“We have just anything you could think of,” Amy Small says of the Texas State Law Library, where she is executive director. Open to all—no attorney license required—the library serves everyday Texans and the Supreme Court alike. In this episode, hosts Jody Sanders and Todd Smith invite Amy to unpack the library’s often-overlooked resources: remote access to HeinOnline, historical statutes back to 1879, eBooks with persistent annotations, Westlaw and Lexis access on the library’s public computers, and several dictionary collections. If your online research skills need a refresher, watch on YouTube as Amy shares her screen and navigates a database in real time. Stay tuned in as Amy recalls fielding a seventh-grade classroom’s question about the weirdest law in Texas. Hint: It has something to do with astronauts and voting.
The Texas State Law Library accepts questions by phone from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., Monday through Friday, and on its website.
Listen to or watch the episode through the players below.
Click on the links below to access a specific part of the video.
- 0:00 Welcome And Introduction To Amy Small
- 2:56 Where The Texas State Law Library Is Located
- 4:13 Visiting The Library, Accounts, Scanners, And Accessibility Tools
- 7:14 Remote Resources Available To Texas Attorneys
- 10:12 How To Access HeinOnline And Other Online Resources
- 13:01 How Librarians Can Help With Legal Research
- 16:06 Popular Resources, O’Connor’s Books, And Historical Statutes
- 26:16 Research Efficiency Tools In The Digital Library
- 34:27 Using HeinOnline’s ScholarCheck Feature
- 41:43 Underused Resources And Why Lawyers Should Contact Librarians
Connect and Learn More
☑️ Amy Small | LinkedIn
☑️ Texas State Law Library on LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | X | YouTube
☑️ Todd Smith | LinkedIn | X
☑️ Jody Sanders | LinkedIn | X
☑️ Texas Appellate Law Podcast on LinkedIn | X | Instagram
☑️ Texas Appellate Counsel PLLC
☑️ Kelly Hart & Hallman, LLP | LinkedIn
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