ZiefBrief

Kindle Textbook Rental Service Now Available

Tired of carrying heavy textbooks around?  Now some law textbooks are available for rent through Amazon’s Kindle rental service.  You don’t even have to own a Kindle to use the service. You can simply download a free Kindle reading app for any of the following: PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android Windows Phone 7, Blackberry or Kindle. 

According to Amazon, you can save up to 80% off the list price of the printed version of the textbook.  Further, you can typically rent a textbook for between 30 and 360 days.  If you begin with the minimum you can always extend your rental for additional days if you’d like and you pay only for the time you need to rent the book.  You also get to keep any highlights or notes you make even after the rental period expires. 

To find a book, you just search in Amazon’s Textbooks Store and search for the book you want, either by title or by browsing the Law section.  Then look in the Formats section to see if a Kindle edition is available for rent and specify your rental dates.  Be careful, though, as some Kindle editions are only available for purchase.  Make sure you don’t accidentally buy something.  Also, before renting, be sure to compare the price of the Kindle rental to that of a new or used print version of the casebook just to make sure you’re getting the best deal. 

So far many legal textbooks do not have an electronic version available. However, Amazon’s Kindle rental program is a good start.  Hopefully, Amazon will offer more electronic versions of textbooks in the future.  For more details about the Kindle rental service, visit Amazon. 

You Won't Know Everything on the Bar Exam

The bar exam is looming for our recent graduates. I saw this reassuring post on MsJD and thought I'd pass it along. The blogger confesses that she flubbed an essay and a portion of one of the performance tests on the California bar exam (Quote:"when I got to the question, I was baffled. What was the question even getting at?"). And guess what, she still passed! I had a similar experience. On the first day, I felt like my answer on one of the essays and my entire performance test response were horrible.  At the end of the first day, I seriously considered not going back for Day Two, convinced that I had ruined my chances of passing. But a calmer, more rational mind prevailed (my husband's), and I went back and sailed through Days Two and Three relatively serenely.  And yes, I passed.  You won't know everything on the bar exam.  If you hit an incomprehensible patch, don't panic.  Take several deep breaths, then do the best you can with the pesky parts.  When you're finished, don't allow the memory of the rough patches to completely rattle you.  Focus on the parts that you felt confident about (yes, there will be times when you feel triumphant and masterful during the bar exam, unless you spent all of June and July goofing off).  When it's over, go do something fun and be very, very nice to the friends and family who were supportive of you while you were studying.

Harvard Law Digitizes Past Exams, 1871-1998

Harvard Law Library has digitized past law school exams from 1871 to 1998 and made them publicly available on this page.

Free Access to Examples & Explanations Series on Google Books

The John Marshall Law School library blog pointed out today that law students can access a significant portion of the Examples & Explanations exam prep series on Google Books.  The entire full-text of the books in the series is usually not available, but you can view much more than the usual "snippet" that you usually see on Google Books. The USF law library carries most of the books in this popular series in print, and we have multiple copies, but during exam time, they are in high demand.  If students are not able to find a copy on our shelves, accessing through Google Books is a good back-up strategy. Thanks to our colleagues in Illinois for the great tip!

Rent a Casebook from West

If your professor assigns a West-published casebook for your class, you may have the option of renting the casebook and saving a bit of money.  According to West, you can write and highlight in your rented casebook, and you won't be penalized for doing so.  Renting the casebook also gives you access to an electronic version of the casebook for the duration of the semester.  BUT you can only access the electronic version on a PC or Mac - no Kindle, iPad, or Nook access exists at this time. To find out more, visit the West FAQ page on the rental program.

Cal Bar Website: Past Questions With Sample Answers

We wanted to remind our graduating students who are tackling the bar this summer about the State Bar of California's website, which offers access to almost a decade's worth of past bar exam questions with sample answers.  The page includes questions and answers from both the essay and performance test portions of the California bar exam.

Everyone Wants to Help You Get Through Law School

Oh, maybe not everyone.... But lots of blogging law professors do, and Paul Caron of the TaxProf Blog has helpfully collected their posts in his post, Advice for the Incoming Law School Class of 2009.

Your own professors would like to help, too. If they aren't the Web 2.0 kind, visit them during their office hours and ask them for their law school survival tips.

Nailing the First Year of Law School - Help is Out There

At this time of year, as the new law students arrive, we at ZiefBrief can feel the anxiety in the air, as 1Ls wonder if they'll be able to cope with law school.  (Confidential to new USF law students: you bet you can cope!  Our admissions office has as great track record identifying people who can succeed in law school, and you're here because they know you can hack it.)

Well, legal publishers must be able to feel the anxiety, too, and for them it signals an opportunity to try to sell books about surviving in law school. The Zief Library has bought a lot of these books so that you don't have to.

Our Succeeding in Law School research guide lists a few of the books on handling the demands of law school. It includes books dealing in general advice as well as books focusing on specific topics like taking exams and doing legal research and writing.  And our advice in a nutshell: yes, law school is a lot of work and the first year makes everyone feel stupid, but take a deep breath and remember that you are smart and capable, and you'll do fine.

Good Luck on the Bar Exam!

Best of luck on the bar exam to all of our recent grads - you're going to do just fine!

Preparing for Exams with CALI

Zief librarians are starting to see a surge of interest in the library's exam preparation materials, so it seems like a good time to remind students that some of the best exam prep material can be found online on CALI.  The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction has hundreds of online tutorials written by law professors covering first-year and upper-level law school subjects.  Many of these lessons include multiple-choice questions that allow you to test your comprehension of different legal concepts.  Most of you should already be registered for CALI because LRWA instructors require students to complete a CALI lesson early in the fall semester, but if you need the student registration code or would like some help accessing CALI lessons, contact a librarian.