Tip One: Hand-Written Notes

Did you know that a new study recommends taking hand-written notes in class for better retention?  According to an article in the Chronicles of Higher Education, students who take hand-written notes had better recall of classroom lectures.  As a new law student, you may want to consider taking hand written notes in class, and scanning those notes into your computer to support your recall of classroom lectures. 

To help, the library has two free scanners in the copy center on the 5th floor.  For more information on the study of recall and hand written notes, see Taking Notes by Hand Benefits Recall, Researchers Find.

Tip Two: Suggested Readings

Want to find the right books to read your first year of law school? Confused because there are so many books on law and you don't know where to begin? 

As a 1L, law books will help you master the fundamentals as well as support your study of legal principles.  The books you may find most helpful will include study guides, casebooks and treatises on substantive areas of law.  Many of these books are located behind the circulation desk on the 5th floor of the law library. 

To find books at the UW Law Library with advice on managing your first year of law, start with the UW library catalog located on the left-hand side of the Law Library Home Page. Select subject in the drop down menu of the catalog and enter Law Students as the subject.

The book list defaults to relevance, but you can sort by date if you want to see the most recent books on this subject.  If you wish to further refine your search, select one of the sub-topics to the left of the screen. 

For additional help and recommendations, visit the reference desk at the law library on the 5th floor, contact us through one of our Ask a Librarian Services and check out more tips in the 1L Survival Guide. 

Submitted by Jenny Zook, Reference Librarian on September 19, 2014

This article appears in the categories: Law Library