Research Guides: Law: Home

Getting Started

Are you just beginning your legal research? If the answer is yes, then the best place to start is with a secondary source. Examples of secondary sources include legal encyclopedias, treatises, and law review articles. Secondary sources save you time by providing you with comprehensive coverage on a legal topic, while also providing citations to relevant primary sources of law ( e.g., case law, statutes, regulations, and administrative decisions). Below are several great resources that will get you started on the right path!

Nexis Uni
Coverage: Varies
Nexis Uni is a comprehensive database with access to over 17,000 news, business and legal sources. It provides full-text of local, regional, national and international newspapers, as well as access to scholarly journals, trade publications, television and radio broadcasts, newswires and blogs. Its extensive legal sources include federal and state cases and statutes, including U.S. Supreme Court decisions since 1790. With business information on more than 80 million U.S. and international companies and more than 75 million executives, it is a robust resource for in-depth business research.
HeinOnline
Coverage: 1754 to present
Legal history and government documents, law journals, the entire Congressional Record, Federal Register, and Code of Federal Regulations, complete coverage of the U.S. Reports back to 1754, and entire databases dedicated to treaties, constitutions, case law, world trials, classic treatises, international trade, foreign relations, U.S. Presidents, and much more.
Legal Information Reference Center
Coverage: Varies
Designed to assist the general public in legal matters of all kinds. It includes exclusive full text for legal reference books, as well as legal forms.
Full-text publications and reference books, state-specific legal forms, federal forms searchable by state and multi-state legal forms.

Legal Reference Books

Black's Law Dictionary, Standard Ninth Edition by Bryan A. Garner
Call Number: REFERENCE KF156 .B53 2009
ISBN: 9780314199492
Publication Date: 2009-06-25
This well established dictionary provides easy to understand definitions of legal terms.
The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation by Harvard Law Review (Compiled by); Columbia Law Review (Compiled by); University of Pennsylvania Law Review (Compiled by); Yale Law Review (Compiled by)
Call Number: REFERENCE KF245.U752 20th
ISBN: 9780692400197
Publication Date: 2015-06-25
The standard legal citation guide used in the United States.
Doing Legal Research by Roberta A. Morris; Bruce D. Sales; Daniel W. Shuman
Call Number: MORGAN KF240 .M657 1997
ISBN: 9780803934283
Publication Date: 1996-12-19
This book covers how to use the law library to find, cite, and track cases; statutes passed by the state legislatures or Congress; legislative history of these statutes; and administrative rules, regulations, and decisions promulgated by state and federal administrative agencies (such as the Environmental Protection Agency).
Gale Encyclopedia of Everyday Law by Donna Batten (Editor)
Call Number: Ebook
ISBN: 9781414498997
Publication Date: 2013-01-01
This encyclopedia fills a much-needed gap between legal texts focusing on the theory and history behind the law and more practical guides dealing with the law and its everyday effect upon its citizens. Containing approximately 200 articles, the Encyclopedia includes: brief descriptions of each issue's historical background, covering important statutes and cases; profiles of various U.S. laws and regulations; and details of how laws and regulations vary from state to state.
American Law Yearbook 2016: a guide to the year's major legal cases and developments by Gale Cengage Learning (Editor)
Call Number: Ebook
ISBN: 9781410325310
Publication Date: 2017-01-09
Annual supplement to the Gale Encyclopedia of American Law that updates and expands the content with new topics, updates, biographies of prominent figures and government appointees, and other features
Legal Research in a Nutshell by Morris L. Cohen; Kent Olson
Call Number: REFERENCE KF240 .C54 2007
ISBN: 9780314180070
Publication Date: 2007-06-05
This comprehensive but succinct guide covers major primary and secondary sources, including major web resources such as THOMAS and PACER as well as online databases and library materials.

Locating the Law : A Handbook for Non-Law Librarians
The updated, 6th edition of this electronic handbook provides invaluable information on the basics of reading legal citations, basic legal research techniques, an overview of federal law, the importance of using citators and much more!
How to research a legal problem
How to Research a Legal Problem: A Guide for Non-Lawyers
A short guide that offers basic assistance with beginning legal research. Prepared by the American Association of Law Librarians Legal Information Services to the Public Special Interest Section.