This is a quick and dirty guide to free and not-free (usually subscription) databases for this kind of research; it is not a comprehensive list. (And novice researchers should be reminded that the same statutory language is not always used across states to accomplish the same purpose.)
FREE:
David Lankes tells a familiar “Death by Failure to Research” story in his free eBook, “Expect More: Demanding Better Libraries for Today’s Complex World”:
“…. In 2001 Ellen Roche, a 24-year-old lab technician, entered into a clinical trial at Johns Hopkins University’s Asthma and Allergy Center. The trial was investigating how the lungs responded to chemical irritants. Researchers had Roche inhale hexamethonium. Roche was the third volunteer to do so in the study. The first volunteer had developed a slight cough that lasted a week. The second volunteer had shown no adverse reactions. Roche developed a slight cough that got worse and worse. Five days after inhaling the chemical, Roche was admitted to intensive care. Less than a month later, she was dead. What makes this story all the more tragic is that Roche’s death could have been avoided. As part of the funded clinical trial, the researcher did a literature search. He searched a database that indexed studies from 1960 to the present day. He found nothing on hexamethonium. However, had he not restricted himself to the Internet-accessible version of the database he would have found studies from the 1950’s linking hexamethonium to significant lung problems. Because of Roche’s death, all drug studies at Hopkins must now include a consultation with a librarian and pharmacist….” [Lankes, p. 80 [PDF p. 87] Link to free online versions of David Lankes’ latest book: “Expect More: Demanding Better Libraries for Today’s Complex World.” The digital version of this book is free to download and distribute. It is in PDF, EPUB, MOBI, and iBook formats.]
Read more about “Principles and Standards for Legal Research Competency.”
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Report:
“Who Has Your Back? 2014: Protecting Your Data From Government Requests “
Download the PDF and read the full “Executive Summary
Gallagher Blogs reminds us that Headnote of the Day still lives!
“A dog cannot recover for emotional distress?
You are probably well aware of the West Key Number System and headnotes but are you familiar with Westlaw’s Headnote of the Day provided on Thomson Reuters’ Legal Solutions Blog? ...” [Link to blog post.]
Read Robert Ambrogi’s post:
“Bryan Garner Discusses the Latest Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary”
On October 24, 2014, Georgetown University Law Library in Washington, D.C. will host a symposium that explores the problem of link and reference rot:
“404/File Not Found: Link Rot, Legal Citation and Projects to Preserve Precedent”
Preliminary Agenda:
Thinking beyond the Uniform Law Commission, the American Law Institute, and the American Bar Association: Who Makes Model Laws?
“You’ve heard of the Uniform Commercial Code and the Model Penal Code, but how much do you know about model laws? You could learn more by reading this short article: Mary Whisner, There Oughta Be a Law—a Model Law, 106 Law Libr. J. 125 (2014)….” [Link to blog post.]
We try to keep our “HOW TO DISPOSE OF USED LAW BOOKS” guide up to date, through our own efforts and the kindness of strangers.
You can also find the guide from our Washington County Law Library “Documents Index.”
“.... The newly launched WeCite Project, co-sponsored by the Stanford Center for Legal Informatics and the free legal research platform Casetext, aims to bring the win-win power of crowdsourcing to the task….” [Link to the full Legal Research Plus blog post.]
What might Frank Shepard (the Shepard of Shepardizing) think?
Oregon Legal Research Blog