David Dickens Services, Students, The Basics

Tech Help

There are two places to get technology support here at Pepperdine. The University Help Desk and the Information Services Tech Support Desk located at the Public Services Desk in the School of Law Library.

University Help Desk (HELP)
The Pepperdine University Information Technology (University IT) department provides direct technical support for students via the University’s ‘Anytime’ Help Desk. In addition to providing technical assistance, the University Help Desk also acts as the central coordination point for School of Law technical services during the weekend. The University Help Desk is open 24/7 via phone and email at: 310-506-HELP (4357) or helpdesk@pepperdine.edu for the following issues:

School of Law Information Services Department (IS)
Information Services Department LogoThe Information Services Department is here to assist you with a variety of issues including, but not limited to, configuring laptops, multimedia reservations and training, School of Law web sites, and Email account training/usage. The IS team has offices in the School of Law Library to assist with technical support and is available between the hours of 8am-5pm (Monday-Friday). To contact the IS team, use the following contact methods:

David Dickens Services, Students

7 Legal Apps for Law School Students

1. FastCase: This free app available for the iPhone, iPad, and Android allows you to search for cases that have occurred in all 50 states. See the FastCase Web site for more information.

2. Want to know more about your Supreme Court Justices? The app called PocketJustice gives you all the information you need in the palm of your hand. This app is $0.99 and available for the iPhone, iPad, and Android.

3. iJuror is a fast and easy way to keep track of your jury. This app costs $4.99 and is available for the iPhone and iPad.

5. TrialPad allows lawyers to update court files during the actual hearing. Lawyers can hook up any monitor or projector to their iPad to play videos or display images on the screen. This app is $89.99 and available for the iPhone and iPad.

6. Constitution allows anyone to review the Constitution for free.

7. Black Law’s Dictionary is a well-known law dictionary now in it’s 10th edition. Costing $54.99, it is available for the iPhone, iPad, and Android. The free online dictionary is available at: https://thelegaldictionary.org/

David Dickens Services, Students, The Basics

Law Library

The Law library can be one of the most valuable assets to you during your time in law school. Its value goes beyond your law education, as it can be a great tool for such activities like Law Review and Moot Court as well as preparing for your careers as a whole. The catalog system contains records describing all the books, microforms, and journals in the law library and other selected libraries. Links are also provided which can take you directly to the web sites of other libraries both local and across the country.

Law Library Catalog

The Law Library Catalog can be accessed via computers located throughout the Law Library.

Additional Law Resources:

Law Guides

Law Guides is a collection of research guides prepared by librarians at the Harnish Law Library. These guides are specifically designed to assist library users with the research of certain subjects or for specific courses. For further assistance, you may contact the guide author or the librarian on duty. To access Law Guides go to: http://lawguides.pepperdine.edu.

The Most Popular Guide Topics:

  • Microsoft Word: Answers to Law Students’ Most Frequently Asked Questions
  • Foreign, Comparative, and International Law (FICL) Research
  • Clinical Law Research Guide
  • International Arbitration
  • Prepare for Legal Practice
  • Using the Law Library Catalog
  • National Security Law, Terrorism, and the Law of War

Additional Resources: Access the Home Page of Law Guides with important details of all of the law library services.

Lexis-Nexis

Lexis is an online legal research system used primarily by attorneys but also government agencies and other business professionals. The traditional version of Lexis, often called Lexis.com has been available online since 1999. In 2012, Lexis Advance (a new, enhanced) version of Lexis was released. You are given free access to Lexis. However, you will have to specifically request access to Lexis Advance by contacting the Lexis-Nexis rep, Charla Strong at: Charla.Strong@lexisnexis.com

Lexis-Nexis Advance Log In: https://signin.lexisnexis.com/lnaccess/app/signin?aci=la

Register Your Password at Lexis-Nexis Instructions: In order to use Lexis-Nexis or Lexis-Nexis Advance, you will need to first register your activation code. You should have received your activation code at Orientation or via email (your Pepperdine account). If you feel that you have not received an activation code, email gilbert.marquez@pepperdine.edu with the subject line: LEXIS NEXIS ACTIVATION CODE.

