William and Mary School of Law Web Page

Jump to:
» William and Mary, Area University, and Paralegal Classes
» General Public

William and Mary, Area University, and Paralegal Classes

Reference staff conduct 30-60 minute library tours for students enrolled in non-law classes who need access to legal materials. This includes William & Mary graduate and undergraduate classes, area universities and students enrolled in paralegal programs. Professors should schedule tours early in the semester to ensure students know where to locate sources required to complete assignments. With advance notice, the reference staff can provide basic research instruction during tours. Special requests for concentration on specific areas of law, or specific types of sources, can also be accommodated with advance notice. We ask that professors ensure students understand the use of particular sources before they attempt to complete assignments. Please note that Lexis and Westlaw access is available only for law faculty and students due to our contractual agreements with the vendors.

Professors interested in scheduling a library tour should contact Martha Rush at 757-221-3253. Advance notice of at least one week is requested in order to ensure the necessary staffing. Please provide preferred dates and times, and class size. Copies of assignments, given in conjunction with the tour, are appreciated ahead of time so that tours can focus on the relevant materials. Tours may be scheduled Monday - Thursday, 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. and Friday, 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., as our schedule permits. We recommend that tours be limited to no more than 15 students. Multiple tours are provided for larger classes.

Professors are welcomed to bring their classes to the library and discuss access to legal materials themselves. However, we would appreciate knowing when specific classes wish to visit the library, so there is no conflict with law student library assignments. We also ask professors to provide us with a copy of any assignment, so the reference staff can better prepare to meet students' requests for assistance in using legal materials.

We will make every effort to accommodate the class as to both date and time.

General Public

Periodically, usually during the summer, the reference staff provides general tours of the law library for local high school classes, organizations and other groups in the Williamsburg area.

Considerations include the availability of staff, the size of the group and the time of year a tour is requested. Tours may include an overview of the Law Library's collections and policies, a guided tour of the library, an overview of legal indexes, online databases, legal finding tools, and brief explanations of selected materials. Lexis and Westlaw access is available only for law faculty and students due to our contractual agreements with the vendors. Tours normally last from 30-60 minutes.

Groups interested in scheduling a library tour should contact Martha Rush at 757-221-3253. Please provide preferred dates and times, and size of the group. Tours may be scheduled Monday - Thursday, 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. and Friday, 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., as our schedule permits. We recommend that tours be limited to no more than 15 persons.

We will make every effort to accommodate the group as to both date and time.

» More Services

Resources