Cite-Checking & Library ResearchUpdated Feb. 14, 2007. |
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Note: Commercial databases cited herein may be restricted to users with UW NetIDs or passwords. Purpose of Citations"The basic purpose of a legal citation is to allow the reader to locate a cited source accurately and efficiently." The Bluebook, at 4. The cite-checker reviews citations in a submitted article to ensure that the citations comply with the rules established by The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (latest edition adopted by the law review). To accomplish this task, the cite-checker identifies, locates, and retrieves copies of all cited sources. This document describes tools and strategies for identifying, locating, and retrieving sources in the Gallagher Law Library and other libraries, in online commercial databases, and on the Internet. Citation Format ToolsThe Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, 18th ed. (2005) (KF245.U5 at Reference Area & Reference Office), is the bible of legal citation. The majority of U.S. law school law reviews and journals follow its rules. The general rules of legal citation are found in the white pages. The blue pages contain an assortment of helpful lists and tables, including citations to primary legal sources by jurisdiction (federal and state, foreign countries, and selected intergovernmental organizations) and abbreviations used in case names, court names, court documents, geographical terms, judges and officials, months, periodicals, looseleaf services, and document subdivisions. Because of The Bluebook's complexity and the wide variety of categories of legal and related information, cite-checkers might find the following sources useful:
When in doubt, cite-checkers find it useful to search for comparable citations in:
The editors of these law reviews are responsible for The Bluebook and are, presumably, the world experts in interpreting and applying Bluebook rules. Cite-Checker's TriageSo many citations; so little time? How should a cite-checker approach his or her first assignment to retrieve cited material? The following check-list itemizes a list of steps for locating and collecting cited material. Read more detailed descriptions of strategies and sources below.
Retrieving Cited Sources in PrintGallagher Law LibraryThe Law Library and its catalog, MARIAN, are the first stop for locating copies of printed books, law reviews, primary legal sources, government publications, East Asian legal sources, and many legal and law-related material from Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and major European countries. Search MARIAN by the title of the publication. You may also search by author, combined author and title, or keyword (any word in the title, author, publisher, or series). Record the call number and library location of each item found. Also note if any of the items are currently checked out (indicated by a due date in the status column of the catalog record). Consult a reference librarian for explanations of any mysterious or confusing information. Retrieve items and take them to the Circulation Desk for check-out. Other UW Libraries & Affiliated LibrariesFor materials not available at the Gallagher Law Library, search Summit, the combined catalog of more than 30 academic libraries in Oregon and Washington. Several other law libraries are included in this catalog:
You may place requests for any circulating items you find in Summit by using the Request This Item feature. You will need your UW barcode number (on your Husky card) to complete the request. Material will be delivered at the Law Library's Circulation Desk; the loan period is three weeks, renewable for one additional three-week period. Return items to the Circulation Desk. Finally, if the item you want is not available via Summit, search the ShareLaw catalog. Seven major law school libraries are represented in ShareLaw and UW School of Law faculty, students, and staff may request material through ShareLaw just as you do via Summit. In addition to the Gallagher Law Library, the other law libraries participating in ShareLaw are:
Interlibrary LoanFor materials not available from any other source, submit an Interlibrary Loan request. To ensure that you have an accurate citation, you may wish to consult OCLC WorldCat or Books in Print. Searching these databases may help you discover that an author's name is misspelled or that words in the titles are arranged differently. If you find errors in the citation provided by the article's author, you should re-search the Gallagher Law Library and Summit catalogs.
