Legal Research

Jackie McFadden and Jean Wells
Reference Librarians
Winthrop University
June, 2008
 

Dacus Online Catalog (DOC)

The following are just a few of the relevant subject headings for legal research.

Additionally, the following sections may be used for browsing:

J10-98 United States General Legislative and Executive Papers

J81-82 Presidents Messages and Other Executive Papers

JK1-9593 United States Political Institutions and Public Administration

JK501-901 United States Executive Branch

JK1001-1443 United States Congress

JK2255-2391 United States Political Parties

JK2403-9593 United States State Government

KF1-9827 United States Federal Law, including Constitutional Law

KFS1801-2399 South Carolina Law

Online Databases and Indexes

Academic Search Premier

Multidisciplinary database that provides full-text for nearly 4,700 publications, including more than 3,600 peer-reviewed journals. Coverage dates back to 1975.

America: History and Life

Provides access to over 450,000 bibliographic entries (no full-text available) from over 2,000 worldwide journals.  One of the most comprehensive databases covering the history of the United States and Canada.  Contains numerous citations for American government related articles.

LexisNexis Academic

Provides access to a wide range of news, business, legal, and reference information.  Particularly useful for current events.  Legal research section contains full-text of Supreme Court, federal and state case law.

Academic OneFile

Includes nearly 3,000 full-text titles with coverage from 1980 to present.  Covers a wide variety of topics, including politics and government.

JSTOR

Scholarly journal archive that provides access to a number of varied subject journals.  Includes twenty-seven journals focused on political science.  Among these are the American Journal of Political Science, American Political Science Review, and Political Research Quarterly.

LexisNexis Congressional

Contains full text of various Congressional documents, including the Congressional Record.  Also includes biographical information for members of Congress, full-text of bills and federal laws.

Journals and Newspapers

The most current editions of all journals are kept on the Current Shelves located behind the Reference Office.

CQ Guide to Current American Government - Location: Current Shelves and General Collection JK1 .C14

State and Local Government Review  - Location: Current Shelves and General Collection JS2403 .S684.

ABA Journal - Location: Current Shelves, Databases, Microfilm K1 .M42x

South Carolina Law Review - Location: Current Shelves, Databases, General Collection K23 .O8

South Carolina Lawyer - Location: Current Shelves, Databases, General Collection K23 .O725

South Carolina Lawyers Weekly - Location: Databases

Southeastern Environmental Law Journal  - Location: Databases

For additional journal titles, search the following keywords by “JOURNAL/NEWSPAPER TITLE” in the Dacus Online Catalog:

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Dictionary of Law - Electronic Resource Click here for the electronic version.

West's Encyclopedia of American Law - REF KF154 .W47 2004

A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage -  REF KF156 .G367

Real Life Dictionary of the Law : Taking the Mystery out of Legal Language - REF KF156 .H55 1995

Encyclopedia of the American Judicial System : Studies of the Principal Institutions and Process of Law - REF KF154 .E53

Law.com Dictionary - http://dictionary.law.com

Cornell’s Wex - http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/index.php/Category:Definition

Legal Citations and Abbreviations

The Bluebook : a Uniform System of Citation - REF  KF245 .B853 2005

Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations : Reference Guide for Attorneys, Legal Secretaries, Paralegals, and Law Students - REF KF246 .B46

Cornell’s Introduction to Basic Legal Citation - http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/index.htm 

Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations - http://www.legalabbrevs.cardiff.ac.ukwww.uk//

Reference Books

The Book of the States - REF JK2403 .B62 (Latest edition kept in Reference - Older editions are in the General Collection)

Includes comprehensive information of a wide variety of matters related to the states, including state legislatures, judiciaries and governors.

Guide to the Presidency - REF JK516 .G85 2002

Detailed work contains numerous writings about the U.S. presidency, including essays on the development of the presidency and vice-presidency, presidential powers, and the president's relationship to the federal government.

Landmark Documents on the U.S. Congress - REF JK1041 .L36 1999

Includes every major document related to the United States Congress issued between 1787 and 1998.  Each document contains a brief introductory section explaining its historical context and significance.

The Oxford Guide to Supreme Court Decisions - REF KF4548 .O97 1999

Analyzes the 40 most important Supreme Court cases issued up until 1999.  A listing of Supreme Court justices and nominees is also included.

Public Papers of the Presidents - Located the the Government Documents "Horseshoe"

Contains all public papers (speeches, executive orders, radio addresses, etc.) issued by the president.  Coverage extends from Herbert Hoover to George W. Bush.  Also available online (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/pubpapers/search.html) with coverage from George H.W. Bush to George W. Bush.

