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Federal Legal Resources
United States Statutes at Large Ref KF50.A2
Public Laws as passed by Congress (chronological). Bills signed into law are first published as Slip Laws Which are retained in the collection until republished in the Statutes at Large.
Online access: ** LexisNexis Congressional - Available in Randall Library and off campus access for UNCW students, faculty and staff only (must have a PIN number for off campus use).
1. Access the Randall Library Home Page http://library.uncw.edu/ click on Databases & Articles.
2. Click on L then click on LexisNexis Congressional
3. Click the "Laws" menu,
4. Then click "Public Laws" or "Public Laws by number". Laws from 1988 (100th Congress, second session) forward are available.
You can search either by keyword or number. Number searches include Public Law Number, Statue at Large Citation Number, or enacted Bill Number. Can also search LexisNexis Congressional for Legislative Histories
Thomas (http://thomas.loc.gov/)
Available from the 1995 (104th Congress) forward, Thomas provides lists of major legislation passed in to laws, laws by law number and laws by bill number. The link brings up a list of bills, which gives access to either the bill summary, related congressional materials, or the full text of the bill.
GPO Access (http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/nara005.html)
Scroll down list to highlight database you wish to search. Has the full text of the version of bills, from 1995 (104th Congress) forward, signed into law by the President. In addition to searching the full text, you can also retrieve the list of all the public laws passed within a Congress, (Catalogs of available Public Laws). For each title there is a link to the full text in either TEXT or PDF format.
United States Code Ref KF62
The official compilation of the public laws in force, the general and permanent laws of the United States. It is a subject arrangement (instead of chronological) of the laws reflecting all additions, deletions and revisions at the time of publication. The print edition is updated once every six years with annual supplements that document current changes.
Online access: ** LexisNexis Congressional - Available in Randall Library and off campus access for UNCW students, faculty and staff only (must have a PIN number for off campus use).
1. Access the Randall Library Home Page http://library.uncw.edu/ click on Databases & Articles.
2. Click on L then click on LexisNexis Congressional
3. Next click on "Laws"
4. Then "United States Code" Or "United States Code citation". Searching options for the United States Code include either doing a full text keyword search, or searching by citation number.
GPO Access (http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/multidb.html) Scroll down list to highlight database you wish to search. The database is current up to January 1995. Access is by keyword search.
See also Helpful Hints for Searching House of Representatives (http://uscode.house.gov/usc.htm) This database is currently up-to-date through January 26, 1996. It was created by taking the 1994 Edition of the U.S. Code and incorporating all the changes and additions contained in the annual supplements. Access to the text is done using a powerful search feature, (use the help screens for tips on how to construct a search).
Cornell Law School (http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/) Same time coverage as above. Can search the Code by Title and section, i.e. Title 7 Agriculture. Also contains the Popular Names Index, a list of common names for legislative acts, i.e. Honeybee Act.
United States Code Annotated Ref KF62 1927
Subject arrangement of laws with annotations and notes of decisions.
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Ref KF70.A
Contains the cumulative regulations in force at the time of publication. The CFR is divided into 50 titles, which represent broad areas subject to Federal regulation. The 50 "titles" are updated on a rotating basis over a one-year period.
Online access: LexisNexis Congressional
Follow connection directions (steps 1-2) listed above. Click "Regulations" then click "Code of Federal Regulations" to do a keyword search. All current titles (plus new regulations within two weeks of being published in the Federal Register) are available. The other choices allow you to search by CFR citation number or by statutory authority (law number).
GPO Access (http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/)
This site started in October 1996 with parts from titles 21, 22, and 40. Titles will be added continually as their print counterparts are updated. The text at this site is an official version of the CFR. You can search all of the available titles, selected titles, or retrieve text by citation information (title and part number).
Federal Register GovDocs AE 2.106: microfiche
A daily publication that contains all proposed changes (additions, deletions and updates) to the Code of Federal Regulations plus presidential and other materials. The current years are available in documents [U.S. AE 2.106:]. Earlier volumes are kept on microfiche.
Also see Federal Register List of Sections Affected (LSA) AE 2:106/2.
Online access: LexisNexis Congressional
Follow connection directions (steps 1-2) listed above. Click "Regulations" then "Federal Register" to search the full text back to July 1, 1980 by keyword. Retrieval by CFR or FR citation number is also available.
GPO ACCESS (http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html)
Available from 1995 forward with the ability to search by year within section of the publication. Helpful Hints, provides instructions for searching the database.
Unified Agenda The Unified Agenda (also known as the Semi-Annual Regulatory Agenda) is published in the Federal Register, usually during April and October each year, to fulfill the requirement that agencies describe the regulatory actions they are developing.
Online access: GPO Access (http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/multidb.html) These searchable versions, from 1994 forward, are found on the list of databases; scroll down and select Unified Agenda, then enter a search phrase or term.
