Legal research can be broken down into three basic areas: 1) You wish to research a legal subject; 2) you have a case citation and want to find the case summary ; 3) you have the case summary but now you want to shepardize it; i.e., find out what other cases have cited this case. In each research area, you may find yourself using a combination of both print and online resources, and you may find yourself in the Reference collection, regular collection and Government Documents collection. Legal research is still difficult and time-consuming, even though electronic access has greatly improved the ease with which you can become involved in the process. The materials here are geared specifically for the user of the Indiana State University Library; if you use other libraries, you may find different combinations of print and online resources. If you need assistance, please visit the Information Desk [1st floor] and/or use the comments/questions link above.
 

Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Directories, and Handbooks

 

Westlaw Campus	American Jurisprudence, 2nd.	A comprehensive encyclopedia of state and federal law [Am Jur]
Westlaw Campus	American Law Reports	In-depth articles that summarize and analyze court decisions on a particular legal issue [ALR]
Ref KF 156 .W6X	Words & Phrases	A comprehensive legal dictionary giving "definitions of words and phrases by the state and federal courts kept to date by cumulative annual pocket parts."
Info Desk KF156 .B53 2000	Black's Law Dictionary	Online law dictionaries include:         Duhaime's Law Dictionary           International Law Dictionary          Law.com's Dictionary         The 'Lectric Law Library's Legal Lexicon's Lyceum

 
 

CASE LAW, MOSTLY

All West publications, Reporters, Digests, etc. are accessible via the Westlaw Campus database. Some print sets & series will be withdrawn. If you are looking for a West publication under a call number listed here, and you cannot find, it has probably been withdrawn; check LUIS Online Catalog or inquire at the Information Desk for verification.
 

INDIVIDUAL DIGESTS & REPORTS

AMERICAN DIGEST SYSTEM [accessible via Westlaw Campus, some print volumes will be withdrawn soon. If your text has a title with the word "Digest" in it, it should be accessible online from Westlaw Campus]: Covers every reported case--federal, state, and local--from 1897 to date; provides summaries.
 

Information about the print series: Contains summaries of cases arranged in volumes by topic. Serves as an index to all West reporters. Older sets in general collection at KF 141 [year]; e.g., KF 141 1897, entitled, American Digest. ...Decennial Edition...: A Complete Digest...From 1897 to 1906..(25 volumes; v.1-4 missing); also Second Decennial Edition.(1906 to 1916,24 v.); Third Decennial Edition (1916 to 1926, 29v.); Fourth Decennial Digest (1926 to 1936, 34v.); Fifth Decennial Digest (1936-1946, 52v.); Sixth Decennial Digest (1946-1956, 36v.); Seventh Decennial Digest (1956-1966, 38v.); Eighth Decennial Digest (1966-1976, 50v.); Ninth Decennial Digest (1976-1981, 36v.) -- Ninth Decennial Digest (Part 2, 1981-1986, 48 v.); Tenth Decennial Digest (Part 1, 1986-1991) and In Reference, same call number: Tenth Decennial Digest (Part 2: 1991-1996).  Before cumulated into the Decennial Digests, cumulations of more recent cases are found in the individual Digests, divided by the level of court, e.g., Supreme Court, Federal Court, Circuit Courts, etc.

Reference K .W538 West's Indiana Digest, 1817 to date. 30v. A digest of Indiana legal authorities, state and federal, from 1817 to date. Kept up-to-date by cumulative supplements. The key number system links Indiana authority to the legal authorities of the nation. Volumes 1-3 contain the Descriptive Word Index, and volumes 29-30 provide the Table of Cases and the Defendant-Plaintiff table.

Ref KF 4110.3 .W47 West's Education Law Digest.
Summarizes and indexes court decisions from West's Education Law Reporter.

