Subject Guide to Legal Resources
| Finding Legal Materials | Tip Sheets | |
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United States California San Diego |
Law Dictionaries & Encyclopedias Law Reviews & Periodical Articles Gateway to Legal Materials Government Publications |
Abbreviations for US Legal Materials with links to sources Basic Legal Citation (based on "Bluebook") |
United States Statutes & Codes
Statutes are the full text of all laws published in chronological order. Codes are a subject arrangement of currently in-force laws.
United States Codes
- United States
Code. [U.S.C.] Current.
United States Code. [U.S.C.] 1994 and updates.
Location: Y 1.2/5: Reference/US - This is the official electronic version of the US Code. Contains the full text of general and permanent laws arranged by subject.
- US Code. Cornell Law School.
- An "unofficial" site, but very easy to use. The Table of Popular Names section is very useful. This site will identify U.S.C. section, public law number (Notes), and CFR sections.
- LexisNexis Academic (Off campus use restricted to SDSU users)
- Contains the full text of the US Code, Code of Federal Regulations, Federal Acquisition Regulations, US Constitution, Federal court rules, and Attorney General Opinions.
- Lexis/Nexis Congressional. (Off campus use restricted to SDSU users)
- Annotated version with references to the history of the statute, cross-references to related statutes, and court cases interpreting the law.
United States Statutes
- United States Statutes at Large. [Stat.] 1789-ongoing.
Location: AE 2.111: Reference/US - Full text of public laws.
- Lexis/Nexis Congressional. 1988-ongoing. (Off campus use restricted to SDSU users)
- Full text of public laws from 1988. You may search by public law number, Statutes at Large citation, bill number, or keyword.
California Statutes & Codes
Statutes are the full text of all laws published in chronological order. Codes are a subject arrangement of currently in-force laws.
California Codes
- California Law. California Legislative Counsel.
- Offers full-text searching of the "official" electronic version of the California code. Searching is by keyword. It may be easier to view the table of contents first: select a code and click on Search.
- LexisNexis Academic. (Off campus use restricted to SDSU users)
- Includes Deering's California Codes, California Constitution, California Advance Legislative Service (ALS), and California Court Rules.
- West's Annotated California Codes. [Cal. .... Code] Current.
Location: KFC 30 .W4 Reference - The annotated codes include references to law review articles, legislative histories, and other legal materials.
California Statutes
- Statutes and Amendments to the Code. [Cal. Stat.] 1854-ongoing.
Location: L325 Reference/CA - Contains the full-text of the chapter (law) as passed by the Legislature.
- ~Statutes~. 1993-ongoing.
- "California Statutes are the Chaptered Bills. A bill is "chaptered" by the Secretary of State after it has passed through both houses of the Legislature and has been signed by the Governor or becomes law without the Governor's signature.--from the Web site
Local Ordinances
- City of San Diego Municipal Code. Current.
- Searchable by section number, word search, table of contents or by browsing the directory.
- San Diego County Code
of Administrative Ordinances. Current.
San Diego County Code of Regulatory Ordinances. Current. - The administrative ordinances affect the operations of county government; the regulatory ordinances affect homes, businesses and public places.
- San Diego County Code of Regulatory Ordinances. Current
Location: JS414 .S262 Reference - Includes all county rules and regulations affecting homes, businesses, and public places.
United States Regulations
Regulations are rules or orders issued by a government agency and often have the force of law.
- Code
of Federal Regulations. [CFR] U.S. National Archives & Records Administration.
1996-current.
Code of Federal Regulations. [CFR] 1977-current.
Location: AE 2.106/3: Reference/US for current year; US microfiche for older years. - Annual compilation of existing agency regulations.
- Federal Register.
[FR] U.S. National Archives & Records Administration. 1994-ongoing.
Federal Register. [FR] 1936-ongoing.
Location: AE 2.106: Reference/US for current year; US microfiche for older years. - Daily announcement of proposed and new regulations.
- Lexis/Nexis Congressional. [CFR] 1981-current. (Off campus use restricted to SDSU users)
- Search by citation, agency, keyword, date and statutory authority.
- LexisNexis Academic. [CFR] 1981-current. (Off campus use restricted to SDSU users)
- Search by citation or full text.
