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Law
Subject Guide
This
subject guide covers law resources available at the Johnston Memorial
Library, including full-text journals, magazine, and newspaper articles,
law websites, and printed materials in the Reference Collection. This
is not a comprehensive subject guide, but rather a selective list of
materials that are most useful for locating information in this field.
Library location and call number are provided for print publications.
Full-Text
Databases
- CQ
Researcher. Presents full-text articles on current social,
political, economic, and international issues.
- CQ
Weekly Report. Offers in-depth full-text articles on U.S.
Congressional legislation, actions, and developments.
- Congressional
Universe. U.S. legislative information, hearing transcripts,
committee reports, bill tracking, Congressional Record, Federal
Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Code, Public Laws, the
National Journal, Congress Daily, and member information.
- InfoTrac
OneFile 1980 - Present.
A one-stop source for news and periodical articles on a wide range
of topics: business, computers, current events, economics, education,
environmental issues, health care, hobbies, humanities, law, literature
and art, politics, science, social science, sports, technology,
and many general interest topics. Millions of full-text articles
many with images. Updated daily.
- Lexis-Nexis
Academic Universe. Full-text coverage of: "Federal
Case Law," "State Legal Research," "U.S. Code, Constitution, and
Court Rules," and "Law Reviews" (Journals)
- Oxford
University Press. From classic theory to cutting-edge debate,
OUP law journals stand at the forefront of legal inquiry and research.
The range of law journals is eclectic and features some of the most
prestigious titles in the field. It is also of a consistently high
quality, publishing articles by top academics as well as practicing
lawyers.
- Xreferplus.
An online reference library that provides access to a selection
of reference books, including encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri,and
books of quotations. Includes Collins Dictionary of Law,
Great Court Cases and much more.
Journal
Indexes and Abstracts
- Criminal
Justice Abstracts. This database
contains comprehensive coverage of international journals, books,
reports, dissertations and unpublished papers on criminology and
related disciplines. Criminal Justice Abstracts covers crime trends,
crime prevention and deterrence, juvenile delinquency, juvenile
justice, police, courts, punishment and sentencing. The database
contains indexes and summaries of international journal articles,
books, and governmental and non-governmental reports on virtually
any topic in criminal justice. This information is indispensable
for academic institutions and government agencies and departments
where researchers are studying criminal justice, sociology, social
work, law, and education.
- GPO
Monthly Catalog. Covers all types of U.S. government
documents, including Congressional reports, hearings, debates, and
records; judiciary materials, and documents issued by executive
departments. Includes a bibliographic citation in each record. Updated
monthly.
- PAIS.
Provides selective subjects and bibliographic access to periodicals,
books, hearings, reports, gray literature, government publications,
internet resources, and other publications from 120 countries. Covers
1972 to present and is updated monthly.
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Encyclopedias
and Dictionaries
- Black's
Law Dictionary. by Henry Campbell Black. West Publishing
Co., 6th ed. 1990. Provides basic definitions of legal words and
terms. Location: Reference Area, first floor, Call Number: Ref
KF 156B53.
- Great
American Court Cases. by Mark Mikula. Gale Group, 4 vols.,1999.
This encyclopedia profiles nearly 800 federal
and state judicial proceedings. The cases covered were selected
for their influence on the development of key aspects of the law
in the United States. Location: Reference Area, first floor, Call
Number: Ref KF385.A4G68.
- Historic
U.S. Court Cases, 1690-1990: An Encyclopedia. by John W.
Johnson. Garland Publishing, 1992. This work is designed to serve
both student and layperson interested in learning about important
American court cases as well as the legal specialist looking for
a convenient repository of useful information, analysis, or references.
Location: Reference Area, first floor, Call Number: Ref KF385.A4J64.
- Magill's
Legal Guide. by Timothy L. Hall. Salem Press 3 vols., 2000.
This work is designed to provide practical guidance about what the
law is and how it works. Location: Reference Area, first floor,
Call Number: Ref KF38M35.
- Process
of Legal Research. by Christina
L. Kunz. Little, Brown, and Co. 3rd. ed., 1992. Excellent source
for learning how to do legal research. Location: Reference Area,
first floor, Call Number: Ref KF240P76.
- West's
Encyclopedia of American Law. West Publishing Co., 10 vols.,
1998. This encyclopedia is devoted to the terms and concepts of
U.S. law. It also covers a wide variety of persons, entities, and
events that have shaped the U.S. legal system. Location: Reference
Area, first floor, Call Number: Ref KF154.W47.
Internet
Websites
- Century
of Lawmaking for a New Nation. Subtitled U.S. Congressional
Documents and Debates, 1774-1873, this project of the Library of
Congress is making available online the written history of the American
Congress in digitized, searchable form. Some of the documents offered
are: the Journals of the House of Representatives (1789-1793) and
the Senate (1789-1793); the Senate Executive Journal (1789-1805);
the debates of Congress as published in the Annals of Congress (1789-1838);
and the Journal of William Maclay (1789-1791), Senator from Pennsylvania
in the first Congress.
