Research Tips & Tools

Subject Guide:

Law Research Guide

Find books

Law books are primarily located in the J - K call number area on the second floor of the library. You may browse the collection or use the library catalog to locate specific titles and subjects.

HELIN Library Catalog - The combined library catalog of RWU, PC, URI, RIC, CCRI, Salve, JWU, Bryant, Wheaton, and Brown

InRhode - to find books in both the HELIN Library Catalog and Brown's Library Catalog, Josiah

Find articles in online databases

Link to a listing of the library's databases relevant to Law. Many of these databases will provide full-text articles.

Find journals and magazines

Link to RWU e-journal subscriptions. Search by title or subject.

Find Reference Tools

Link to online reference resources such as encyclopedias, directories, dictionaries, etc.

Print Reference titles can be located at REF J-KF on the first floor.

Web Sites

Legal Search Engines:
FindLaw
LawCrawler
LawGuru.com
Cornell Legal Research Engine
Legal Education and Research:
 
Cornell's Legal Information Institute
Primary legal information available. Contains recent and some historic Supreme Court decisions, the full-text of the U.S. Code, recent articles in the Cornell Law Review, and a wide-range of items of special interest.
 
Virtual Chase: Legal Research on the Internet
A research guide for finding law resources and factual information.
WashLaw Web
Washburn University School of Law Library. Intended to be a comprehensive Internet law source, Washlaw provides access to federal and state law resources, foreign and international materials, legal reference information, law journals, etc.
U.S. Government Resources:
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Census Bureau
Code of the Federal Regulations
GPO Access Includes theCode of Federal Regulations, the Federal Register, Public Laws and more.
Congressional Documents & Debates 1774-1873
A century of lawmaking for a new nation, includes U.S. Statutes at Large, the U.S. Serial Set and Congressional Record.
Federal Register
Includes the Register, Code of Federal Regulations, Public Laws and more.
GPO Access, U.S. Government
Contains legislative information and documents from federal and independent agencies.
Law Library of Congress
Links for legislative and legal research.
National Environmental Data Index
Provides direct access link to full text databases.
Rominger Legal
Easy access to federal law links, federal agencies and state law.
Thomas
Congressional Website and Legislative history.
Federal Court Decisions:
Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court Decisions
from the Legal Information Institute at Cornell. This site archives all opinions of the court since May of 1990.
Supreme Court Decisions
Search Supreme Court Decisions from 1937-1975.
United States Federal Courts
Library of Congress - U.S. Law
Links for legislative and legal research.
Oyez: U.S. Supreme Court Multimedia
provides access to more than 2000 hours of Supreme Court audio.
State and Local Law:
Library of Congress - U.S. States and Territories
State and national organizations that focus on state interests.
Massachusetts State Government Information
Rominger Legal
Excellent state resources including the R.I. General Laws and R.I. Environmental Regulations. A criminal law resource page is provided as
well.
Municode.com
Links to many city and county codes available for unrestricted searching including Providence, Rhode Island.
Secretary of State's Online Office
Rhode Island Secretary of State. Contains information on state officials, elections, state departments and quasi public agencies, history, state legislation, and links to other R.I. government, business, and community web sites.
State and Local Governments on the Net
International Law:
Cornell Law Library International Resources
Foreign and International Legal Databases
From the New York University School of Law
Library of Congress - International Law
Worldwide information on government and law available online.

Legal Topic Web Sites:

Business Law and Related Sites:
American Bankruptcy Institute
Highlights include bankruptcy news, court opinions, legislative news and international bankruptcy laws.
Bankruptcy Law
A good overview of bankruptcy law with an extensive menu of federal material including statutes, federal agency regulations, federal judicial decisions and state material.
Internal Revenue Service
Scroll to the bottom of the page and link to files such as tax statistics, tax regulation and tax forms.
Rhode Island Tax Laws - Regulations
Securities Class Action Clearinghouse
Federal and state cases available, as well as statutes, rules, and settlement documents.From Stanford Law School.
Civil Rights:
Employment Discrimination - Title VII
Federal laws including a section on how to file an employment discrimination claim. Also offers information for small businesses.
Legal Information Institute at Cornell - Laws About Civil Rights
Overview of civil rights history and links to the Constitution, state and federal statutory law. International material also available.
United States Code: Title 42, Chapter 21
Information presented in terms of its impact on specific populations or areas of law (ie) institutionalized persons, public accommodations, public facilities, public education, federal assistance programs, equal employment opportunities, registration and voting statistics.
United States Commission on Civil Rights
Provides links to contemporary issues such as election practices in Florida during the 2000 Presidential campaign. Also offers listing of regional offices, information on the Freedom of Information Act, and how to file a civil rights complaint.
United States Department of Justice, Office of Civil Rights --
Links to various law related topics including criminal law, disability rights, educational opportunities, employment litigation, housing & civil enforcement, immigration & unfair labor practices, and voting rights law.
Education Law:
Legal Information Institute at Cornell
Links to full text of the United States Code - Title 20 - Education.
Rhode Island Department of Education
Rhode Island Department of Education
Search extensive database by school district.
Special Education and Advocacy
Environmental Law:
Environmental Protection Agency
Laws and regulations as well as news headlines.
Findlaw.com
Legal subjects listed in alphabetical order, scroll to environmental law link.
Family Law:
Administration for Children and Families
Search by topic or by program such as Domestic Violence or Presidents Committee on Mental Retardation. Get fact sheets and statistics on topics such as the economics of child care.
Adoption Policy Resource Center
Adoption self-help resources for parents and advocates, policy research and analysis, legal information and links.
Health Law:
Food and Drug Administration
Human Rights:
University of Minnesota Human Rights Library
United States and international human rights documents and materials are available.
Intellectual Property Law:
United States Copyright Office - Library of Congress
Legislation, publications and GPO federal documents available.
United States Patent and Trademark Office
General information provided, however; scroll to the bottom of the screen for law related notices in the Federal Register.
Legal Forms:
FindLaw
Legaldocs
 
Paralegal Employment Information:
Law Employment Center
Scroll down to the paralegal listings and search for jobs by geographic area.
National Federation of Paralegal Associations
The Paralegals Classified
Public Records:
BRB's Free Resource Center for Public Records
 
Tax - Trusts - Estates:
Internal Revenue Service
State and Local Tax
Taxsites
From the American Bar Association.
Tax Forms, instructions and publications
Vital Statistics:
Vital Statistics
Birth, death, marriage and divorce certificates.
 

NOTE: For additional legal databases and web sites, please refer to the School of Law Library Web Site