Legal Research

Indexes allow you to locate published material on specific topics.  Indexes primarily cover periodical articles, however some include books and other material as well.

Many indexes are now available in electronic format, for the complete list of indexes available select Electronic Resources under the Find Articles and More section of the library home page. Electronic access is restricted to Lamar students, faculty, and staff.

Indexes with REF preceding the call number are located on the First Floor in Reference.

Legal Encyclopedias

Both encyclopedias cover U.S. law generally (with an emphasis on caselaw). Both have general indexes for the whole set and title indexes for individual articles. Articles (or “titles”) may be hundreds of pages long; each begins with a scope note and an outline. Articles are arranged in alphabetical order. The indexes refer to the topics by abbreviated titles; each index volume has a list of the abbreviations.

American Law Reports

            American Law Reports contain selected, illustrative cases, accompanied by “Annotations,” which are articles summarizing legal issues and noting cases from around the country. Annotations are on more focused topics than legal encyclopedia articles.