St. Augustine Legal Affairs (STALA) Issue 1 | Page 28

Meet the Librarian: Ms. Jolie Rajah

Meet the Librarian: Ms. Jolie Rajah

With Nura Ali and Radeyah Ali
How does your position as St. Augustine Faculty of Law Librarian allow you to assist the law student?
I
am
responsible
for
evaluating
and
recommending
legal
resources
( print
/
electronic) for purchase by
The Alma Jordan Library,
providing reference and
research assistance faculty
members
and
students,
offering
information
literacy
instruction
to
faculty
members
and
students regarding the use
of the Library’ s print and
electronic resources.
Do you believe the Alma Jordan Library is equipped with sufficient online and physical resources to accommodate the Faculty of Law’ s increasing student body?
We are always striving to
meet and anticipate the
teaching,
learning
and
research
needs
and
interests
of
faculty
members and students. Collection development is therefore continuous. Admittedly, the physical space in The Alma Jordan Library has not increased.
Our purchase of / or subscriptions to selected online legal information resources – electronic books, journals and databases – allow faculty members and students 24 / 7 access, on and off-campus, to a wide range of material.
Should there be a title that is sought after that is not currently in our collection, our undergraduate law students have access to the extensive collection at the Law Library at the Hugh Wooding Law School( reading not borrowing privileges).
Do you think the Attorneys of 2015 would be at a disadvantage with their mainly online research skills and unfamiliarity with hard copy casebooks?
A great deal of our resources is in electronic format – derived from our subscriptions to the online legal information databases and services. However,
28 students also have access to selected texts, law reports, legal journals etc. in print format. It is never too late to develop research skills.
Increase your awareness about the legal information resources that are out there by reading about legal research. At the Library, we carry useful titles about the topic.
Spend some time exploring the law collection at the Alma Jordan Library( or any other law library that you have the opportunity to visit). Examine and try to use the print resources that are currently available.
In your experience as
Law
Librarian,
what
would you recommend as
the most useful case law
databases
( online
and
otherwise)?
All of the online legal information databases and services that The Alma Jordan Library subscribes to – CARILAW, HeinOnline, LexisNexis, Index to Legal Periodicals Full Text and Retrospective, West Indian Reports Online, Westlaw – enhance our access to legal