Federal Research Sources

Questions? Speak with a Hamline Law Reference Librarian until 8 p.m. weekdays and 5 p.m. weekends at 651-523-2937 during the regular academic calendar. To use a subscription resource remotely, click on the title for basic proxy server instructions. You should not need to consult the optional proxy server instructions. Note that an Electronic Journal List also is available, and our patrons may use many of the non-legal electronic resources provided through Bush Library.

 

Law Access Open to Hamline University Law School staff/students, either from a networked computer or by proxy server from a remote computer

Hamline Access

Open to Hamline University staff/students affiliated with any department, either from a networked computer or by proxy server from a remote computer
Walk-In Access Open to anyone using designated law library computers
Open Access

Open to anyone

 

Statutes and Legislative Materials

Cases, Court Rules, and Judicial Materials

Patent, Trademark & Copyright Materials


1. Statutes and Legislative Materials

Century of Law Making (Historic) Open Access
Congressional documents and debates for the period 1774-1875.

Congressional Mega Sites Open Access
The Library of Congress provides an extensive list of sources for legislative information. Categories include indexes to congressional sites, how-to guides to congressional data systems, and related information sites.

Congressional Universe (LexisNexis) - On Campus Access Walk-In Access
Congressional Universe (LexisNexis) - Off Campus Access Law Access
Congressional Universe is a very helpful tool for legislative history research. Among other things, it provides access to the CIS Index, the full-text of bills, congressional reports and transcripts as well as the Congressional Record. Congressional Universe also contains bill tracking information, the full-text of public laws, the United States Code Service, the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations.

Federal Web Navigator (Villanova School of Law) Open Access
Search by agency name or abbreviation or search by subject. The Federal Web Navigator includes over 800 links to Federal government agencies. Many of these links are annotated. Descriptions were gathered from the United States Government Manual and mission statements on agency web pages.

USA.gov ("Your First Click to the U.S. Government") Open Access
USA.gov is a free searchable website. As an interagency hub site administered by the U.S. General Services Administration, USA.gov provides organized links to a vast range of legal and general information residing on United States federal, state, tribal, and local government websites. USA.gov probably provides the most comprehensive search available for such information, which encompasses laws, agency reports, data, public-domain photos, government forms, and many other sources.

GPO Access Open Access
The Government Printing Office (GPO) provides access to official government information. This full-text searchable database includes Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Federal Register (FR), Congressional Record, Congressional Record Index, Congressional Bills, Public Laws, United States Code, GAO Reports, Commerce Business Daily, and other government publications.

Internet Law Library Open Access
This site provides access to the Code of Federal Regulations, court rules, laws of all jurisdictions by subject, U.S. federal laws, U.S. state and territorial laws, laws of other nations, treaties and international law, attorney directories, law school library catalogs.

Legislative Histories of Selected Federal Laws (Law Librarians' Society of Washington, DC, Inc.)
"The selected laws are organized in alphabetical and public law number order and primarily come from (and are linked to) the Department of Commerce (DoC) Law Library online catalog (pin is any characters you choose). The [free] site also contains many explanatory notes while each law contains links to related bill information on the Library of Congress (LoC) THOMAS site, to a current related U.S. Code site, and to a current related C.F.R. site. The public law legislative histories include Antidumping Act of 1921, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, theCopyright Law Revision of 1976, the Export Administration acts of 1965,1972 and 1979, the Government in the Sunshine Act of 1976, and other laws. In the future it is hoped that other agencies and firms will add to this collection."

Legislative History Research Guide Open Access

This free public resource from Ohio State University explains how to identify and retrieve the documents relevant to the legislative history of a federal statute. This page offers concise step-by-step instructions and many helpful links to sources.

LLMC Digital Hamline Access, Walk-In Access
LLMC is a non-profit cooperative serving member libraries' needs for preservation, space recovery, and collection development on film and on-line. It has scanned over 7,500 titles, some 90,000 volumes, of interest to researchers in law and history. Its backfile is accessible on LLMC Digital and comprises the world's largest collection of legal literature and government documents in microform.

Thomas Legislative Information on the Internet Open Access
The Library of Congress makes federal legislation information freely available to the internet public. Search the current congressional actions, bills, roll call votes, public laws, and major legislation. Online access to the Congressional Record, committee reports, and information on the legislative process is available. Bill text files are updated several times per day.

White House Open Access
Search White House documents including photographs, radio addresses, and executive orders in the White House Virtual Library. This site includes information about the President and Vice-President, daily notice of official meetings and speeches, and links to commonly requested federal services.

U.S. Law Week (BNA) Law Access, Walk-In Access
USLW is a valuable resource for keeping current with Federal appellate court decisions.


2. Cases, Court Rules, and Judicial Materials

Federal Dockets and Court Filings (Pacer) Law Access in Library (Ask Librarian)
Pacer is a convenient, government-operated docket tracking and full-text document service for most U.S. federal courts. Monitor federal litigation and retrieve documents such as complaints, answers, motions, and trial and appellate briefs.

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (effective December 1, 2007) Open Access

Findlaw: Federal Circuit Court Opinions Open Access
The user may search by district or all the federal circuit courts for full-text opinions. This site includes a map of the states covered by each circuit. Check each circuit court for coverage dates.

Findlaw: Federal District Court Opinions Open Access
This searchable database also includes a link to district court directories. Check each district court for coverage dates.

LLMC Digital Hamline Access, Walk-In Access
LLMC is a non-profit cooperative serving member libraries' needs for preservation, space recovery, and collection development on film and on-line. It has scanned over 7,500 titles, some 90,000 volumes, of interest to researchers in law and history. Its backfile is accessible on LLMC Digital and comprises the world's largest collection of legal literature and government documents in microform.

Supreme Court Case Collection (Legal Information Institute) Open Access
This site is very up-to-date and offers easy access to recent decisions as well as a searchable archive of all decisions decided after 1989. The site has selective coverage of older decisions - over 600 historic decisions of the Court.

Supreme Court Cases Back to 1791 (Justia) Open Access
This service from Justia.com is currently free in the test version. In case of doubt, you may wish to double-check your search results with a more reliable source.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Eighth Circuit
This site includes a searchable database of 8th Circuit opinions from December, 1995, to the present. it also includes links to the circuit rules and calendar, selected FCC cases, and the 8th Circuit libraries. The searchable database for Bankruptcy appellate opinions starts with cases dated November 14, 1997, to the present. Past opinions will be available shortly.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces Open Access
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces reviews court martial cases, acts on petitions for extraordinary relief, and entertains appeals on rulings by military judges during court martial trials. It also is the appeals court for all death sentence cases affirmed by the Military Court of Criminal Appeals. This site includes jurisdiction information, practice and procedure, and full-text opinions from October 1, 1996, to the present.

U.S. Law Week (BNA) Law Access, Walk-In Access
USLW is a valuable resource for keeping current with Federal appellate court decisions.


3. Patent, Trademark & Copyright

U.S. Copyright Office Open Access
The U.S. Copyright Office site provides links to copyright office announcements, circulars, basics of copyright law, forms, how to conduct a search in the copyright records, and other links relevant to copyright law.

U.S. Patent & Trademark Office Open Access
This site provides legal information regarding patent and trademark rights. The site also provides guidance and tools for searching and registering patents and trademarks.

Minneapolis Public Library Business Center - Patents & Trademarks Open Access
As a Patent and Trademark Depository Library, MPL is a better place to search patent and trademark registrations than are other libraries or the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office website. MPL's patent and trademark librarian, Walt Johnson, may be reached at 612-630-6101.

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