The law and legal information module focuses on identifying major areas of interest to the public and students. Where possible, official sources are selected, although authoritative sources were selected in all cases to provide high-quality resources. The module focuses on United States federal law, although links to state and local, as well as international law sources, are also included.

Laws and regulations provide a framework for our society, and they affect all parts of our lives.  Legal research can be difficult, and the guides below have been selected to provide overviews of online legal resources and links to frequently requested items. Past training materials for this module are available at the Gi21 Training Sessions site.

Contents

Key Resources

Introduction to Legal Information

• What Questions Can Librarians Answer?
• Public Libraries and Access to Justice
• WJ-Minnesota, Public Libraries & Access to Justice

Legal Dictionaries & Citation Guides

• Basic Legal Information Terms
• Government vs. Commercial Publications Compared
• Introduction to Basic Legal Citation (Cornell University)
• Law Dictionary (FindLaw)
• Understanding Legal Citations (Cite is not a 4-letter word)
• Universal Citation Guide - PDF (AALL)
  

Guides to Legal Research

• Basics of Legal Research (Cornell University)
• How to Research a Legal Question

Legal Information Resources

• U.S. Legal Information Resources
• State Legal Information Resources
• International Legal Information Resources

Resource Exercises

• Social Security Case Study

Subtopic Resources

• Immigration Law
• Intellectual Property Law