South Carolina Jurisprudence : a Complete Narrative, and Encyclopedic Statement of South Carolina Law - REF KFS1865 .S68 1991

Internet Sources

Federal Government

USA.gov - http://www.usa.gov

"The U.S. Government's official web portal".  Contains links to numerous government department and agencies.

GPO Access - http://www.gpoaccess.gov/

Contains links to a number of government publications from the legislative, executive and judicial branches.

American President - http://americanpresident.org

Comprehensive site that contains information of the United States presidents.  Includes extensive section on the Presidency in History (historical viewpoints of the presidency and its development) and the Presidency in Action (analysis of the current functions of the presidency).

THOMAS: Legislative Information on the Internet - http://thomas.loc.gov

Current and past legislation in searchable by keyword on this site.  Also provides links to the House and Senate Directories for biographical information about current Congressional members.

The White House - http://www.whitehouse.gov/

The official web site of the White House and current United States president.

U. S. House of Representatives - http://www.house.gov/

The official web site of the United States House of Representatives.

U.S. Senate - http://www.senate.gov/

The official web site of the United States Senate.

U.S. Courts - http://www.uscourts.gov

Overview of the federal court system including statistics and forms.

United States Code

The United States Code is the codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. The U.S. Code is divided by broad subjects into 50 titles and is published every six years.  Annual cumulative supplements are published in order to present the most current information.

GPO Access - http://www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode  

Cornell’s U.S. Code Collection – www.straylightt.law.cornell.edu/uscode

THOMAS - http://uscode.house.gov

United States Supreme Court

Constitutional Law:  An Overview - http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/constitutional.html

Thorough site that explains the development of Constitutional law in the United States.  The development of the Constitution, important historic Supreme Court decisions, recent Supreme Court decisions and state constitutions are included on the site.

U.S. Supreme Court - http://www.supremecourtus.gov/

The official web site of the United States Supreme Court - includes Supreme Court decisions.

Findlaw - http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html

Searchable Supreme Court cases from 1893 to present.

Cornell Law School: Supreme Court Collection - http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/index.html 

US Supreme Court opinions from 1990 to present, including selected decisions prior to 1990.

Fedworld.gov -  http://supcourt.ntis.gov/

U.S. Supreme Court Decisions issued between 1937 and 1975.

Oyez - http://www.oyez.org/

Multimedia archive devoted to the Supreme Court containing numerous audio recordings from October 1955 to the present.

Cornell's U.S. Supreme Court Rules  - http://www.uscourts.gov/rules/index.html

(Note: Only the bound volumes of the United States Reports contain the final, official text of the opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States.)

Trial and Appellate Courts

United States District Courts - http://www.uscourts.gov/districtcourts.html

County/District Court Locator, Electronic Court Records, Federal Court Fees, Federal Court Interpreters, Jury Duty, Post Judgement Interest Rates, Subpoena Regulations, Statistical Reports.

District Court of South Carolina - http://www.scd.uscourts.gov/

Court information, rules, forms, mediation and pro se filing guide.

United States Courts of Appeals - http://www.uscourts.gov/courtsofappeals.html

Circuit/District Map, Federal Court Fees, Statistics.

Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals - http://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/   

Information, opinions, docket, mediation, rules and procedures, forms and notices, cases of public interest.

PACER - Public Access to Court Electronic Records (Fee Based) - http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/

U.S. Party/Case Index, case and docket information from Federal Appellate, District and Bankruptcy courts. 

South Carolina

State of South Carolina - http://sc.gov/

The official website of the state of South Carolina

State of South Carolina, Office of the Governor - http://www.scgovernor.com/

Official website of the Governor of South Carolina

South Carolina Legislature - http://www.scstatehouse.net/

Official website of the South Carolina General Assembly

South Carolina’s Legislative Process - http://www.scstatehouse.net/html-pages/legproc.html

Overview of the lawmaking process in South Carolina.

South Carolina Constitution - http://www.scstatehouse.net/scconstitution/scconst.htm

South Carolina Code of Laws - http://www.scstatehouse.net/code/statmast.htm

(Note: Only the current published volumes of the South Carolina Code of Laws Annotated and any pertinent acts and joint resolutions contain the official version of the Code.)

South Carolina Code of Regulations - http://www.scstatehouse.net/coderegs/statmast.htm

South Carolina Judicial Department - http://www.judicial.state.sc.us/

South Carolina Court of Appeals - http://www.sccourts.org/appeals/index.cfm

South Carolina Circuit Courts - http://www.sccourts.org/trial/index.cfm

South Carolina Department of Corrections - http://www.doc.sc.gov 

South Carolina Crime Statistics - http://www.sled.sc.gov/SCCrimeBooks.aspx?MenuID=CrimeReporting

City and County Ordinances - http://www.municode.com/Resources/code_list.asp?stateID=40