When doing legal research, is it easier to use online sources or books? Which produces better results? Can you even do it all online, if you want to? As part of the answer to this, the Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries have a web page …Continue Reading Legal research: print or online?
The Massachusetts Library System recently posted an online guide with resources to help citizens evaluate information online and hone media-literacy skills. Included is a popular eight-point informational graphic from the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions and is a concise, single-page tipsheet. One of the points is …Continue Reading Online information: access and veracity
Reconstructing the legislative history of a Massachusetts statute has always been “difficult at best.” Sean J. Kealy, a clinical associate professor of law at the Boston University School of Law has written “A Guide to Gathering and Using Legislative History in Massachusetts” in the latest …Continue Reading New Guide to Gathering and Using Massachusetts Legislative History
Secondary source material, information about the law, rather than the law itself, is not so readily accessible online for free. Secondary sources are invaluable for analysis and understanding what to do with the primary sources. Black’s Law Dictionary can help define the words; but much …Continue Reading Massachusetts Legal Literature in a Nutshell: Secondary Source Law
Understanding the structure of how legal literature is organized depends upon understanding how the three branches of government work. In Massachusetts, we can access primary source law from all three branches online. Legislative material Acts and Resolves: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Search (1997-Date) http://archives.lib.state.ma.us/handle/123456789/2 (1692-2009) Each bill that …Continue Reading Massachusetts Legal Literature in a Nutshell: Primary Source Law
Reading law, in a print environment, allows the reader to see context. Bibliographies, research guides, tables of contents, indices, and digests add meaning to place the statute, case or treatise in context. Some of the meaning gets lost when we access the law in an …Continue Reading Visualizing the Law – Creating Online Tools to See Context
United State District Court Judge Richard Berman’s Decision and Order, dated September 3, 2015, granted the National Football League Players Association’s motion to vacate NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s July 28, 2015 Arbitration Award imposing a four-game suspension on New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. The …Continue Reading Brady Case: Where to Find More Information
The American Association of Law Libraries’ Task Force on Legal Skills and Knowledge for Practice has released three reports about how legal research is conducted in the practice of law, based on surveys of more than 600 attorneys and 150 law librarians from all over the …Continue Reading Teaching Legal Research
The Law Libraries travel with you. Access cases wherever you go through our website. Use our links to read cases from the SJC, Appeals Court, District Court Appellate Division, and Land Court. You can also find docket information for the SJC, Appeals Court, Land Court, …Continue Reading Cases on the Road
We want to hear from you. Connect with us.
2018