Monthly Archives: October 2006

Code of Federal Regulations

The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) from 1938 through the 1983 edition is now available through HeinOnline’s Federal Register library collection in .PDF.
Included in the announcement is this description of the CFR:
“The CFR is the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register (also available in HeinOnline from its’ inception in 1936) by the executive departments and agencies of the U.S. Federal Government. The CFR is divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subject to U.S. Federal regulation.”

Not Necessarily Google

Lots of students come in for research assistance and when we ask them what their strategy has been they respond, “Well, I searched Google.” But sometimes Google isn’t the best place to start, it all depends on what you’re looking for. There are many documents besides legal ones on Westlaw and LexisNexis; both of their search engines are easier to use, they are more sophisticated, and they produce more honest results. If you need help with your LexisNexis research, Debbie is on campus hanging out in 1M everyday. If you’d like to schedule an appointment with her, login to LexisNexis, click the Myschool tab, scroll to the bottom of the page and choose a day/time.

The Federalist Papers

In 1787 and 1788, an anonymous writer, Publius, urged the citzens of New York to ratify the proposed Constitution of the United States. There were 85 essays published in New York newspapers, and you can read all of them online, or search their full-text by going to the Avalon Project. The papers can also be read online at Thomas, a Library of Congress website for federal legislative information.
It wasn’t until 1818 that Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison were identified in print as the authors of the Federalist Papers. As you can see from the Thomas site, there is still some dispute about the authorship of a few of the papers.
if you’re looking for original intent, the Federalist Papers are important source documents.

Create Your Own Census Reports

Manipulating census information can be difficult, but Social Explorer and Queens College CUNY have created a wonderful interactive web site, at www.socialexplorer.com. You choose your region and the characteristics you are interested in, in any of the census years from 2000 back to 1940, and a chart or map will be created for you. This information is useful for paper topics such as immigration (foreign born) or homelessness (poverty) either for the US or a particular state. New census information is being added all the time, and the goal is to provide access to the complete historical census information for the United States.

Computer Assisted Legal Instruction

Computer Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) produces multiple-choice lessons in almost every subject area with answers and explanations. The lessons are available online or in CD format. Students can get their own free CALI CD at the reference desk and download the exercises to a laptop. Or students can get an authorization code from a reference librarian, which will allow online access to all of the CALI exercises at http://www.cali.org.