The Law Library subscribes to several resources that may be especially helpful for journal staff working on source collections or writing your own notes. Check out the items below:
- LibKey Nomad
- LibKey Nomad is a browser extension that automatically searches web pages as you read them and lets you know which materials USC already has access to. When you see an article with the LibKey symbol, just click to go directly to the full text. LibKey Nomad is compatible with Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, Brave, and Vivaldi browsers.
- Perma.cc
- Perma.cc creates permanent links to online sources cited in your journal's articles. This prevents broken links when the links or websites change or disappear after the journal issue has been published.
- The Law Library has a free unlimited account. Your editors may already be using Perma.cc, but if not, you can ask them to contact the library for assistance or to set up an account.
- If your note is published, you may want to use Perma.cc links in it to make sure online sources you cite are always available.
- Problems capturing a page:
- If there is a page you want to capture with Perma.cc, but the standard Perma.cc engine isn't capturing it, it may be because the article is behind a paywall. There is a workaround for this:
- While on the "Create a new Perma Link" page, press the "Create Perma Link" button without specifying a URL. The error message "URL cannot be empty" will include a button to "upload your own archive." Just specify a title and URL and upload a JPEG, PNG, or PDF of the page that you want archived.
- PowerNotes
- The PowerNotes browser extension can help you document and save sources and quotes during your own research.
- The Law Library has a subscription, so PowerNotes is free to you as a law student. Register with your law school email address for full access.
- Essentially, PowerNotes helps researchers highlight passages from online sources, with automatically formatted quotes, etc. It's great for organizing your research materials.
- The founder has of PowerNotes a background in law, so they have made it smooth to pull sources from Westlaw and Lexis with documentation.
- It is also useful for preventing unintentional plagiarism during the writing process.