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Resource Guide for CE531 |
Business Librarian: Industry Research, Business Law, and Economics
Penn State University Phone: 814 865-0141
3rd Floor, Paterno Library Fax: 814 863-6370
University Park, PA 16802 E-mail: krh7@psulias.psu.edu
IM: libsleuth
How to Find the Law / by Morris Cohen, Robert C. Berring, and Kent C. Olson.
Social Sciences Library, Legal Alcove: KF240.C538 1989
Fundamentals of Legal Research / by J. Myron Jacobstein, Roy M. Mersky, Donald J. Dunn.
Social Sciences Library, Legal Alcove: KF240.J3 1994
Black's Law Dictionary
Business Library, Reference: KF156.B53
The Bluebook, a Uniform System of Citation
Business Library, Reference: KF245 .B58
Bills passed by the U.S. Congress and by state legislatures become public laws, also known as statutes. They are collected and codified, that is, arranged by topic, in the sources listed below. These statutory sources are kept up to date with pocket supplements found either tucked inside or shelved alongside most volumes. These sources are also annotated with substantial references to court cases, law journals and other materials.
United States Code Annotated [USCA]
Social Sciences Library, Legal Alcove: KF62.A35
Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes Annotated [PS, PSA, or PCSA]
Social Sciences Library, Legal Alcove: KFP30.P8
Code of Ordinances of the Borough of State College, Pennsylvania
Social Sciences Library, Legal Alcove: KFP430.A35P39
See these guides:
Federal Courts: Reporters and DigestsThe decisions of federal and state appellate courts are collected and published in federal, state, and regional case reporters.
Digests are multi-volume finding tools available for each U.S. federal, regional and state case reporter. They are arranged by Topic and provide brief annotations about individual cases. In digests published by West Publishing Company, Topics and their subdivisions, Key Numbers , are used consistently throughout all West digests, allowing the researcher to quickly find cases on similar points of law in nearly any jurisdiction.
Topics are arranged alphabetically in the digests. Case summaries belonging to the Topic are organized into an outline of subtopics. Each point of the subtopic outline is assigned a Key Number . To find cases on a specific point of law, users must identify an appropriate Topic & Key Number to use in West digests.
(In the course syllabus, this may be stated as "Descriptive Work Method") The "Descriptive Word Index" is included in a volume or two near the end of each digest series. Users can look up common language terms which are listed alphabetically. The index suggests appropriate digest Topics , and sometimes Key Numbers that are likely to lead to cases in which certain legal issues are important.
In the instance when the user knows the name of a case and the court, each digest series has its own "Table of Cases" published in volumes found at the end of the digest series. In such as table, cases are listed alphabetically by the defendant. Volume and page number information are provided to help the user locate each case in a reporter.
For many years, Shepard's Citations was the only service that provided citation analysis for cases in all U.S. jurisdictions. Now there is an alternative. A great citation analysis resource, KeyCite, is available through the WestLaw Campus online service, which may be used for this purpose.
The University Libraries does not provide current access to Shepard's Citations. We currently provide access to KeyCite.
In order to determine the precedent value of a court case, researchers must do a citation analysis of the case. In a citation analysis, the researcher must identify and analyze the other legal authorities that have discussed case under consideration.
For example, if a researcher were to do a citation analysis of the case Smith v. Jones they would discover all of the cases and other authorities that have cited Smith. They would also discover editorial information concerning what those legal authorities have said about Smith that would help them analyze Smith 's current precedent value.
Use KeyCite, available through the WestLaw Campus online service, for your assignments for CE531.
Articles that provide a basic introductory knowledge of broad legal concepts. Encyclopedia articles utilize a conventional understanding of the law and encompass all American jurisdictions. Annotations included with each entry refer to court case reporters, statutes and digests of court cases. Legal encyclopedias are kept up to date with pocket supplements in the back of each volume.
Corpus Juris Secundum
Social Sciences Library, Legal Alcove: KF154.C62
Pennsylvania Law Encyclopedia
Social Sciences Library, Legal Alcove: KFP65.P3
American Digest System
Case finding resource using a highly structured system of topics and key numbers used to identify cases on specific points of law. Case summaries do not evaluate or analyze case opinions.
Annotations provide in depth, objective discussions of recent legal developments. They are characterized by balanced, objective commentary and discussion of all relevant reported cases. See handout: Guideto American Law Reports
Articles in law reviews offer analysis, comment and criticism of the law. They focus on where the law is going. They provide great depth in the treatment of legal topics. Law review articles occasionally present unconventional thought.
Use LegalTrac to find articles in law reviews, law journals, specialty law and bar association journals, and legal newspapers. Includes articles on federal, state and international law. The database includes the fulltext of some journals also.
See also Business Law Journals web page for access to specific law reviews.
Construction Law [looseleaf service] / Steven G. M. Stein
3rd Floor Paterno: KF902.C622 1999
Corbin on Contracts, a Comprehensive Treatise on the Rules of Contract Law
Business Library, Reference: KF801.C67
Williston. A Treatise on the Law of Contracts
Business Library, Reference: KF805.W5
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last updated 12/5/04
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