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Research and How-to Guides

How to Use the SIU Law Library | Basic Legal Research Guides | Other Topics

Most of the following guides are available in HTML and PDF. The PDF versions are linked at the bottom of the corresponding HTML pages linked below. If you don't find what you need among the Guides below, try our Archive of Research Tips. SIU School of Law faculty and students are encouraged to recommend topics for other research guides or tips.

How to Use the SIU Law Library

How Do I Use the SIU Law Library Website for Legal Research? / prepared by Diane Murley.

How Do I Find Books in the Law Library? / prepared by Diane Murley.

How Do I Find Articles in the Law Library? / prepared by Diane Murley.

How Do I Make Copies or Print in the Law Library? / prepared by James Duggan.

How Can I Receive Notices of Updates and Additions to the SIU Law Library Website? / prepared by Diane Murley.

Legal Periodical Indexes Guide / prepared by Heija Ryoo.

Legal Research for Non-Law-School Students / prepared by James Duggan.

Common Legal Abbreviations / prepared by Diane Murley.

Glossary of Legal Research Terms / prepared by Diane Murley.

Basic Legal Research Guides

Archive of Research Tips.

Secondary Sources

Why and How to Use Secondary Sources (audio, outline, and transcript) / by Diane Murley
Duration of audio: ~16.5 minutes.

Introduction to Practice Aids (audio, outline, and transcript) / by Diane Murley
Duration of audio: ~10.5 minutes.

Using WilsonWeb to Find Legal Articles / prepared by Diane Murley.

Using LegalTrac to Find Legal Articles / prepared by Diane Murley.

Cases

Current Sources for Federal Court Decisions / prepared by Frank Houdek.

Using a West Digest to Find Cases by Subject / prepared by Frank Houdek.

Using LexisNexis and Westlaw to Find Cases by Subject / prepared by Frank Houdek.

Citators

Steps In Using a Print Shepard's / prepared by Frank Houdek.

Comparison of Features of Shepard's on LexisNexis and KeyCite on Westlaw / prepared by Diane Murley.

Statutes

Steps in Using a Statutory Code / prepared by Frank Houdek.

Publication of Statutes / prepared by Frank Houdek and Diane Murley.

Publication of Illinois Statutes / prepared by Frank Houdek.

Publication of Federal Statutes / prepared by Frank Houdek.

Finding and Printing a Uniform Act in Illinois / prepared by Diane Murley.

Using the Table of Contents for Statutes on Westlaw / prepared by Diane Murley.

Using the Table of Contents for Statutes on LexisNexis / prepared by Diane Murley.

Regulations

Comparing the Publication of Federal Statutes and Regulations / prepared by Frank Houdek.

Steps In Using the Code of Federal Regulations / prepared by Frank Houdek.

Comparing the Publication of Illinois Statutes and Regulations / prepared by Diane Murley.

Researching Illinois Administrative Regulations / prepared by Frank Houdek.

Steps In Using the Illinois Administrative Code [IAC] / prepared by Frank Houdek.

Introduction to Researching Administrative Law (audio and transcript) / by Diane Murley
Duration of audio: ~5.3 minutes.

Legislative History

Federal Legislative History: Documents & Sources / prepared by Frank Houdek.

Using CIS/Annual for Federal Legislative History Research / prepared by Frank Houdek.

Using LexisNexis Congressional for Federal Legislative History / prepared by Diane Murley.

Comparing Federal and Illinois Legislative History Research / prepared by Frank Houdek.

Illinois Legislative History Research / prepared by Frank Houdek.

LexisNexis and Westlaw

LexisNexis and Westlaw Compared / prepared by James E. Duggan.

LexisNexis and Westlaw Search Examples / prepared by Diane Murley.

Comparison of Features of Shepard's on LexisNexis and KeyCite on Westlaw / prepared by Diane Murley.

Using the Table of Contents for Statutes on Westlaw / prepared by Diane Murley.

Using the Table of Contents for Statutes on LexisNexis / prepared by Diane Murley.

Other Topics

Handouts from Class Presentations

Employment Law: Legal and Nonlegal Research Resources / prepared by Candle Wester-Mittan for Employment Law course (March 2007).

Jury Verdict Research and Settlement Drafting Resources / prepared by Diane Murley for Negotiation course (March 2007).

Researching United States Supreme Court Justices handout and PowerPoint presentation / prepared by James Duggan for senior seminar on Supreme Court Decisions (July 2006).

Other Subscription Electronic Resources

IICLE Publications and SmartBooks – Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (IICLE) handbooks, course materials, and QuickGuides.

HeinOnline – online access to law journals, the Federal Register, U.S. Attorney General Opinions, Treaties and Agreements, and U.S. Supreme Court cases – exact page replicas, including all charts, graphs, photos, and other images, with coverage from the first volume of most publications.

Internet Legal Research

Introduction to RSS and News Aggregators presentation in MindManager or PowerPoint format, prepared by Diane Murley for BlawgThink 2005. If you do not already have the viewers on your computer, you can download a free MindManager Viewer or PowerPoint Viewer.

Types of Internet Sites Used for Legal Information & Research / prepared by Frank Houdek.

Legal Research on the Internet: Primary Sources / prepared by Frank Houdek.

Evaluating Websites and Other Information Resources – links to resources that help you evaluate and choose Internet resources on which you can rely as part of your legal research, prepared by Diane Murley.

Introduction to the Internet / by Diane Murley.

Using the Internet for Substantive Legal Research / by Diane Murley.