An experience for paralegal students . . .
On Saturday, August 23, 2008, Amy Springer, Reference Librarian for the Eagan campus, and Liz Hurley-Felling, instructor for the Introduction to Legal Research class, gave paralegal students an opportunity to visit the law library at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, MN. Eight students attended from various parts of the Minneapolis-St.Paul metro area and Wisconsin. Kirk Olson, another instructor for the paralegal program who usually attends this tour with us was unable to make it this time. We missed him!
The purpose of this fieldtrip is to show the students how to manually research information, but also to minimize any fears they may have about going into a law library by themselves. It is important for students to know that these libraries are open to the public and they can utilize them anytime.
We began the tour with Librarian Amy Springer showing us where everything was located in the law library and how the materials are organized. Instructor Liz Hurley-Felling showed the students the reporters, statutes, and encyclopedias. To put into practice what students were learning and experiencing, we all performed a couple of exercises to retrieve information using the law books.
The two hour law library session was followed by lunch at Axel’s Bonfire Grill on Grand Avenue. This gave us a chance to socialize, and talk about the experience of researching at a law library. This is a great example of taking classroom learning and applying it to the real world experience.
Liz Hurley-Felling
Paralegal Studies Coordinator/Instructor
Eagan campus/online