Heinonline: Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals Database Coverage Expansion

HeinOnline has recently expanded coverage of the Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (IFLP) database to include the year 1984. This additional indexing has added 9,700 records including journal articles, collection articles and book reviews. IFLP can be searched by subject, country subject, region, and more.  To learn more about the enhancement and a refresher on how to search IFLP, click here.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Research alert - check out Google Scholar Library

Those engineers at Google don't rest much.  They have introduced an enhancement to Google Scholar, called Google Scholar Library.

Google Scholar, for the uninitiated, searches scholarly articles and will sometimes even provide links when Hofstra subscribes .  Google Scholar Library enhances functionality by allowing you to save, organize and search articles of interest.    

See Google Scholar blog for details.
                                                        Hat tip to Prof Hacker



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

OneSearch for non-legal research

Ever notice there are soooo many databases to look in for non-legal articles - EconLit, Business Search Complete, Academic Search Complete, ArtSTOR, JSTOR - do I need to go on?

Courtesy of Axinn Library, you can search most of their databases in one place - OneSearch .  So when I do my favorite search - cat law - I get results from the Univ. of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, Labor Law Journal and the Journal of Accountancy (I might be able to deduct for cat expenses!) amongst many others.

For those trying this at home, you will be asked to log into the Portal.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

A Better Article Finder

Many of you have started your research for papers and notes. You all know to search Lexis and Westlaw for law review articles. But how many of you get results with your search terms that have nothing to do with your topic??? (I know there have been a few, since I have overheard you at the Reference desk.)

Yes, there is an alternative which can sometimes be a better way. Try an index. For law related topics, try Index to Legal Periodicals-Wilson or LegalTrac. Both of these databases are available from the Article Finding page of the Library's Online Resources.

With an index, you enter your search terms, and get articles which have those terms in the title or subject descriptors. Frequently, this retrieves articles more on your topic and fewer irrelevant results.
Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Journal Finder

Lately, I've noticed the Reference Librarians helping lots of students find articles online. Students often have questions about using Journal Finder. You can link to Journal Finder either from the Hofstra University website or from the Law Library website's main page, under Research. Journal Finder will tell you if a specific journal or newspaper (it works for newspapers, too!) is available on one of the Hofstra University databases.

To use Journal Finder, just type in the name of your journal, not the title of the article. The search results will list the databases, with dates of coverage for each, that contain your journal. Once you click on a database, you can browse to find the year and issue, or specific date, of your article, and then link to the article in full text. If there are no databases listed for your journal, try Lexicat, Hofstra's online catalog, to see if your journal or newspaper is available in Axinn Library or the Law Library in either print or microform. If it is not, it may be in Lexis, Westlaw, a BNA database, or another Law School subscription database accessible only to law students and faculty. Journal Finder does not locate publications in these databases. If you need help finding articles online, just ask a Reference Librarian.
Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Research is more than just Lexis and Westlaw

Either you already know (or if you are a first year, you soon will) how great Lexis and Westlaw are for your research. BUT!!! There is much more out there that can make your research much better and sometimes much quicker.

The Library's Online Resources page is a subject arranged listing of available databases and really useful free web sites. Need pdfs of articles??? Try HeinOnline. Need ideas for a paper topic??? Try BNA. Have a library assignment and need to find a periodicals index??? Try Index to Legal Periodicals.

All of these and much, much more are available through the Online Resources link.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Underutilized tool

As you finish up your papers for the semester, we are getting some questions on finding some background on some interesting topics. Sometimes full text searching for law review articles just pulls up far too many irrelevant articles. If that is the case, or if you have a very current issue, remember to use a legal periodicals index. My particular favorite is Index to Legal Periodicals-Wilson, available under Article Finding off of the Library's Online Resources page.

Another index that is just as good is LegalTrac - also under Article Finding.

Happy hunting and good luck on exams!!

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Finding articles online

The Reference Librarians have sent me prowling for journal articles online. Accessing articles from a great number of journals requires a subscription. So what to you do if you get asked for login information?

First, see if Hofstra subscribes. Especially if it is a non-legal journal, to find out if Hofstra subscribes, check Journal Finder . Remember to type in the journal name, not the article name. Journal Finder will also let you know if your article can be found in HeinOnline .

If your journal is available through one of Hofstra's many subscriptions, you will get links to it from the Journal Finder results page.

As always, do not hesitate to ask a Reference Librarian.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat