Search | Check E-Mail | Contact Us | News & Events
Mercer University School of Law Curriculum Support
Mercer University School of Law
  Prospective Students | Accepted Students | Current Students | Faculty & Staff | Alumni & Donors | Bench & Bar
  You are here: Mercer Home > School of Law Home > Library > Faculty Services - Curriculum Support
Faculty:


Library Faculty Services
Curriculum Support


Adobe PDF Guide: How to Do Everything with PDF Files (Jan. 2009)

CALI Legal Education Commons and CALI Podcasts & Other Podcasting Services

Classroom Technology & Media Services

Course Web Systems: TWEN & LexisNexis

Create Links to Specific Westlaw & Lexis Documents or Databases

Create Legislative and Regulatory Impacts on Lexis, Lexis Alert, Shepard's Alert, Westlaw KeyCite Alert, Profile Alert, WestClip

Legal Education Materials

Teaching and Learning Resources

Technology Tip Sheets

Registrar's Office:
Academic Calendars
Exam Schedules
Master Schedules



CALI Legal Education Commons ; CALI Podcasts & Other Podcasting Services



Legal Education Commons - The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI), a non-profit consortium of law schools, is providing a Legal Education Commons where faculty can find and share legal education materials including syllabi, podcasts, presentations, and more. Faculty and librarians from CALI member schools can upload materials under a Creative Commons license that allows colleagues and students to find and use the materials.

CALI Classcaster - home to CALI's blogging and podcasting services

CALI Radio
- Each week, CALI posts a podcast from law faculty on understanding key cases and tips on mastering different areas of the law.

CALI Legal Education Podcasting Project - End of Semester Survey Results (July 2006)


Other Podcasts:

Podcasting News

Podcast Legal Directory

Legal Talk Network


American Association of Law School Podcasts of 2006 Annual Meeting Sessions - In collaboration with CALI, the AALS has posted the recordings of faculty presentations at AALS which involve cutting edge issues in legal scholarship. Faculty may find these materials useful in their upper-level seminar courses.






Course Web Page Systems

If you wish to create a course web page utilizing either TWEN or the LexisNexis Web Course System, the following information is provided to help get you started with the setup and maintainance of the course web page.

Westlaw TWEN

TWEN is a course home page system available to professors through the Westlaw system. Among the features of TWEN are:

Ability to post course syllabus and readings on the Web.
Ability to seamlessly link to the full-text of cases and law review articles availabe on the Westlaw system without concern about copyright clearance.
Create links to CALI lessons.
Create threaded forums for course participant interaction.
Create online quizzes.
Create faculty access levels, create co-teachers and invite guests into your course.
Access online teacher's manuals for many West Group casebooks.
View course usage statistics
.
Archive a course.

Professor's Guide to TWEN 2008 - 2009 - click here to obtain instructional brochure on using TWEN.

Some things to consider before creating the course:

1. Do you want to password protect the page? (If you choose to password protect the page you will have to let your students know what the password is.)
2. Be cognizant of the registration date - do you want students to be able to access the page immediately or do you want to give yourself some time to work on the site?
3. What types of documents will you be posting and how do you want to organize them? (Document pages: Syllabus, Course Materials, etc.) Remember, you can always go back into TWEN and change your initial settings.

Additional Training

For TWEN assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week call 1-800-486-487 for general or technical assistance. For further follow-up, contact Denise Gibson, Assistant Law Librarian for Research Services.


Lexis Web Course System

LexisNexis Web Courses is based on the popular Blackboard software platform. It provides many of the features of Westlaw's TWEN system. You can view this system at http://www.lexisnexis.com/lawschool/webcourses/ to determine if it meets the needs of your course.

An especially useful link on the site is Getting Started with LexisNexis Web Courses. It provides a step-by-step approach to creating a web course. There are also links to a Course Creation and Update form, Web Courses at a Glance, plus a Faculty User Manual for buidling LexisNexis web courses in Blackboard 6.0.

For further assistance, contact Denise Gibson, Assistant Law Librarian for Research Services.






Create Links to Specific Westlaw and Lexis Documents and Databases

The following provides instructions on creating a link to an actual document or database on Westlaw and Lexis.

