NCJ Number
85823
Date Published
1982
Length
807 pages
Annotation
This 3-volume set is designed to provide a basic understanding of legal research sources, research methods, and citation form. It comprises a textbook on legal research, an exercise book for student library work, and a teacher's manual and answer key.
Abstract
The approach to learning legal bibliography, research techniques, and citation uses the principles of reader involvement, self-testing, and repetition, permitting students to work at their own pace. The text provides illustrations from a variety of legal publications. It discusses the concept of case reporting and the uniform system of citation, Supreme Court decisions, and lower Federal court and State court decisions. Further chapters cover annotated and special subject law reports (e.g., American Law Reports series) and digests (West's topic and key number classification, descriptive word indexes, Century Digest, Lawyers Cooperative's digests, etc.). The text also presents Shepard's case citations regarding prior and subsequent case history; words and phrases and case and popular name tables; constitutions, treaties, and other international law materials; Federal and State statutes and municipal ordinances; and legislative history sources. Also covered are the Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations, secondary research sources, and English law materials. Computer-assisted legal research materials are discussed, with reference to WESTLAW and LEXIS search capabilities. The text also suggests how to coordinate research techniques for problem identification and analysis and for choosing sources to be consulted. The textbook includes exercises and many illustrations.