Nina Cascio
International Law Librarian
SUNY Buffalo Law Library
O’Brian Hall
Phone: 645-2633
ncascio@buffalo.edu
Citechecking
Buffalo Human Rights Law Review
Spring2004
DECIPHERING CITATIONS
The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (17th ed.)
Reserve KF 245 U53 2000
Introduction to Basic Legal Citation by Peter W. Martin
(Legal Information Institute—Cornell Law School)
http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/
Bieber's dictionary of legal abbreviations
Reference Desk KF246 .B46 1993
Bieber's dictionary of legal abbreviations (ON LEXIS)
Legal > Secondary Legal > Annotations & Indexes > Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations
Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations
http://www.legalabbrevs.cardiff.ac.uk/index.html
There are many other citation abbreviation tables. Please ask at the Reference Desk.
VERIFY CITATIONS: BOOKS, DOCUMENTS, AND OTHER MATERIALS
BISON (UB ONLINE CATALOG)
http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/e-resources/bison/
Use to identify books and other materials in the University at Buffalo Libraries
Collections.
WorldCat
http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/lml/e-resources/worldcat.html
Use to identify books and other materials held by thousands of libraries in the US and
worldwide. Order materials through Interlibrary Loan (ILLIAD) if UB does not own.
Allow at least 3-4 weeks.
Library Online catalogs from around the world
http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/e-resources/otherlib.html
Allow several weeks for Interlibrary Loan (ILLIAD) if UB does not own the materials.
Ask a reference librarian for assistance.
VERIFY CITATIONS: JOURNALS
If you have a citation to an article, use these sources to LOCATE THE JOURNAL:
BISON (UB Online Catalog)
http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/e-resources/bison/
to see if UB owns it.
Type in the name of the JOURNAL—NOT the title of the article- as a TITLE
search.
e.g., t= human rights quarterly
“Electronic Journal Holdings”
http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/e-resources/ft.html
to find out if UB has ONLINE access to the FULL TEXT of the journal.
Westlaw
http://www.lawschool.westlaw.com/
To find out if a specific source is contained in Westlaw, search the IDEN database
(All Databases > What’s New and Customer Information > Westlaw Database List)
comprised of names/descriptions of all Westlaw databases.
LEXIS
http://www.lexisnexis.com/lawschool/
To find out if a specific source is contained in LEXIS,
search the LEXIS-NEXIS Source Locator
http://web.nexis.com/sources/
Try using the DESCRIPTION field.
HeinOnline
http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/law/eresources/heinonline.html
(though these holdings are reflected in “Electronic Journal Holdings” database.
WorldCat (see above).
http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/lml/e-resources/worldcat.html
Allow a few weeks if article must be obtained through Interlibrary Loan (ILLIAD)
VERIFY CITATIONS: REPORTS, DOCUMENTS AND PUBLICATIONS FROM
IGOS (Intergovernmental Organizations) and NGOs (Non-governmental
Organizations)
Use the sources listed above and…
If you know the body (government, IGO, NGO) that put out the document, go to its
website. To locate the website, do a search on the Internet (using Google or other search
engine), or use some of these guides:
IGOs
Alphabetic Index of Websites of the United Nations System of Organizations
http://www.unsystem.org/
ASIL Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law
http://www.asil.org/resource/Home.htm
All of the available guides:
Introduction to the Guide
Human Rights
International Commercial Arbitration
International Criminal Law
International Economic Law
International Environmental Law
International Organizations
Lists, Newsgroups & Networks
Private International Law
Treaties
United Nations
Foreign & International Law Resources:
An Annotated Guide to Web Sites Around the World—International Organizations
(Harvard Law Library)
http://www.law.harvard.edu/library/ref/ils_ref/annotated/#IGOs
UN
United Nations: ASIL Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law
http://www.asil.org/resource/un1.htm
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
http://193.194.138.190/
Examine the Treaty Bodies Database and the Charter-Based Bodies Database
Global Issues on the UN Agenda
http://www.un.org/partners/civil_society/agenda.htm
United Nations Treaty Collection (username___________;password______________)
http://untreaty.un.org/English/treaty.asp
NGOs
U. Minnesota Human Rights Library
http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/
See “Links to over 4,000 other sites”
Human Rights Internet
http://www.hri.ca/welcome.asp
HURISEARCH (Huridocs)
http://www.hurisearch.org/
Also try Google and other search engines
VERIFY CITATIONS: FOREIGN LAWS
Foreign & International Law Resources:
An Annotated Guide to Web Sites Around the World (Harvard)
http://www.law.harvard.edu/library/ref/ils_ref/annotated/
Foreign Law Guide
http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/law/eresources/foreignlawguide.html
VERIFY CITATIONS: ARTICLES AND OTHER SOURCES
COMMERCIAL DATABASES
Go to “Resources by Subject” page for UB Libraries
http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/e-resources/subject.html
Select databases from a variety of subjects such as Law & Legal Studies, Women’s
Studies, Health Sciences, and others. These will lead you to journal articles and other
materials.
Law & Legal Studies
Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals
Index to Legal Periodicals and Books
CIAO
InfoTrac OneFile
Also use Legal Resource Index on Westlaw (LRI) or LEXIS
OTHER WEBSITES
Examine links from UB Law Library Homepage:
Internet Resources>By Subject>International Law
http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/law/remotesites/foreign.html