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CSA 597B: Legal Issues in College Student Affairs

 

Contact

Helen Sheehy
Title: Head Social Sciences Library


Subject Specialist:
Law, Political Science, International Affairs
814-863-1347
e-mail: hms2@psu.edu

Social Sciences Library

 

Course Info

Course Name:
  CSA 597B: Legal Issues in College Student Affairs
Semester:
  Spring
Campus:
  University Park (UP)
Instructor:
   Hendrickson

Secondary Sources

Secondary law sources are often the best place for a non-lawyer to begin research. These sources will help explain legal issues and provide citations to the most important cases related to those issues. Secondary sources include law journals, legal encyclopedias, and legal dictionaries.

  • Encyclopedia of Law and Higher Education — includes summaries of major cases in higher education law; concepts, theories and legal principles; constitution rights and issues; faculty and student rights; and more.

  • Index to Legal Periodicals and LegalTrac — the two major indexes to law reviews and journals. Includes a lot of full text and will link out to resources in other databases including LexisNexis and HeinOnline.

  • Black's Law Dictionary — definitions, abbreviations, etc. to help you as you read cases.
    Hint: listed in upper-left under shortcuts.

  • American Jurisprudence — a legal encyclopedia designed to provide in-depth explanations of legal topics. Is heavily laced with citations to pertinent cases.
    Available in LexisNexis Academic.

  • American Law Reports — in-depth analysis of specific legal issues and a list of cases that discuss them.

Case Tracking

Supreme Court case summaries

 

Opinions

 

Citators — Is it still good law?

  • Shepard's is the best-known of the citators. Available in print for many years, it is now available through LexisNexis Academic. Tracing legal citations using this service is called "Shepardizing". To Shepardize a case in LexisNexis Academic:

    • choose US Legal from the left menu

    • Choose Shepard's® Citations from the left menu

    • Enter your citation. Citation style must be exact. Use the citation link to the right of the search box for assistance

    • - or - when displaying a case in LexisNexis Academic, click on the Shepard's link in the upper left corner immediately below the LexisNexis logo.

  • Hint: Use the helps and Instructions link in the left-hand menu for further information.

Citing Legal Materials

Legal scholars generally use the Harvard Bluebook style of citation. The sources below will help you both interpret and use the style for your own citations.