Ref. LB 2514 .D47 2000 Deskbook Encyclopedia of American School Law. Presents court cases from across the country by Topic area; e.g., Accidents, Injuries and Deaths; Table of Cases; Table of Cases by State
 
 

NATIONAL REPORTER SYSTEM

Reports the opinions of the state appellate courts and the federal courts. It is made up of the following educational, regional and federal reporters. Some examples are:
 

North Eastern Reporter [includes Indiana]. 2d series	Westlaw Campus and KF 135 .N6 ser. 2.
West's Education Law Reporter	Westlaw Campus

 

Westlaw Campus and  K .F3

Federal Reporter. 2d series.

Reports the decisions of the federal intermediate appellate courts. Connects with Federal Cases which publishes the decisions of the U.S. District Courts and the U.S. Circuit Court from 1880 to 1912, the Commerce Court of the U.S. from 1911 to 1913; the U.S. District Courts of the U.S. from 1880 to 1932 and since 1960, the United States Court of Appeals from its organization in 1891; the U.S. Court of Customs & Patent Appeals from 1929 (Patent cases only); and the U.S. Emergency Court of Appeals from 1943.

 

SELECTED LEGAL ABBREVIATIONS Regardless of whether the source you use is print or online, you will still have to cite it correctly, using the appropriate abbreviations. The most common are listed below.
ABBREVIATION	TITLE	CALL NUMBER / LOCATION
A.	Atlantic Reporter.	Westlaw Campus and KF 135 .A7
A.2d	Atlantic Reporter, 2d series.	Westlaw Campus and KF 135 .A7 ser.2
Burns	Burns Indiana Statutes Annotated	Ref KFI 3030 1971 .A4
C.F.R.	Code of Federal Regulations	Online at http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/index.html  and Ref K .C669
C.J.S.	Corpus Juris Secundum	Westlaw Campus
Cal.Rptr.	California Reporter (West)	Westlaw Campus and K .W5374
F.	Federal Reporter (300 volumes)	Westlaw Campus and K .F29
F.2d	Federal Reporter, 2d series (830 volumes)	Westlaw Campus and K .F3
F.3d	Federal Reporter, 3d series (current series)	Westlaw Campus and K .F
F.R.	Federal Register	Westlaw Campus, other online, and Gov Doc AE2/106:; microfilm in Microforms, 2d floor
F.R.D.	Federal Rules Decisions	K .F31
F.Supp.	Federal Supplement	K .F312
Ind.	Indiana Supreme Court Reports	Doc 14 SU 1.5:
Ind.App.	Indiana Appellate Court Reports	Doc 14 AP 1.1:
LEd	U.S. Supreme Court Reports Lawyers Edition	KF 101 .U5842 (thru 1984 only)
N.E.	North Eastern Reporter	Westlaw Campus and KF 135 .N6
N.E.2d	North Eastern Reporter, 2d series	Westlaw Campus and KF 135 .N6 ser.2
N.W.	North Western Reporter	Westlaw Campus and KF 135 .N7
N.W.2d	North Western Reporter, 2d series	Westlaw Campus and KF 135 .N7 ser.2
N.Y.S.	New York Supplement	Westlaw Campus and KFN 5045 .N3
N.Y.S. 2d	New York Supplement, 2d series	Westlaw Campus and KFN 5045 .N3 ser.2
P.	Pacific Reporter	Westlaw Campus and KF 135 .P2
P.2d	Pacific Reporter, 2d series	Westlaw Campus and KF 135 .P2 ser.2
S.Ct.	Supreme Court Reporter (U.S.)	Westlaw Campus and K .S957
S.E.	South Eastern Reporter	Westlaw Campus and KF 135 .S6
S.E.2d	South Eastern Reporter, 2d series	Westlaw Campus and KF 135 .S6 ser.2
So.	Southern Reporter	Westlaw Campus and KF 135 .S8
So.2d.	Southern Reporter, 2d series.	Westlaw Campus and KF 135 .S8 ser.2
Stat.	United States Statutes at Large.	Westlaw Campus and , other online, and Gov Doc AE 2.111:; Doc S 7.9:(vol.)
S.W.	South Western Reporter	Westlaw Campus and KF 135 .S7
S.W.2d	South Western Reporter, 2d series	Westlaw Campus and KF 135 .S7 ser.2
U.S.	U.S. Supreme Court Reports	Westlaw Campus and Doc Ju 6.8:(vol.)
U.S.C.A.	United States Code Annotated	Westlaw Campus and, online at http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/cong013.html,  and Ref KF 62 1927

