Researching Legal Issues

Getting Started: Understanding Legal Research

What is legal research?
Resource types in legal research

What is "the law"?

Types of law
What is jurisdiction?

Finding and Using Secondary Sources

Books
Journal articles
Forms

Finding Statutes

What is a statute?
Iowa statutes
Federal (or United States) statutes
Legislative history

Finding Regulations

What is a regulation?
Iowa regulations
Federal regulations

Finding Local Ordinances

What is an ordinance?
How can I access ordinances?

Finding Case Law

What is case law?
Iowa case law
Federal case law

Finding Court Rules

What are court rules?
Iowa court rules
Federal court rules

Evaluating Online Legal Information

Reliability: Who hosts the website and what is the website's purpose?
Currency: How current is the information on the website?
Content coverage: What information does the website provide?

Getting Help from Librarians

Getting help from librarians
Accessing subscription legal research websites

Quick
Escape