Slide 1 THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY HomeLiterature searchHelp and adviceOnline accessFinding information...

THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARYHome Literature search Help and adviceOnline accessFinding information

Stepping up your research skills

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THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

2

:● identify accurately issues that require researching

● identify and retrieve up-to-date legal information, using paper and electronic sources

● use relevant primary and secondary legal sources

● recognise and rank items and issues in terms of relevance and importance

● bring together information and materials from a variety of different sources

● research independently in areas of law not previously studied starting from standard legal information sources

● reflect on own learning and proactively seek and make use of feedback

A graduate with an Honours Bachelor’s degree in Law will have the ability to:-


Choosing your topic

Keywords

Sources of information

Academic knowledge

Home Literature search Help and adviceOnline accessFinding information

With any set question you should spend time thinking about the issues involved and the material required.

If you are considering a title/research question for your legal dissertation or project you need to put in asimilar amount of effort.

Once you have a theme, title or research question, it is easy to fall into the trap of searchingonly for the words in the title or question.

However, in order to find the most relevant and up-to-date literature, you will need to think carefully about your topic before you search.

You might find it helpful to explain your topic to someone else so that you are clear about it.

Next steps…


Choosing your topic

Keywords


Academic knowledge


• Make sure you have properly defined your topic. If it has been set it will have been tailored to demonstrate specific knowledge and skills. If it is your choice make sure it has a similar clear focus and is manageable, i.e. not too big, and not so new that no academic literature is available.

• Ask yourself questions - How, what, when, where? This will help you think about different aspects of the topic and to define your search parameters e.g. timescale, and jurisdiction(remember that access to international material may be limited).

• Think about what you already know. From this, work out what you need to know. Identify the gaps in your knowledge.

• You could brainstorm or mind map your topic at this stage.

Next steps…


Choosing your topic

Keywords


Academic knowledge


• Consider broader/narrower terms in case your first search produces too few/too many results e.g. ‘human rights’ is broader than ‘freedom of expression’

• Think about word variants and alternative spellings e.g. organisation /organizations /organising or labour law / labor law

• Consider synonyms/near synonyms (words that mean the same or similar things) e.g. female / woman

• Think about popular/legal/academic terminology if you are looking at practitioner journals or newspapers e.g. ‘firearms offences’ / ‘gun crime’

• Statsky’s Cartwheel might help with this process

Equal pay for equal

work: what is the role

of trade unions in

seeking equal pay for

female employees?

Look at example

http://www.lib-guides.port.ac.uk/LG631.pptx

http://www.lib-guides.port.ac.uk/LG631.pptx


Choosing your topic

Keywords


Academic knowledge


Think about… …why a website and not an authoratitive print source?…who owns/runs the website? An organisation/individual?…is it authoritative?…is it accurate? …is it objective/biased towards a particular viewpoint?…is it up-to-date? (site last updated…)

You can get a free online tutorial in using/evaluating Internet sites for law at http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/tutorial/law/

Types of material to search for might include:cases, legislation, parliamentary papers, official documents, working papers, academic/practitioner/legal journals, reports, newspapers, books, websites, dissertations/theses, conference papers, professional bodies, individuals,discussion groups/professional networking sites, blogs etc.

Lecturers tell us that too many students lose marks because they use poor quality websites.

Legal Information Landscape

http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/tutorial/law/

http://www.lib-guides.port.ac.uk/LG624.pps

http://www.lib-guides.port.ac.uk/LG624.pps


Choosing your topic

Keywords


Academic knowledge


Think about where your sources come from:

What sparks research?

News events and the information cycle which follows…

Changes to legislation made in Parliament…

Law under review by the Law Commission…

http://www.library.illinois.edu/diglit/tutorials/InfoCycle/InformationCycle.html

http://www.parliament.uk/

http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/

http://www.libraries.psu.edu/content/dam/psul/up/lls/audiovideo/infocycle_2008.swf


Choosing your topic

Keywords


Academic knowledge


Think about where your sources come from:

Who does research?

