Legal Databases: Comparative Analysis
Legal research was one of the first areas of scholarship to move into the electronic world, with the introduction of dial-up terminals for searching case law in the 1970s. Today, most legal research done in law schools, courts, and the legal profession at large is conducted via computerized databases. Legal professionals depend primarily on services purchased from the two giants in the field, Westlaw and LexisNexis.
Archives and Personal Papers
GUIDE: Baskin, Alex. The American Civil Liberties Union papers : a guide to the records of A.C.L.U. cases, 1912-1946. D-10529 This set was an early reproduction of the ACLU archives undertaken by the New York Public Library, later incorporated into the Scholarly Resources film "American Civil Liberties Union : The Roger Baldwin Years (1917-1950)." The original archival materials were gathered into bound volumes devoted either to clippings or to correspondence, with each volume then relating to a single type of record (although sometimes there are several series in a single volume). Also included are legal cases and some pamphlets published by organizations other than the ACLU. The Center has acquired only a portion of volumes microfilmed in this set. Included below is a listing of volumes available in this uncataloged collection, which can be cross-indexed with the earlier print guide or online version: 27-39, 52-57, 72, 82-91, 95-98, 105, 111-126, 135-136, 388-396, 401-405, 411-420, 448-455, 466-482, 513-562, 594-568, 693-707, 718-748, 767-803, 811-818, 828-835, 878-892, 915-929.
GUIDE: Library of Congress. Manuscript Division. Felix Frankfurter : a register of his papers in the Library of Congress. E-9009 The collections includes two boxes of the papers of William Henry Moody.
Case Records
This is a set of transcripts of conversations among alleged Mafia members, FBI memoranda summarizing the transcriptions, and other materials concerning the case.
GUIDE: Draft and military law collection [guide]. E-5534 This fiche includes source materials concerning the draft for the Vietnam War and conscientious objection. The documents are court transcripts, legal briefs, selective service forms, clippings and court opinions.
Law Reports
Indian Law Reports judicial decisions published by various State Governments including: Allahabad, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bombay, Calcutta, Cuttack, Dehli, Guhati, Gujurat, Himachal, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya, Madras, Mysore, Patna, Punjab, Rajasthan.
GUIDE: Pre-1894 Irish law reports : microfilm edition; guide to content of reels. E-8571
GUIDE: Early Scottish law reports : microfilm edition; guide to contents of reels. E-8651
Legal History
The purpose of this project is to make available on microfiche a collection of manuscripts relating to the history of English law. CRL owns Stage I, sections 1-4, which contains materials held at the Harvard Law School:
- Section I : Year Books
- Section II : Reports of Cases 1500-1700
- Sections III-IV : Reports of Cases after 1700
Facsimile reproduction of the manuscript reports on legal questions under consideration by the Foreign Office. Before 1860, the Foreign Office did not have its own legal advisors, and these reports were written by legal scholars. The volumes contain about 9,500 opinions from F.O. 83 .
Trials
GUIDE: British trials 1660-1900 : the guide to the microfiche edition. E-8996 These are non-official, detailed first-hand accounts of what was said at thousands of trials ranging from murder and treason to adultery, libel and commercial disputes. These were originally published as pamphlets or books for sale to the public. The Center has a standing order for this set. Six units have been received. Consult CRLCATALOG for status of additional units.
U.S. Supreme Court
GUIDE: Index to the Scholarly Resources microfilm edition of the Records and briefs of the United States Supreme Court, 1832-1915. E-5000 The material is arranged by case, as listed in the index.