Print editions of most study aid titles are kept on reserve and can be checked out for up to 4 hours at a time. Older print editions are kept in the regular library collection and can be checked out for four weeks. Study aids in both the regular collection and on reserve are organized by call number. You can find a study guide’s call number in the library catalog.
In addition to the current print collection, hundreds of other electronic sources are available to download to your computer, tablet, or phone via our databases.
West Academic Study Aids
- Hornbooks
- Big, dense, and detailed. Often a simplified version of the author's major treatise.
- Concise Hornbook series
- Often authored by the same person who authored the Hornbook on the same topic.
- Succinct and readable; less detailed than Hornbooks.
- Concepts and Insights series
- Compliments casebook instructions.
- Focuses on the concept within a rule of law.
- Short & Happy Guide series
- Quick reviews of important rules and policies.
- Cover the basic 1L, and some 2-3L, subjects.
- Acing series
- Organizes material through roadmaps, checklists, and "points to remember."
- Walks you through approaching essay questions and creating a complete analyses of legal concepts.
- In a Nutshell
- Quick, simplified summations of the law.
- There's a Nutshell title for almost every area of law.
- Gilbert Law Summaries
- Comprehensive outlines of the law.
- Law Stories
- Describes the stories behind landmark cases.
- Discusses the immediate impact of the case and its continuing importance in shaping the law.
Aspen Learning Library
- Examples & Explanations
- Gives correct answers for practice, but also explains why other responses are wrong.
- Good for understanding nuances of black letter law.
- Emanuel's CrunchTime series
- Especially helpful for visual learners.
- Uses flow charts to explain substance and organize material.
- Provides short answer, multiple choice, and essay practice questions.
- Emanuel Law Outlines
- Outlines the law, gives exam tips, and offers opportunities for self-practice.
- Glannon Guides
- Teaches through explanation and includes hypotheticals for illustrating application.
- Explains both correct and incorrect answers.
- Casenote Legal Briefs
- Succinct statements of rule of law/black letter law.
- Descriptions of facts and important points of the holding and decision.
- Each title is keyed to the current edition of a specific casebook.
- Law in a Flash - See Spaced Repetition below.
CALI
- Lessons
- Self-paced, interactive tutorials that cover narrow topics of law.
- CALI library holds over 1,000 lessons categorized by 1, 2, and 3L topics.
- Subject Outlines
- Allow you to search for terms of art that correspond to topics you're studying.
- The included indices list all CALI lessons covering outlined subject.
Lexis Digital Library
- The Understanding series
- Concise and comprehensive overview of a subject area.
- Many citations to primary and secondary sources.
- Longer than Nutshells, but shorter than Hornbooks.
- Questions & Answers series
- Multiple choice and short answer questions with answers and explanations.
- No summaries of the subject area.
Quimbee
Spaced Repetition
- Study Emanuel Law in a Flash cards.
- Self-assess your grasp of 1L course topics and let the algorithm alert you when it's time for a review.
- Curate your own flash card decks, and share them with other students.
- Subscribe to decks curated and managed by your course professors.