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Social Work, Law and the Courts
Library Resources for SW 5037


Guide to Library Resources for Social Work 5037

Social Services Abstracts

PsycINFO

Sociological Abstracts

LexisNexis Academic

FindLaw

Guide to Using Social Services Abstracts Example Searches for Social Work 5037

Types of Law
Statutory Law
Regulations
Case Law


Federal Law
Statutes/United States Code
Federal Regulations
U.S. Court Opinions


California Law
Statutes/California Code
CA Regulations
CA Court Opinions


Reference Sources
Legal Dictionaries
Legal Abbreviations
Legal Citations


Secondary Sources
Law Reviews
Example Websites


Quick Links
LEXIS-NEXIS
Find Law
Legal Websites

Types of Law

Level of Government
Federal
State
Local
Branch of Government
Legislative - Statutory Law
Executive - Regulations
Judicial - Case Law
Jurisdiction
health/welfare agencies
education agencies
law enforcement
Federal State
Basic Law U.S. Constitution California Constitution
Legislative Branch
    proposed
    as written
    codified

U.S. House/Senate Bills
Public Laws/Statutes at Large
U.S. Code

CA Assembly/Senate Bills
State Laws/California Statutes
California Code
Executive Branch
    proposed and final rules
    codified

Federal Register
Code of Federal Regulations

Notice Register
Code of California Regulations
Judicial
U.S. Supreme Court opinions
U.S. Appellate Court opinions
District/Special Court opinions

CA Supreme Court opinions
CA Appellate Court opinions
Local court opinions

Statutory Law

Federal California
Process
Proposed Legislation
  • THOMAS
    Full-text of bills from 1989 - present
    compiled by the Library of Congress
Passed Legislation: Statutes
Laws by Subject: Codes
  • California Code
            Lexis-Nexis: Academic*
            Choose: Legal Research
            Choose: State Code
            Choose: California

  • California Code
            (Legislative Counsel of California)

Administrative/Regulatory Law

Federal California
Proposed
  • Federal Register
            Lexis-Nexis: Academic*
            Choose: Legal Research
            Choose: Federal Regulations
            Choose: Federal Register

  • Federal Register
            (US Government Printing Office)

Regulations by Subject: Codes
  • Code of Federal Regulations
            Lexis-Nexis: Academic*
            Choose: Legal Research
            Choose: Federal Regulations
            Choose: Code of Federal Regulations

  • Code of Federal Regulations
            (US Government Printing Office)


Case Law

Federal California
Supreme Court
  • U.S. Supreme Court
    decisions from 1790 - present
            Lexis-Nexis: Academic*
            Choose: Get a Case
                -OR-
            Choose: Federal Case Law
            Choose: Supreme Court Cases

  • U.S. Supreme Court Opinions
            (Findlaw)
            decisions from 1893 - present

  • CA Supreme Court
    decisions from 1790 - present
            Lexis-Nexis: Academic*
            Choose: Get a Case
                -OR-
            Choose: State Case Law
            Choose: California
            Choose: Calfornia High Courts

  • CA Supreme Court Opinions
            (Findlaw)
            decisions from 1934 - present

Appellate Courts
  • U.S. Court of Appeals
            Lexis-Nexis: Academic*
            Choose: Get a Case
                -OR-
            Choose: Federal Case Law
            Choose: Court of Appeals

  • Case Law
            Choose: Case Law - US Courts of Appeals

  • CA Supreme Court
    decisions from 1790 - present
            Lexis-Nexis: Academic*
            Choose: Get a Case
                -OR-
            Choose: State Case Law
            Choose: California
            Choose: Calfornia Appellate Courts

  • CA Appellate Court Opinions
            (Findlaw)
            decisions from 1934 - present


LEXIS-NEXIS

Search Sections

Lexis-Nexis Academic Search
This is a subscription database provided by CSU for our students. The Academic Search: Legal Reseach section contains federal and state laws, regulations and cases.
URL for CSUS: http://library.csustan.edu/restricted/ln_go.htm

Help Section

Research the Basics
Includes information on:
    Booleans and connectors
    Noise Words (Non-Searchable Words)
    Capitalization
    Plurals and Truncation (Wildcards)
    Using Parentheses

Shepardizing
Shepard'sŪ Citations helps determine a U.S. Supreme Court case's status as "good law." Shepard's also provides you with information about other potentially relevant cases.


