Principal Investigator: Susan deMaine, Research and Instructional Services Librarian, Assistant Librarian, Ruth Lilly Law Library, IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law
Co-principal Investigators: Benjamin Keely, Research and Instructional Services Librarian, Ruth Lilly Law Library; Catherine Lemmer, Assistant Director for Public Services, Ruth Lilly Law Library; and Miriam Murphy, Interim Director, Ruth Lilly Law Library, IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law
Project Title: Redesigning Advanced Legal Research for Deep Knowledge and Professional Skills
Funding Level: $5,000
Abstract:
The faculty of the Ruth Lilly Law Library, McKinney School of Law, have the opportunity to create a new curriculum for Advanced Legal Research. Rather than taking the traditional approach of simply providing more information on the same legal information resources covered in more basic legal research classes, the new curriculum will use specific legal content areas – environmental and natural resources law, intellectual property, corporate law, and international law – to structure the course. This will allow the students to delve deeply into the research process, the making and publishing of laws and other information, efficient use of various sources, analysis of results, the production of usable end products, and the substantive area of law.
The resulting course will be a hybrid of online instruction, and lecture/lab sessions. The online instruction will likely be a combination of illustrated text, video, and podcasts. The lectures will be brief as they are intended for review and as an opportunity to answer questions. The lectures will lead directly into the problem-based learning lab sessions, which will provide for real-time practice under the guidance of the professor. Practice is vital to mastery of legal research because it allows the students to explore with immediate feedback needed to fully understand their research results.