Law Resource Guide

Encyclopedias

Provide excellent background/overview information. An excellent place to begin research. Contain articles written by experts for a general audience. Provide indexes indicating scope of coverage of a topic and pinpointing in which articles a concept will be discussed. Provide bibliographies for further reading.

	Encyclopedia of the American Constitution KF4548.E53 2000 (Reference)
	American Justice KF154.A44 1996 (Reference)
	West's Encyclopedia of American Law KF154.W47 1998 (Reference)

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Reference Books

Handbooks, dictionaries, statistical sources, tables; detailed or procedural information specific to the subject areas addressed.

	Black's Law Dictionary KF156.B53 1990 (Ready Reference, Reference)
	Parry & Grant Encyclopedic Dictionary of International Law KZ1161.P37 2004 (Reference)
	American Dictionary of Criminal Justice HV7411.C48 2001 (3rd floor)
	Education and the Law: A Dictionary KF4117.T39 (Reference)
	West's Tax Law Dictionary KF6287.W475 (Reference)
	The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation KF245.U5 (Ready Reference, Reference)
	Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Citations KF246.P73 1997 (Reference)
	Legal Research in a Nutshell KF240.C54 1992 (Ready Reference)

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Databases and Indexes

Magazine, periodical and journal articles provide information on current developments, research trends, experiments and hot topics in a discipline. For every discipline, there are specific databases or indexes that provide article level information. Once articles are identified through the database or index search, look up the source journal in Vikat, PSU Library's online catalog, to locate them in the library. For a complete list of online databases and indexes, see the Library's Online Databases pages.

	Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe
	Index to Legal Periodicals and Books Z6453.I55 (Reference)
	Shepard's Acts and Cases by Popular Name KF80.S5 (Ready Reference)

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U.S. Federal Law

	Congressional Universe
	Thomas
	GPO Access
	Congressional Record J11.R52 (4th floor) See Vikat for online availability
	United States Statutes at Large KF50.U5 (Government Information)
	United States Code Congressional and Administrative News KF48 (3rd floor)
	United States Code KF62 (Reference)
	United States Code Annotated KF62 1927.T5 (3rd floor)
	Shepard's Federal Statute Citations KF101.2.S545 (3rd floor)

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U.S. Federal Case Law

	Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe
	West's Decennial and General Digest KF141 (3rd floor)
	United States Supreme Court Digest KF101.1.U55 (3rd floor)
	Federal Practice Digest KF127.W48 (3rd floor)
	Shepard's United States Citations KF101.2.S54 (3rd floor)

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Oregon Law

	Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe
	Oregon Digest KFO2447.1.O725 (3rd floor)
	Shepard's Oregon Citations KFO2459.S44 (3rd floor)
	Oregon Administrative Rules Oregon Bulletin
	Oregon Administrative Rules J87.O735 (Reference)
	Oregon Revised Statutes Search Current Oregon Legislation
	Oregon Revised Statutes KFO2429.O73 (Reference)
	Oregon Laws KFO2425.A2 (3rd floor)
	General Laws of Oregon KFO2430 (3rd floor)
	Journals of the Senate and House J87.O7H3 (4th floor)
	Final Legislative Calendar of the Oregon Legislative Assembly J87.O7H4 (4th floor)
	Joint Legislative Schedule J87.O7H7 (4th floor)
	Journal of the House of Representatives J87.O7J3 (4th floor)
	House Bills J87.O7K5 (4th floor)
	Weekly Cumulative Index to Legislative Measures J87.O7M2 (4th floor)
	Oregon Bulletin J87.O74ad (4th floor)
	Code and Charter of the City of Portland, Oregon
	Code and Charter of the City of Vancouver, Washington

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Subject Headings

Subject headings allow you to search library catalogs for materials on a particular topic. Often subject heading searching can be more productive than searching by simple keywords. Listed here are some major subject headings of interest for research in speech and hearing. Copies of the complete set of the Library of Congress Subject Headings are available at the reference desks throughout the library.

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Call Numbers

Browsing the library shelves by call number ranges is another strategy for locating information on a topic; call numbers can help you get to the "right neighborhood" in the library stacks.

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Organizations

Often the best way to find information on a topic is to look for material published by a professional society or an organization.

	American Bar Association http://w3.abanet.org/home.cfm
	American Law Institute http://www.ali.org/
	American Political Science Association http://www.apsanet.org/
	Oregon State Bar http://www.osbar.org/index.html
	Multnomah Bar Association http://www.mbabar.org/
	Washington State Bar http://www.wsba.org/
	International Bar Association http://www.ibanet.org/
	International Law Institute http://www.ili.org/

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Web Resources

	FirstGov.gov http://www.firstgov.gov/Topics/Reference_Shelf.shtml#Laws
	Harvard Law School Research Guides http://www.law.harvard.edu/library/services/research/guides/
	Legal Associations and Organizations http://www.findlaw.com/06associations/
	Internet Law Library http://www.lawguru.com/ilawlib/
	Internet Legal Research Group http://www.ilrg.com/
	Senior Law http://www.seniorlaw.com

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Page managed by:
Don Frank

Last updated:
July 12, 2004