Legal Research Tools and Strategies
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Researching Court Cases
Court Cases
Elements of a Case (4:12 min.)
[The elements of a case in print, on Lexis & Westlaw]Finding Court Cases
An Introduction to Digests in Print (7:18 min.)
[Explanation of digests: how they are organized & used]
Digests in Lexis-Nexis (5:28 min.)
[How to use the digest to find cases on Lexis]
Digests in Westlaw and WestlawNext
[How to use the digest in Westlaw and WestlawNext]
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Researching Statutes
Federal Statutes
The Federal Legislative Process (7:10 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[Basic overview of the federal legislative process]Publication of Federal Statutory Law (5:23 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[The publication of federal statutes from slip law to Statutes at Large to codification]Federal codes (4:40 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[Overview of the U.S.C., U.S.C.A. & U.S.C.S. explaining annotated & unannotated codes]How to Locate Federal Statues in Print (4:30 min.)
[How to Locate Federal Statues in Print]
How to Update Federal Statutes in Print (3:06 min.)
[How to Update Statutes in Print]Find & Update Federal Statutes Using Lexis (6:14 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[Find statutes by citation, popular name & table of contents & Shepardize (update) statutes on Lexis]Find & Update Federal Statutes Using Westlaw (5:28) min.) PowerPoint PDF
[Find statutes by citation, popular name & table of contents & KeyCite (update) statutes on Westlaw]Find & Update Federal Statutes Using Westlaw Next (7:52min.)
PowerPoint PDF
[Find statutes by ctiation, popular name & table of contents & KeyCite (update) statutes using Westlaw Next]Find & Update Federal Statutes Using Free Resources (7:41 min.)
PowerPoint PDF
[Use free resources including GPO Access, Office of Law Revision Counsel & Thomas to find & Update statutes]
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State Statutes
Introduction to State Statutes (10:02 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[General introduction to state statutes including session laws and codes.]Florida State Statutes (12-to-14 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[Introduces Florida session laws, unannotated & annotated codes & print and online sources]
Municipal Law
Introduction to Municipal Law (5:19 min.) PowerPoint PDF [Introduces municipal codes and explains how to find and use them]
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Researching Administrative Law
Introduction to Administrative Law (4:00 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[What is administrative law? What is involved in understanding administrative law?]Federal Administrative Law (15:43 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[Federal administrative law can include federal legislation, executive orders, and, of course, administrative agencies.]Federal Administrative Agencies in the Research Process (8:54 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[Strategies for understanding the role admnistrative agencies play in the research process and finding agency information]Federal Administrative Law and Executive Orders (4:07 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[Strategies for understanding and researching the role of executive orders in administrative law]Finding and using the Federal Register (5:33 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[The Federal Register (Fed. Reg.) is an essential resource in federal administrative law research.]Finding and using the Code of Federal Regulations (5:33 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[The Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) is an essential resource in federal administrative law research.]Administrative Law Research Strategies (10:07 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[Strategies for successful administrative law research]
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Citators - What are they and how are they used?
Online Citators: An Introduction (5:00 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[What are citators and why are they important?]Online Citators: KeyCite Westlaw (10:15 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[How to use KeyCite, Westlaw's online citator]Online Citators: KeyCite Westlaw Next (11:55 min) PowerPoint PDF
[Working with KeyCite when using Westlaw Next]Online Citators: Shepard's LexisNexis (8:44 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[How to use Shepard's, the LexisNexis online citator]Online Citators: Loislaw Quick Tips (4:43 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[Tips for using Loislaw as a citator]
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Using Secondary Sources in Legal Research
Introduction to Secondary Sources (4:29 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[What are secondary sources? Why are they important and useful in legal research?]
Legal Encyclopedias (6:24 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[Legal encyclopedias are frequently a good starting point for legal research]
American Law Reports (6:31 min) PowerPoint PDF
[Focusing on narrow legal issues, these secondary sources bring together references to cases &
other secondary sources]
Legal Periodicals (5:48 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[Law journal articles, bar journal publications and even legal newsletters can be excellent tools for
legal research]
Treatises (5:30 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[A treatise is a scholarly work on a specific legal topic or area of law.]
Restatement of the Law (4:57 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[Restatements focus on specific areas of the law and attempt to identify black letter law and
cases applying this law.]
Evaluating Legal Resources (5:41 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[It is essential to evaluate all research sources, both primary and secondary]
JSTOR (9:19 min.)
[a collection of over 1,000 legal and academic journals and related resources]
Journals A-Z (8:00 min.)
[Lists journals by title and subject indicating databases and dates of coverage that include the listed journals with links to the databases]CALI (5:14 min.)
