1st Steps to Using the Law Library

Using Online Catalogs

Catalog System Changes | The Online Catalog System | How the Library of Congress Organizes the Field of Law | 

Online Catalog (EDS)

Search catalog and electronic resources.

The primary tool and your first step for searching the library’s collection is the Online Catalog. This electronic discovery system (EDS) searches more than the library’s print materials. The EDS also searches for electronic items to which the library may have subscriptions, such as journals, news articles, or the library's institutional repository.  Use the following instructional videos for information on how to search, place requests for books, renew items, and update your account.

This video introduction to the EDS was created by the law library director and tailored especially for law school use. You may also find helpful this web guide and video illustrating the library catalog (EDS) created by UMKC Libraries. 

To view items checked out, due dates, or to renew items, you must be logged in through the law library's link to "Search Catalog & Electronic Resources" button.  For non-university affiliated patrons, a "guest account search" is available.

Note that our EDS includes all UM System libraries. To search just the catalog (and not electronic journals and databases), follow the "Advanced Search" link and scroll down until you find a box to check for "Catalog Only." 

If you run a search without finding what you need at the UM libraries, expand your search using the link on the right side of the page labeled "MOBIUS."  This will connect you to the MOBIUS catalog that includes materials from over 70 academic libraries in Missouri, including the law libraries at Saint Louis University and Washington University. 

Known issues:

• Proquest eBook titles are not up-to-date in the catalog’s records, or currently accessible when searching the EDS.  We rely almost exclusively on Proquest to update and supplement our physical collection of scholarly book publications.  This makes it difficult to find recent materials and topics.  Solution: Go directly to Proquest eBooks (also accessible through the law library databases page).
• The MOBIUS search feature only appears in the EDS/Catalog if you run a successful search returning some results.  If you don't get any results, you don't get the link.  Solution: Go directly to the MOBIUS catalog.
• The EDS/catalog currently defaults to searching the entire UM system catalog, and the EDS layer does not highlight law school databases or even include many of them. For the former, the solution is to use the Advanced Search function to limit searches to the UMKC Law Library and/or law topics. For a complete list of databases provided by the Law Library, go directly to the law library database page.

The Online EDS/Catalog System

Many legal topics such as foreign, comparative, and international law require heavy use of the online EDS/catalog, often as the first step. Inter-library loan systems are also critical. In addition, the union catalogs (e.g., integrated catalog and user request systems) of MOBIUS and Prospector are available to the UM system.  Finally, the inter-library loan (ILL) systems provides access beyond the traditional systems through OCLC (WorldCat), the world's largest catalog.

 
Start with the Online Catalog (EDS) (center gold ring):  the greater University of Missouri's collective library system, for quick response time and longest loan periods.

Then, go to MOBIUS, which has 77 public, academic, and special libraries in Missouri, and some 29 million items.

Finally, the world's largest catalog is WorldCat (outer ring) with 10,000 libraries across the world. Place requests using Interlibrary Loan for materials in the World Cat catalog.

How the Library of Congress Organizes the Field of Law