Beginning Legal Research
The UConn Library offers access to a number of legal databases. Nexis Uni (a version of the Lexis-Nexis database) provides full-text access to law review articles and state and federal regulations, statutes, and cases. Legislative Insight by ProQuest provides legislative histories for select federal legislation (for more information on conducting a legislative history, see the library's Federal Legislative History and Analysis guide). Hein Online is terrific for access to scanned volumes of Congressional Record and many other legal reference materials.
Keep in mind that citation practices for legal materials sometimes differs from other types of academic citation. See our Cite Your Sources guide for more information, and always check with your instructor.
Key Legal Databases
- Nexis UniIncludes cases at all state and federal levels, state and federal statutes, and the full text of hundreds of law reviews.
- LegalTracAccess to article abstract for major law reviews, legal newspapers, specialty publications, Bar Association journals, and international legal journals.
- Supreme Court InsightFull opinions from U.S. Supreme Court-argued cases from 1975-2016 that includes per curiam decisions, dockets, oral arguments, joint appendices, amici briefs, and landmark decisions.
- Legislative Insight by ProQuestFull-text publications generated in the course of U.S. Congressional lawmaking including bills, reports, documents, hearings, CRS reports, committee prints, presidential signing statements, and statutes.
- Making of Modern Law: U.S. Supreme Court Records and BriefsRecords and briefs brought before the U.S. Supreme Court between 1832-1978.
- See all UConn Library law databasesList of all library research databases with a focus on, or coverage of, legal materials.
American Jurisprudence Encyclopedia
- American Jurisprudence (online legal encyclopedia)
American Jurisprudence (2nd ed.) is an encyclopedic text of both procedural and substantive American law, state, federal, criminal, civil and procedural. Consisting of over 430 topic headings (titles), its entries collect, examine, and summarize the broad principles of American law and point to supporting cases, related annotations, forms, proofs, and trial techniques. Available to the UConn community through Nexis Uni.
Search Tip: American Jurisprudence has an extensive table of contents structure that is reproduced in the Nexis Uni database. Take advantage of this detailed indexing by looking for chapter and sub-chapter headings in document titles.
Other Reference Materials
The Law of Journalism and Mass Communication by ISBN: 9780872899230Publication Date: 2010"The Law of Journalism and Mass Communication offers students essential coverage and substantive discussion, but brings the subject to life with an abundance of photographs, useful feature boxes, timelines, a marginal glossary, and a colorful interior design. The book is sure to hook students and keep them reading, while grounding them in core concepts.With an approach geared towards students as future practitioners, not as future lawyers, the authors provide a foundation for understanding the law by balancing conceptual learning with practical guidance."
The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Political and Legal History by ISBN: 9780199754618Publication Date: 2012"The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Political and Legal History brings together, in one authoritative reference work, an unparalleled wealth of information about the laws, institutions, and actors that have governed America throughout its history... With over 450 articles by expert scholars, each signed entry features numerous cross references and discussion of political and legal history as well as additional sources for further study. This two-volume A-to-Z compendium is a reference work of unparalleled depth and scope and will introduce a new generation of readers to the complexities of this dynamic field of study. It also features extensive cross-referencing, a topical outline, and a subject index."
The Oxford Companion to American Law by ISBN: 9780195088786Publication Date: 2002"This Companion offers a one-volume, alphabetically arranged, encyclopedia introducing the main lines of American law, from the institutions, people, events, and cases to the doctrines and concepts."
The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States by ISBN: 9780195176612Publication Date: 2005"This new edition includes new entries on key cases and fully updated treatment of crucial areas of constitutional law, such as abortion, freedom of religion, school desegregation, freedom of speech, voting rights, military tribunals, and the rights of the accused. These developments make the second edition of this accessible and authoritative guide essential for judges, lawyers, academics, journalists, and anyone interested in the impact of the Court's decisions on American society."
A Dictionary of Media and Communication (3rd ed.) by ISBN: 9780198841838Publication Date: 2020"This authoritative and up-to-date A-Z covers all aspects of interpersonal, mass, and networked communication, including digital and mobile media, advertising, journalism, and nonverbal communication. This new edition is particularly focused on expanding coverage of social media terms, to reflect its increasing prominence to media and communication studies as a whole."
Government Information
UConn is a member of the Federal Depository Library Program. This designation allows broad access to invaluable government information, which is a unique resource for journalistic research and practice. We also offer a broad collection of Connecticut government documents. Physical government document collections are located on Level B of Homer Babbidge and in the Meskill Law Library, but many resources are available digitally. Contact our program coordinators for further information.
- UConn Government Documents CollectionInformation about UConn's government documents collections and contacts for queries.
- CT State Library: Law & Legislation GuideGuide provided by the CT State Library to finding federal and state legal materials and other government documents.
- GovInfoOfficial portal for federal government information. Maintained by the US Government Publishing Office (GPO).
