SLIS 5647
Legal Information and Access Servoces
Course Outline

COURSE OUTLINE INDEX

CLASS SESSION I - Sat., September 4, 1999

INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE

Faculty and student introductions, overview of the administrative details of the class and format of the course. Review the Syllabus, including discuss the assignments and team project - annotated pathfinder/ bibliography.

INTRODUCTION TO LEGAL RESEARCH

General Introduction to Legal Bibliography; the Anglo-American Legal System and Court System; Research Strategies; Legal Abbreviations and Citation Form.

Required Readings:

LRI: Chapter 1, pp. 1-14

Exercises: 1. Johnson and Phillips, Assignment One - Finding and Citing Cases, Exercise A.

Part 2 PRIMARY SOURCES - SUPREME COURT CASE LAW

PRIMARY SOURCE MATERIALS 

Court Reports; Role and Development of Legal Publishers; How Cases are Published; Federal Case Law-Supreme Court.

View Videotape The New United States Law Week

Required Reading:

LRI, Chapter 3, pp. 22-37; Chapter 4, pp. 39-46, 52-62.

Cisneros, Oscar S.  "Publisher Must Lay Down the Law." Wired News (July 6, 1999).  
http://www.wired.com/news/print_version/business/story/20492.html?wnpg=all

West's Encyclopedia of American Law - Overview of U. S. Courts - Federal Courts
http://www.lawoffice.com/tools/usfed.htm

U.S. Federal Courts' Home Page - Understanding the Federal Courts
http://www.uscourts.gov/understanding_courts/899_toc.htm

The Federal Judicial Branch -
http://www.uscourts.gov/understanding_courts/8992.htm

The Supreme Court -
http://www.uscourts.gov/understanding_courts/8995.htm

Exercises: Due next class session.

1.  Johnson and Phillips, Assignment Two - Supreme Court Reporters and Parts of a Case,
     Exercise A.
2.  Scavenger Hunt Exercise - Federal Case Law

OUTLINE INDEX

CLASS SESSION II - Sat., September 18, 1999

Part 1 REGIONAL & STATE   CASE LAW

PRIMARY SOURCE MATERIALS:

Federal Case Law- Court of Appeals, and District Court case reports; Regional and State Case Law

Required Reading:

LRI, Chapter 4, pp. 46-64; Chapter 5, pp. 65-77

U.S. Federal Courts' Home Page - Understanding the Federal Courts
http://www.uscourts.gov/understanding_courts/899_toc.htm

State and Federal Courts -
http://www.uscourts.gov/understanding_courts/8993.htm

State Courts - http://www.lawoffice.com/tools/usstate.htm

Structure of the Federal Courts -
http://www.unt.edu/chandler/begin.htm

Courts of Appeals -
http://www.uscourts.gov/understanding_courts/8996.htm

District Courts -
http://www.unt.edu/chandler/begin.htm

West Publishing Group - National Reporter & Digest Systems -  http://www.westgroup.com/practice/nrsdigst.htm

Exercises:

1.  Johnson and Phillips, Assignment Three  - Regional Reporters, Exercise A.
2.  Scavenger Hunt Exercise - Federal Case Law

Part 2 DIGESTS & ALR

CASE FINDING:

Digests and Annotated Law Reporters

Required Reading:

LRI, Chapter 6, 78-109; Chapter 7, 110-126

Exercises: Due next class session.

1.    Johnson and Phillips, Assignment Four - Finding Cases - Digests, Exercise A
2.    Johnson and Phillips, Assignment Six - American Law Reports, Exercise A

OUTLINE INDEX

CLASS SESSION III - Sat., October 2, 1999

CASE VERIFICATION AND UPDATING TOOLS:

Shepardizing; How to Bring a Case Search Up to Date.

Required Reading:

LRI, Chapter 15, 303-339

How To Shepardize - A Web Tutorial - Your Guide to Complete Legal Research Through Shepard's Citations -  http://helpcite.shepards.com/oldtut.htm
http://www.shepards.com/citeseer/howtoshep/howframe.htm

Shepard's History - Yesterday  - http://www.shepards.com/helpcite/hood/yest.htm
Shepard's History - Today  -  http://www.shepards.com/helpcite/hood/today.htm

What Can You Shepardize  - http://www.shepards.com/helpcite/refdesk/authorty/authorty.htm

Editorial Analysis Reference Table - http://helpcite.shepards.com/refdesk/dutytosh.htm

The Duty to Shepardize - http://www.shepards.com/helpcite/training/dutytosh.htm

What Happens When You Don't Shepardize - State of California vs. O.J. Simpson http://helpcite.shepards.com/refdesk/ojtrial.htm

Exercises: Due next class session.

1. Johnson and Phillips, Assignment Five - Updating Cases - Shepard's Citators, Exercise C
2.  How To Shepardize - Web Tutorial - Your Guide to Complete Legal Research Through Shepard's Citations-Complete Exercises
http://helpcite.shepards.com/oldtut.htm
http://www.shepards.com/citeseer/howtoshep/howframe.htm

 

STATUTES - FEDERAL, STATE OR LOCAL SOURCES; ANNOTATED CODES;

Required Readings:

LRI, Chapter 8, pp. 127-140; Chapter 9, pp. 141-170; Chapter 11, pp. 211-224

How Our Laws Are Made (Revised and updated by Charles W. Johnson, House Parliamentarian)

http://thomas.loc.gov/home/lawsmade.toc.html
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/holam.txt

Enactment of a Law (By Robert B. Dove, Senate Parliamentarian)

http://thomas.loc.gov/home/enactment/enactlawtoc.html
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/enactment/enactlaw.html

The Legislative Process - http://legiweb.legislate.com/d/ddlegpr1.htm

Legislative Information - http://www.mnsfld.edu/depts/lib/bills.html

Exercises: Due next class session.

