© Debra Austin, PhD, JD

Advanced Legal Research

Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.
- Carl Sagan -

University of Denver Sturm College of Law
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Westminster Law Library

Library Catalog and Databases

  • Library Catalog

    • Word Search

      • Extended Display gives you Call Number
      • Brief Display gives you the List
      • Save Mark Records – List of documents that you want to print
      • Export Saved - allows you to email or print customized list of documents
      • Start Over
        • takes you to the first screen with all the search choices
        • allows you to exit to Library Home Page by clicking on Westminster Law Library Logo

    • Search By Author

    • Search By Title

    • Can search CU Law, Main Campus (Penrose), other Colorado libraries or Colorado Unified Catalog (Prospector)

  • Databases/Indexes

    • All Databases

    • Legal Trac – Electronic version of Current Law Index with cites to articles published in 800+ legal periodicals.  Updated daily on the web.  Coverage extends back to 1980.  Use print Index to Legal Periodicals and Books for articles prior to 1980.

      • Legal Trac Link

      • Key Word Search – broad search

      • Advanced Search – advanced searching on indexed fields using date, journal or author’s name

    • Index to Legal Periodicals - coverage from August of 1908.
    • Hein-On-Line - Pull journal articles by citation from over 90 journals.

    • West's Encyclopedia of American Law - over 5,000 legal topics.

    • FirstSearch Databases
      • WorldCat – a worldwide library catalog. Search for books as far back as the 1600s

    • Gale Legal Forms - Colorado legal forms and legal guides

    • LawTRIO - database contains Legal Looseleafs in Print, Legal Newsletters in Print, and Directory of Law-Related CD ROMS (only one library subscriber can use this database at a time)

    • BNA (Bureau of National Affairs) - Looseleafs, treatises, reports, journals and newsletters.

    • LexisNexis Congressional – Comprehensive Legislative Information from Congressional Information Service, Inc.
      • Congressional Publications
      • Bills, Laws & Regulations – full text of proposed legislation and its status in the legislative process.
      • Members & Committees – information about current members and congressional committees
      • Inside Washington – National Journal and Congress Daily
      • Hot Topics in Congress
      • Hot Bills under Consideration
      • Hot Bills enacted this Congress
      • Hot Topics

    • Archive of the Americana - local and world news
      • Access World News
        • Colorado
      • America's News Magazines

    • Business Source Premier - Full text of more than 2,800 scholarly business publications
      • Business Searching Interface

    • LexisNexis Academic - Comprehensive legal, business, and news information.

    • Academic Search Elite - over 2,000 full text scholarly publications
      • EBSCO Host Web

    • ProQuest - Criminal Justice periodicals, dissertations & these; Wall Street Journal; Historical New York Times; and Psychology Journals

    • Legal Scholarship Network - abstracts of working papers and articles

    • JSTOR - Full text of almost 300 core scholarly journals in arts and sciences, ecology, and botany.

    • IngentaConnect– database of current article information taken from well over 17,000 multidisciplinary journals.  The database has good local coverage because it is linked to the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries.

    • Environmental Law Reporter - Federal, state, and international materials.

    • Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Digital Library - Proceedings from RMMLF Institutes.

    • Stat-USA – an agency in the Economics and Statistics Administration of the Department of Commerce that delivers economic, business, and international trade information produced by the U.S. Government.

    • NetLibrary - thousands of online books.

    • Encyclopedia Britannica – online encyclopedia

    • Codes of Ethics - of professional societies, corporations, government, and academic institutions

    • Shepard's Citations - available only at the Library Public Terminals

    • CALI – Center for Computer Assisted Legal Instruction tutorials
      • Password - learnthelaw

    • Lexis-Nexis

    • Westlaw

    • Lexisone.com – Small firm research service

    • Loislaw.com – independent web-based research service

Einstein's three rules of work:

Out of clutter find simplicity.
From discord make harmony.
In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.

- Albert Einstein -