The advantage of using the following methods for creating links is the ability to "customize" these links in your Word document, Mercer Faculty Profile, or your Course and Assignment web pages. For example, you can write any text you like, and then link that text to a specific Westlaw or Lexis document or database. Please contact Denise Gibson for further information or assistance.

Westlaw - Intranetsolutions

Creating a Link to a Specific Westlaw Document:

To create a link to a specific document on Westlaw, i.e., to a particular case, code section, law review article, regulation, etc.

1. Access Westlaw Intranet Solutions at http://intranetsolutions.westlaw com. In the menu on the left side of the page, go to Create a link to: and click on "a document."

2. At the next screen, enter a citation, e.g. 842 NE2d 962 or 72 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1375 in the Citation: box.

(NOTE: The citation for the document MUST be recognizable by Westlaw, just as it would be when you use FIND BY CITATION on Westlaw's law school home page. If you do not know the Westlaw citation or abbreviation for a particular document, go to lawschool.westlaw.com, click on Research Now, and then click on the Publications List in the left frame.)

3. Next, click on Create Link.

4. At the next screen, highlight the URL in the HTML window after the beginning quotation mark and before the ending quotation mark (but don't highlight the quotation marks).

Example:



5. Press Ctrl and C to copy. To paste the link to a specific application, such as to a Word document, your Mercer Faculty Profile, Course and Class Assignment pages, follow the pasting instructions below.

Pasting Instructions:


Pasting to your Class Assignment Page:

1. In the Course Assignment box, write the text of your assignment, i.e., Please read this new case or Surveillance Law Through Cyberlaw's Lens, 72 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1375 (2004) for next week. Highlight the words you wish to link, i.e., new case or Surveillance Law Through Cyberlaw's Lens, 72 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1375 (2004).

2. Click the Hyperlink tab on the top row of buttons. Example:


3. Next, delete the http:// in the Link: box.

4. Place your cursor in the now empty Link: box, and then press Ctrl and V to paste. Click OK.



Pasting to your Course Web Page:

Go to the Course Page Builder as you normally would. Scroll down to Post a Web Site Address. Delete the http:// in the Website Address field.

Place your cursor in the now empty field and press Ctrl and V to paste.

Write a name or label for the link in the "WebSite Name" field, such as Interesting New Case from Georgia, or U.S. v. Stenton or Surveillance Law Through Cyberlaw's Lens, 72 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1375 (2004). Finally, click "Post Address."


Pasting to your Mercer Faculty Profile:

1. Retrieve your Mercer Faculty Profile as you normally would. In the Publications: box, write the text and then highlight the text that you want linked, e.g., highlight: Surveillance Law Through Cyberlaw's Lens, 72 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1375 (2004).

2. Next, click the Hyperlink tab on the top row of buttons. Example:


3. Next, delete the http:// in the Link: box.

4. Place your cursor in the now empty Link: box, and then press Ctrl and V to paste. Click OK.



Pasting to a Word Document:

Open a word document, and type the text you wish to have directly linked to the Westlaw document (or if the text is already written, highlight the words you want linked). For example, A new case on child custody has impacted Georgia law significantly. If you want new case linked, then highlight only those words.

While you still have the words highlighted, go to Insert, select Hyperlink.

At next screen, place your cursor in the Address box. Then press Ctrl and V to paste. Click OK.








Creating a Link to a Specific Westlaw Database:

To create a link to a specific Westlaw database, i.e., to the Georgia Case Law database:

1. Access Westlaw Intranet Solutions at http://intranetsolutions.westlaw com. In the menu on the left side of the page, go to Create a link to: and click on "a database."

2. At the next screen, you can either type in the database identifier under Enter Westlaw Database ( e.g. type in ga-cs for Georgia State Court Cases), or you can select Choose a Westlaw Database (although this is a very limited list - for a comprehensive listing of Westlaw databases, use its online directory or use Westlaw's paper directory at the reference desk).

3. Next, click on Create Link.

4. At next screen, highlight the URL in the HTML window after the beginning quotation mark and before the ending quotation mark (but don't highlight the quotation marks).
Example:




5. Then press Ctrl and C to copy.

To paste the Westlaw database link to your Class Assignment Page, Course Web Page, or to a Word document, follow the pasting instructions for Linking to a Westlaw Specific Document above.


