Summer RA Workshop - 2024

Summer RAs can tour the library, our collections, and our services virtually via the MacMillan Law Library (MLL) website.  The MLL website is our primary research portal, and includes links to databases, Emory’s catalog, WorldCat, ILLiad (for ILL requests), research support, finding aids, and other library services.  Students can also find important information about library operations, such as library hours, staff, borrowing policies, and study room reservations. 

Additional links to research guides, study aids, and descriptions of our numerous collections, including the law school archives, rare books, leisure reading, Feminism and Legal Theory, and other special collections are available on the MLL home page.

Research guides are a tool to make legal research and your life this summer easier and go more smoothly.  A Legal Research Guide is a reliable exploration of an area of law and the main resources you should use to perform research in that area.  Research guides succinctly introduce and discuss the area of law (for example, intellectual property law) and then provide an annotated list of resources or online links you can use when researching in that particular area of law.  Using a research guide will teach you some basics, save you time and point you to reliable resources.  An on point legal research guide can help you hit the legal research ground running.

The MacMillan Law Library currently has over 50 research guides under the “Library Research Guides” link on the library home page.  The guides were drafted by the reference librarians using a software platform called “Libguides”.  Sometimes we refer to our research guides as “our Libguides”.   The guides open to a general introductory page with targeted tabs across the top of it.  Each tab contains more detailed information, links and guidance on researching within your legal area.  Checking the list of research guides that Emory has available should be one of the first things you do when you begin your legal research projects this summer.  

MacMillan Law Library Research Guides       

If you need to contact one of the librarians you met at the RA Workshop, click the library staff link here to access the staff directory; or, if on our home page, go to “About the Library” (top left column of our website) and select "Library Staff."  The MLL staff is comprised of friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful professionals who are ready to assist you. We are just an email or phone call away!

Lost?  Not quite sure how to find library materials?  Answers to these questions and more are accessible through the MLL home page.

Under "Our Services," choose 

• Finding Materials, for help using 
  • Library of Congress (LC) Classification chart, which is useful if you want to browse print materials by topic.
  • Tips for using Library Search, Emory's universal catalog of print and electronic resources held in all of Emory’s libraries.
  • Links to MLL Research Guides, should you need help finding pertinent sources related to a specific topic.

• Interlibrary Loans, to learn more about ILLiad, Emory's online system for requesting print or electronic resources not held in Emory's collection.  Note: Many libraries all over the world lend to Emory faculty, students, and staff. 
  • ​If you are you looking for materials not available at Emory, try searching WorldCat.  WorldCat is used in conjunction with ILLiad and is the largest catalog of print and electronic collections held in libraries around the world.   

Several more options are available under "Our Services."  Be sure to spend a little time familiarizing yourself with our website before your research begins.

Tips for Accessing Material Remotely: 

• Visit Emory Library's Working Remotely: Search Hints and Tips
• Enable Findit @ Emory on Google Scholar. Navigate to Settings/Library Links and enable Findit @ Emory. If you have access through Emory, you can quickly get to links. 
• Install Unpaywall, a browser plug-in that can help you get to open access content when searching external databases like PubMed.

Finding and accessing legal databases is a much easier task when launching your search from the MLL website.  Direct links to databases are available for easy access to Emory's subscription-based and free sources. 

Click here to browse our alphabetical list of databases or to search for legal databases by subject.  Quick links to frequently used databases are also available on the MLL home page. 

Researchers can link to free law-related electronic sources by choosing from our suggested list of primary sources, secondary sources, and foreign law and international sources.    

If you need interdisciplinary sources, click here, or select “Databases” from the left-side menu on the MLL Electronic Resources page.  From this access point, you will be able to browse Woodruff Library’s full collection of databases (i.e., Databases@Emory).  To view a list of suggested databases for interdisciplinary journals and statistics, click here to jump to the "Beyond Westlaw & Lexis" tab in this guide.

Have a question for the Law Library?  Reach out to us via one of our question forms:

Faculty Research or Staff Question?
Please complete our Faculty Request form.

Student Research Question?
Please complete our Student Research Request form. 

MacMillan Library Hybrid Research Services:

          Monday - Friday: 9am - 5pm
          Saturday - Sunday: Closed 

MacMillan Library Building Hours (May 13 - August 16, 2024):

Monday - Friday: 9am - 6pm
Saturday - Sunday: Closed

Reference Desk:*
Monday: 1pm - 3pm
Tuesday: 10am - 12pm; Virtual only: 1pm - 3pm
Wednesday: 10am - 12pm; Virtual only: 2pm - 4pm
Thursday: 10am - 12pm; Virtual only: 1pm - 3pm
Friday: 10am - 12pm
Saturday and Sunday: Closed
*Closed July 15 - August 9, 2024

IT Help Desk:
Monday - Friday: 
Saturday - Sunday: Closed

Emory Law Archives:
Physical archives: By appointment only.
Digital archives: More information available here. 
Limited remote services are available on a case-by-case basis. 
Questions?  Email Anna Sturgill, Law Librarian for Archives and Assessment Services