- University Libraries
- Research Guides
- Subject Guides
- Law
- Research Resources
Law: Research Resources
These resources are intended to support classes where legal research is an element of the curriculum.
Getting Started
- Legal Research StrategyLegal research strategy from Harvard Law School library.
Secondary Source Materials
- HeinOnlineHeinOnline provides full-text PDF legal documents and journals organized into libraries, the Code of Federal Regulations, Federal Register, and other legal and government sources for the US, Canada, and UK. 1200s-present.
- Legal Collection from EBSCOhost
This link opens in a new window
The Legal Collection indexes citations, abstracts, and full-text journal articles and case studies. You can limit to peer-reviewed sources. Full text presented in HTML and PDF. 1965-present. - LegalTrac from GaleLegalTrac indexes citations and some fuill text of law reviews and journals, legal newspapers, federal and state case law, laws and regulations, legal practice and taxation, and international law. 1980-present.
- Index to Legal Periodicals Retrospective: 1908-1981 from EBSCOhostThe Index to Legal Periodicals Retrospective indexes citations to articles and summaries in annual surveys of laws and courts, legal journals, and legal yearbooks. 1908-1981.
- Harvard Law School Library guide to free legal research resourcesThis guide contains selected free online legal research resources including: primary federal law, primary state law, treaties, foreign & international law, secondary sources, and data sets. These resources can be a great way to get started with your research when you don't have access to paid databases or when the paid databases you have access to don't include the information you need.
General and Law Encyclopedias
- West's Encyclopedia of American LawHelpful for finding background information on cases. Very short readings. Also available in print: https://catalog.lib.vt.edu/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=960867
- Oxford Companion to American LawNearly 500 entries (2002).
- American Law Reports (ALR) on WestlawRequest Westlaw access from arwalz@vt.edu
- American Jurisprudence on WestlawAm Jur 2d articles summarize broad principles of U.S. law and provide citations to cases, statutes, rules, forms, and A.L.R. annotations. (Request Westlaw access from arwalz@vt.edu)
- Corpus Juris Secundum (CJS) on WestlawApproximately 400 topics. Articles inside of topics start with a general rule of law followed by exceptions and qualifications to each general rule. (Request Westlaw access from arwalz@vt.edu)
- Encyclopedia of Law and Education(2010) The Encyclopedia of Education Law is a compendium of information drawn from the various dimensions of education law. The entries cover a number of essential topics, including the following:
o key cases in education law, including both case summaries and topical overviews
" Constitutional issues
" Key concepts, theories, and legal principles
" Key statutes
" Treaties (e.g., the Universal Declaration on Human Rights)
" Curricular issues
" Educational equity
" Governance
" Rights of students and teachers
" Technology
" Biographies
" Organizations.
Finding Case and Statutory Law at Virginia Tech
- Fastcase
Fastcase provides access to primary law (state and federal), cases, statutes, regulations, court rules, and constitutions. You can search by case or keyword. You can view how many times a case has been cited. - HeinOnline PortalHeinOnline provides full-text PDF legal documents organized into libraries: Law Journals (ABA, Core, Criminal Justice, International, Intellectual Property), Legal Classics, United States Code, U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S Federal Legislative History, Code of Federal Regulations, Federal Register, U.S. Presidential, Treaties and Agreements, Pentagon Papers, Manual of Patent Examining Procedure, World Constitutions Illustrated, and the European Center for Minority Issues. 1200s-present.
- WestlawWestlaw is a primary online legal research service containing proprietary database services. Information resources on Westlaw include more than 40,000 databases of case law, state and federal statutes, administrative codes, newspaper and magazine articles, public records, law journals, law reviews, treatises, legal forms and other information resources.
Westlaw is contractually restricted to persons accessing data for educational purposes directly related to student coursework or for scholarly research.
Password required. Contact Anita Walz arwalz@vt.edu
- LII: Legal Information Institute (Cornell)Open-access portal to statutory, administrative, and case law of the United States, US states and dependencies, and foreign jurisdictions. Includes the Wex legal encyclopedia. University-based, but includes advertising.
- U.S. Supreme Court DecisionsProvided by the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School
- Legal Research on the WebProvided by Washburn University School of Law
State Law (Virginia)
- Michie's Jurisprudence of Virginia and West VirginiaKFV2480 .M5x (3rd floor Newman Library)
U.S. Congressional Documents
- HeinOnline U.S. Congressional Documents LibraryThis collection features the complete Congressional Record Bound version, as well as the daily version back to 1980. It also includes the three predecessor titles: Annals of Congress (1789-1824), Register of Debates (1824-1837) Congressional Globe (1833-1873), and Congressional Hearings (1927-1994), as well as other important congressional material. Using the Daily-to-Bound Locator Tool, you can quickly find a page in the Bound volume from the Daily edition.
- ProQuest Congressional
- This link opens in a new window
ProQuest Congressional indexes citation to and provides to the U.S. Serial Set, including maps. 1789-present. - Congressional Research Service ReportsCRSR allows browsing and full-text searching of Congressional Research Service (of the Library of Congress) reports, which are provided to members of Congress and Congressional committees and could cover any topic. By law, most CRS reports are confidential, so this database is not complete. 1993-present.
- Congress.govThe official website for U.S. federal legislative information. The site provides access to accurate, timely, and complete legislative information for Members of Congress, legislative agencies, and the public. Some contents is still being imported from the older THOMAS congressional portal, which launched in 1995 and shut down in summer 2016. Congressional documents from the first 100 years of the U.S. Congress (1774-1875) can be accessed through A Century of Lawmaking. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/
Get help with . . .
- Get help finding Law Journals (HeinOnline)8-page quick reference guide for finding law journals in HeinOnline
Open Education, Copyright & Scholarly Communications Librarian
Anita Walz
Contact:
NEED HELP? Contact me!
Newman Library 422
Economics & Law Liaison
~ Assistant Director of Open Education and Scholarly Communication Librarian ~
Newman Library 422
Economics & Law Liaison
~ Assistant Director of Open Education and Scholarly Communication Librarian ~
540-231-2204
Subjects: Business and economics
Ask a Librarian
Interlibrary Loan Services
All current Virginia Tech students, faculty, and staff, regardless of your location, may request through ILLiad for materials:
- not owned by Virginia Tech (books, articles from journals and conference proceedings, book chapters, standards, and technical papers)
- owned by Virginia Tech but are unavailable for use (print books)
- owned by Virginia Tech and available in print (scans of articles from journals and conference proceedings, book chapters, standards, and technical papers)
We ship requests via UPS to users outside the immediate Blacksburg area (Montgomery, Giles and Pulaski counties).
Articles, book chapters, and many technical papers are delivered in PDF format to your ILLiad account. Occasionally, due to copyright restrictions, a paper copy of an article or standard is held for your at the Newman User Services Desk or sent o the mailing address listed on your account.