EDLD 6610 School Law Guide
Overview
These resources should be most useful to you in researching court cases. This guide also includes sources which provide analysis of laws and cases in the area of education. Many of these sources include full text. When full text is not available journals and books may be available in print in one of the WMU Libraries. Interlibrary Loan may be used for any other materials.
Indexes and Databases
The following sources index journal articles, as well as court cases and other legal information.
LexisNexis Academic Indexes thousands of domestic and foreign newspapers, as well as journals, and other publications in News, Business company reports and articles, Legal Research, Medical and Reference. The legal research category includes law reviews, law news, federal and state laws and cases. Mostly full text. Includes Hoover's full text. Coverage dates vary. This is the best and most complete source for court cases.
Index to Legal Periodicals and Books Indexes articles in over 900 law journals and other publications, including yearbooks and government publications, from the US and other English-speaking countries. Includes book reviews. Coverage: 1981-present. Updated monthly.
Print: KZ .I38x (Ref.) 1952-2000
ERIC
The Educational Resources Information Center indexes and abstracts over 2,000 journals and more than 450,000 reports in education and related fields. Some documents are available full text, the rest are on microfiche in the Education Library. Covers 1966-present. Updated monthly.
This is the FirstSearch version, also available from CSA and from the US government. Tutorial
Education Abstracts Indexes more than 700 English-language periodicals in education. Coverage: 1983 to the present, abstracts from 1994. Updated weekly.
Law Dictionaries
Use a law dictionary to help you define legal terms. These sources are also helpful for background material on many legal topics and important court cases.Oxford Reference Online Contains over 200 dictionaries, encyclopedias, language reference and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press. In addition to text, some of these sources include maps, illustrations, and carefully selected weblinks. Users can search one resource, a group of selected resources, or all of them at once. Sources are regularly updated. This subscription is limited to five simultaneous users. Please logout when finished. Select "Law" under the list of subjects to search "The Oxford Companion to American Law," "The Oxford Dictionary of Law," and "The Oxford Guide to U.S. Supreme Court Decisions."
Web Resources
FindLaw An extensive source for case law (state and federal), administrative law, constitutional law, consumer law, directories, legal news, and other law related references. Useful for legal professionals, students, the general public, and corporate counsels.
Legal Information Institute [Cornell University Law School] An extensive site that provides information on Constitutions and codes, court opinions, law by source of jurisdiction, and a topical section ("Law About ...") that covers areas such as commerical transactions, intellectual property, the legal practice, international law, and other focused legal areas. Includes excellent section on "Basic Legal Citation" by peter W. Martin.
Michigan Compiled Laws
1979. (M.C.L. or Mich.Comp.Laws)
KFM 4230 1979 .A23 (Ref)
Kept up to date by Public and Local Acts of the Legislature of the State of Michigan. The codification of Michigan statutory law.
Books/Electronic Books
WorldCat Comprehensive catalog of books and other materials in libraries around the world. Contains millions of records in hundreds of languages. Nonbook materials include (among other publication formats) the titles of journals and magazines, manuscripts, maps, electronic resources, websites, computer programs, music scores, films, slides, sound recordings, conference proceedings, and videotapes. Items located through WorldCat must be requested through Interlibrary Loan unless they are also listed in the WMU Libraries catalog. When subject searching consider adding one of the following terms to your search: "laws," "legal aspects," "litigation," "court cases," legislation," etc.
Ask A Librarian
Michele D. Behr
michele.behr@wmich.edu
269-387-5611
Last updated: October 2009