Georgetown University Law Center students should first check the Law Library catalog for required reading textbooks and study aids that may be housed in print in the Reading Room, at the Circulation Desk Reserves, on Course Reserves, or in Casebook Reserves, or made available through Controlled Digital Lending or West Academic Study Aids Online. Titles found in the print Reserves or accessible digitally cannot be requested through this Law Library ILL service.
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As a Georgetown Law student, if you are experiencing difficulties getting an ordered casebook in time for your assignments, e.g., back order or mail delivery delays, please inform your law faculty as it may be more of a widespread problem. Please consider asking your law faculty to donate a copy of the textbook to the Law Library and we will place it on reserve for a three hour loan. If you are assigned to read only certain pages out of a casebook, study aid, or textbook that is not accessible electronically or readily available in print in the Law Library, please ask your faculty to place a copy in Canvas or TWEN for your class.
ILL-participating libraries rarely lend publications that are categorized as law casebooks, textbooks, study aids, casebook supplements, or class-assigned readings, of any edition. Also, such libraries rarely process requests for copies / scans of chapters or long span of pages within such books.
Why?
Unfortunately, casebook publishers will not sell electronic licenses with unlimited users to law libraries, and the Law Library is also unable to purchase individual access for you. Each academic year it is expected that students will purchase required casebooks and readings.
As a Georgetown Law Student, if you need a copy of pages out of a casebook, study aid, or textbook for anything other than for class or assigned reading, such as a class paper, journal note, source collection assignment, or seminar research, you must include into your ILL request the name of your class / seminar and law faculty, or law journal. The textbook title will be checked against a required reading list for your class, or the requested citation may be verified with the journal editor. We will have to negotiate with libraries the scholarly legitimacy behind your copy requests from such publications. We will still be unable to borrow the whole casebook, study aid or textbook from ILL-participating libraries as they would not lend such materials.