LLNE  RESEARCH  CLASS  SYLLABUS  AND  SCHEDULE

Spring 2000

Week 1:  Tuesday, September 19, 2000
Instructor:  Joan Shear, Boston College Law Library

Introduction

What is law? - What is legal research?

Primary and secondary materials
Importance and methods of updating

Knowing where to start

Reading citations
Basic finding aids

The importance of cases

Court structure

Court reporting

Variety of information formats: hard-copy; online; CD-ROM; Web; microformat

Shepard's and  Key-Cite  Citation Services

Week 2:  Tuesday, September 26, 2000
Instructor: Jonathan Fernald, Northeastern University Law Library

Case finding

The importance of cases

Court structure

Court reporting

National Reporter System
West Digests

Week 3: Tuesday, October 3, 2000

Instructor:  Mary Ann Neary, Massachusetts Senate Clerk's Office

Statutes and legislative history

Finding statutes - Federal and Massachusetts

Codes
Session laws
Slip laws

Interpreting statutes

Finding cases that interpret
Legislative history to interpret

Updating statutes

Finding and compiling legislative histories

Week 4: Tuesday, October 10, 2000
Instructor: Brian Harkins, Social Law Library

Administrative law and looseleaf services

Agency information

Regulations

C.F.R./L.S.A.
Federal Register

Adjudications

Looseleaf services

Week 5: Tuesday, October 17,  2000
Instructor: Barbara Morgan, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Secondary Materials

Specific secondary sources

ALR
Restatements
Treatises
Uniform Laws
Periodicals and their indexes
Mass. Practice Series
Encyclopedias, dictionaries
Form books

The Human Sources - calling committees, organizations, etc. through the use of the
Encyclopedia of Associations, Yellowbooks, etc.

Week 6: Tuesday, October 24, 2000
Instructors: Mark Frongillo, Westlaw  and __________, Lexis (to be announced)

Online commercial services

Hands-on Westlaw
Hands-on Lexis/Nexis

Week 7: Tuesday, October 31, 2000
Instructor:  Christine Swan, New Hampshire Law Library

Strategy

How to approach a problem
Hands-on research exercises

**Course evaluations distributed and completed**