FindLaw

Excellent cite containing text of US Code, Federal regulations, and case law.
California resources include Codes, Statutes, court opinions.
Provides hyperlinks to other cases and also lists citing cases.
Text of some resources (including California court cases from 1934 - present) only available if you register.
Free site which is well-worth the time to register.
URL: http://www.findlaw.com


SECONDARY SOURCES

Journals/Law Reviews

Lexis-Nexis Academic Search - Law Reviews
Choose: Legal Research
Choose: Law Reviews
Guided search includes citation searching option.

Academic Search Elite (Restricted)
An interdisciplinary periodicals index which may contain some useful articles, depending on topic.

Lexis-Nexis Academic Search - California Newspapers
Choose: News
Choose: Guided Search
Choose: News category - U.S. News
Choose: News source - California News

Web Site Examples (Secondary Sources)

Child Abuse Reporting

National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect
State Laws: Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect
Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect
Making a Report about Child Abuse (Child Abuse Council of Santa Clara)
Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse and Neglect - by Susan K. Smith, Atty., Hartford and Avon, CT.

Elder Abuse Reporting

California Department of Aging
Elder Abuse Law Center

Reference Sources

DICTIONARIES

Glossary of Legislative Terms (California Legislature)
'Lectric Law Library's Legal Lexicon
Nolo.com Dictionary

LEGAL CITATIONS

Introduction to Basic Legal Citation (2000-2001) (Peter Martin, Cornell Law School)

MEGA LEGAL SITES: GATEWAYS TO INFORMATION

California

FindLaw California: Internet Legal Resources
One of the better organized legal sites.

Federal

CataLaw: Metaindex of Law and Government
FindLaw
Hieros Gamos
Internet Legal Resource Guide
Legal Information Institute
Meta-Index for U.S. Legal Research
WWW Virtual Law Library: Table of Contents
 

LEGAL ABBREVIATIONS

California

CASES  
California Reports C. or Cal.
California Reports, Second Series C.2d or Cal.2d
California Reports, Third Series C.3d or Cal.3d
California Reports, Fourth Series C.4th or Cal.4th
California Appellate Reports C.A. or Cal.App.
California Appellate Reports, Second Series C.A.2d or Cal.App.2
California Appellate Reports, Third Series C.A.3d or Cal.App.3d
California Appellate Reports, Fourth Series C.A.4th or Cal.App.4th
California Reporter Cal.Rptr.
California Reporter, Second Series Cal.Rptr.2d
Pacific Reporter P.
Pacific Reporter, Second Series P.2d


California Code (Examples)  
California Civil Code Cal. Civ. Code
California Education Code Cal. Educ. Code
California Health and Safety Code Cal. Health & Safety Code
California Penal Code Cal. Penal Code
California Welfare and Institution Code Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code


STATUTES  
Statutes of California Cal. Stat.




Federal

CASES  
United States Supreme Court  
United States Reports (Official) U.S.
Lawyer's Edition L.Ed., L.Ed.2d
Supreme Court Reporter S.Ct.
United States Courts of Appeal  
Federal Reporter F.
Federal Reporter, Second Series F.2d
Federal Reporter, Third Series F.3d
United States District Courts  
Federal Supplement F.Suppl.
Federal Supplement, Second Series F.Suppl.2d


CODES  
United States Code U.S.C.
United States Code Annotated U.S.C.A.


STATUTES  
United States Statutes at Large Stat.


LAW JOURNALS (Examples)  
Harvard Law Review Harv. L. Rev.
Southern California Law Review S. Cal. L. Rev.
Stanford Law Review Stan. L. Rev.

* Databases made available to CSUS students through subscriptions. Current University ID required for access off-campus.


For more help:
John Brandt, Reference Librarian jbrandt@csustan.edu
Library Reference Desk Telephone: 209-667-3233
Ask a Librarian!
Based on materials by Laura M. Boyer

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This document is maintained by: the CSUS Library(wwwlibrary@wwwlibrary.csustan.edu)
Page updated: 08/28/2008