Research Guides

Need help with business, legislative history or treaties research? For those of us prowling in the virtual world, guides in these areas and more are available at the Deane Law Library's Research Guides page. These are in the process of being updated, so check back frequently for new and updated guides.

If you have any ideas for additional guides you would like to see, let me know by commenting to this post.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Foreign Law Translations

This site from the University of Texas School of Law's Institute for Transnational Law is a resource for English-language translations of French, German, Italian, Austrian, and Israeli legal materials in the fields of constitutional, administrative, contract, and tort law.

Note, however, the following disclaimer from the Institute's Web site: "The translations and other documents included in this site were prepared to assist students and teachers interested in foreign law. The collection makes no claim of being either complete or current, and should not be relied upon for the basis of a legal opinion or course of action without careful review of current applicable authority".

Nevertheless, for those who need to consult English translations from legal documents in the languages and areas of law that it covers, the Institute's site helps to fill a void in the area of freely available English-language translations of foreign law materials.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

State and Local Government Links

The Library of Congress’ Newspaper & Current Periodical Research Center provides links to state and local government web sites.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Health Law Online: A 21st Century Library Workshop

Health Law Research Online: An Introduction: This workshop will introduce the fundamentals of researching health law online. Participants will learn how to find the major federal statutes and regulations pertinent to health law, how to research federal health agencies, and how to find such relevant secondary sources as medical journal articles, medical dictionaries, and newsletters.

When: Monday, Oct. ^15th – 10:10 to 11:00 am; and
Thursday, Oct. 18^th – 5:10 to 6 pm

Where: Lower Level Computer Lab



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Wired’s How to Wiki

Wired’s “How to Wiki” promotes itself as a resource for “projects, hacks, tricks and tips on how to live, work and play better.” After prowling around in the wiki, I found a diverse collection of fun, informative articles. The articles are organized into four broad topics: Work, Home, Live and Play.

Most helpful to me were the articles about using technology such as “How to Get the Most Out of Gmail” and “How to Share your Schedule with Online Calendars.” Remember, anyone can contribute to and edit the wiki, so do proceed with caution.

My favorite article so far: “How to Stop Wasting Time Online”.

Enjoy!

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

ACS ResearchLink

The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy (The ACS) has launched a site called ResearchLink. On ResearchLink, public interest attorneys post topics for papers that they would find useful to read, law students write those papers, and the papers are then posted on ResearchLink. A student taking on a suggested topic needs to be able to receive credit for the paper, and a faculty member must certify that the student received a passing grade before the paper is posted online. This system could provide two obvious benefits to law students: pre-made paper topics, and an assurance that one's work may actually be read and used by a practicing attorney. There are currently 82 topics posted. The first papers will be posted after the Fall 2007 semester.

It should be noted that The ACS is a somewhat partisan organization with stated views on some legal topics, and that all topics and papers on the ResearchLink site could be expected to have a public interest slant.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

TRAC: Tracking the Work of Federal Agencies

Where do members of Congress, news reporters, and lawyers go to find out what agencies like the FBI and the Immigration and Naturalization Service really do on a daily basis, and how effectively they operate? Smart researchers rely on the TRAC (Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse) Public Web Site, which uses the Freedom of Information Act to acquire data and trends information on key federal agencies. An independent, nonpartisan research organization associated with Syracuse University, TRAC's purpose is to "provide the American people...with comprehensive information about federal staffing, spending, and the enforcement activities of the federal government." It's also a great resource for law students needing background and statistics for papers and class projects. Check out the site's free and user-friendly information, including agency basics and topical reports.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

1Ls - Last chance for Lexis/Westlaw training

First years - next week will be the last week for the required Westlaw and Lexis training. Sign up at the Circulation desk in the Library. There are still plenty of spaces left.

Make sure to register both Lexis and Westlaw passwords and to bring them to your training session. If you have any questions on how to register these passwords, visit your favorite Reference Librarian.


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

ALTLAW—A Source For Free Case Law Online

A current trend in online legal publishing is to make case law more readily and freely available. One recent instance of this is AltLaw. According to its Web site, AltLaw “provides the first free, full-text searchable database of Supreme Court and Federal Appellate case reports. It is a resource for attorneys, legal scholars, and the general public”.

Note that the site is currently in beta. Coverage for most Circuits is limited to approximately the last ten to fifteen years. West Reporter Citations are not yet available, but they should be in the future. As of yet, there are no state law or district court cases on AltLaw.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Paper Writing Research

Paper Writing Research: a 21^st Century Library workshop takes you beyond Lexis & Westlaw. You have off campus access to many of Hofstra University’s subscription databases, so even at 2:30 a.m. the day your paper is due high quality multi-source research is available. Come learn what these resources are and why you want to use them.

Thursday, Oct. 4^th: 3:10-4:00 p.m.

Lower Level Computer Lab

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat