Goodson Law Library

The Law School's reservation system for law students includes individual seats in the Law Library as well as in the Law School. Space in the Law Library is accessible only to current members of the Duke Law community. Building access will require community members to adhere to Duke University and Law School health and safety requirements (symptom monitoring, masking, social distancing, and sanitizing spaces before and after use with provided supplies). Reservations may be made one week in advance and are currently available during the hours Monday to Friday 8:30 am - 9:00 pm and weekends 8:30 am - 6:00 pm. Students who wish to reserve space for a group should complete the events request form. For questions about the reservation system, please contact seat_reservations@law.duke.edu.

Borrowing Law Library Materials

Access to the Goodson Law Library stacks is currently restricted to designated Library staff. Law School community members may request circulating Law Library materials for contactless pickup via the Request button in the Duke Libraries Catalog. Following retrieval by staff and a quarantine period, borrowers will be contacted by email to schedule a pickup time at the service desk on level 3 via the Law School reservation system.

Members of the Duke University community may request circulating Law Library items for pickup at their home libraries via intercampus delivery. If you have questions, please contact Circulation staff.

Returning Law Library Materials

The Law School building is currently closed to the Duke University community and the general public, with limited access to the Duke Law community. The Law Library has an outdoor book return where books borrowed from any Duke library may be returned. The book return is located outside the main entrance to the law school, which is on Science Drive opposite the Sanford School for Public Policy.

Duke Law community members may also securely return items to the drop slot inside the Law Library entrance with a contactless pickup space reservation; faculty and staff may also use the return bins in the Law School's level 3 and 4 copy rooms.

Law Library items from borrowers without Law School building access may be returned to the Duke University Libraries and they will be delivered to the Law Library. If you are not in Durham, please contact Circulation staff about return options.

Course Reserves

Safe handling of library materials requires at least a 48-hour quarantine between patrons. To ensure the safety of patrons and staff, the Law Library will not circulate Course Reserve books, bookstands, chargers, calculators, umbrellas or other physical materials with short-term loan periods during the fall semester.

Law Library staff will scan the first two weeks of required assigned course readings for all courses and post them to each course’s Sakai page (unless the instructor has made alternative arrangements). Copyright restrictions prohibit scanning Reserve textbooks beyond that amount.

Online Study Aids

Many popular study aids from the library’s Reserve collection are now available electronically. West Academic Library Study Aids includes the series Concepts & Insights, Hornbooks, and Nutshells, among others. The Wolters Kluwer online study aid library includes Examples & Explanations, Glannon Guides, and more. Access these resources with your NetID and password.

E-Books

Find thousands of eBooks in the Library catalog by selecting "Available Online" from the filters on the left sidebar.

Electronic Articles

Electronic access to articles can be found through the catalog's Article search.

Legal Databases & Links

The Law Library also subscribes to various topical legal databases to that you can use from home by clicking on their link in our Legal Databases and Links page.

Bluebook Access Codes (no longer available)

Our temporary access codes for the Bluebook citation manual, designed to help students complete the spring 2020 semester, are no longer available. The new 21st edition is available for purchase through Hein and through The Bluebook website.

As of July 20, 2020, Goodson Law Library has resumed our GoodScan service. Please note the following restrictions:

• Requests may be made for educational use only and are limited to two chapters from a book, or two articles from a journal, or up to 100 pages of other material, subject to copyright limitations.
• While we attempt to fulfill every request within one week, there may be unforeseen delays due to staffing availability and the ongoing global pandemic.
• Rare books and already checked-out items are not eligible.
• Requests made for more than two chapters from a single book will be rejected.
• We reserve the right to reject any request which might constitute a copyright violation.
• We will meet your requests as quickly as possible, but we offer no rush service.

Duke Law students, faculty, and staff can submit GoodScan requests using ILLiad, the same platform used for Interlibrary Loan. If you have not used ILLiad before, you will have to create an account briefly before reaching the request page. 

Email ill@law.duke.edu with any questions about interlibrary loans

The Duke University Libraries offer Library Takeout Service (for pickup of materials) or Scan & Deliver scanning service (for portions of materials). Requests for either service can be made via the green "Request" button for an item in the online catalog.

Need Research Assistance?

Get answers to your research, citation, and other questions from home!  Email ref@law.duke.edu for research help.

Schedule a Consultation

For more complex research help, request a phone or Zoom consultation with a reference librarian by emailing ref@law.duke.edu.

Questions About Your Library Account?

Email cir@law.duke.edu for questions about loans or your library account.