1.    Johnson and Phillips, Assignment Eight, Finding and Citing Statutes, Exercise A
2.    Johnson and Phillips, Assignment Nine - Federal Session Laws and Codes, Exercise A

OUTLINE INDEX

CLASS SESSION IV - Sat., October 16, 1999

Part 1 Legislative History

Legislative History:

Sources and Techniques; Congressional Universe - http://web.lexis-nexis.com/congcomp

Required Readings:

LRI, Chapter 10, pp. 171-210

Congressional Universe FactBook

(You will receive in class or it may be viewed in PDF) - http://www.lexis-nexis.com/cispubs/Catalog/universe/congressional%20universe/factbook.pdf
TimeLine - What's In Congressional Universe - http://www.lexis-nexis.com/cispubs/Catalog/Universe/Congressional%20Universe/time_linewhat.htm
Congressional Universe - The Legislative Process: How a Bill Becomes a Law - (On the Universe Web Site - Select OVERVIEW - Select HELP

Exercises: Due next class session.

1.     Johnson and Phillips, Assignment 10, Federal Legislative History, Exercises A

 

Part 2 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW AND EXECUTIVE PUBLICATIONS:

Rules, Regulations and Ordinances and their Indexes: Federal Government Documents in Administrative Law, Attorney General Opinions

Required Readings:

Chapter 13, pp. 240-285

Federal Regulations - Library Guide Series -

http://www.clark.net/pub/lschank/web/fedregs.html
http://www.mnsfld.edu/depts/lib/fedregs.html

What is Regulation? - http://www.regulation.org/whatisreg.html
Key Regulatory Facts & Figures - http://www.regulation.org/keyfacts.html

Guide to the Regulatory Process - http://legiweb.legislate.com/d/ddregpr1.htm
Guide to the Code of Federal Regulations - http://legiweb.legislate.com/d/ddcfr.htm
Guide to the Federal Register - http://legiweb.legislate.com/d/ddfr.htm

Exercises: Due next class session.

1.     Johnson and Phillips, Assignment Eleven, Finding and Citing Administrative Materials,
        Exercise A
2.     Johnson and Phillips, Assignment Twelve, Federal Administrative Rules and Regulations,
        Exercise A

OUTLINE INDEX

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CLASS SESSION V - Sat., October 30, 1999

Part 1 SECONDARY SOURCE MATERIALS

SECONDARY SOURCE MATERIALS:

Finding and Using Secondary Authority - Legal Encyclopedias, Dictionaries (Legal and Judicial), Directories, Indexes, Legal Periodicals; Restatements; Monographs; Hornbooks; Texts and Treatises; Formbooks; Looseleaf Services: The use of Looseleaf Services in Legal Research; Uniform Laws; Bibliographies; Specialized Legal Research - Federal Tax Research.

Required Readings:

LRI, Chapter 16, pp. 340-351; Chapter 17, pp. 352 - 381; Chapter 12, pp. 225-239

Exercises: Due next class session.

1.    Johnson and Phillips, Assignment 14, Secondary Authority, Exercise A

 

Part 2 LEXIS-NEXIS

COMPUTER-ASSISTED LEGAL RESEARCH:

(CALR) Overview of the history and development of CALR including; Westlaw and LEXIS; The Pros and Cons of Online Full-Text Searching; Other Technology and the Law: Legal Databases, Non-Legal Databases, CD-ROM based Sources; On-line Catalogs & Networks.

Required Readings:

LRI, Chapter 21, pp. 480-515
Copies of Learning Lexis - Nexis User's Guide will be given to each student.

Lexis-Nexis Sample Searches - http://support.lexis-nexis.com/Sample_Search/default.asp

Exercises: Due next class session.

1. Johnson and Phillips, LEXIS--Part One and Two, Assignments 18 and 19.

OUTLINE INDEX

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CLASS SESSION VI - Sat., November 13, 1999

INFORMATION ACCESS FOR LEGAL MATERIALS: The Role of the Reference Librarian in Legal Research and Problem Solving; Legal Reference Tools; Issues in Reference Service; Reference Ethics, Information Malpractice Liability; Unauthorized Practice of Law.

Work on Semester Projects - Meet with Professor

Required Readings:

Berring, Robert, How to be a Great Reference Librarian, 4 Legal
Reference Services Quarterly 17-37 (1983). (On Reserve)

Krause, Margaret Maher and Gary McCann, "Reference: An Overview" in Law Librarianship: A Handbook for the Electronic Age. pp. 493-534, Littleton, CO: Fred B. Rothman & Co., 1995. (On Reserve)

OUTLINE INDEX

 

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CLASS SESSION VII - Sat. December 4, 1999

Semester Projects

Students will work in the Law Library on the Take Home Final Examination and with Groups on Institute Project.

Final Examination PDF version | ZIP version of PDF

View videotape Hidden Resources - Assesing Your Collection

PRESENTATION OF SEMESTER PROJECTS - BIBLIOGRAPHIES/PATHFINDERS

COURSE REVIEW - EVALUATIONS

OUTLINE INDEX

08/12/2005 04:33 PM
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