Legal Reference Sources Subject Guide

Guides to Legal Research

10 resources available
- Restricted to WMU users  - Open Access

Guides to legal research provide many different kinds of information including court reports, citators, finding cases, statutes, legislative history, and other sources for legal research.

Finding the Law

KF 240 .B45 2005 (Ref. Desk Coll.)
Includes chapters on court reports, citators, finding cases, statutes, legislative history, constitutional law, administrative and executive publications, court rules and practices, as well as many secondary reference sources.

Fundamentals of Legal Research

KF 240 .M47x 2002 (Ref. Desk Coll.)
Well-organized guide that covers court cases, sources of primary law, secondary legal research sources (e.g., encyclopedias, periodicals and indexes, etc.), and has chapters on international law, English legal research, electronic research and federal taxation. Appendices include abbreviations, the National Reporter System, and Internet sources, among others.

Legal Information: How to Find it, How to Use it

Available online, this law resource consists of 4 parts: (1) an overview of the legal system and its language; (2)a section entitled "Getting Started" that outlines how to begin basic research in secondary sources; (3) how to research federal law; and (4) a final section on state law. A print copy is available at the Central Reference Desk in Waldo (KF 240 .O365 1999)

Legal Research

KF240 .P884 2004 (Ref. Desk Coll.)
A textbook "designed for use in legal research classes ... to provide the student with the fundamentals of legal research."
(Preface) Addresses how to identify key facts, the legal issue, and research the statutes. Covers how to "brief" a case, if it is "on point," citing, and counteranalysis. Includes exercises and references to the West Web site.

Legal Research: How to Find & Understand the Law

The 10th to 12th editions of this introduction to legal sources are available as an e-book (2004,12th ed.). Contents include a legal research overview, an overview of the law, relating questions to legal categories, types of resources (constitutions, statutes, regulations and ordinances), case law, citators, and online legal researh. N.B. This electronic link requires that you register to review the title.

Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation

KF 245 .B58 (18th ed., 2005, Reference Desk Collection)
A style guide that explains rules for citing legal sources. Special section called "Bluepages" is an introduction to the basic types of legal citations such as cases; statutes, rules, and regulations; constitutions; books (non periodic materials); journal articles; court and litigation documents; and other legal writing forms.

Introduction to Basic Legal Citation

This online overview of how to cite legal sources was revised in May 2007 to reflect changes appearing in the third edition of the ALWD Citation Manual, published in 2006. It is also keyed to the most recent edition of The Bluebook, published in 2005.

Federal Register: What It Is and How to Use It

The official online tutorial for understanding and searching the codes and rules of the U.S. Executive regulatory process.

Find Public Records Fast: The Complete State, County & Courthouse Locator

KF8700 .A19 F56 2000 (Ref)
Guidelines on how to search public government records of all types (local, state, federal, military, judicial, financial, archival, etc.) and where categories of records can be found in the public record.

The Legal Researcher's Desk Reference

Z 675 .L2 L3832 2000/2001 (Ref)
Directory of useful information about "anything legal" including judges and other personnel; government departments and agencies; law libraries, publishers, associations, and schools; and more.

login