The Deane Law Library seeks to provide comprehensive library service to the Hofstra Law Faculty, ranging from research assistance to circulation assistance. This is accomplished through a liaison system, where each full-time faculty member is paired with a reference librarian even before the faculty member's official start date with the University. The faculty and librarian will meet and/or talk at various times throughout the year to determine the faculty member's research and instructional needs, and the librarian will seek to tailor the delivery of information to the individual faculty member. S/he will also coordinate all non-research library requests Our librarian liaisons hold both JD and MLS degrees.

The services provided through the program include:

1. Research assistance

• conduct research for faculty for instructional or scholarship purposes;
• design and establish clipping searches for current awareness;
• arrange for the delivery of materials, electronically where possible, from campus source
• coordinate the borrowing of materials from other libraries (interlibrary loan)
• supervise librarian trained student research assistant(s) for basic research tasks
• notify faculty of new resources, in all media, relevant to the faculty member's research needs

2. Instruction assistance

• provide topic specific or specialized legal research instruction for your classes
• set up electronic notification services with online research services of interest
• provide refreshers on taking advantage of new research technologies and specialized features of online resources
• provide research advice and training to your student research assistants

3. Other

• Acquisitions. Liaisons work closely with faculty on collection development and seek to acquire all materials necessary to support and grow the law school's teaching and research needs
• Exam archive. The library hosts an archive in which faculty may elect to store old exams for access by current Hofstra law students.
• Course reserves

Faculty may also use the other reference services (e.g., reference Instant Messaging) available, if desired. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about these services.

Visiting faculty

Visiting faculty are eligible for the same services as our full time faculty, though the liaison is typically not assigned until after the visitor arrives. Please contact Lisa Spar for information about these services.

Adjunct faculty

Adjunct faculty are also eligible for liaison services, though they are only assigned if an adjunct expresses an interest in the program, as we have found that many adjuncts already have outside research assistance available to them. New adjuncts are provided with a library orientation at the overall adjunct orientation session, but the library would also be delighted to provide more detailed information to those interested. If you have any questions or would like to arrange for a Library tour and/or introduction, please contact either Lisa Spar, Assistant Director for Reference and Instructional Services or David Dames, Reference Librarian.