John M. Pachkowski, Esq., Adjunct Reference Librarian is at the Reference Desk every other Saturday during the fall and spring semesters. Not only does John answer questions, but he also files pages in four of the library’s CCH looseleaf reporters. He is well acquainted with Commerce Clearing House publications because during the week he works at home as a writer/analyst for the CCH Federal Banking Law Reporter. John is also part of the CCH Editorial Staff who produce the daily online Bank Digest, which tracks federal policies and regulations. John grew up in central New Jersey, graduated from Temple University, and was in the 1988 class of Delaware Law School, the last class before the school became Widener University School of Law. He worked during summers while in law school at the CCH office in Clark, NJ, and joined the staff after graduation.
After CCH was acquired by Wolters Kluwer in 1996 and closed the New Jersey office, John was able to start working from his home in Concordville, PA, which he shares with his wife, Mary Alice Peeling. He teaches a class for Advanced Legal Research explaining the use of looseleaf resources and the CCH IntelliConnect database. While working at home, John tends to a clowder of cats and his husky-mix Tulip keeps him company. He likes to cook and is renowned for his gourmet dinners to benefit PILA and St. John’s Episcopal Church, but he also enjoys going out to restaurants. John likes helping students and others who come to the Reference Desk on Saturdays because it gives him an opportunity to learn about aspects of law other than banking.
Eileen B. Cooper, director of the Legal Information Center from 1987 until 2005, has donated a collection of books recently published about the U.S. Supreme Court to the library. Eight titles, ranging from biographical books to books on specific topics such as women’s rights, have been ordered. Some of the books are already on the library’s New Book Shelf. Several of the titles will also be located on the Harrisburg campus. One of the titles is a unique three-volume set, United States Supreme Court: Original Jurisdiction Cases and Materials, which will not only be on our shelves in a print edition, but will be accessible as an online version. Each of the books donated by Eileen has a book plate inside which recognizes her generous donation to our library.
The Delaware campus library will be open for regular hours this evening, 1/11 and tomorrow, 1/12, even if classes are canceled. Please check the campus weather alert page for information on classes.
F. Scott DeMaris, Adjunct Reference Librarian, can be found at the Reference Desk every other Saturday during the fall and spring semesters. During the week Scott is a Senior Research Librarian at the law firm of Reed Smith LLP in Philadelphia. He grew up in Haddonfield and Cherry Hill, NJ, working in restaurants in Ocean City during the summers. After graduating from Western Maryland College, now McDaniel College, in Westminster, MD, he worked at Blackwell’s Book Services before attending Drexel to obtain a master’s degree in library science. Scott has always been interested in books and in music, specifically playing the guitar. He has played with many bands, including a month’s gig on the Greek island of Ios. His first job as a reference librarian was with White and Williams LLP. He has also been an electronic services librarian with Blank Rome LLP. Scott teaches a section of Widener’s Advanced Legal Research course about the real world of law firms. As a firm librarian, his services to attorneys are primarily through electronic means, so he enjoys the interaction with students and other users of our library when he is at our Reference Desk. Scott and his wife Teresa live in Voorhees, NJ, but they love to travel. He is fluent in German, she is fluent in Spanish, so they love to eat in German and Spanish restaurants. Scott continues to play and sing with various groups, specializing in the dobro resonator guitar, an instrument developed in Hungary in the 1920s.
The law library, like the rest of the Delaware campus, will be closed for the holidays from December 23rd through January 2nd. We will reopen on January 3rd. Please check our holiday hours for more information.
Enjoy the holidays!
Janet Lindenmuth, Reference/Electronic Services Librarian, grew up in nearby Ridley Park, PA, then attended the University of Delaware. Her interest in travel and the theater was developed during a semester spent studying in London. While working at the Villanova University Library, she decided to attend Drexel University to obtain a master’s degree in library science. She began her work at Widener as a cataloger but soon found that she enjoyed working at the Reference Desk. Since 1997, Janet has been solving both technological problems and research puzzles in her position that combines reference knowledge with electronic skill. She likes to find answers to difficult questions posed by faculty and students. Janet lives in the city of Wilmington with her cat Zoe, but she travels with friends as often as possible. She also attends theater productions, reads a lot, and likes finding interesting information while doing online genealogical research.
Margaret Stewart Adams, Reference/Outreach Librarian, is a Delaware native who graduated from Newark High School, then went on to study philosophy, with a minor in legal studies, at the University of Delaware a few blocks away. After working at Borders for two years, Maggie came to Widener as a library assistant in the director’s office in 1998. She received her master’s degree in library science from Syracuse University in 2002, after completing most of her work online and part on the Syracuse campus. She worked as our Serials Librarian, then became the Serials/Outreach Librarian because of her talent for training faculty and students to use online resources. Her favorite part of her work is sitting at the Reference Desk, ready to help whoever needs her expertise in print or online legal research. Some of Maggie’s inspiration to excel in the legal field came from her mother, Patricia Stewart, a Widener alumna who is a retired Family Court commissioner and has been an adjunct faculty member for 25 years, teaching various aspects of family law. Maggie and her husband Ken, a freelance graphic designer, are avid Eagles fans who watch every game. Maggie loves knitting and working in her garden at her house in Newark. She admits that her cats, Sadie and Wednesday, are two-year-old terrors. Summer vacations are usually spent with family at Long Beach Island, NJ.
