STRATEGY
Getting Started
- Start with secondary sources for background and context.
- Suggestions from someone familiar with topic.
- Find a few good sources and expand.
- As research progresses note any "terms of art" or specialized language.
- Keep in mind distinction between issue and facts.
- When using terms for searching let both number and relevance of results help you adjust search. Too many irrelevant results? Need more focused search. Just a few results, but relevant? Try making search broader.
- Don't assume most relevant results are necessarily on the first page.
- Don't forget finding aids created by humans -- e.g., an index, digest, etc.
Expectations & Reaching Out for Help
- Don't give up too quickly. Accept that thorough research will take time and that you will find sources and use databases that will turn out NOT to be helpful. Try other resources, reassess search strategy, keep going.
- Yes, you can use Google as one of several source-finding strategies -- if you don't you may be miss relevant material -- but a few Google searchers does not mean "I looked everywhere."
- Keep track of where you have looked.
- If you are having difficulty, come to the library, reach out for help. Email me, come by Room 6/118, or ask another librarian.
STARTING WITH SECONDARY SOURCES
Treatises/Books
- OneSearch Print resources on library shelf, Electronic Books, selected Westlaw/Lexis databases, + other CUNY schools. Also try the new .
- Westlaw (see esp. Alternative Dispute Resolution: Texts & Treatises) & Lexis
- WorldCat - Library catalogs worldwide.
- Google Books (esp. historical which may be full-text and Previews that may contain significant portions of book)
- Hathi Digital Library (can limit to full-text only, government reports/documents broader than Google)
Law Review Articles
- Westlaw & Lexis (high-functioning search, but only back to ~1990)
- HeinOnline (scanned copies usually back to original volume)
- Full-text searching v. Index (Legal Resource Index, IFLP)
- SSRN (for recent/topical issues)
Non-Legal Articles
- CUNY Law, Non-Legal Databases (Academic OneFile, Academic Search Complete, EBSCO Host, JSTOR, Business Source Complete, General Science Full Text, Science Direct, Social Science Full Text, etc.)
- Federated Search Engine (advantages and disadvantages)
- Google Scholar
- "I found an article citation, do we have the journal?" Check Electronic Journal Finder. Try Googling and sites like ResearchGate and Academia. Check author home page, check institutional repository at author school. Free trial at journal? Check with library. As last result, consider a respectful, friendly email to author expressing interest in their research.
Newspapers
- Westlaw & Lexis (aggregated or individual sources)
- New York Law Journal
- Online/Google News (try using alerts for ongoing issue)
- Historical New York Times (ProQuest)
Research Guides
- Georgetown Legal Research Guides
- Harvard Research Guides
- Google: YOUR ISSUE + "Research Guide"
SPECIAL ISSUES
International Legal Research
- CUNY Law, International Law & Foreign Laws
- International Law (this site)
- Duke/Berkeley, International Legal Research Tutorial
- Law review and non-legal articles
Online Sources
- Evaluate websites and online sources of information for (1) accuracy, (2) authority, (3) currency, (4) objectivity, (5) coverage
- Exercise skepticism and beware of self-styled "experts"
- Wikipedia should not be a source, but it may cite to useful sources.