Legal Research for Academic
Librarians: Connecting Collections
Eloise Bellard
May 2nd, 2007
ACRL/NY Long Island Section
Secondary Sources

Secondary sources can be used to help
locate and explain primary sources of the
law. They offer analysis and commentary
written by legal scholars or staff of legal
publishers. They may influence a legal
decision but do not have the controlling
authority that constitutes the law itself
Secondary Sources
There are a variety of secondary sources used for
legal research below are a few of the resources
useful for interdisciplinary research:
 Legal encyclopedias and other reference sources
 Legal periodicals
 Treatises, hornbooks, and nutshells
 Loose leaf services
 Websites for subject guides, bibliographies and
topical resources.
Legal Encyclopedias
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There are two American legal encyclopedias.
Both of these general encyclopedias are
published by West and are arranged topically
American Jurisprudence (Am. Jur.)
Corpus Juris Secundum (C.J. S.)
There are also state specific legal
encyclopedias such as New York
Jurisprudence 2nd.
Legal Encyclopedias for Non-Lawyers

West’s The Guide to American Law:
Everyone's Legal Encyclopedia (Hardcover)

LII: The Legal Information Institute at Cornell
Law School. http://www.law.cornell.edu/
Other Reference Sources
Tools for locating case law:

Schultz, David. The Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court.
2005. Facts on File. New York.

Savage, David G. Guide to the U.S. Supreme Court. CQ
Press 2004. Washington D.C.

The Supreme Court Yearbook. 1991- . CQ Press.
Washington D.C. `

The Oxford companion to the Supreme Court of the
United States. 2005.Editor in chief, Kermit L. Hall ;
editors, James W. Ely, Jr., Joel B. Grossman. New York.
Oxford University Press, c2005
Other Reference Sources, continued…
Tools for locating federal legislation:
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Major Acts of Congress. 2004. Edited by Brian K
Landesberg. Macmillan Reference USA. New
York.
U.S. Laws, Acts and Treaties. 2002. Edited by
Timothy L. Hall. Salem Press. Hackensack,
New Jersey.
CQ Almanac-Plus. 1945- .Washington D.C: CQ
Press.
Legal Periodicals
There are numerous legal periodicals available, including law
school journals and/ or bar reviews, bar association periodicals,
legal newspapers, or newsletters. Law review articles discuss
legal issues, analyze the law along with litigation trends and cite
to relevant statutes and cases on the topic.
The New York Law Journal at
http://www.law.com/jsp/nylj/index.jsp,
Supreme Court Review at
http://www.jstor.org/journals/00819557.html
and ABA Preview at
http://www.abanet.org/publiced/preview/preview07_04.pdf
Legal periodicals

Many are available fulltext in Academic Search
Premier legal research database and adequate
for most academic assignments.

Links to electronic versions of some law
reviews can also be found on Findlaw at
http://stu.findlaw.com/journals/index.html

Wilson’s Legal Periodical Index available
through OCLC.
Texts and Treatises, Hornbooks, and
Nutshells

Texts and treatises are written by legal scholars and
provide in depth exhaustive analysis and commentary of
the law on a single subject. Treatises are generally
more than one volume.

Provide extensive references to related sources in
foonotes and appendices.

Leading publishers: West, and now Lexis which has
taken over Lawyers Cooperative and Matthew Bender,
etc.
Hornbooks
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Hornbooks cover specific areas of the law in narrative
form.
Usually one volume texts because they offer a
condensed version of the law
Provides explanations and overview of the laws
evolution, a discussion of the court’s interpretation and
an application of the law today
Hornbooks contain an index, Table of Cases, and
sometimes a table of Statutes.
Hornbooks continued…

Thomson-West ‘Hornbook series’ at
http://west.thomson.com/store/SearchResults.aspx?limitpublic
ations=59&type=ADVANCED-SEARCH

Aspen Publishers ‘Examples and Explanations Series’ at
http://www.aspenpublishers.com/search.asp?Mode=SEARCH
&keyword=examples%20and%20explanations&ISBN=&Autho
r=&Sort=DEFAULT&SearchOption=Title

Lexis series ‘Understanding the Law’ at
http://www.lexisnexis.com/lawschool/study/understanding/
Texts and Treatises, Hornbooks and
nutshells continued…

Nutshells are paperback volumes that are no frills overviews
simpler to understand than hornbooks, highlighting key cases
and statues on a topic of law.

The guides are written by recognized experts who present the
essential rules of law in a uniquely condensed format. This
timesaving reference guide supplies a quick, simplified and
thorough summation of the essential issues on a broad range
of topical areas. There is indexing as well as a Table of
Cases list.
http://west.thomson.com/store/SearchResults.aspx?limitpublic
ations=69&type=ADVANCED-SEARCH&pagesize=20
Looseleafs:

Looseleaf services in print or online are especially useful for
their ‘current news’ and not for historical background. They
are useful hybrids that pull together text, statutes, regulations,
and opinions of courts and administrative agencies on specific
important topics that need constant updating.

They were originally designed to allow for rapid update before
the digital age. Looseleafs consist of special binders which
allow for the quick insertion, removal, and substitution of
individual pages.

Generally published on regulation intensive subjects such as
banking, tax, securities or other topics like family Law,
criminal law and many others.
Looseleafs continued…


Typically looseleafs offer researchers excellent
indexing and the following:
1. Full text of statues or decisions
2. Full text of applicable regulations
3. Citations to cases
4. Editorial comment and analysis
Many looseleafs available , there are two major
publishers BNA at http://www.bna.com/products/
and CCH at http://www.cch.com/Order/
Useful Websites Subject Guides and
Bibliographies

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Marian Gould Law Library University of
Washington Law School ‘Legal Research
Guides’ at
http://lib.law.washington.edu/ref/guides.html
Georgetown University Law School at
http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/research/brows
e_topics.cfm
Law Scout at University of Akron School of
Law at http://lawscout.uakron.edu/
Other Sites with Resources useful for
research
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American Bar Association (ABA) at
http://www.abanet.org/publiced/
American Bar Association (ABA) divisions at
http://www.abanet.org/aztopics.html
American Bar Association Webstore
http://www.abanet.org/abastore/index.cfm
Lexis bookstore at
http://bookstore.lexis.com/bookstore/catalog?action=category&ca
t_id=T
New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) at
http://www.nysba.org/
Center for Education and Employment
http://www.ceelonline.com/ceel/default.asp