Welcome to the premier issue of The Wise Digest. We hope you find it both informative and entertaining. Each issue will introduce new library resources, spotlight existing services of which you may not be aware, and suggest ways in which the library can help you get reenergized after all your hard work. Learning how to do effective legal research can be quite a challenge, but we're here to help!

Viewing your library account and renewing your materials online just got easier. Now that we've activated the "My LAWPAC" feature, you no longer need to hunt for your library account number (which is the last 10 digits of your Buff Card, by the way). Just click the 'my lawpac' button at the top right of the library website and enter your Identikey username and password.

Once you've logged in, you can check to see when your library materials are due and renew some or all of them. You can also opt in to the 'Reading History' function, a helpful way to keep track of the materials you've used for a particular project.

Another good reason to log in to your account while searching the library catalog is the new 'Preferred Searches' feature, which allows you to save specific searches that you might wish to run again. Best of all, you'll receive email alerts whenever we add new books cataloged with your preferred search term or phrase. Once you no longer need that particular search, you can easily delete it from your preferred searches list.

Long on research, but short on time? Wise Researcher might just be the answer. This new search engine is an excellent way to jumpstart your research, especially for those policy-related projects that require searching far beyond the usual primary sources. By allowing you to simultaneously search multiple research databases Wise Researcher offers the simplicity of Google but with reliability you won't find by searching the web.

Wise Researcher includes many of the most commonly-used legal databases, including HeinOnline, Index to Legal Periodicals and LegalTrac, as well as cross-disciplinary resources such as Academic Search Premier, Business Source Complete, Digital Dissertations, Social Sciences Full Text, and JSTOR. Feel free to stop by the reference desk for a personal demo or check out one of these online help pages:

The Wise Researcher search box is located on the library home page at http://lawpac.colorado.edu.

Don't forget...the library is not just for researching. Bring your coffee (covered of course!), grab a paper, and head down to the Arraj Student Lounge. We subscribe to print newspapers including The Daily Camera, The Rocky Mountain News, The Denver Post, The Wall Street Journal, and many more papers are available online. And if you just can't seem to justify the time away from your studies, remember that newspapers are a legitimate secondary source of legal news. Of course, it might do your mental health a world of good to take a few minutes now and again to read the funny pages and find out what's going on in Boulder and around the world.

Local newspapers are located at the reference desk. The Wall Street Journal, and a variety of legal & business newspapers are located near the entrance to the stacks.

Primary Colors

If you can't get enough politics during this campaign season (or if you're just trying to escape the current news cycle), we've got several politically-themed DVDs that can provide you with some good scandal-filled diversion.

On the lighter side of the aisle is the mock documentary Bob Roberts (parodied in The Simpsons episode "Sideshow Bob Roberts") in which a conservative folk singer makes a radically unconventional run for the Senate. There's also Wag the Dog, which takes a humorous look at the deadly serious subject of faking a war in the media to cover up a presidential scandal during the campaign season.

On a more serious note, but still fascinating, is Advise and Consent. Creating quite a stir when it was released in 1962, it's less outdated than you might expect. In fact, the secret of "what happened in Hawaii" might well bring down a Secretary of State nominee even today. And if you prefer your politics even darker, but a little less overt, have a look (or another look) at Chinatown, in which Jack Nicholson's iconic character of Jake Gittes finds enough political scandal brewing beneath the surface of Los Angeles to make today's scandals look tame.

If you get through all of those and need something a little more uplifting, check out two of most popular political films of all time: All the President's Men, about the breaking of the Watergate scandal, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, starring Jimmy Stewart as an idealistic, small-town senator battling the sorts of ruthless politicians you'll find in the above films. If nothing else, the latter film's filibuster scenes will make you feel as though you're getting plenty of sleep by comparison.

The library's DVD shelf is located on the second floor just inside the entrance to the stacks. DVDs can be checked out for a week at a time, with one online renewal.

Zero Exchange Rate

Need some reading material for spring break? We've got you covered. No, we're not suggesting you take Prosser on Torts with you to the beach or anything. The library's Book Exchange actually offers a wide variety of fiction (and non-fiction) from every genre and time period...all free for the taking. We just ask that you trade in a book of your own to keep the shelf stocked. In fact, feel free to bring in as many books as you'd like. With more books going out than coming in lately, the shelf is getting a little bare.

Still, we've got quite a few possibilities right now for your spring break reading pleasure. The most obvious choice might be Pat Conroy's Beach Music. Spanning three generations, two continents, and two wars, it should keep you busy all week. Spanning only two generations, but also two continents, is Amy Tan's The Hundred Secret Senses, which has the added bonus of children who see dead people. And speaking of dead people, we have a whole slew of Patricia Cornwell crime novels, including From Potter's Field, one of her most acclaimed.

If you've ever intended to start in on the Sue Grafton alphabet novels, now's a good time. Currently, we have her novels from A to F, except for C. If you're still in the mood for law after a long day of studying, we also have Scott Turow's The Burden of Proof and the courtroom thriller Final Witness from Simon Tolkien, grandson of J.R.R. On the action front, you can pick up the techno-thriller Prey from Michael Crichton or The Bourne Legacy from Eric Van Lustbader (taking over for Robert Ludlum).

Finally, for those of you sticking closer to home for spring break, you can find some local color in West of the Law, a gangster-filled western set in the lawless boomtown of High Hopes, Colorado. With detectives, miners, dirty card dealers, and peddlers in the opium trade, it's practically a compendium of pulp fiction elements.

The Book Exchange shelf is located just inside the library entrance.

Take Five

Got a minute? Help us kick off our mini-survey series by answering a couple of quick questions about your library leisure habits.

Please note that the library will have restricted hours during spring break week. But not to worry...we'll resume regular hours on Sunday, March 30th just in time for you to catch up on some reading before classes start up again. Have a great break!