The holiday season is always a time when thieves take advantage of items such as wallets, purses, laptops, phones, etc. being left in full view on tables, chairs, and in cars. Be aware of your surroundings, and keep your belongings in your possession so they will not be stolen. If you see any suspicious activity on campus, please report it right away to Campus Safety at 302-477-2200.
Three panels of stained glass, a gift from the Class of 1975, were placed in the Special Collections Room on November 11. Members of this first class of graduates are known for their support and enthusiasm for the law school. The windows represent the early days of Delaware Law School in a former church building, the pursuit of justice using the written law, and the future of Widener Law School on the Delaware campus. Names of 22 leadership level contributors are visible in one panel. The design, construction, and installation were completed by Ascalon Studios in West Berlin, NJ.
Whether you have requested a book or other material through Interlibrary Loan, you will be notified by e-mail when the request has been received by our Library. If you used your barcode when requesting materials, they will be checked out to you, and you may pick them up at the Circulation Desk in the Library. If you used a student organization barcode, the material will be sent to that organization; for example, all Law Review requests will be sent to the publications’s office in Polishook. The process is the same for photocopies, unless you request an electronic delivery through ILLiad. If electronic delivery was selected, your notification e-mail will advise you to go to your ILLiad account and download your copy.
Mary Alice Peeling, Head of Outreach Services/CALR Librarian, has been a familiar face at the Reference Desk for over 30 years. After graduating from Hood College and completing her library science degree at Villanova University, she started working at the Delaware Law School Library. Also known as Murie, she earned her J.D. in 1991, after the school changed its name to Widener, and passed the PA bar exam that summer. In October of the same year she married John Pachkowski, a Widener alumnus who currently also works at our Reference Desk on Saturdays. Murie grew up in Concordville, PA, where she and John now live in the early 19th century stone farmhouse her parents bought before she was born. The house is on the National Historic Register and is also shared by five cats and a dog.
Murie is a member of the Concordville Historical Society. She and John are active members of St. John’s Episcopal Church, whose congregation was first established in 1702. For many years Murie has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Girl Scouts Council of Eastern PA. She spends many hours creating beautiful quilts, some of which she uses as wall hangings in her office. She has been involved in so many facets of our library that she is known as the library’s “institutional memory.” Besides coordinating the Lexis and Westlaw services for the campus, conducting training sessions on Lexis and Westlaw, and promoting the library’s services to local attorneys, Murie also teaches Advanced Legal Research with Mary Marzolla.
The first floor of the Legal Information Center can be entered from the first floor level of the Law Building as well as from the stairwells on either side of the Library itself.
- There are 24 computers on the lower level of this floor and six in the adjacent Computer Assisted Legal Research (CALR) Lab.
- A Help Desk staffed by students is by the door.
- There are two copy machines that also function as printers plus a computer connected to a scanner.
- The CALR Lab contains two Westlaw printers and two Lexis/Nexis printers, where print jobs sent by students are printed out. Student representatives then file the printouts for students to pick up.
- Near the Help Desk is a door to Media Services, where Reza Amin can re-set ID card numbers when problems occur.
- There are bookshelves next to the ramp to the upper level of this floor that contain duplicate copies of Atlantic Digests and Atlantic Reporters plus the American Digest, containing case summaries from 1658 to 1896, and the Decennial Digests containing case summaries from 1897 to 1991.
- On the upper level there are study carrels along the walls and tables in the middle of the room. Microform cabinets, a microform reader/printer/scanner, sets of print indexes, treatises in call numbers L to Z (including education, literature, science, and health), and print journals in compact rolling shelving are all housed in this area.
Access to the balcony off the second floor of the Library will be closed after Thanksgiving until spring. We hope you have enjoyed using the tables and chairs during pleasant autumn days.
The third floor of the Legal Information Center is the smallest and quietest floor. Here are things that can be found there:
- Books classified in Library of Congress call numbers A through KE, including philosophy, history, economics, sociology, political science, and international law.
- The Historical Collection of case reporters and digests, including the early series of the National Reporter System, some in fragile condition.
- The Marshall Dennehey Room, or MD Room, used for seminar classes, meetings, and occasional social gatherings.
- Eight group study rooms of various sizes, from a two-person room to a conference room for 10 or 12. Room #8 may be reserved by signing up at the Circulation Desk and retrieving the key. Groups of students always take precedence over individuals for use of these rooms.
- The Video Room, containing DVDs and VHS tapes on legal topics, plus a small TV for viewing. Headphones are available from the Circulation Desk. A computer in this room has a scanner attached.
- Restrooms, tables and carrels near the windows, and groupings of sofas and chairs. Dictionaries, a paper cutter, and a copy machine that does not use allocation accounts.
Some people are auditory learners and learn best by hearing. If that describes you, why not try the Sum and Substance series of study aids. The library has a collection of this popular audio series on CD. Like all of the library’s study aids Sum and Substance CDs can be borrowed for three days. Now you can study in the car or at the gym.