Educational Technology | Columbia Law School
Coursewebs
The Law School Information Technology and Educational Technology departments have created a simple-to-use and flexible Courseweb page application. Here are a few features:
- Faculty do not need to request a web page. One Courseweb will be created automatically for each class, and the faculty member who is designated as the instructor by Registration Services will have permission to edit the web page.
- Students will automatically be given access to all Law School course web pages for those courses in which they are registered. The registration data maintained by Registration Services is used to control student access to a Courseweb. When students add or drop a course, the registration data for the Courseweb will be updated within 24 hours.
- Faculty assistants are automatically given access to Coursewebs for all faculty they are assigned. Caroline Lukaszewski, manager of faculty assistants, maintains the database on the assignments of faculty assistants to faculty. See Faculty Services for more information.
Textbook Information for Law School Courses
Where to find textbook information for Law School courses:
Textbook information that has been entered into the NewCourseWorks database can be found in the following places:
- Curriculum Guide listing textbook information for each course
- Each Law School Courseweb
- Directory of Classes listing for each course
How to post textbook information for Law School courses:
Columbia University has created a specialized database for entering textbook information as a part of the University “NewCourseWorks” system. Because this database is a University resource (not a Law School service), faculty will need use their “UNI” (not LawNet) network ID to access this service.
- An FAQ page about posting textbooks
- General information about the “UNI”
- Information about recovering your username or password
Three steps to posting textbook information—and now ordering textbooks
Step 1: Log in into NewCourseWorks
Log into the NewCourseWorks system
Step 2: Click on “Next Semester”
Once you are logged into the NewCourseWorks system you should see the courses listed for the current semester. If the course you wish to access is taught the next semester select the “Next Semester” button in the left-hand navigation menu.
You will then see the course number and course title for courses offered next semester. Click on the appropriate course number and the NewCourseworks site for that course should appear.
Step 3: Select “Textbooks” on the left menu, then select “Add textbooks”
The NewCourseWorks database was designed so that the only information required is to enter an ISBN number. The NewCourseWorks database is connected with another database that will retrieve the book title, author, publisher and copyright information and yet another database that will retrieve price information. This information will be transmitted to the Columbia University Bookstore and books will be ordered for your course.
Once the textbook information is displayed there is also a “notes” box that will appear. This is where any additional message about the book you wish to enter can also be displayed to students.
Copyright
The Law School participates in the Copyright Clearance Center program for obtaining permission to use copyrighted materials in both hard-copy “coursepacks” and materials posted online in the Courseweb system.
Copyright laws apply equally to both hard-copy and digitally distributed materials on Coursewebs. Further information about copyright issues can be found at the Columbia Libraries/Information Services Copyright Advisory Office. This office has written an especially useful guide to “posting course materials online” and a “fair use checklist.”
New Coursewebs Specifications
The Law School is in the process of re-evaluating the current Courseweb system features and functionality. A survey was recently developed by Educational Techology and distributed among Law School faculty. The goal of the survey was to determine priorities in the development of the next generation system. Results of the survey have been shared with the Information Technology Department and they are in engaged in an analysis to determine the extent to which new features can be included in the current Courseweb platform. The question of developing a new system over the longer term is also actively being considered.
Links to Courseweb Sites
Please note that all Coursewebs can be accessed using your LawNet account.
For faculty, please log in using your LAW1 username and password. For students, please log in using your LAW2 username and password.
Coursewebs for Students and Faculty (login required)
Public Courseweb Materials (no login required)