 

General Law Resources {Databases & Websites}

A Note about Databases: The databases are available from the campus network; on the Library's homepage, select Databases: Alphabetical ; remote access is available to the ISU community. To obtain remote access instructions, connect to ISU's Proxy Services page.

Westlaw Campus database: This database, and the Academic Universe/Legal Research link below, are your primary access points for all online legal research. See also Westlaw KeyCite below. Westlaw provides online access to all case Reporters [courts in all 50 states, D.C., and the federal courts since 1654]; laws from all 50 states and federal statusts published inthe US Code Annotated, and other legal resources. Access to secondary sources includes American Jurisprudence 2d, a comprehensive encyclopedia of state and federal law; American Law Reports, articles that summarize and analyze court decisions on a particular legal issue; hundreds of journals and law reviews from leading law schools. Key Numbering is included. You can search two different ways, either 'Natural Language', or via 'Terms and Connectors' [aka Keyword/Boolean]. Read the Help Screens. Email is currently not a feature of Westlaw Campus; however, you can use your web-based email (e.g., Portal's email, but not Pmail) in another Browser window, and use the Cut/Paste commands.

What journals and law reviews are included? If you want to verify a specific title, go directly to http://directory.westlaw.com. Select WestlawPRO and Westlaw Libraries. Then WestlawPRO Analytical Products, Forms & Libraries. Then Journals and Law Reviews. Then Journals and Law Reviews by Title.

Westlaw Campus' Keysearch is a BIG topic guide, like Yahoo. Select a category, then further sub-categories, then run your search to get very specific listings.

Academic Universe database--  Legal Research

U.S. CODE ANNOTATED -- Westlaw Campus, and http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/cong013.html  and U.S. CODE -- GovernmentDocuments U.S. Y 1.2/5:

Laws are first issued as individual documents, called slip laws [Documents U.S. AE 2.110:]. These individual slip laws are later bound chronologically into the Statutes at Large [Documents U.S. AE 2.111:], which include a very basic subject index for each volume. Public laws enacted from the 104^th Congress onwards will be found at http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/nara005.html.  In addition, public laws from 1973 - 1996 are available at http://thomas.loc.gov/ All current laws are also arranged by subject into titles and republished in the U.S. Code http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/cong013.html . [look for Popular Name Table in Index]

Internet Law Library http://www.lawguru.com/ilawlib
[replaces the US House of Representatives Internet Law Library, which was discontinued 5/28/99]

Federal Courts Websites

Federal Courts Home Page: http://www.uscourts.gov/
Federal Courts/Circuit Courts: http://www.law.emory.edu/FEDCTS/
Federal Court Locator: http://www.law.vill.edu:80/Fed-Ct/fedcourt.html
US Supreme Court:  http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/index.html-- includes links to 1937-75 Decisions via FedWorld
 

US State Legal Websites

State Law: http://www.washlaw.edu-- (searchable by state or by keyword)
State Court Locator:  http://vls.law.vill.edu/Locator/statecourt/index.htm
State & Local Government on the Net:
http://www.piperinfo.com/state/states.html
Westlaw Campus' searcy by All State Cases contains documents dated after 1944 from the state or
 local courts of all 50 states and the District of Columbia.  For a complete listing of the sources, click on the green I [Information] icon next to each search set. It does not  include documents from Territorial courts.  A document is a case (a decision  or order) decided by the courts. State Jurisdications allows you to select an individual state to search, as does State Administrative Codes and State Statutes.
 