United States Supreme Court
United States Reports REF KF101 .A2
The Supreme Court is the highest court in the judicial branch of the U.S. government. Its main activity is as the court of last resort exercising appellate jurisdiction over cases involving federal law. The official print version of Supreme Court Decisions is the United States Reports or U.S. Reports.
Online access: Supreme Court of the United States official web site. Cases from 1999-present (http://www.supremecourtus.gov)
LexisNexis Academic
Follow connection directions (step 1) listed above. Click on L then click on LexisNexis Academic. Once connected, click on "Legal Resources" then "Federal Case Law". Keyword and additional terms search the full text. Make sure to select Supreme Court Cases in the "Source" pull down menu. Full text opinions of all Supreme Court cases since 1790. In addition, all dispositions of cases that were appealed to the Supreme Court are included.
GPO Access (http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/supcrt/index.html )
Database of decisions from 1937-1975, also available at FedWorld (http://www.fedworld.gov/supcourt/index.htm)
Cornell Legal Information Institute ("Project Hermes" most of the opinions since 1990 and access to (610 historical decisions) (http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/)
FindLaw (opinions since 1893) (http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html)
OyezOyezOyez from Northwestern University includes audio of arguments (http://court.it- services.nwu.edu/oyez/)
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
While the United States Supreme Court is the highest, the greatest number of federal cases are handled the in the federal district courts and the appeals court. The U.S. Court of Appeals is divided geographically into twelve circuits. The U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit includes Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. No official reports are published exclusively for cases of the federal district courts and the U.S. Court of Appeals (they are in the Federal Supplement and Federal Reporter respectively). There are official reports for the specialized courts.
Online access: Court of Appeals homepage. (http://www.fedcir.gov/)
LexisNexis Academic
Follow connection directions (step 1) listed above. Click on the letter L then click on LexisNexis Academic. Once connected, click on "Legal Resources" then "Federal Case Law". Keyword and additional terms search the full text. Make sure to select "Court of Appeals" in the "Source" pull down menu.
Cornell Legal Information Institute (http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/ )
Some decisions for each of the Circuit Courts are online. The database is searchable but slow and very recent cases may not yet be entered in the database.
Uncle Sam Brief Guide to Citing Government Publications (http://exlibris.memphis.edu/govpubs/citeweb.htm)
Introduction to Basic Legal Citation (2000-2001 ed.) by Peter W. Martin, Cornell Law School (http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/)
The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (http://www.legalbluebook.com/)
The Bluebook 15th ed. ReadyRef KF 245 .U5 1991
To cite sources in LexisNexis, click "Help" then click "Citing Sources"
Dictionaries
Black's Law Dictionary REF KF156 .B53 1979
A dictionary of modern legal usage REF KF156 .G367 1995
law.com Dictionary (http://dictionary.law.com/default.asp)
Legal Encyclopedias
The Guide to American law : everyone's legal encyclopedia REF KF156 .G77 1983
West's Encyclopedia Of American Law REF KF154 .W47 1998
Zimmerman's Research Guide and online legal encyclopedia by Andrew Zimmerman (http://www.llrx.com/guide/index.htm)
Corpus Juris Secundum Ref KF154 .C6
Contains selected cases from areas of the United States. Cases are annotated and arranged by subject.
American Jurisprudence Ref KF154 .A4 2nd
Contains selected cases from areas of the United States. Cases are annotated and arranged by subject.
ALR (American Law Reports) Ref KF 132 .A5 2-5 Contains selected appellate court decisions. Its editors scan all current decisions and select what they think will be the leading cases. The editorial essays that follow each case are a valuable research tool. Selected cases are included from areas of the United States.
Many web sites have been included in the above information.
FindLaw (http://www.findlaw.com/ ) comprehensive coverage of both federal and state legal information
ALLLaw.com (http://www.alllaw.com/ ) another comprehensive site
Internet Legal Resource Guide (http://www.ilrg.com/ ) includes international law
Thomas (http://thomas.loc.gov/ )
U.S. public bills and laws Law Crawler (http://lawcrawler.lp.findlaw.com/ )
search engine for legal information on the internet
The Guide to Law Online (http://www.loc.gov/law/guide/index.html )
Law Library of Congress and Global Legal Information Network 'Lectric Law Library (http://lectlaw.com/ ) not as well organized as some other sites but lots of information
Uslaw.com (http://uslaw.com/ ) good information but fees for some forms
nolo.com (http://nolo.com/ ) another good site with an emphasis on business, employment, and consumer laws
Hieros Gamos (http://hg.org/ ) a comprehensive law and government portal, including foreign governments
Court Rules, Dockets and Forms (http://www.llrx.com/courtrules/ ) search for links to over 700 sources for state and federal court rules, forms and dockets.
Help LexisNexis Academic and Congressional have excellent "Help" and "How do I?" and "Overview" files. It answers questions such as "Find a case with a citation?" "Find a law using its popular name?" or "Find all the regulations that relate to a topic or to a law?" and much more.
Last Update: February 13, 2008
This page maintained by:browne(at)uncw.edu