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Law Librarians of New England

a chapter of the American Association of Law Libraries

Introduction to Legal Research Course
Syllabus

LLNE Legal Research Course Syllabus

Boston College Law School Library
885 Centre Street, Newton Center, MA
6:00 – 8:30 Tuesdays
September 16 – November 4, 2008

Week 1 – September 16
Joan Shear, Boston College Law Library
Introduction to Legal Research

• What is Law? - What is Legal Research?
• Primary & Secondary Materials
• The Importance of Cases
• Information Format
• Importance of Updating
• Knowing Where to Start
• Books on Legal Research
• Basic Finding Aids
• Recommended Series
• Reading Legal Citations

Secondary Materials

• ALR
• Restatements
• Treatises
• Uniform Laws
• Periodicals and their indexes
• Mass Practice Series
• Encyclopedias, Dictionaries
• Form books, Topical Services

Week 2 – September 23
Susan Sullivan, United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
Case Finding

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

Week 3 – October 7
Mary Ann Neary, Boston College Law Library
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

No class on Tuesday, September 30 (Rosh Hashanah)

Week 4 – October 14
Amy Bruce, Goodwin, Procter
Administrative Law

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

Week 5 – October 21
Ellen Padlick, LexisNexis
On-line Services – LexisNexis

• Database structure and Search Crafting

Shepard’s Citators
Print and Online

Week 6 – October 28
Mark Frongillo, Westlaw  
On-line Services – Westlaw

• Boolean and Natural Language Searching compared
• KeyCite Citator

Week 7 – November 4
John Nann, Lillian Goldman Library Yale Law School
Strategy

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