Indiana Legal Websites

Current session information http://www.ai.org/legislative/ -- (digests and full-text) via Indiana Access
Indiana Legal Information http://www.law.indiana.edu/law/research/lindiana.html -- Indiana code, constitution, courts]

Westlaw Campus' State Jurisdictions allows you to select Indiana, as does the State Administrative Codes and State Statutes.

State Constitution: you can locate the annotated version of this via Westlaw Campus' State Constitutions link.

West's Annotated Indiana Code -- Westlaw Campus -- Similar to the U.S. Code; Annotated; divided into titles (e.g., Title 22, Article 8 is Occupational Health and Safety Laws); each volume updated by pocket parts (inside back cover); cumulative index volumes. The Indiana Code can be found at http://www.ai.org/legislative/ic/code/ [PDF files].

Indiana Administrative Code-- Reference KFI 3035 1984 .A28 -- Indiana's equivalent of the Code of Federal Regulations; also divided into titles (e.g., Title 610 is Labor; Title 620 is Occupational Safety Standards Commission); cumulative index volumes. See also http://www.IN.gov/legislative/iac/. [WordPerfect 8 files]

Supreme Court of Indiana see also Judicial Opinions; including Archives;

In the ISU Library

Other Library-based Resources	Index to Legal Periodicals [& Books] (index to law literature), 1926-present -- Reference KF 8 .I5x [includes tables of cases]; caution: headings are very broad; materials may be available in the Library's collections: access LUIS Online Catalog: Author/Title/Subject Search   --> Journal Title search; may be available via ProQuest (LUIS will indicate), or via Academic Universe databases (will have to access Academic Universe's sections listed above and check the Sources links) or via Westlaw Campus
LUIS Online Catalog or from the Library homepage How to use LUIS	Library materials devoted to Legal Research, Criminology, etc. are available throughout the Library. Use Subject and/or Keyword searching to discover our local holdings.	Library of Congress categories, generally:     J=Political Science     K=Law     H=Social Sciences, where you will          f ind Criminology covered

 

Legal Journals & Law Reviews

Print: Do a LUIS Journal Title search for specific titles. In some cases you will also be linked directly to an online, full-text subscription. ISU holdings will be indicated as current issue, bound volumes, microfilm, etc. Academic Universe/Legal Research: Select either Legal News or Law Reviews. You can access the Source Listing under each category to see what specific titles are covered. All results will be full-text. Westlaw Campus:   To search the journal literature, select the Journals and Law Reviews category under Encyclopedias. You can choose to search by a specific state, or by All journal holdings. All results will be full-text. What journals and law reviews are included? If you want to verify a specific title, go directly to http://directory.westlaw.com. Select WestlawPRO and Westlaw Libraries. Then WestlawPRO Analytical Products, Forms & Libraries. Then Journals and Law Reviews. Then Journals and Law Reviews by Title. ProQuest indexes and provides full-text coverage of a number of legal titles. You can do a publication search for a specific title [most should be linked from LUIS] via Search Methods --> Publication.. You can also do a general search; e.g., enter the word 'law', and a complete listing of publications with the word 'law' anywhere in the title will appear. PQ will indicate if full-text or indexed only [129 titles as of 8/01].

 

CITATORS –OR- SHEPARDIZING

Citators help researchers to evaluate cases and statutes -- giving their latest status -- and help locate authorities.

