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We offer two ways of searching our catalog: a law library only catalog and OCLC WorldCat. Other catalogs are also available. More
Expand your legal research options with online sources provided by the Gallagher Law Library. More
How do I search for laws on a particular subject? How can I compile a legislative history for a Washington (or federal) law? How can I locate court opinions about a topic? To answer these and other frequently asked questions, the reference librarians have prepared a series of legal research guides. Use these guides to get started on your research project when a reference librarian is not available to assist you or as a reminder as you conduct your research. More
Here, you will find a list of websites that provide legal information and materials (including laws, bills, court opinions, and related documents) and/or links to legal material. Most of these sites are freely available to all users with Internet access. Some sites are UW Restricted, that is, available to University of Washington faculty, students, and staff and visitors to UW Libraries.More
| Updated Nov. 28, 2006. Prepared by Nancy McMurrer for Fundamentals of Health Law (H501).
Health Care: Substantive Medical ResearchNote that some of the sources below are indexes, with bibliographic citations to articles (B), and some contain full-text materials (F). Sources marked ** are not available on academic contracts. See also the list of databases on HealthLinks and/or the UW Libraries Research Databases. UW restricted means that you must access them from a UW-connected computer or via the Off-Campus Access link on the top right border of this page.
Medical Periodical LiteratureIn addition to the indexes to periodical literature, both Westlaw and LexisNexis have a number of full-text medical and health care periodicals online. You can search a few group files:
In addition, many individual medical journals are available.
To locate medical periodicals that are available to students via the
Internet, go to the UW's
HealthLinks page and click on the
eJournals
tab. Note that many titles in the list are followed by a padlock icon ( Drug & Medical Device InformationNote that some of the sources below are indexes, with bibliographic citations to articles (B), and some contain full-text materials (F). See also the list of databases on HealthLinks and/or the UW Libraries Research Databases. UW restricted means that you must access them from a UW-connected computer or via the Off-Campus Access link on the top right border of this page.
Medical Reference MaterialDictionaries, encyclopedias, and reference texts for a variety of subjects may be found in print in the UW Health Sciences Library; they are most likely to be kept in reference stacks and limited to library use only. For overviews of particular medical subjects written for a layperson, add the term "popular" to a keyword or subject search. Just as in the law, books written for laypersons have that term as part of the subject heading. Online medical dictionaries and encyclopedias are also available through the UW Libraries Reference Tools page (Encyclopedias > Science & Medicine) and through the UW Healthlinks website (click on the Reference tab at the top of the page).
Medical MalpracticeSome of the best resources for research in this area will be treatises and loose-leaf services, either in print or online. Loose-leaf services bring together in one place statutory and administrative law, cases, and commentary. Both Westlaw and LexisNexis have the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA) health law looseleaf books, as well as other treatises. A number of law reviews are devoted to health care and medical/legal issues. Many of these can be found on LexisNexis and Westlaw. To find a particular law review, or to locate the range of secondary sources that are found on these online services, check their online or print directories. On LexisNexis, look at the option to Explore Sources, and click on the Area of Law By Topic link, then find Healthcare & Medical. On Westlaw, go to the Westlaw Directory and look under Topical Materials by Area of Practice for Health and Medicine. You may also call the vendors' online research help: LexisNexis at 1-800-543-6862 and Westlaw at 1-800-REF-ATTY [733-2889]. To search legal journals for articles on particular subjects, search LegalTrac, available on the Legal Databases & Indexes page. Legal and general news sources can provide excellent coverage about recent cases or other developments in the medical malpractice area. For more detail, see Current Awareness Research, below. See also Sheryl Summers Kramer, "A Research Guide to Medical Malpractice and the Law: Revisited," 20 Legal Ref. Serv. Q. (4) 111-126 (2001).
Health Care: Law & RegulationThe BNA Health Law Reporter, a loose-leaf service referred to above, is a good resource for researching general health law issues. Both Westlaw and LexisNexis have specific primary law databases and files for statutory law, administrative materials, and case law relating to health care and medicine. Use the online directories, under Area of Law by Topic, then Healthcare and Medical for LexisNexis; in Westlaw, look under Topical Materials by Area of Practice for Health and Medicine. You may also call the vendors' online research help: LexisNexis is 1-800-543-6862 and Westlaw is 1-800-REF-ATTY [733-2889].
Current Awareness SourcesPart of practice is keeping up with the latest developments. In addition to the specialized materials listed below, general newspaper articles can be very good sources for following late-breaking stories. News sources often follow legislation, both federal and state, or they may provide information that will help you locate a document available at a government website. Both LexisNexis and Westlaw have large collections of newspapers, both in individual databases for a single newspaper or in group files. A good file for a "quick and dirty" search on LexisNexisis NEWS;CURNWS, which contains the most recent two years of the newspapers on the service; NEWS;ARCNWS covers newspaper articles that appeared earlier than two years ago. A similar database on Westlaw is ALLNEWS, which searches the most current one to two years. To search earlier years in the same database, look for the instructions on the same screen as the search window. Industry or subject oriented newsletters are also a good resource for current developments. You can search for specific newsletters, or use the handy health and medicine group files, some of which are noted below. Use the online directories, under Area of Law by Topic, then Healthcare and Medical for LexisNexis. In Westlaw, look under Topical Materials by Area of Practice for Health and Medicine. You may also call the vendors' online research help: LexisNexis at 1-800-543-6862 and Westlaw at 1-800-REF-ATTY [733-2889].
Internet Resources: A Few Starting PointsGovernment AgenciesAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality Centers for Disease Control and PreventionCenters for Medicare and Medicaid Services (formerly Health Care Financing Administration) Healthfinder National Institutes of HealthPresident's Council on Bioethics Washington State Department of HealthInternational World Health OrganizationLaw-Related American Health Lawyers AssociationDuke University Center for Health Policy, Law & Management Gallagher Law Library Internet Legal Resources Health Law LinksHealth Policy Tracking Service Lectric Law Library Lawcopedia's Medical MalpracticeNational Conference of State Legislatures - Health Issues Medicine-Related Citizens for Patients RightsEmory University MedWeb HealthAtoZMayo Clinic Health Oasis UW HealthLinks |
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