Faculty Services

Faculty may borrow books and other materials owned by the Law Library and other SU libraries. If materials are held by another SU library, we are happy to request them on your behalf and have them delivered to the Law Library. Items can be picked up and returned at the Law Library Circulation Desk. 

A Student Assistant (SA) or Research Assistant (RA) may borrow materials on your behalf using their SUID card. To set this up, email the Circulation Desk at lawcirc@syr.edu with your assistant's name, and let us know they may borrow books for you this academic year. We'll add them to your account as a proxy borrower. Please note that you remain responsible for all items borrowed on your behalf. 

Please note: we are unable to deliver books to faculty offices.

Articles and books not owned by the SU Libraries can be requested through Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Services. Please use our Request an Article or Book form. Our circulation staff will keep you updated throughout the process and will notify you when your item is ready for pickup at the Law Library Circulation Desk.

Have questions? Email us at lawreferencedesk@syr.edu or call 315.443.9560.

Reference librarians are happy to provide in-class tutorials or presentations on course-related research skills, legal databases, and other valuable resources upon request. This is supplementary instruction tailored to what you are already covering: you handle the substantive course material, and we focus on the research skills side.

To request classroom instruction and discuss details, please contact your liaison librarian or email lawreferencedesk@syr.edu.

We offer one-on-one consultations for students working on course-specific research projects, including developing research strategies, locating research materials, and citation guidance. For 1L students, we confirm that you permit research assistance before meeting with a student, so please let us know if you would prefer we not assist with a particular assignment. In every consultation, we support your students in doing their own research rather than conduct it for them.

The Law Library’s Faculty Liaison Program pairs each faculty member, clinic, center, institute, and program with a librarian who serves as a primary point of contact for research support and library services. 

Fall 2026 Faculty Liaison Librarian Assignments [PDF]

The program does not replace the lawreferencedesk@syr.edu account, and faculty are always welcome to email there instead. That inbox is monitored during broader hours, making it a good alternative if your liaison librarian is out of the office.

Your liaison librarian works closely with you on both research and teaching. Liaisons stay current on faculty research interests, flag relevant new materials as they come across them, and make purchase recommendations accordingly. We are also glad to meet with your RAs for individual training or guidance so they can conduct research more effectively on your behalf.

We provide one-on-one legal research training for RAs upon request, in a range of formats. Sessions can cover:

• General legal research skills
• Searching the SU library catalog
• Using legal AI tools for research
• Case law research
• Legislative history research
• Other topics tailored to your needs

Faculty or RAs can schedule an appointment by emailing lawreferencedesk@syr.edu or calling 315.443.9560.

We encourage faculty to place a copy of the course casebook on reserve at the Circulation Desk so that students can borrow it while waiting for their own copy to arrive. Please contact the Circulation Desk at lawcirc@syr.edu.

If the Law Library does not already own a copy of a course casebook, we can order one by request. Before the start of each semester, we email faculty about this service. Once the copy arrives, we place it on the course reserve shelves in the Circulation Office.

We are also happy to scan assigned readings from Course Reserves during the first two weeks of JDi classes, in case student casebooks are delayed. JDr students can borrow physical copies at the Circulation Desk. Please note that this service strictly follows the SU Libraries’ copyright guidelines. 

To request this service, please email reference librarian Yage Huang or lawreferencedesk@syr.edu.

Beginning in Fall 2026, the Law Library has partnered with two major legal publishers — West Academic and Aspen Publishing — to provide students with free temporary access to course casebooks at the start of the semester. This access is intended to bridge the gap for students whose casebooks have not yet arrived.

West Academic

West Academic offers two weeks of free eBook access at the beginning of each semester (for Fall 2026, August 15–30). Access is automatic — no request or registration is required. Please refer students to the below document for instructions:

West Academic Early eBook Access [PDF]

Aspen Publishing

Aspen Publishing offers three weeks of free casebook access (for Fall 2026, August 12–September 2). This access must be requested by professors. Our Aspen representative sends faculty the access link and detailed instructions before the semester begins.

When submitting a request, please provide the following:

• Course name and official course number
• Adopted casebook(s), including ISBN(s)
• Number of students enrolled
• Course end date (last day of the semester)

Please note that access windows are set by the publishers and may change from semester to semester. We will send a reminder email with the current dates before each semester begins. Questions can be directed to Yage Huang or lawreferencedesk@syr.edu .

Carolina Academic Press

Carolina Academic Press offers free temporary eBook access for up to three weeks for students who are waiting for their casebooks. Access must be requested by the professor. The publisher can make access available up to three days before classes begin and will provide an access link 

Information required:

• Casebook title and edition
• Professor name(s) adopting the casebook (include all professors using the same casebook) instructions for students.

Reference librarians can help you create and maintain scholarly profiles and identifiers, including:

• Google Scholar
• SSRN
• ORCID ID
• HeinOnline
• Others upon request

We can also link your publications to these profiles and keep them updated as new work appears.

Librarians are glad to assist faculty with manuscripts in preparation. We can provide formatting and feedback, and can assist with submitting your work to scholarly platforms such as SSRN.

The Law Library works with College of Law staff each semester to update and maintain faculty bibliographies, ensuring that publications are accurately reflected on the law school’s faculty webpage.

See below for current faculty bibliographies:

• College of Law Faculty Bibliography [PDF]
• College of Law Emeriti Faculty Bibliography [PDF]

The Law Library assists faculty with depositing scholarly materials in SURFACE, Syracuse University’s institutional repository. SURFACE is an open-access platform that showcases University scholarship to a worldwide audience. If you have materials you would like to add, please contact your liaison librarian for assistance.

Reference librarians offer training sessions for faculty, both by request and on a scheduled basis. Scheduled sessions focus on new resources or newly released features of our legal databases. 

Sessions scheduled for Fall 2026: 

• Sharpening Your Legal AI Prompts 

As part of a new outreach initiative, the Law Library will publish a faculty newsletter. Possible topics include:

• New print titles available 
• Library news 
• Library programming, such as RA and faculty training sessions 
• New electronic resources and databases
• Highlighted features of our existing electronic resources 
• Frequently asked reference questions