Secondary Source Research Using the Law Library’s Online

Resources

Bijal ShahElectronic Resources/Interlibrary Loan Librarian

February 24, 2009

Discussion Points

o Why use secondary sources?

o Types of secondary sources

o Tools to locate and access secondary sources

Why Use Secondary Sources?

o Provide analysis and commentary written by law scholars, attorneys and judges

o Help to locate and explain primary sourceso Can be heavily footnoted

o Can be used to provide background information on a new or unfamiliar topico Introduces basic concepts and terminology,

which can help you construct a better online search

Why Use Secondary Sources?

o Keep in mind disadvantageso May oversimplify complicated conceptso May make the law appear more “static” than it

really is

Types of Secondary Sources

o Treatiseso Can be single volume or multi-volumeo Kept up to date with looseleaf updates or

pocket partso Irregular publication scheduleo E.g. Immigration Law and Procedure – multi-

volume looseleaf seto Journalso Current Awareness

Locating Treatiseso USMAI online catalog

o What is USMAI?o Search law library’s catalog or all USMAI

libraries’ combined catalogo Lists titles at book level

oCan search for journal titles, not articlesoSome catalog records may contain chapter

titles/authors as wello Can request books from other USMAI libraries

oNeed library bar code - needs to be updated every semester

Accessing the Catalog

Searching the Catalog

Searching the Catalog (Cont’d)

Searching the Catalog (Cont’d)

Searching the Catalog (Cont’d)

Interpreting a Catalog Record

Interpreting a Catalog Record (Cont’d)

Interpreting a Catalog Record - LCSHo Library of Congress Subject Headings

o Comprise a thesaurus used by catalogerso Assigned to all bibliographic records

oOne bibliographic record may have several subject headings

o Facilitate users’ access to titles related to a specific topic

Interpreting a Catalog Record – LCSH (Cont’d)

Interpreting a Catalog Record – LCSH (Cont’d)

Doing a Multi-campus Catalog Search

Doing a Multi-campus Catalog Search (Cont’d)

Doing a Multi-Campus Catalog Search (Cont’d)

Requesting a Book via the Catalog

Requesting a Book via the Catalog (Cont’d)

Requesting a Book via the Catalog (Cont’d)

Requesting a Book via the Catalog (Cont’d)

Resources Available Beyond USMAI

o WorldCato Search for titles not available in USMAIo Accessible via library web site, under Virtual

Reference Shelf => Research Databaseso Need 14-digit library bar code to access from

off-campus (applies to all of library’s subscription databases)

o Request books via interlibrary loan

Accessing WorldCat

Accessing WorldCat (Cont’d)

Searching WorldCat

Searching WorldCat (Cont’d)

Other Methods of Placing ILL Requests

o Online forms on library’s web site

o Paper forms available near circulation desk

Searching for Journal Articleso Shouldn’t rely on LexisNexis/Westlaw alone

o Have powerful search engines but coverage is lacking

o LegalTrac and Index to Legal Periodicals - indexing/abstracting databaseso Entries contain “editorial enhancements”o Editors assign descriptive words/phrases to

articles which are access points into articleo Access points make finding more articles on

same topic easier

Searching for Journal Articles

o LegalTrac - coverage begins with 1980; contains some full-text and abstracts

o ILP Full-texto Indexing 1981+, Abstracting 1990+, “select” Full

Text 1995+o ILP Retro – covers 1908-1981o Both LegalTrac and ILP are accessible via

library web site, under Virtual Reference Shelf => Research Databases

Searching for Journal Articles (Cont’d)

o HeinOnlineo Accessible via library web site, under Virtual

Reference Shelf => Research Databaseso William S. Hein & Co. obtained permission from

publishers of law reviews to scan content of journals

o Documents are scanned PDFs o Easier to use if you have a citation already

Example of LegalTrac Entry

Example of ILP Full Text Entry

HeinOnline

HeinOnline (Cont’d)

HeinOnline (Cont’d)

Search Catalog for Journal Title

Search Catalog for Journal Title (Cont’d)

Search Catalog for Journal Title (Cont’d)

Searching Catalog for Journal Title (Cont’d)

Current Awareness Resources

o Keep abreast of current issues and developments in specific areas of law

o Helpful when trying to come up with a research paper topic

o BNA email alerts – “Highlights”o Subject specifico Have to sign up using an on-campus computer

Current Awareness Resources - BNA

BNA E-mail Alerts

BNA E-mail Alerts

Example of BNA Email Alert