You will be notified by email when the Interlibrary Loan materials have arrived. The loan period is determined by the library that loans the book. Retrieving Cited Sources OnlineSeveral types of printed sources can be obtained through online databases. These databases deliver the materials using Adobe Acrobat's Portable Document Format (PDF), which produces a copy of the item exactly as it appears in the printed source, complete with graphics and pagination. Obtaining and printing PDF documents may be more efficient than tracking down the original printed sources West Reporter ImagesIn October 2002, Westlaw began offering PDF images of cases published in West's National Reporter System. When you search Westlaw, by using its Find & Print other search features, look for the West Reporter Image (PDF) link near the top of the page. Clink on the link to launch the PDF viewer, then print the document. Note: The document will print on the printer attached to your computer NOT the Westlaw stand-alone printer. West Reporter Images are available for West's federal and regional reporters back to 1960. Hein OnlineHein Online is a database that offers PDF copies of scores of law reviews, including extensive coverage of law review pre-dating inclusion in LexisNexis and Westlaw. For example:
Use the Citation Navigator to search by citation. Or follow the links that appear in the Gallagher Law Library catalog records to go to PDF images. Hein Online also provides PDF images of:
Tip: Early volumes of the U.S. Reports omit dates of decisions. The Supreme Court website includes a list of Dates of Supreme Court Decisions and Arguments, United States Reports Volumes 2-107 (1791-1882). GPO AccessThe U.S. Government Printing Office maintains a website--GPO Access--that provides PDF versions of several important sources of federal law, including:
Many other federal government websites also provide PDF documents, such as:
Consult a reference librarian for assistance. LLMC DigitalLLMC Digital is an online collection of government reports in PDF. This commercial service can be accessed via a link in the Gallagher Law Library catalog. Or, look for a link to the online version of specific titles, such as the United States Statutes at Large or Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States. Full-Text Databases with PDF ArticlesNumerous other sources provide PDF images of periodical and journal articles. For law-related material, consult the Law Library's Electronic Journals list. For non-law and interdisciplinary materials, search the UW Libraries Catalog by journal title or its Electronic Journals list. Internet SourcesCitation to articles, documents, press releases, reports, statements, and other material found on the Internet is now common. While reading an online article, the reader can follow a footnote citation directly to the Internet source that supports the proposition. Great when it works; frustrating when it doesn't. A 2002 Law Library Journal article * found that after four years, less than a third of Internet citations in law review articles were still accurate. Bluebook RulesThe Bluebook provides for citation to "Electronic Media and Other Nonprint Resources" in Rule 18. Citation to traditional printed sources is preferred EXCEPT
The Rule specifies how Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) should appear, the use of signals "available at" and "at," date of the material, pinpoint citations, and preservation of information. Included are examples of citations to cases, statutes, legislative material, administrative material, books, articles, and email. Persistent URLsThe current edition of The Bluebook does not address the issue of Persistent (or Permanent) Uniform Resource Locators (PURLs). PURLs provide a consistent URL for material whose original URL is subject to change. For example, when a government agency reorganizes its entire website, most of the documents on that website are assigned new URLs. A PURL assigned to a document will redirect a user to its current URL. Several library organizations are involved in creating PURLs and updating the URLs of documents found in their catalogs. For instance, the Superintendent of Documents' Catalog of U.S. Government Publications includes PURLs for many federal government documents. OCLC WorldCat, available on the Other Library Catalogs page and the UW Libraries Research Databases, includes PURLs for many online reports. Citation to a document's PURL should be preferred over citation to its URL. Internet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a source of more than 30 billion webpages, many of which are no longer to be found on the Internet. For example, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs website is no longer active because of litigation. If you visit http://www.doi.gov/bureau-indian-affairs.html, you'll see a short explanation. But suppose you have a citation to a page at that domain name? Visit the Internet Archive and type the URL into the Wayback Machine box. If the Internet Archive has visited and saved that page, you will find copies of it. And you can compare changes between two versions of the page using the Document Compare feature. URLs to pages on the Internet Archive can be used like other URLs and are not subject to the "link rot" that is the plague of Internet citations. Cached CopiesAnother way to preserve the integrity of citations to Internet sources is to save or download a copy of the document. This cached copy may be saved to the law review's website and a link to the cached copy can be added to the footnote. Then, despite changes to the documents or its URL or removal of the document from the Internet, the article reader would still have access to the source cited by the article's author. Bluebook rule 18.2.1(h) encourages "[d]ownloading, printing, or otherwise preserving the information as it exists at the time of access." Google users are accustomed to seeing cached copies and caching federal government documents does not pose any copyright issues, since that material is in the public domain. Is caching copyrighted or copyrightable material legitimate? Sounds like a good subject for a law review article! For starters, see Stefanie Olsen, Google Cache Raises Copyright Concerns. * Mary Rumsey, Runaway Train: Problems of Permanence, Accessibility, and Stability in the Use of Web Sources in Law Review Citations, 94 L. Libr. J. 27 (2002). |
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