Additional Lexis-Nexis Resources: On the Lexis-Nexis law school homepage you can find tutorials and webinars that cover a variety of Lexis related topics. The tutorials are only 5 minutes long and the webinar recordings are from live events hosted online for students. They cover a variety of topics and range from 45 minutes to an hour.

**Please note: You will learn more about Lexis in your Legal Research & Writing course**

If you didn’t receive your LEXIS Registration ID, please email Gilbert Marquez with your Pepperdine Email at gmarquez@pepperdine.edu

Westlaw

Similar to Lexis-Nexis, Westlaw is one of the leading Internet-based legal research providers.  Westlaw has two versions including their basic Westlaw version and a new, advanced Westlaw Next interface.

To use Westlaw using your Pepperdine log-in information, see the Westlaw Registration Tutorial

Additional Westlaw Resources:

**Please note: You will learn more about Westlaw in your Legal Research & Writing course**

David Dickens About Us, Faculty, Services, Students, The Basics

Pepperdine Google Suite

Welcome to the incredibly usefully and incessantly expanding world of Google! Here, you will learn about some of the relevant Google Apps that may help you throughout not only your education career, but also your future life.

You can access Google Apps through your @pepperdine.edu account. For more information on accessing your personal account, please visit the Community page by clicking here. Google Apps includes the following components: Gmail, Sheets, Calendar, Sites, Google Drive (formerly Google Docs), Hangouts, Groups, Contacts, and many more. To learn more about these components and how they will be useful to you at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, please watch the video at the bottom of the page.

Google Drive

Google Drive is a very useful tool that can be accessed anytime, from anywhere, via the internet or the Google Drive App. Some of the feature of Google Drive allow you to:

  1. Share files with people, such as meeting minutes, class notes, and task lists
  2. Collaborate on conference presentations with colleagues
  3. Edit student papers with in-text comments
  4. Backup files (you can never have too many copies!)
  5. Work from home without the need of Remote Desktop or your Work Computer
  6. And more…..

You can even use Google Drive to create and share documents, spreadsheets, and presentations online. Although Google Drive has its own applications, you can download the Google files to your desktop and they will open in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Collaborate on projects without the hassle of emailing files and version tracking. Multiple Users can edit the Google files at the same time, without conflict. Revisions are saved automatically and Google Drive has a revision tracking feature so you can see what changes were made, when.

Google Drive can also be used as an online repository for all of your important school-related documents. These documents can then be accessed from any computer with Internet access at any time.

GOOGLE DRIVE NOTE:  The Google Drive service allows up to 50gb of storage (combined storage encompasses all Google Suite modules including your Pepperdine email account).

Our friends at University IT have put up some helpful guide information. Check it out today.

Here’s another great article on Google drive with helpful video. Anson Alexander has done great work to make the product accessible to new users–very thorough.

Google Docs

Google Docs is the informal predecessor of Google Drive, if you will. Google Docs allows you to create documents from scratch or from pre-set templates as well as sort your already created documents.

Through Templates, folks at Pepperdine using Google Apps can now share private templates for presentations, documents (like stationary or departmental memos) and spreadsheets. We now have our own private template gallery. Anything you make in Google Docs (or import into Docs from Word, etc) can be offered as a template, shared and rated by the Pepperdine community.

If you’ve never used Templates before in Google Docs, here’s a link to their help page: Google Help: Google Docs Templates

Google Docs has also upped their collaboration tools through quick and easy comments that can be placed on selected portions of a document. If you’ve been staying out of the Cloud, there are some real incentives to get in now.

Google Sheets

Google Sheets is a free online spreadsheet tool that is similar to Microsoft Excel. This tool has fewer formatting features that its software-based counterpart, but can be accessed from any computer with Internet access. You can also share spreadsheets with others and save the spreadsheet as multiple file formats including (but not limited to) XLS, PDF, and HTML.

Google Slides

Google Slides is a free, online presentation tool that you can use to create, edit, present, and share slideshows. It is very similar to Microsoft PowerPoint, with fewer formatting features. Much like most other Google Apps, Google Slides allows you to collaborate on slideshow presentation with unlimited users.

