Covers general principles for legal research on the Internet. Links to portal sites for federal, RI, MA, & CT legal research, as well as site for law review articles.

1. Class Website
http://lawguides.rwu.edu/
finditfreeandfast

2. Agenda
 Principles of Internet Research
 Role of Wikipedia and Google in Research
 Time Saving Sites
 Federal Legal Research
 State Legal Research

3. Principles of Internet
Research
 Not everything is on the free Internet
 Even if it is, question whether it is:
 Official, Current, Complete, Biased, Value Added

4. Tips for Legal Research on
the Internet
 Look at the entire source
 Index
 Advanced search
 Search tips
 Browsability
 Added features, e.g. “cited by”

5. Use Wikipedia with caution

6. Know what Wikipedia Can
Do for You
 On Wikipedia, nobody knows if you’re an expert
 Anyone may post
 Entries are not vetted; general rules about attribution
apply but may not be followed
 Articles may not be updated
 However, Wikipedia can be good (sometimes)
 Citations
 Background
 Keywords
 References

7. Use Google the right way
 Advanced Google Searching
 Phrase searching
 Exclusions
 Limit by domain (.gov, .edu)
 GoogleScholar
 Excellent start to locate case law, articles
 Use Library Links for articles (more later)

8. Legal Research Time
Saving Sites aka Portals
 Cornell LII
 WashLaw Web
 Justia

9. Federal Legal Research
 Portal: FDSys (Statutes and Regulations)
 Judicial
 Supreme Court of the U.S.
 SCOTUSBlog
 U.S. Courts
 Legislative
 Congressional Materials: Congress.gov
 Administrative
 Agency websites: USA.gov

10. State Portals for Legal
Research
 RI: Rhode Island State Law Library Legal Links
 CT: Connecticut Judicial Branch Law Libraries CT
Resources
 MA: Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries

11. What about Secondary
Sources?
 Google Scholar
 Settings > Library Links
 Search Roger Williams.
 Select “RWU Law” for links to RWU Law licensed
databases
 ABA LTRC Free Full-Text Online Law Review/
Journal Search
 SSRN