Melanie Oberlin Knapp

Biographical Sketch

Melanie Oberlin Knapp is the Associate Dean, Library & Technology, as well as an Assistant Professor. She is responsible for the administration of library and technology services to the law school, including budgeting, personnel, collection management, physical facilities, and long-range planning. She teaches legal research classes, and she provides research assistance to faculty, students, alumni, and members of the bar.

While studying for her master’s degree, Professor Knapp was a Fellow at the Tarlton Law Library at the University of Texas at Austin, under Professor Roy Mersky. Then, she worked at the Ohio State University Moritz Law Library as reference librarian, research instructor, and writing instructor. She has held numerous positions in the library at Scalia Law, including as Instructional Services Librarian from 2010 to 2017, developing the research curriculum and teaching within all semesters of the LRWA program and Scholarly Writing.

Professor Knapp worked as an environmental litigation associate in Austin, Texas, practicing in state, administrative, and federal court, focusing on Texas civil procedure, Texas open meetings laws, the Texas Local Government Code, Texas ground water law, and federal statutes including the ESA, CWA, NEPA, FOIA, and EAJA. She is a member of the Texas Bar.

Professor Knapp’s scholarly interests touch on the subjects of her practice experience, legal research tools and pedagogy, citation metrics, and the status of law librarians in academe.

Professor Knapp teaches Legal Fundamentals and legal research in LRWA and Scholarly Writing.