We just subscribed to a new-to-us database in HeinOnline called Spinelli’s Law Library Reference Shelf (click here to access Spinelli’s). The materials in Spinelli’s are geared toward law librarians, but many of the research materials it contains are useful for lots of research topics, particularly historical legal research and legal education. Collections in Spinelli’s to be aware of include:
Historical Legal Dictionaries. Spinelli’s contains almost 400 digitized historical legal dictionaries from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Some specific examples are:
- Black’s Law Dictionary, first edition (1891).
- The Law in Shakespeare by C.K. Davis (1883).
- Law-French Dictionary (1718).
- Military Law Dictionary by Richard C. Dahl (Office of the Judge Advocate General) and John F. Whelan (Law Section, Army Library) (1960).
- Ragbag of Legal Quotations compiled by M. Frances McNamara (1960).
Click here to access Historical Legal Dictionaries in Spinelli’s Law Library Reference Shelf.
Legal Education and Pedagogy. Spinelli’s has 295 articles, books, and white papers related to legal education and pedagogy spanning the years from 1811 to 2025. The collection contains the American Bar Association Standards for Legal Education, graduation addresses, law school histories, and task force reports. Examples include:
- Hon. Benjamin N. Cardozo’s address to the first graduating class of St. John’s College School of Law (1928).
- Careers in the Legal Profession (2d ed., 1960).
- Collected Papers on Legal Citation Analysis compiled by Fred R. Shapiro (2001).
- Conference on the Profession of Law and Legal Education (U. Chicago 1952).
- Academic Freedom: An Essay in Definition by Russell Kirk (1955).
Click here to access Spinelli’s collection of resources related to legal education.
Bibliography of Early American Law. This is a database of books on early American law that is best browsed by topic. Topics include:
- Indians
- Intellectual Property
- Religious Offenses
- Education
- And much more.
Click here to access the Bibliography of Early American Law.
AALL GD-SIS State Bibliographies. This collection contains a list of legal materials, historical and current, for all U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and two Canadian provinces, compiled by law librarians. It is helpful for locating older state legal materials, such as legislative history materials, attorney general opinions, and case law. Our own Professor Kory Staheli is updating the Utah State Documents Bibliography, which should be published next year. Click here to access the Utah State Documents Bibliography. Click here to access the complete AALL GD-SIS State Bibliographies collection.
Keep Spinelli’s Law Library Reference Shelf in mind, especially if you’re doing historical legal research or research into the history of legal education or law libraries. If you have a research question, please reach out to a law librarian or the reference desk at any time. Click here to email the reference desk.