An Introduction to Cobb Law Library
The Cobb Law Library sits in the heart of Cobb County at one of its busiest intersections. The main entrance to Cobb Superior Courthouse (915 East Church St., Marietta) is located in the same block as our entrance on East Park Square. The library opened its doors in 1984 in a portion of the courthouse basement, moving to the 7th floor of the courthouse in 2003. The library was created by an act of the General Assembly in 1972 for the purpose of serving the lawyers and judges in the county whose courthouse was, by that time, already 9 years old. It was designed to offer legal information to legal professionals as well as serve as a collection deposit for practicing attorneys and judges in the northern part of the state, as well as those attorneys and judges from out-of-state when they came to work or visit in Georgia . The library’s original collection consisted of the printed Georgia Reporters dating back to the 1800’s, statutory materials, some study aids, and a few editions of current encyclopedias. Since then, we have added a wealth of technology and innumerable information resources. Our small, friendly staff of librarians provides direct assistance to library users, and produces several newsletters as well as a blog (this one) covering legal issues of the day in our practice area. The mission of the Cobb Law Library is to provide comprehensive, cost-effective, and quality legal information to all members of the public.
Cobb Law Library Resources and Services
The Cobb Law Library provides a diverse array of resources and services for its users, all designed to facilitate legal research and support the mission of the Cobb Judicial Circuit. Cordele and Douglas are also served by the Library. The collection of books and treatises in the Library encompass a wide variety of topics related to the law, from criminal procedure to contracts, from administrative law to education law and from employment law to juvenile law. The treatises, primarily located in the second floor Reference Section, are available for use within the Library. The LAWNet computer network provides remote access to the same online research databases available through the public computers at the Library. A special password is needed to make remote access possible so a visit to the Library will be necessary to secure the necessary password. The library staff will research basic legal questions, identify potential sources and tools to answer questions, assist with form creation and serve as a referral to other resources at private and state law libraries when needed, including to the State Law Library, Atlanta. Research assistance is provided on behalf of the court and is available only for court-related matters. Efforts are limited to general law research. Complex public record requests, extensive legal research or litigation assistance are not provided. Legal advice cannot be provided. Workshops on various topics are frequently scheduled. Check back to this website for information about upcoming events.
Finding and Accessing Cobb Law Library
Located on the first floor of the Cobb County Courthouse beside the Law Library, the Cobb Law Library may be accessed through the public entrance on Church Street. The Law Library’s hours coincide with the Cobb County Courthouse’s regular hours of Monday through Friday, 8:00AM to 5:00PM. Access to the Law Library is granted to all members of the Cobb County Bar Association and the Georgia Bar as statutory member benefits under OCGA § 15-6-77(a)(3). Any Georgia resident may request access to the computer work stations. The Law Library cannot accommodate non-Georgia residents. However, those who have a need to access electronic resources may contact the librarian for additional information.
Special Collections and Archives at Cobb Law Library
Special Collections and Archives are a splendid resource to the legal historical research needs of the Georgia bench and bar. The library’s special collections include, for instance, records of the Lawmakers’ Project of the Georgia Historical Commission (1935 to 1941), which were created during the New Deal; a Civil Rights collection, as well as the American Bar Association’s Commission on the Future of the Legal Profession, which played a large role in shaping legal reform in Georgia and the nation. Original documents authored by such illustrious Ga. bar members as Howard A. Buford and Harlan Fiske Stone are also included in our Special Collection and Archives.
The collection is not limited to original manuscript materials. For instance, our collection contains rare published monographs, treatises by eminent legal scholars Henry Campbell Black, Charles Hezekiah Butterworth, Homer Falling Compton, and Sharswood, to name but a few. We also have works by the founders of the American legal system like the Declaration of the Independence and U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Compact for the State of Georgia, and the Articles of Confederation.
Cobb Law Library Navigation and Services
Located on the fourth floor of the main building, the Cobb Law Library is home to some of the most important legal research materials in Skadden. There you will find a variety of different print and electronic resources, ranging from case law databases like Lexis and Westlaw to newspapers and journals to treatises and textbooks. When you’re first getting the lay of the land, the library can feel overwhelming: how do you navigate all this information? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
The library is accessed via a set of doors at the very end of the hallway when you get off the elevators on the fourth floor. To the left is the reading area, a quiet space for working and studying. To the right is the California Documents room, which also serves as the CEB service desk; if your museum is buried under mountains of research, the CEB team has some popular databases available to help lighten your load. Adjacent to the California Documents room is the dedicated library reference room. This room houses Stacks, the collection of printers and photocopiers, and several computer terminals. Finally, at the back of the library, connected to the library research room, is the newspaper storage room.
In terms of layout, the main library contains three areas: stacks, tables, and other media. The stacks are the rows of shelving that contain all of our books; the tables are obvious enough, and the other media consists of databases, eJournals, and the plush sofas you’ve probably seen on Facebook. For the sake of clarity, we’ll deal with the stacks and other media in separate sections below.
Inside stacks, there’s no order to be found. On one shelf you might find a consumer guide, on the next an encyclopedia, and on the shelf after that a set of medical journals . You never know what you’ll find! All that being said, it’s helpful to have a general feeling for where the most useful material is, and we encourage all summer associates to make a point of wandering around the stacks for five minutes or so and seeing what catches their eye. Some of the more interesting resources you’ll find in stacks are:
The library is here to help you work as efficiently as possible. For quick reference, use the law memoir guide, which will show you where in the stacks you can find the major legal research series. For anything else, ask a librarian; that’s what we’re here for.
