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Paralegal Studies

This is a guide to library resources in the field of paraglegal studies. Here you will find databases, electronic journals, tutorials, and other information.

Primary Source Overview

  • A primary source is a record of a person, event, or occurrence created by an eyewitness or a participant's version of an event. Primary sources allow researchers to gain better insight into historical figures and events.
     
  • Primary sources emphasize the lack of intermediaries between the things or events being studied and reports of those things or events based on the belief that firsthand accounts are more accurate.
     
  • Examples of primary sources include diaries, letters, notes from lab experiments, photographs, blogs, e-mails, maps, scrapbooks, Facebook pages, poetry, artwork, birthday cards, office records, and artifacts.

Primary Sources and Secondary Sources in Legal Research

Primary sources in legal research constitute the actual law itself. In contrast, secondary sources offer commentary, background information, and guidance on the law, often directing researchers to relevant primary sources, though they do not themselves constitute law.

The table below provides examples of each category.

Primary Sources Secondary Sources

Constitution

  • Federal or State


Legal Dictionaries

Statutes

  • laws enacted by legislature

Municipal Codes

  • rules enacted by local councils

 


Legal Encyclopedias and Digests

Cases

  • opinions handed down by courts


Law Reviews and Journals

Rules and Regulations

  • established by administrative government agencies


Legal Treatises, Nutshells, Hornbooks, Deskbooks

Treaties

Manuals and Guides

  • how to practice law

 

Primary Sources: Federal Law

Codes

Code of Federal Regulations

Unlike case law, which is made by judges in specific court cases, statutory law is made by the federal and state legislative branches of government. Statutory law is published in codes. The United States Code (U.S.C.) contains statutes that have been passed by Congress.

Regulations

Electronic Code of Federal Rgulations (Government Printing Office)

Federal regulations refer to the laws created by the different departments and agencies within the executive branch of the U.S. government. These regulations are organized into codes and published regularly in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Database vendors like LexisNexis also provide access to searchable versions of the codes through commercial publishers.

Primary Sources: State Law

Statutes

Regulations