PMLL Library Policies

Table of Contents:

The Panza Maurer Law Library (PMLL) offers the faculty of the Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law (NSU Law) a variety of services designed to help them with their research, teaching, and scholarship. A PMLL librarian is assigned to each faculty member based on their research areas of interest and teaching.  The faculty’s PMLL liaison is dedicated to providing them with reference and classroom support.  PMLL encourages NSU Law faculty to make use of the library in the way that best meets their individual information needs.

PMLL librarians can assist NSU Law faculty with library resource and database access needs. The NSU law faculty member’s PMLL liaison can:

• Locate information that is difficult to find

• Find sources on legal research databases (e.g., Westlaw, Bloomberg Law)

• Provide access to and training on available library resources

• Set up alerts in various databases to notify you of developments in your research areas

• Train faculty research assistants

Research Assistant (RA) training is provided upon NSU Law faculty request.  The PMLL offers both individual and group training.  PMLL librarians will teach NSU Law faculty RAs how to use resources in any area of law and orient them to the NSU Libraries, which includes the many print and electronic resources available through PMLL, the Alvin Sherman Library (ASL), the Health Professions Division (HPD) Library, and the Oceanography Library. PMLL librarians will also show RAs how to stay organized as they research, how to manage citations, and how to find the information they need.

NSU Law faculty may authorize their Research Assistants (RAs) to check out materials on their behalf by submitting the NSU Law Proxy Authorization Form. This authorization is in effect until the expiration date noted on the form. Faculty members are responsible for any materials checked out by their RA proxies.

Interlibrary loan is a resource-sharing service that allows the library to borrow materials from other libraries. PMLL librarians can help NSU Law faculty to acquire materials from other libraries through an interlibrary loan request.  NSU Law faculty can place an interlibrary loan request with their PMLL liaison, or they can use NovaCat to do this on their own.  NSU Law faculty will need their own Sharklink ID and password to place an online request. For general information on ILL, please see the PMLL ILL policy. NSU Law faculty should contact their PMLL liaison for assistance or additional information on using the interlibrary loan service.

Librarians enjoy teaching students about research, and will happily provide research instruction to individual classes at the request of the NSU Law faculty teaching the class.  Alternatively, the PMLL librarians can set up a workshop for NSU Law students on a specific research topic.  Past workshop topics have included:

• Introduction to library resources
• Cost-effective legal research
• Interdisciplinary research
• Specialized legal research
• Research for scholarly writing
• Publishing your work

PMLL Librarians will work with NSU Law faculty members to provide research resources for their students, e.g., videos, research guides, and tutorials.

PMLL librarians can help NSU Law students get started with their research in a variety of areas, teach them to use the tools available to them effectively, create research exercises, and provide ongoing support as the students complete their assignments.  PMLL librarians can also provide a library tour to NSU Law students to give them an overview of the collection or teach them how to use print materials.

PMLL librarians have created several course-related and subject guides to help NSU Law students with research in a specific area of law. A library guide is a web-based information portal that provides a basic research starting point for various topics. NSU Law faculty members are encouraged to contact their designated PMLL liaison if the faculty member has ideas for new topics that they would like for the PMLL to add to its library guides. The NSU Libraries host a collection of library guides that they have created for the NSU community. 

NSU Law faculty members can arrange through their PMLL liaison to have materials for the faculty member’s courses to be put in the Faculty Course Reserve collection for their students. These items are designated as “library use only” with a three-hour check-out period.  The Faculty Course Reserve collection is located behind the Circulation Desk.

PMLL maintains a collection of general pedagogical materials in the faculty study room in the faculty wing. These include books about teaching, assessment, research, writing, distance education, and life in academia.