[Interactive online lessons in over 40 areas of law]Words and Phrases (4:00 min.)
[How to use Words and Phrases to locate legal definitions in context]Current Index to Legal Periodicals (1:30 min.)
[How to access the Current Index to Legal Periodicals]
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Legislative History Research
Introduction to Federal Legislative History (9:45 min) PowerPoint PDF
[Introduces Federal Legislative History including strategies & sources]>HeinOnline & Federal Legislative History (12:14 min) PowerPoint PDF
[Use HeinOnline to find compiled legislative histories, federal session laws
and bill numbers]ProQuest Congressional & Federal Legislative History (9:45 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[Use ProQuest (formerly LexisNexis) Congressional to find legislative histories, Congressional reports
and hearings]Florida Legislative History (11:31 min) PowerPoint PDF
[Strategies & sources for florida legislative histories]
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Online Research Tools
The Current Index to Legal Periodicals (1:54 min.)
[How to access the Current Index to Periodicals]LEXIS
An Introduction to Lexis (5:55 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[Basic introduction to LexisNexis including how to access and begin using this legal database]An Introduction to Lexis Advance (14:51 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[Basic introduction to Lexis Advance including how to access and begin using this legal database]Boolean Searching using Lexis (5:38 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[Lexis terms & connectors, often called Boolean, search strategies]
WESTLAW
An Introduction to WestlawNext (4:00 min.)
[Basic introduction to WestlawNext]An Introduction to Westlaw (6:35 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[Basic introduction to Westlaw including how to access and begin using this
legal database]Find & Update Federal Statutes Using Westlaw Next (7:52 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[Find statutes by citation, popular name & table of contents & KeyCite (update) statutes on Westlaw]Boolean Searching using Westlaw (6:29 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[Westlaw terms & connectors, often called Boolean, search strategies]Boolean Searching using WestlawNext (8:10 min.) PowerPoint PDF
[WestlawNext terms & connectors, often called Boolean, search strategies]
FREE ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
Free Online Legal Resources (26:00 min.)
Westpac (9:21 min.)
[How to use a variety of free, legal resources]
Google Scholar (3:32 min.)
[How to use Google Scholar for legal research]
[How to use Westpac for legal research]
Foreign and International Law Research
Conducting Foreign Legal Research (4:00 min.)
[How to Conduct Foreign Legal Research]
Conducting International Legal Research (4:00 min.)
[How to Conduct International Legal Research]
Back to Contents
Legal Research Strategies
Introduction to Boolean Searching (7:58 min.) PowerPoint PDF [Also called Terms & Connectors searching, boolean searching is an everday part of online research]
Legal Research Strategies Guide PDF [Useful guide for developing research strategies - Includes tips for online research and stresses the importance of keeping a detailed, dated research log for all researh projects]
Tips From Librarians
How to Access the West Study Aids Package (4:00 min.)
[How to Access Stetson's West Study Aids Subscription]
How to Make Interlibary Loan Requests (3:10 min.) PowerPoint
[How to make Interlibrary Loan Requests through the Stetson Law Library]
WorldCat (4:00 min.)
[How to Locate Library Materials Using WorldCat]
How to make Study Room Reservations (2:00 min.) PowerPoint
[How to reserve a study room]
How to access My Library (2:11 min.) PowerPoint
[How to take advantage of the My Library features in our catalog]
How to set up BNA Email Alerts (4:11 min.) PowerPoint
[How to stay up to date on your subjects of interest by setting up BNA Email Alerts]
How to Place a Hold in our Online Catalog (4:00 min.)
[How to Place a Hold in Our Online Catalog]
Table of Contents
Creating a Table of Contents Using Word 2010 (4:46 min.) PDF [How to create a Table of Contents in Word 2010 that can be updated automatically as the document changes]
Table of Authorities
Creating a Table of Authorities Using Word 2010 (2:56 min.) PDF [How to create a Table of Authorites in Word 2010 that can be updated automatically as the document changes]
Issues Affecting Non-Profit Corporations
Non-Profit Basics (9:50 min.) PowerPoint
Tax-Exempt Status (17:13 min.) PowerPoint
Donations & Fundraising (13:10 min.) PowerPoint
Non-Profit Board Members & Officers (11:34 min.) PowerPoint
Non-Profit Employees & Volunteers (19:13 min.) PowerPoint
Non-Profit Risk Management (6:00 min.) PowerPoint
Non-Profit Income & Records (11:53 min.)PowerPoint
Useful Non-Profit Resources (4:46 min.) PowerPoint
Frequently asked questions about Non-Profit Corporations