Shepard’s Citations titles include:

• Shepard’s United States Citations -- Reference KF 101.2 .S54 covers US Statutes (STAT and USC); court rules, treaties, US Supreme Court cases from US, L.Ed.2nd and S.Ct
• Shepard’s Federal Citations -- Reference KF 105.2 .S42 covers F., F.2^nd , F .3^rd, F.supp. F.R.D.
• Shepard’s State Citators -- there is one for each state; e.g., Shepard’s Indiana: Reference KFI 3059 .S55

1. Go to the appropriate Shepard’s set (this case requires the use of Shepard’s Federal Citations).
2. Find the volume that covers F.2n 201-390, i.e., the 1969 volume which contains 384 F.2nd.
3. Open your volume. Volume numbers are indicated on tops of pages and in columns.
4. When you find the page(s) where 384 is listed, look down the columns for the number 683. You may nor may not find listings for your specific case. If you don’t, proceed to the next volume on the shelf and start over. When you find your listing it will look like this:

5. Write down all the citations you find, volume after volume. As you approach the present, be sure to check all paper supplements as well.

Westlaw Keycite [online, in Library only]. Access via Databases/Alphabetical. Note information on screen:
 
 

This product is limited to the Library. To access West Law KeyCite Press KeyCite on the menu on the left-hand side of the screen. You may be asked to either install or skip the Attached Printing Plug In. Be sure to press the skip button. Once you have done that a login scrren will appear. Input the following:  Password=2766521HRJC Customer ID=2766521HRJC

On the next screen, find and click on KeyCite. KeyCite for cases covers all cases on Westlaw, including unpublished opinions and selected administrative decisions. In order to use KeyCite, you already have to have the case citation. KeyCite provides the following information:
 

• Direct appellate history of a case
• Negative indirect history of a case
• Citations to cases, administrative decisions and secondary sources on Westlaw that have cited a case
• Complete integration with the West Key Number System so you can track legal issues discussed in a case
• Citations to recent session laws amending or repealing a state or federal statute
• Citations to pending legislation affecting a federal statute
• Credits and historical and statutory notes for a state or federal statute
• Citations to cases, administrative decisions and secondary sources that have cited a state or federal statute or a federal regulation

When you enter a citation, you may get confusing results. Look to the left side of the screen and you should see the KC History, which would be your citation listing. Click the icon next to the GO button to expand the History side of the screen. It looks as though you could click on the number of the citation and go directly to the case; however, because the ISU Library does not subscribe to this feature of KeyCite, all you can do is write or

You can print or email your results. You can set your print or email parameters. Email choices include send as attached Word document or send as email text. Once you select your Print/Email option, the results should automatically be taken care of.

When you are in KeyCite, you can also switch to other  parts of Westlaw [we don't subscribe to the entire package... too expensive!] such as KeySearch, a topical index to the law. If you click Welcome, you will reach the opening page of Westlaw Campus, and from there you can get to all parts of Westlaw that ISU currently subscribes to. If you try to use a non-subscription component, you will receive a message [.... cannot be processed because use of this database is not authorized under your subscription agreement.]  If you are using Westlaw Campus, you will not be able to reach KeyCite from there, and vice versa. Return to Databases/Alphabetical. Remember, you CANNOT shepardize from Westlaw Campus, only from Westlaw Keycite.

Academic Universe/Legal Research: You can Shepardize U.S. Supreme Court cases only.

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Access to Materials Beyond ISU Library

The ISU Library will not always have the materials you need. The sooner you begin your research, the sooner you will discover what materials, if any, you need to get from somewhere else. You have several options:

Online Catalogs Within Indiana: Use the Other Libraries links explore other Indiana college libraries. Your Sycamore ID allows you check-out privileges at these universities, if you choose to go in person. Return materials to the ISU Library Interlibrary Loan Office and we will return them for you (be sure to do this well in advance of the other library’s due date)

Normally, you will probably just identify the items and then turn in with complete information to Interlibrary Loan (below).

Please link to Introduction to Basic Legal Citation (2000-2001 ed.) by Peter W. Martin (Cornell Law School), based on the Seventeenth Edition of the "Bluebook."

See also Legal Research and Citation Style in USA by Ronald B. Standler, a Massachusetts attorney.

Academic Universe makes the following suggestions:
 

Subject Browsers

Many of the subject browsers on the web side of the internet make links to crime, law and justice resources. They include:

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