Introduction to Legal Research Class - Syllabus and Schedule
Spring 2001

• Week 1 - Introduction
• Week 2 - Case Finding
• Week 3 - Statutes & Legislative History
• Week 4 - Administrative Law & Looseleaf Services
• Week 5 - Secondary Materials
• Week 6 - Strategy
• Week 7- Online Services

Week 1 - Tuesday, March 13, 2001
Teacher: Joan Shear, Boston College Law Library

Introduction

• What is Law? - What is Legal Research?
  • Primary & 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, on-line, CD-ROM, microformat

Shepard's and other Citators

Week 2- Tuesday, March 20, 2001
Teacher: John Nann, Boston College Law Library

Case Finding

• The Importance of Cases
  • Court Structure
• Court Reporting
  • National Reporter System
  • West Digests

Week 3 - Tuesday, March 27, 2001
Teacher: Mary Ann Neary, Counsel, Massachusetts Senate

Statutes & 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, April 3, 2001
Teacher: Anne Stemlar, Hale and Dorr

Administrative Law & Looseleaf Services

• Agency Information
• Regulations
  • C.F.R. / L.S.A.
  • Federal Register
• Adjudications
• Looseleaf Services

Week 5 - Tuesday, April 10, 2001
Teacher: Barbara Morgan, University of Massachusetts Library, Amherst

Secondary Materials

• Specific Secondary Sources
  • ALR
  • Restatements
  • Treatises
  • Uniform Laws
  • Periodicals and their indexes
  • Mass Practice Series
  • Encyclopedias, Dictionaries
  • Form books

Week 6- Tuesday, April 17, 2001
Teacher: Christine Swan, New Hampshire Law Library

Strategy

• How to Approach a Problem
• Hands-on Research Exercises

Week 7 - Tuesday, April 17, 2001
Teachers: Mark Frongillo, Westlaw; Denise Sharif, Lexis

On-line Services

• Hands-on Lexis / Nexis
• Hands-on Westlaw / Dialog

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Contact: Raquel M. Ortiz (rmortiz@bu.edu)
Last updated: 3/8/01
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