- Code of Federal Regulations. Cornell Law School. Current.
- Search by citation and search or browse table of contents.
California Regulations
- California Code of Regulations. [CCR] Current.
- Provides full-text of California administrative law which consists of 27 titles and regulations of approximately 200 regulatory agencies. Title 24, The Building Code is available at SDSU Location: L360 Title 24 Reference/CA.
- California Regulatory Notice
Register. July 2001-ongoing.
California Regulatory Notice Register. 1988-ongoing.
Location: L375 Reference/CA
- Weekly announcement of proposed California regulations.
United States Court Cases
Decisions by the courts which establish judicial law as distinguished from law created by legislation.
- LexisNexis Academic "Federal Case Law" file. (Off campus use restricted to SDSU users)
- Includes unofficial full text of decisions from the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, District Courts, Military, Tax Courts, Bankruptcy Courts, Customs Courts, Court of International Trade, Commerce Courts, Court of Veteran Appeals. Also includes some Supreme Court briefs.
Reports - Text of Decisions
- United States Reports. [US] 1790-ongoing.
United States Reports. 1937-1975.[US].
United States Reports. 1992-ongoing.
Location: JU 6.8: Gov Pubs/US stacks - Contains the official full text of US Supreme Court decisions.
- West's Supreme Court Reporter. [S. Ct.] 1988-ongoing.
Supreme Court Reporter. [S. CT] 1883-1988.
Location: KF101 .S8 Reference - Includes the opinion and and annotations categorizing major legal arguments and conclusions.
- Federal Reporter. [F.2d, F.3d] 1988-ongoing.
Federal Reporters. [F.] 1880-1988.
Location: KF8754 .A5 F4 4th floor books - Circuit Courts of Appeal opinions.
- West's Federal Supplement. [F. Supp.] 1988-ongoing.
Federal Supplement. [F. Supp.] 1933-1988.
Location: KF120 .W4 4th floor books - Includes "groundbreaking" decisions from the District Courts. Not all District Court decisions are reported.
Shepard's Citation Indexes
- Shepard's Federal Citations. 1989-ongoing.
Location: KF105.2 .S53 Reference - A list of federal cases that have been cited in other cases. This resources helps determine if a decision is modified or reversed.
- Shepard's Acts and Cases by Popular Names, Federal
and State. 7th ed. 1989-ongoing.
Location: KF90 .S4 Reference - "A compilation of popular names by which federal and state acts and cases have been referred to or cited together with an identification of each act in terms of its constitutional or statutory references and each case in terms of the volume and page reference where the text of the decision may be found."
California Court Cases
Decisions by the courts which establish judicial law as distinguished from law created by legislation.
- LexisNexis Academic "California Case Law" file. (Off campus use restricted to SDSU users)
- Includes California Supreme Court decisions from 1883 and California Court of Appeals decisions from 1934.
Reports - Text of Decisions
- Opinions of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals
- This site provides the full-text of "slip opinions" issued in the last 60 days as well as archived opinions beginning in January 2000.
- California Reports. [Cal.] 1850-1971.
Location: KFC45 .A22 4th floor books - This official publication provides the full text of California Supreme Court cases.
- California Appellate Reports. [Cal. App.] 1905-1971.
Location: KFC50 .B3 4th floor books - Official reports from District Courts of Appeal.
- West's California Reporter. [Cal. Reptr.] 1960-ongoing.
Location: KFC40 .W42 Reference - This unofficial publication provides the full text of California Supreme Court cases and summaries from District Courts of Appeal, and the Appellate Department, Superior Court.
Digests - Indexes
- West's California Digest, 2nd. 1951-ongoing.
West's California Digest. 1850-1950.
Location: KFC42 .W472 Reference - Provides subject indexing for California Supreme Court cases.
Shepard's Citation Indexes
- Shepard's California Citations. 1908-ongoing.
Location: KFC59 .S44 Reference - A list of California cases that have been cited in other cases. This resources helps determine if a decision is modified or reversed.
See also
Shepard's Acts and Cases by Popular Names, Federal and State.
United States Constitution
- Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation Annotations of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States. Congressional Research Service. Library of Congress.
- Search and browse the full text of the Constitution. Also includes annotated references to Supreme Court decisions.
