Facts and Background Information Selected print and electronic encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, etc. Books Locate items in the library catalog and other libraries. Articles Use indexes to search for articles in journals, proceedings, etc. Primary Sources Websites Recommended academic, professional, and learned societies sites, and more. Contact a Librarian

Below are a few frequently used sources for the study of law. You may find related and relevant sources under these other Tisch Library Research Guide pages: Business & Management, Political Science, and Government Information & Documents. Information and material on international law may also be found at Ginn Library’s webpage, Electronic Resources, Law & International Affairs. Please consult with a reference librarian for help with sources in your topic. Internet resources require a Tufts I.D. number for off-campus access (authorized users statement).

Facts and Background Information     [back to top]

Subject specific reference materials can help you to gain broad-based knowledge of your field, through vocabulary, factual information, additional references, and bibliographies. Some suggested print sources:

A practical companion to the Constitution

Encyclopedia of the American Constitution

The United States law week

Doing a subject search in the catalog allows you to retrieve specific types of sources. For example:

Annotations and citations (Law)

Law - United States - Dictionaries

Legal Research

Law - United States - Encyclopedias

Citation of Legal Authorities

In addition, the following electronic resources provide valuable information:

Directories

West Legal Directory

Martindale-Hubbell Lawyer Locator

Find Books     [back to top]

You can search for books about law in the library catalog in several ways:

Keyword Searching

Type in words that describe your topic, for example:

Law and Environment

Freedom of Speech

Subject searching

If you know the Library of Congress subject heading used to describe your area of research, you can search for a particular subject. If you don’t know the Library of Congress Subject Headings, speak to a librarian for help. Some examples of subject searches are:

Legislation - United States

International Law

Jurisprudence

United States. Constitution

Books on law can be found under the call number range K1-KZD5680.2. For help in browsing the collection, consult with one of the reference librarians.

Find books in other libraries

To locate books in other Boston Library Consortium libraries and request them, use the Boston Library Consortium Catalogs. To locate books in many libraries throughout the world, use WorldCat.

Find Articles     [back to top]

For more information on searching article indexes, see our Database Searching Tips (also available in PDF).

Congressional Universe
A major online resource for information on all aspects of Congressional work. Includes hearing transcripts, committee reports, bills, committee prints, the Congressional Record, the Federal Register, the Code of Federal Regulations, and public laws.

Index to Legal Periodicals

Index to the Code of Federal Regulations

International Bibliography of the Social Sciences
The IBSS has more than two million references to articles and books going back to 1951 in the social sciences. It is produced by the London School of Economics and Political Science.

LexisNexis
Includes articles from major American newspapers and regional papers, statistics, company financial information, country and state profiles, and medical information. Major source for federal case law and statutes, the U.S. Code, law reviews, and state legal research.

Massachusetts Digest Annotated
Annotations of Massachusetts cases from 1761 to the mid-1980’s (continued and overlapped by West’s Massachusetts Digest 2nd). It is arranged by legal topic.

Massachusetts Social Law Library
Includes the Code of Massachusetts Regulations, Massachusetts Reports, Massachusetts Appeals Court, and a number of other agency and department decisions.

United States Supreme Court Digest
Annotations of U.S. Supreme Court cases from 1790 to the present.

West's Massachusetts Digest 2d
Covers Massachusetts cases from 1933 to date with annotations of cases arranged by legal subject.

Electronic Journals

Periodicals held by Tufts are listed in the catalog. Holdings in all formats are unified in one record, and most entries for journals held in digital format contain a hyperlink to the source; searches in the catalog enable one to follow these links directly. A supplementary list of electronic journals is on the Tisch homepage under Electronic Journals. For an example of a catalog search for a journal, set the catalog’s Type of Search to "Journal Title," and type in Modern Law Review.

Many legal journals held in digital format are parts of Project Muse or JSTOR. Others can be found in Science Direct, Blackwell-Synergy, or Wiley Interscience. LexisNexis contains and extensive collection of law journals in full text. Although these databases include search engines for the journals they contain, the indexes listed above are the most comprehensive and authoritative sources for the literature of the discipline, and frequently link directly to the journal article itself.

Primary Sources     [back to top]

Primary sources in the field of law include the opinions of courts of appeal, including the United States Supreme Court, as well as statutes and regulations. Court opinions are collected in court reporters.

Reporters (Court Opinions)

Reporters contain the judicial opinions of Federal and state courts of appeals.

Federal Courts Finder
Electronic version of the opinions of the Federal Circuit Courts.

Massachusetts Appeals Court Reports
Full-text opinions of the Massachusetts Appeals Courts, 1972 to the present.

Massachusetts Reports
Full-text opinions of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, 1761 to the present.

United States Reports
Full-text opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court, 1790 to the present.

The United States law week

Decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court
Provides electronic access to the full-text opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1990 to the present, with links to a variety of additional websites that provide historical coverage of Supreme Court opinions.

Rules and Regulations

Administrative rules and regulations that are implemented and enforced by various Federal and state departments, agencies, bureaus, etc.

Code of Federal Regulations
The print version of the CFR, the compilation of Federal rules and regulations.

Code of Federal Regulations
The electronic version of the CFR, the compilation of Federal rules and regulations.

Index to the Code of Federal Regulations

Statutes and Laws

Statutes and laws contain the legislation passed by the state legislature or congress and signed into law by the governor or president.

Acts and resolves passed by the General Court
Provides the text of laws passed by each legislature since 1692.

Congressional Universe
A major online resource for information on all aspects of Congressional work. Includes hearing transcripts, committee reports, bills, committee prints, the Congressional Record, the Federal Register, the Code of Federal Regulations, and public laws.

Massachusetts General Laws Annotated
Provides the text of the compiled laws of Massachusetts, arranged by topic.

Statutes at Large

United States Code
The online version of the Government Printing Office’s edition of the U.S. Code. Not as current as USCA.

United States Code Annotated (USCA)
The most complete and up-to-date version of the compiled laws of the U.S.

United States Code Congressional and Administrative News

BNA's Environment Library on CD
Covers the full text of the BNA Environmental Reporter, which includes state environmental laws and regulations.

A Right to Die: The Dax Cowart Case

Federal Register (FR)

Massachusetts General Laws

Online: General Laws of Massachusetts

Massachusetts State Publications 1975-
Tisch Microforms R239

Online: Commonwealth of Massachusetts Publications and Regulations

Websites     [back to top]

American Bar Association
Provides links to a variety of ABA resources and information.

Avalon Project at the Yale Law School
A digital library of pre-18th to 20th century documents relevant to the fields of law, history, economics, politics, diplomacy and government, with annotations, indexes, and links to supporting materials.

Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation
This searchable site also includes annotations of cases decided by the Supreme Court through June 1992.

Decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court
Provides electronic access to the full-text opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1990 to the present, with links to a variety of additional websites that provide historical coverage of Supreme Court opinions.

Emory Law Library Electronic Reference Desk
A well organized site of links to legal resources.

Federal Courts Finder
Electronic version of the opinions of the Federal Circuit Courts.

FindLaw: Internet Legal Resources
A comprehensive finding tool for legal information on the internet, featuring The Findlaw Guide (links to resources in over 30 practice areas), The LawCrawler (a law-specific search engine), and a library of case law.

International Court of Justice

Legal Information Institute (LII)
LII, a research activity of the Cornell Law School, provides internet links to a variety of federal, state, and foreign legal resources on the web.

Contact a Librarian     [back to top]

Edward C. Oberholtzer. Contact for questions about library collections.
Connie Reik. Contact for reference questions and instruction requests.