many current editions of print study aids are "on Reserve" in BLS Library. You can request these sources at the library's first-floor circulation desk.
Some BLS professors assign or recommend CALI exercises to reinforce material covered in classes. You can browse CALI lessons by subject. You also can identify CALI lessons through BLS Library's SARA catalog. BLS first-year students receive a CALI authorization code during 1L Library Orientation. Enter this code the first time you sign in to CALI. Also feel free to contact askthelibrary@brooklaw.edu or to text (718) 734-2432 to obtain this code.
Study aids are secondary legal resources that cover specific areas of law. The three types of study aids below provide explanations, analyses, critiques and overviews of legal topics. Students can use treatises, hornbooks and nutshells to obtain an overview of legal topics and to review concepts learned in Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law, Legal Research, Property and Torts.
Treatises are works written by legal scholars that cover a specific area of law in great detail. They provide detailed legal analysis. Treatises include many references to related sources in footnotes and in appendices. They can be single-volume or multi-volume works. Treatises are primarily geared toward legal scholars and practitioners, but they also can be helpful to law students.
Hornbooks are primers for study. The term "hornbook" originated in England. In U.S. law, a hornbook is a text that gives an overview of a particular area of law. A law hornbook is a type of treatise, usually one volume, which might be a briefer version of a longer, multi-volume treatise. Students in U.S. law schools often use hornbooks as supplements to casebooks.
Nutshells are short volumes that provide simple overviews of areas of law. Nutshells provide few, if any, references to other sources and are considered the most basic secondary source on a legal topic. They might assist non-lawyers and law students. All nutshells published by West Academic include the word "nutshell" in the title. Never cite a nutshell in a legal document.
The library has study aids available in both print and ebook formats. To view many ebook study aids available through BLS Library, visit Aspen Learning Library. (In BLS Library's SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - ASPEN.)