Just about all of the resources you’ll need in the J.D. program have online or electronic equivalents. These resources are usually linked to the library catalog, though some do exist in separate databases. For a full (and regularly updated) list of databases, click here. In addition to the databases housed at Skadden, you likely also have access to several others through your law school, such as the federal legislative history database, congress.gov. The best way to know what’s available to you through Skadden is to go to the SLS intranet page and follow the instructions found in myResources → External Services → Database Guide. If you’re having any trouble at all with databases, please reach out to us immediately, as oftentimes they will require an update on our end.
Your law school may have additional resources available to you, but we do not have access to these unless explicitly stated otherwise. Consult with its reference librarians to see if they have any additional materials that can help you with your research — and remember, we’re always happy to help, both when you’re using the Skadden databases and when you’re using your own resources through your law school.
Educational Programs and Events at Cobb Law Library
The Cobb Law Library also supports learning beyond the study of law. Each year, we host a variety of events and educational programs designed to keep the legal community and our community partners informed. Our Speakers’ Bureau allows us to offer informational presentations to civic groups and member organizations on legal issues and resources that affect the community. Topics range from the law and the legislative process to knowing your rights, and coverage of topics can be tailored to the needs and interests of the audience. We also offer free continuing legal education courses through our Law Library Resource Center and on-site at the Cobb County Superior Court and Cobb County Magistrate Court. Lectures and seminars within the community provide insight into legal issues and promote community engagement.
Cobb Law Library Research Support
Cobb’s Law Library offers support services for legal research. The library is staffed with a professional librarian that is available by appointment. The librarian will assist you with research by providing guidance in legal research and teaching general research skills. The librarian can also assist with case law and federal and state statutory analysis. Many of the law library’s books are becoming obsolete as more people turn to online resources. Lexis Advance and Bloomberg Law are popular online research tools for all your legal research needs and are available at Cobb’s Law Library. If you are a student or professor, Cobb’s Law Library offers personalized research assistance to students and faculty members. You may receive research assistance in any of the following areas of the law: intellectual property, immigration, environmental, cyber-security, and criminal law. The law library is also a depository for legal materials published by the United States government as well as the State of Georgia in accordance with the depository program of the Government Publishing Office and the Georgia Secretary of State.
The Cobb Law Library has 12 computers that are available to help you with your research needs. The computers are equipped with Microsoft Office applications, web browsers, and access to the following databases: Westlaw (Total Research) – Provides access to primary and secondary legal research. The database houses federal and state case law, statutes, administrative codes and regulations, and secondary sources such as encyclopedias, practice guides, and legal reference materials. Lexis Advance – Provides access to most of the same resources available in Westlaw. LLMC Digital – Provides access to historical legal sources, including hundreds of thousands of federal and state statutes, legislative histories, session laws, treatises, administrative codes and much more from early times through 1925. ProQuest Legislative Insight – Houses a comprehensive collection of digital resources for federal legislative history research, including full-text compilations of selected legislative histories. The database includes the full-text of congressional documents; House Reports and Senate Reports, Documents, and Executive Communications, House and Senate Prints, Committee Hearings, Markups, Prints, and Documents; House and Senate Committee Hearings with Witness Statements, House and Senate Documents, Reports, and Publications. ProQuest Legislative Insight also houses the U.S. Congressional Serial Set (1789-Present) which includes the American State Papers (1789 – 1838), House and Senate Documents (1817-Present), House and Senate Reports (1817-Present), and House and Senate Miscellaneous Documents (1817-Present). Westlaw International – Get comprehensive international coverage of case law, statutory law, law reviews, and newspaper articles published in 29 foreign jurisdictions. You can bring issues to their conclusion by following a line of cases that move through the appellate systems of particular countries. ProQuest U.S. Federal Agency Documents, Decisions, and Appeals – Provides U.S. federal agency documents and decisions from the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of Justice Library, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. ProQuest History Vault – A multi-year effort by ProQuest to digitize the vast backfile of material archived at the National Archives’ Cartographic Division. More than 600,000 records have already been digitized, including maps, government reports, telegrams, and letters.
Local Community and Outreach at Cobb Law Library
Engaging with the community on a regular basis is an important part of the Cobb Law Library’s mission. For this reason, we make it a priority to not only attend local legal community events but also host our own. We regularly partner with the Cobb County Bar Association Young Lawyers Section & Cobb County Bar Foundation to organize annual efforts like the Cobb Legal Food Frenzy and Cobb Bar Foundation Gala.
We also host several "Lunch & Learn" programs at our Cobb Law Libraries , where members of the Cobb County Bar and the general public can attend for free to learn about different law-related topics. We work with a wide variety of organizations here in Cobb County to partner and engage with the local legal community.
The Cobb Law Library is more than just a reference collection of legal finders. We have digital resources, a comfy reading nook, a powerful copier/scanner, and a resource staff to walk you through the research process. We are constantly "putting out fires" to help the legal community run smoothly. If you know of any resources we can be of service for, please reach out to us at [email protected].