- Constitution of the United States. Current.
- Full text of the Constitution and amendments.
California Constitution
- State Constitution. Current.
- Search by keyword or browse the Table of Contents.
Law Dictionaries & Encyclopedias
Legal encyclopedias provide a starting point for research by providing an in-depth discussion of all aspects of the law with citations to relevant cases and laws. Legal dictionaries provide brief definitions for legal terms and concepts.
Dictionaries
- Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law. Published under license by FindLaw.
- Concise definitions of legal terms and concepts.
- Everybody's Legal Glossary. Nolo Press.
- "[D]ictionary contains plain-English definitions for over a thousand legal terms, from the common to the bizarre. But if you don't find the word you want, bear with us. The dictionary is a work in progress; we add new words every month."--from the Web site
- Black's Law Dictionary. 7th ed.
Locations: KF156 .G367 1995 Reference Desk - Most well known dictionary for legal terms.
Encyclopedias
- Gale Encyclopedia of Everyday Law (via Gale) (via NetLibrary). 2 vols. 2003.
- "Brief descriptions of issue's historical background, profiles of various U.S. laws and regulations, details of how laws and regulations vary from state to state, and comprehensive bibliographies that include print and Web resources and lists of relevant organizations."
- West's Encyclopedia of American Law. 1998.
Location: KF154 .W47 1998 Reference - Concise overview of major legal concepts.
- American Jurisprudence, 2nd. [Am. Jur. 2d] 1962-1976 and updates.
Location: KF154 .A5 Reference - Provides an overview of US law for selected subjects. The articles include references to statutes, cases, and other legal materials. Use the index to locate the appropriate volume and article. Updated by pocket parts.
- California Jurisprudence, 3rd. [Cal. Jur. 3d] 1972-1982 and updates.
Location: KFC40.1 .C35 Reference - Provides an overview of California law for selected subjects. The articles include references to statutes, cases, and other legal materials. Use the index to locate the appropriate volume and article. Updated by pocket parts.
- Summary of California Law. 1987 and updates.
Location: KFC30 .W58 1987 Reference - Contains chapters that are intended to be a "statement of important principles and rules" concerning the subjects covered. Includes references to statutes, cases, and other legal materials. Updated by pocket parts and supplement volumes.
Law Reviews & Periodical Articles
Law reviews are published by a law school or bar association and contain notes and articles analyzing and evaluating subject areas and developments in the law.
- LexisNexis Academic "Law Reviews" file. (Off campus use restricted to SDSU users)
- Provides access to the full text of several hundred law review journals.
- Article Databases. SDSU Library.
- Databases offered by the SDSU Library.
- Current Law Index. 1980-ongoing.
Location: K33 .C87 Reference - Index to law journals.
Government Agency Publications
Publications issued by Congress can help determine intent. Agency publications provide background information, statistics, research studies.
United States
- Monthly Catalog of US Government Publications. 1976-ongoing. (Off campus use restricted to SDSU users)
- Electronic version of the Monthly Catalog of US Government Publications. Indexes federal government materials made available through the depository system.
- Lexis/Nexis Congressional. 1970-ongoing. (Off campus use restricted to SDSU users)
- Provides access to more than 25 years of comprehensive information from and about the United States Congress, including Congressional publications and legislative histories; bills, laws, and regulations; member biographical and committee assignment information; and insider's perspectives on legislative activities.
- the PAC.
- The online catalog for SDSU includes United States publications from 1994 to the present.
California
- the PAC.
- The online catalog for SDSU includes California state publications issued from 1992 to the present.
- California Card Catalog
Location: Reference - For publications issued prior to 1992, use the card catalog. Search the PAC for California state publications issued from 1992 to the present. Look in the California card catalog for publications issued prior to 1992.
- California State Publications. 1949-ongoing.
Location: Z1223.5 .C2C4 Reference/CA - Comprehensive listing of official state publications issued by executive agencies, the legislature and the judiciary.
- California State Library Online Catalog.
- We will have most of the California publications listed in this catalog. Use the California document call number.
Gateway to Legal Materials
United States
- FindLaw.
- A gateway to codes, case law, law reviews, and more.
California
- FindLaw California.
- A gateway to the California codes, case law, law reviews, and more.
