Library-users can now get transcripts of U.S. Supreme Court decisions within hours of their release.

By accessing the U.S. Government Printing Office Project Hermes Bulletin Board, students can electronically receive full texts of recent decisions, usually within eight hours of their release.

Through Project Hermes, made available to Pattee in April, students can either receive printed copies of the decisions or can have them downloaded to computer disks, said Diane Garner, head of the documents and maps departments.

Having the decisions on disks makes it easier for students to manipulate the texts into their own projects, she said.

Prior to this free service, students either had to wait several weeks for printed copies of the decisions or use West Law, a commercial data base service, Garner said.

Although West Law provides access to federal court rulings as well as Supreme Court decisions, students are charged to use it.

Hermes is an asset because it gives immediate results and is "within the financial reach of students," said Helen Sheehy, international documents librarian.

Students choosing to use the service should know either the date of the case they choose to access or the name of one of the litigants, Garner said. Access is possible by subject, but is time-consuming, she added.

For older decisions, students can use the printed texts on file, Sheehy said.