Pathfinder for Constitutional Law

Finding Legal Information Using the World Wide Web

Government Publications Department Home Page – This page has been developed specifically for the use of students, faculty and staff of the Claremont Colleges. Provides links to departmental information, Government Agencies, specific subject guides, alphabetical lists popular sites, and several course-specific pages such as theU.S. Constitution page and theAmerican Government Resource Guide Within the U.S. Constitution Page you can link to an annotated text of the Constitution as well as Supreme Court Cases through Decisions from 1966-Present & Leading Cases from 1793-1966 (USSC+)

Lexis-Nexis This is a full-text database consisting of millions of articles covering the fields of business, law and legislation, and general news. Nexis consists of more than 650 full-text information sources such as newspaper articles, journals, newsletters, wire services, and broadcast transcripts, which are updated as often as daily. Lexis is primarily a legal-resource database, which contains primary sources such as cases, statutes, and regulations as well as secondary materials such as law review articles etc. There are restrictions on its use, and you must display a Claremont Colleges ID and sign up to use it. There are terminals available in the Reference, Government Publications, and Asian Studies departments. You may also Telnet through the Library Services Menu.***To use Shepards Service; you must telnet to the Library Services Menu Choose the subject category "Government & Legislation", scroll down to Lexis-Nexis, and choose "Library Services Menu Remote"; or choose "Lexis-Nexis" from the from the Alphabetical List of databases. Login as usual, choosing "Additional Servicces to Claremont Faculty Staff & Students", provide your Library Card number and your last name, choose "Extra Services", and you will see a Lexis-Nexis prompt.

America and the Courts This a site with text and live arguments by Supreme Court Justices as well as links to briefs and oral arguments.


Public Affairs and Law Is a page within the government Publications Online Reference Page that provides links to resources in Public Affairs and Law. By selecting "Public Policy and Law" from the index in the left frame, you can access links to legal resources. One such link is Findlaw which provides citations to selected materials and is searchable by subject. This provides links to sites with materials on Constitutional Law.

Congressional Universe  (1970-current). Guide, index and abstracts to hearings, committee prints, reports and documents issued by Congress. (Also available on CD-ROM from 1989 - current) With Congressional Universe, researchers can track legislative and public policy issues as well as the activities of committees and members of Congress. 

Thomas (House of Representatives through Library of Congress). Includes: Bill Text, Congressional Record Text, Bill Summary & Status, Hot Bills, now called "Congress This Week" and "Major Legislation"), the Congressional Record Index, and the Constitution (now found, along with other historical Congressional documents, under the "Historical Documents" category on the THOMAS home page). Enhancements in the types of legislative data available, as well as in search and display capabilities, have been continuously added.
 

Guides to Citing Government Information


Brief Guide to Citing Government Information A site which provides guides to citing government information, both in traditional and electronic format.

Basic Legal Citation A site which provides guides to citing legal sources, both in traditional and electronic format.
 

Using The Library Catalog to Find Books

Blais To locate books, search Blais,, the Libraries of the Claremont Colleges online catalog.The on-line catalog, is now available to students at the Honnold/Mudd Library using the World Wide Web Interface. Each citation found in footnotes, indexed, bibliographies, the card catalog, or the on-line catalog contains information that can be used by Blais to lead you to other sources. Expand such pieces of information by using them as "subject headings," authors' names or call number locations to help you find other sources that are grouped together. Then use these pieces of information to begin a "new" search in the card catalog, on Blais, or to "browse the shelf" in a particular call number location. Think of it as computerized free association, linked to concrete research data and information.

Books can be searched by author, title, or subject. If you are unsure of the exact title or if your subject search doesn't produce the results you hoped for, try a "Words in title" search using two or three of the most significant words from the title or subject you are trying to find.

Subject searching requires use of Library of Congress Subject Headings. Here are some typical subject headings in Government. The Government Publications department has a handout with directions on its use. Current, incoming U.S. documents are catalogued in Blais and older holdings will be added soon. Few California State documents are in Blais. Other databases and indexes must be used to access them. For further information on computer databases, see the handout on computer databases or consult a reference librarian.

Selected Subject Headings in Government


Affirmative Action
Civil Rights
Constitution - United States
Constitutional Law - United States
Ethnic Groups
Human Rights
Race
Representative Government and Representation
United States
United States Constitution
United States - 14^th Amendment
United States – Race Relations
United States – Supreme Court

Finding General and Popular Articles Using Database Indexes

Use the following interdisciplinary print and CDROM indexes to find articles and other materials on specific topics. Many items are located solely in the libraries; some are available solely in print. Some electronic links are available only to staff, students, and faculty of the Claremont Colleges. All print items, unless otherwise noted, are in Honnold/Mudd. For questions, please do not hesitate to call Mary Martin, Government Publications and International Relations, at extension x18923.

Firstsearch. One can also telnet through the Library Services Menu. This database is a menu driven reference service consisting of dozens of databases, including the OCLC union catalog WorldCat. WorldCat contains more than 25 million bibliographic records, representing holdings of more than 9000 libraries. First Search can also be used to search approximately 2 dozen periodical and other reference databases. See category 11; News and Current Events, or 12, Public Affairs and Law.

Newspaper Abstracts Includes citations from the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal as well as many other newspapers. On FirstSearch, and as a telnet connection through the Library Services Menu.

Pais Index to public policy and social issues, information in a wide range of subjects. Contains selected citations to journal articles, books, government documents and reports. Also indexes foreign language publications. Library has paper and electronic sources, although limited coverage in electronic format. Available on Ovid.

Wilson Social Sciences Abstracts General scholarly index. On Ovid back to 1984; available also as Telnet connection through the Library Services Menu and in paper back to 1974; preceded by The International Index to Periodicals and The Social Science and Humanities Index, both located in the Honnold/Mudd Index Room.

Wilson's Reader's Guide Abstracts to Periodical Literature General, multi-disciplinary index. Contains records for general and popular articles in all subjects. On OVID back to 1983; available also as telnet connection through the Library Services Menu and in paper back to the turn of the century, Honnold/Mudd Index Room/Table 1. Preceded by 19th Century Readers Guide covering 1890-1899, and Poole's Index to Periodical Literature, covering 1802-1906, also Honnold Index Room/Table 1.

MM 3/23/98

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