Google Calendar

Google Calendar is Google’s scheduling calendar service that can assist you with time-management through easy organization and helpful reminders. This is nothing short of the most open and configurable calendar offering available today. And while there is a wealth of things you might never do, it never feels like that power gets in the way. If you just want to login and check your appointments and type in new ones you can do that. If you want to go a step farther and have it email you a daily appointment list, that’s available. If you want your cell phone to alert you, that’s just another click away.

Google Chat

Google Chat is an intelligent and secure communication and collaboration tool, built for teams. From ad-hoc messaging to topic-based workstream collaboration, Chat makes it easy to get work done where the conversation is happening.  For more information on Google Chat, click here.

Google Sites

Google Sites is a free and easy way to create and share webpages as well as a nice place to brainstorm and manage projects. Its an easy basic wiki with almost no ramp-up time needed due to no real training being required. Just decide a name for your knowledge base and go. To learn more about Google Sites, click here.

David Dickens About Us, Faculty, Services, Students

Install the LiveSafe App today!

 

 

 

Go ahead and take a moment to go to the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and download the LiveSafe app onto your mobile device.

The “LiveSafe” app is designed to improve communication between our University community members and Public Safety, and allows for faster emergency response in distress situations.  The app is free and available to all members of our community: students, faculty, staff, parents, visitors, and friends.

Through LiveSafe, you can submit information and chat with Public Safety in both emergency and non-emergency situations, and you can look out for your friends and loved ones by watching them get to their destination safely with SafeWalk. If you need a medical or security escort on the Malibu campus or a ride back to the Malibu campus, you can call Public Safety using the SafeRide feature.  When you submit a tip, you can attach a photo, video clip, or audio clip, and you can submit all of this information anonymously if you choose.  And, when you use LiveSafe to call 911 or contact Public Safety in an emergency, the app can track your location, which helps first responders know exactly where help is needed.

We’ve also loaded critical information resources into the app, so you now have emergency response information and contact information for key University services at your fingertips anytime, anywhere—even internationally.[i]

Here’s how you can get the app:

  1. Open Google Play or the Apple App Store on your phone. Search for “LiveSafe” and download the option with the blue shield.
  2. Tap “Sign up.” Fill in your profile information and create a password.  (You are welcome to use your personal, non-Pepperdine e-mail address. We suggest that you do not use the same username and password as you use for the Pepperdine Central Authentication Server.)
  3. “Pepperdine University” may pop-up if you are close to the campus. If so, tap “Yes.” Otherwise tap “Change” to select “Pepperdine University” as your institution.

[i]  Most of the app’s features will work internationally, so long as you have a Wi-Fi or cellular data connection.  You will still be able to submit tips and information to Public Safety, and you will be able to utilize the SafeWalk feature.  However, the “Call 911” option is programmed for US emergency dispatch only and will not automatically route to local first responders. In an emergency situation overseas, it will be important to dial the correct 911-equivalent number for your location. You can find this information at http://travel.state.gov.

[Above text pulled from http://emergency.pepperdine.edu/livesafe/ on 8/15/2017]

David Dickens Services, Students

Law Students: Exam Archive Searching

You may notice that when you click on the “EXAM ARCHIVE” link on the Law Library web page you are traveling to a Google Drive location.

The exams are stored in a Google Drive folder that requires a Pepperdine Google account.

TIP: If you find that you do not have access, log into your Pepperdine Google Mail using your browser, then go to http://lawlibrary.pepperdine.edu and select the Exam Archive link.

You will note that you can search all the exams for any word but the best way is to search for professor name and course name using the advanced search box.

Click on the down arrow to the right of the search box
Click on the down arrow to the right of the search box

 

To search in “Advanced” mode click on the arrow at the right end of the search box.  And the advanced dialog search box will drop down.

Then enter in the “Item Name” field the last name of the professor (cochran) or a word from the course name (torts).

Enter professor's last name in the "Item name" field
Enter professor’s last name in the “Item name” field

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s wishing you all the best as you prepare for your finals!