Circulation Department
806-8045
Updated July 2009
Introduction
What is Daniel?
What type of sources are in Daniel?
Where can I access Daniel?
Can I use a keyword search in Daniel?
Other academic law libraries in the area
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this resource guide is to provide an overview for obtaining books, treatises, links to databases and more from Daniel, the Howard University Law Library web catalog. With Daniel you are just one click away from obtaining the information you need for your legal research.
top
WHAT IS DANIEL?
Daniel is the name of the Howard University Law Library web catalog. Access Daniel online at: http://Daniel.law.howard.edu.
The Web Catalog was named in honor of Allen Mercer Daniel.
In 1923, Allen Mercer Daniel was appointed Special Assistant to the Librarian at the Howard University School of Law. Five years later, the Laura Spellman Rockefellers Memorial donated $20,000 to the library. With those funds, the library was able to satisfy the standards of the American Bar Association (ABA).
As a result, in 1931 the Law School was added to the ABA approved school list. Two years later, the library was admitted into the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL). Allen Mercer Daniel became the first black member of AALL.
Then, in 1940, Allen Mercer Daniel was appointed as Librarian and Assistant Professor of Howard University School of Law. During his twenty-six year tenure as Librarian, the Law Library acquired a wealth of materials. At the time of his retirement, the library collection doubled to over 50,000 volumes.
The Howard University Law Library has named Daniel the Web Catalog to honor the memory of Law Librarian and Assistant Professor Allen Mercer Daniel.
top
WHAT TYPES OF SOURCES ARE IN DANIEL?
Daniel provides access to the following:
- Books
- Database Links to journals and government documents
- Federal Depository materials
- Holdings of other academic law library web catalogs in the Washington, D.C. area
- Law Reviews and Journals
- Microfilm and Microfiche
- Periodicals and Newspapers
- Rare Books and Special Collections
- Treaties and Treatises
- Video and Audio Recordings, including DVD's
top
WHERE CAN I ACCESS DANIEL?
Patrons may access Daniel from the Internet at http://Daniel.law.howard.edu. Public access computers are located in the Law Library for your convenience. They are located in the Reserve Room, on the first floor across from the Circulation Desk, and on the second floor, third and fourth floors in the stacks.
top
CAN I USE A KEYWORD SEARCH IN DANIEL?
Daniel is searchable by: Keyword, Title, Journal Title, Author, Author/Title, Library of Congress Subject Headings, Call Number, ISBN/ISSN, Government Document Number, Professor (reserve items), Course (course name), and Other Libraries (other academic Law Library catalogs in the Washington, D.C. area).
Example of a Keyword Search
As an example, if you are looking for the book entitled Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White by Frank H. Wu, and you have partial information about it, you can use the Keyword search mechanism to find it. Here is how:
Type in the word Yellow as your Keyword and click on the search button. This search retrieved 18 results. Scrolling through the list of search results shows Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White as one of the search results.
Next, click on the link for Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White and read how many copies of the book the law library owns and their various locations in the law library.
Example of an Author Search
If you have the author of the information you are seeking, click on the Author button in Daniel and type the author's last name.
To use Wu as an author search to find the book Yellow, type in Wu as an Author search and click the search button.
Scroll through the search results and find the entry for Yellow. Click on the entry link to Yellow and discover the number of copies the law library owns and where they are located.
top
OTHER ACADEMIC LAW LIBRARY CATALOGS IN THE AREA
From Daniel it is possible to view the holdings of library materials from not only Howard University Law Library, but from the web catalogs of academic law libraries in the Washington, D.C. area.
Specifically, any search that you type and submit in Daniel can be submitted, with one click, to the online web catalogs for the following local law libraries:
- American University Law Library
- Catholic University Law Library
- George Washington University Law Library
- Georgetown University Law Library
Links to their Web Catalogs appear at the top of the screen after every search in Daniel.
Example of Viewing the Holdings at Other Academic Law Libraries
As an example, if you did a Title search in Daniel for: Yellow: Race In America Beyond Black And White, you would find that Howard University Law Library owns five copies of the book.
From that search results page in Daniel, at the top of your screen, notice the links to other local law school libraries. Click on the link for Catholic University of America Law Library, located at the top of the search results page in Daniel. This automatically runs the same search for Yellow: Race In America Beyond Black And White in Catholic University of America Law Library's Web Catalog. Next, notice that Catholic University Law Library owns one copy of Yellow.
Note
Be sure to check your spelling. If your search is entered incorrectly in Daniel it will also be entered incorrectly in the other law library you link to from Daniel.
The other way that you can access other Academic Law Library Web Catalogs is by clicking on the Other Libraries button on Daniel's main page. Remember to type in a fresh search when you access other local law library web catalogs from this way.
top
FOR MORE INFORMATION
For more information contact the Circulation Desk at 806-8208 or Reference.
.
 |