- Famous
American Trials. This site details twelve famous American
trials: Leopold & Loeb (1924), Scopes "Monkey" Trial (1925),
Rosenbergs (1951), Amistad Trials (1839-1840), Bill Haywood Trial
(1907), Salem Witchcraft Trials (1692), My Lai Courts Martial (1970),
Scottsboro Trials (1931-1937), Dakota Conflict Trials (1862), Mississippi
Burning Trial (1967), Chicago Seven Conspiracy Trial (1969-70),
and Johnson Impeachment Trial (1868). Using source documents, images,
RealAudio files, description and commentary, information about each
trial may include biographies, maps, chronologies, pictures, original
documents, and bibliographies. Links to other trial American and
world trial sites.
- FindLaw:
Internet Legal Resources. The best single starting point
on the Web for doing legal research. Full-text, searchable database
of all law reviews and journals on the Internet. Updated nightly.
Another search interface, LawCrawler, helps you focus your search
on legal issues on the Web. Also includes Legal News, legal
forms, organizations, law firms and lawyers, judicial opinions
and case law, consultants, and more.
- Internet
Law Library. Contains links to over 7,500 law related
resources in subjects such as U.S. federal laws, state and territorial
laws, international laws, laws of all jurisdictions arranged by
subject, attorney and legal professional directories, law school
library catalogs and directories, and reviews of law books. The
current U.S. Code and Code of Federal Regulations can also be searched
from the home page.
- Internet
Legal Resource Guide. Designed as a subject-oriented
index of over 4000 Web sites around the world (but with an emphasis
on the United States), this site attempts to be a comprehensive
source of information on law and the legal profession for the layperson
as well as the professional. The legal forms section, mostly free
and easily reproducible, is especially helpful as are the law school
rankings and the law-related search engines. There are links to
publications, tax sites, government law sources, and two lawyer
locator services - one from West Publishing and the other from Martindale-Hubbell.
- Jurist:
The Legal Education Network. This
database is a gateway to expert legal information designed for people
wishing to learn, research, or teach legal subjects. Subsections
include Learning & Teaching Law, Researching Law, Columns &
Discussion, Current Issues, Recent Scholarship, Lessons from the
Web, and World Law. Introducing JURIST highlights features likely
to be used by professors, students, librarians, lawyers, judges,
journalists, and citizens. Another section compiles links to over
100 law school Web pages so users can find local legal information
"or use these portals as gateways to law schools, law libraries,
courts and bar associations across the country." Free weekly e-mail
updates are available
- LawGuru.
Excellent mega site for locating legal information.
- Legal
Information Institute. Extensive materials on the law: Law
About has overviews of more than 100 legal topics, with links to
the laws and related Web resources; Constitutions & Codes has
both state and federal; Court Opinions, available judicial opinion,
federal and state; Law by Source, federal, state, and international;
Current Awareness includes Eye on the Courts (news on important
court decisions); Directories, links to organizations and journals
(law reviews), as well as directories of judges, lawyers, and law
schools. Excellent project from the Cornell Law School.
- Municode.com.
Links to county and city online municipal codes
- Selected
Law Web Journals. This annotated list of e-journals
consists solely of legal, full-text journals that are published
exclusively on the web.
-
Supreme
Court of the United States. Developed by the U.S. Supreme
Court and the Government Printing Office, and hosted by the GPO.
The site provides general information on the Court, as well as
access to the Court's Term slip opinions, Term orders, argument
calendar, schedules, Rules, bar admission forms and instructions,
case-handling guides, special notices, and press releases. To
help navigate the enormous quantity of information an internal
search engine is provided.
-
Supreme
Court of Virginia. Site includes information about structure
and history of the court as well as full-text cases heard before
the court. There also links to lower court webstites.
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THOMAS:
Legislative Information on the Internet. Access the full
text of bills from the current Congress back through the 101st.
Search the daily Congressional Record for terms, then read the
full text of relevant proceedings and proposed legislation. Or
enter the name of a particular legislator and access his or her
voting record. Also has the roll call votes of the House and Senate
from the 101st Congress to date.
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Uniform
Commercial Code Locator. This
locator links to state statutes that correspond to Articles of
the Uniform Commercial Code. Locators are also available for the
Uniform Probate Code, Uniform Code of Evidence, and uniform laws
in the areas of: matrimonial, family and health and business and
finance.
-
U.S.
Dept. of Justice. The mission of the Justice department
is to enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States
according to the law, to provide Federal leadership in preventing
and controlling crime, to seek just punishment for those guilty
of unlawful behavior, to administer and enforce the Nation's immigration
laws fairly and effectively, and to ensure fair and impartial
administration of justice for all Americans. This site includes
budget information, organization chart, grants, publications and
a list of links to individual agencies within the department.
Site has an internal search engine.
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Virtual
Chase: Legal Research on the Internet. This excellent
site is for anyone doing legal research using the Internet. There
are annotated guides, online teaching tools, articles on specific
research issues and topics, material on evaluating resources,
articles on specific research issues and topics, and more.
-
Web's
Legal Dictionary. Hypertext links from words to other
applicable definitions. Browsable by letter. For more legal dictionaries,
see the list maintained in Findlaw's Legal Reference section.
©VSU
Library and Media Services, 10-12-05.
Gloria Beck,
Government Documents Librarian.
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