Library Research Guide for Law Classes
Print Resources
Accessible
through the College of the Canyons Web site,
the
online catalog
will indicate what the Library owns and where the items are located in the collection. To
find resources on law you may want to start by opening the online
catalog and selecting the Subject search option. After you type in
"Law -- United States” as a subject you will see a number of books listed. Or, if there is area
of law you are researching you may want to search it as a subject,
such as “Criminal law.” The online catalog will
provide you with the following information: the call number of the material, the type
of material (i.e. book, video recording, DVD, pamphlet), any special location
for the items (reserve room, media reserves, reference, etc.) and will tell you
whether or not the item is available.
Recommended
print resource:
West's
Annotated California Codes KFC 30.5 .W4 B88 The complete California
code kept up to date by West's California legislative service.
Electronic Resources
-
ProQuest
Direct is a database consisting of citations, abstracts and in many
cases full-text articles from over
ten thousand publications, including
magazines, journals and
newspapers.
The articles may be printed out, downloaded to a USB flash drive, or emailed
to your account.
You may want to use the Social Science module of the database for the most focused searches.
This will allow you to retrieve articles from publications in the
areas that cover current political and social issues.
You have different options for searching, including the
"Basic Search" for more
simple searching and the "Advanced Search", which allows you to combine
different types of searchable fields together. You also have the option of viewing only publications that
contain articles that are Peer reviewed. This means that all of the
articles must go through a process of approval by a board consisting of academic
researchers.
-
Issues
and Controversies is
a database that focuses on information regarding heavily debated
contemporary political and social issues. Each topic is treated in an
unbiased manner that presents different sides of the issue at hand. This
database may help you find very valuable statistics and historical
background on your topic.
-
CQ
Researcher is a highly-respected, very useful current-events
resource that contains information on topics ranging from social issues to
politics, education, and the environment. The coverage is very in-depth and
includes a chronology of the topic and pro and con arguments.
The World Wide Web
The
Internet can be an incredible research tool, if you use it with care.
When you are researching information on a legal topics you may be confronted with a barrage of commercial
Web sites intent on selling you
their products and services. One way of separating the wheat from the chaff is
by going to some of the major business information portals and databases. These
resources will provide you with much objective information that in many cases
may be viewed free of charge. Here are three examples:
FindLaw
is perhaps the best-known
general law portal on the Web.
See the Laws: Cases & Codes category for federal court rulings
and cases and codes listed by state .
To search California codes only you may want to go to to Web site of the Legislative
Counsel of the State of California.
Legal
Information Institute- Supreme Court Collection :
Created by the Cornell University School of Law, this highly useful
information portal contains links to historical decisions.
Supreme
Court of the United States : The official
Web site of the
Supreme Court of the United States; this site contains historical
information, oral arguments, and current opinions.
Other recommended Web
sites:
Statistical
Abstract of the United States
: Published yearly by the U.S. Census Bureau, this resource contains statistical
data in numerous area social and economic life in the United States. The Web
version allows you to pull up individual charts as PDF files.
The
Gallup Organization :
Created over 70 years ago, the Gallup Organization are the creators of the
widely used Gallup Poll, which conducts survey research on many facets of
American social issues.
Please see a librarian regarding passwords for the
above-mentioned databases or if you have any questions regarding the information
covered in this research
guide. To learn about how to
properly cite the information found in both print and electronic resources,
please see the MLA
or APA research
guides.
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