01 November 2010
Westlaw Patron Access
The BYU Law Library has recently purchased a subscription to Westlaw Patron Access, a version of Westlaw open to the public. Westlaw Patron Access is available on the middle of the three computers …
27 October 2010
Effective Date on Westlaw
Legal researchers often ask me how to find out what a specific statutory section said on a specific date. There are a few ways to approach the problem. Westlaw's effective date tool is …
21 October 2010
Public Lands News
The BYU Law School community now has access to Public Lands News, a bimonthly newsletter detailing changes and issues affecting public lands policy. If you are interested in the area of public lands, …
21 October 2010
Free and Low-Cost Legal Research
In law school we focus a lot on Westlaw and LexisNexis, and with good reason. They are the leading legal research systems available. However, they also cost a lot of money-- something law …
06 October 2010
Ratification of the Constitution
Each year we celebrate Constitution Day to celebrate the signing of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787. It took, however, until 1791 for the Constitution to be ratified by the States. This …
24 September 2010
Apps for Law Students
There are smartphone apps for just about anything these days and the law is no exception. I've blogged before about Fastcase's free legal research app, which I highly suggest you take a look …
26 August 2010
Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources, 1620-1926
This summer the law library purchased the third installment of the Making of Modern Law Series, Primary Sources, 1620-1926. This digital historical collection contains published records of the American colonies, documents published by state …
17 August 2010
Loislaw
Loislaw is a low-cost alternative to Westlaw and Lexis. While it doesn't have all the bells and whistles as those two, it does provide primary legal materials in a searchable format for a …
29 June 2010
History of Bankruptcy
The Law Library has recently purchased access to one of HeinOnline's newest libraries, History of Bankruptcy. This library boasts "more than 135,000 pages of legislative histories, treatises, documents, classics, and more related to …
07 June 2010
HeinOnline Search Enhancements
A number of times on this blog I have made two points about HeinOnline. First, it's an outstanding resource and law students must be familiar with it. And second, law students don't use …
02 June 2010
Taxation & Economic Reform
The Law Library has recently subscribed to an additional library in HeinOnline, Taxation and Economic Reform in America, 1789-2009. This new library offers a variety of materials, most notably over 1 million pages …
13 May 2010
Practical Law Company
Much of the legal research we teach in law school focuses on litigation. But, many of you are interested in becoming transactional attorneys. If that's your path, one resource you should know about …
04 May 2010
Legal Research on a Budget
I recently created this guide that lists several free and low-cost legal research options. It may come in handy if you need a cheap source for legal research this summer.
27 April 2010
World Constitutions Illustrated
While most of us use HeinOnline for its law journal collection, it has many other resources that are worth becoming familiar with. Hein has recently announced a new collection, World Constitutions Illustrated: Contemporary …
20 April 2010
Westlaw/Lexis Summer Access
As everyone gets set to head out to jobs and externships a question I've heard a lot is whether your Westlaw or Lexis student accounts can be used over the summer. The answer …
24 March 2010
Low-Cost Legal Research For Free
As lawyers attempt to cut costs in today's economy, free and low-cost legal research systems are becoming more and more popular. Many state bar associations have contracted with low-cost legal research vendors to …
04 March 2010
HeinOnline Faceted Searching
We've talked here in the past about searching HeinOnline (see here and here). It takes some getting used to if you're coming from Google, Westlaw or Lexis, but can be very valuable to …
19 February 2010
LegalTrac
Have you ever been frustrated by too much information when searching legal journals on Westlaw and Lexis? Full-text searching is wonderful, but at times it can be a bit overwhelming. Especially when you …