Note: If you just wish to copy this database link from your Word document to your Class Assignment page, then copy the text from Word, and paste it into the Class Assignment web form using your browser's Edit Copy and Paste function.

Other options in Westlaw's Intranet Solutions include creating links to a search result in a specific database or to a KeyCite result.






Lexis - LinkBuilder

Creating a link to a specific Lexis document:

LinkBuilder works in a similar fashion to Westlaw's Integration Solutions. Step-by-step instructions are provided in LinkBuilder. You can create direct links to specific Lexis documents (use the Cite tab) or to a search result in a specific databases (use the Any Source tab). However, LinkBuilder does not have the ability to create a link to a specific database (see directly below for those instructions), just to a search result within a database or to a citation. But you can customize these links by writing your own text over the citation or link.



Creating a link to a specific Lexis database:

They all start the same way: http://www.lexis.com/xlink?source= .  After the = in the above URL, type in the Lexis library name followed by a semicolon ; and then type in the Lexis file name. Examples below:

http://www.lexis.com/xlink?source=estate;mesp 

http://www.lexis.com/xlink?source=estate;tnt

You can find the Lexis library name and file abbreviations in Lexis’ Directory of Online Sources at http://w3.nexis.com/sources.  Search by the full name of the source.



Copy w/ Cite

To copy a citation from LEXIS, i.e., 842 NE2d 962 as it appears (without the option of writing text over it) to an application, whether Word, Wordperfect, the law school's Course Web and Class Assignment pages, PowerPoint, websites, or other applications, you first need to retrieve the document on Lexis. Once the full text of the Lexis document is open, look for the Copy w/ Cite link at top of document and click on it. (You can also highlight text from the document and click on Copy w/ Cite to capture both the text and the citation.) At next screen, click Copy to Clipboard. Open the application you wish to paste this cite to, and then Edit>Paste.


***************************************************************************

Otherwise, if just wish to have Westlaw or Lexis automatically find and mark legal citations in your Word, WordPerfect or HTML reading list, use WestCiteLink - Law School Edition, and LEXLink for Lexis. For each cited document, you must include a citation format recognizable to Westlaw and Lexis. For example, LEXLink’s “Find Citations feature automatically makes a copy of your document, locates citations in it, and then creates links to the full text of the cited documents. This feature works in word processing documents as well as in HTML documents.

***************************************************************************



Create Lexis Legislative and Regulatory Impact Alerts, Lexis Alert and Westlaw Alert, WestClip Searches

Information and links to creating a clipping service on either system can be found on the Library Faculty Services: Current Awareness web page. Scroll to the heading, Lexis Legislative and Regulatory Impact Alerts, Lexis Alert & Westlaw WestClip. Information on creating a KeyCite Alert and a Shepard's Alert is also included.




Legal Education Materials

ABA Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar

Clinical Legal Education Associations

Institute for Law School Teaching

Jurist for Law Professors


Center for Engaged Learning in the Law - blog authored by several law professors and hosted by Elon, it provides teaching support to law faculty, including advice to new professors, adjuncts, 1L's, etc.

The Faculty Lounge Blog - conversations about law, culture and academia.

Best Practice for Legal Education: A Vision and a Roadmap (Clinical Legal Education Association 2007) is available free on the CLEA web site.  You can download the whole book or individual chapters in PDF.

William M. Sullivan, Educating Lawyers: Preparation for the Profession of Law (Carnegie Foundation Study - Jossey-Bass/Wiley 2007) aka as the Carnegie Report is available in the law library's Reserve collection and in Walnut Wing, KF272.E38.

Madeleine Schachter, The Law Professor's Handbook, (Carolina Academic Press 2004)

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

Mercer Law School Adjunct Faculty Handbook

Mercer University Faculty Handbook



Originally created by Denise Gibson in 2004; last modified 10/18/07


Copyright 2004 - 2009


How to use Resources For
  • Simply use the "Resources For:" links in the above orange bar, and for each you will see a series of links appear in this box that will take you on a streamlined path to the most relevant information possible.

 
 
Mercer Law Review
Mercer University

Mercer University School of Law - Home