Many of your lecturers see researchas key to their work…

In fact, any one of you…

…may be undertaking research. Your proposal may be your first step in an academic career…


Choosing your topic

Keywords


Academic knowledge


PhD/MPhil

Working paper (a record of a project’s research activities or interim findings, published for comment by the research community)

Conference paper (presented at a conference and may be subsequently published in its proceedings)

Academic journal article (also known as scholarly or peer-reviewed article). Peer review is the procedure by which academic journal articles are reviewed by other researchers before being accepted for publication.

Review article or literature review)

Collective volume article (chapter in an edited book) or a monograph (book on a single topic)

Textbook

Encyclopaedia article/dictionary entry

(Practitioner) magazine article or trade journal article (this is aimed at law professionals and is often written by a staff writer rather than a researcher), newspaper article (good for relating what is happening in the real world).

Lecturer or researcher does RESEARCH producing

“new academic knowledge”

Further details here

http://besser.tsoa.nyu.edu/howard/Classes/200/Handouts/r-a.html


Choosing your topic

Keywords


Academic knowledge


Equal pay for equal work: what is the role of trade unions in seeking equal pay for female employees?

Identify the key words/concepts:equal pay trade unions female employees

Generate alternative/broader keywords:equal pay sex/gender discrimination / discrimination conditions of employment / employment law / equality

trade unionsindustrial relations/disputes

female employees women/woman, employee/worker

In legal databases check outIndexes of terms, Statutory definitions

Look up the legal

terminology used for

your topic. Databases

often provide a

structured subject

specific indexes of

keywords you can

use.

Investigate

Boolean Logic to

combine your

search terms to

best effect.

These tricks work

in Google as well!

http://www.lib-guides.port.ac.uk/LG600.pdf




Logging in

Web proxy (webcache)

The key to accessing electronic resources provided by the Library (especially off-campus) is an access management system called Shibboleth. You will need your institutional login (your University username and password) to access e-books, e-journals and online databases such as Westlaw, Lexis Library and HeinOnline.


To search for a specific journal, use the title search in the Library Catalogue and choose e-journal, serial or periodical as format

Check availability to see date ranges of different subscriptions of different the dates available to ensure you choose the correct route linking to the journal supplier.


Many electronic resources are industry-standard products aimed primarily at commercial users who have individual logins. You will need to look for the link will enable students to login, which is not always in the same place.

Logging in


Home Literature search Help and adviceFinding information Online access

Next step

Step 1: Look for the link toShibboleth, Institutional,UK Federation Login or Academic Sign In


Logging in


Step 3: Enter your university username and password inthe login box and click on OK or Login



Logging in


The web proxy (webcache) service allows you to browse the Internet as if you are on campus. It enables easy access to resources such as electronic books and journals, and also reduces the need for logging in.

If you set up the web proxy (webcache), you will normally only need to login when you open your Internet browser. If you share a home computer, why not download a separate free browser such as Mozilla Firefox or Safari and set up the web proxy (webcache) on that, leaving Internet Explorer free for personal browsing.

Find out how to set up the web proxy (webcache) via the Library website at http://www.port.ac.uk/library/help/gettingstarted/webproxy/


http://www.port.ac.uk/library/help/gettingstarted/webproxy

http://www.port.ac.uk/library/help/gettingstarted/webproxy


Logging in


Step 2: If required, select UK Access Management Federation and/or University of Portsmouth from the drop-down list

Next step



The Library website is a good place to begin your research, giving you access to:

• the Library catalogue

• 550,000 electronic books (full-text searching of e-books is a great way to find information on a very specific topic)

• around 24,000 electronic journals (and over 300 databases which will search across journal collections and other publications, saving you time)

What you see in the Library is just the tip of the iceberg…


Books

Articles

Cases and legislation

Official documents

See also:Subject-based help

Comparative Studies

Why use anything other than these quality controlled sources?


• Discovery tool – can be narrowed to just book results.

• Library catalogue – for print and e-books

• E-Books search – for links to the main e-book collections (for full-text searching) including Ebrary, MyiLibrary, DawsonEra and Oxford Scholarship Online (specific law collection)

• COPAC - catalogues of major University, Specialist, and National Libraries, including the British Library

• Westlaw – Books including Archbold Criminal Pleading Evidence & Practice, Banks on Sentence, Chitty on Contract, Phipson on Evidence, Woodfall on Landlord & Tenant

• Lexis Library – Commentary including Blackstone’s Criminal Practice, Stone’s Justices Manual and Halsbury’s Laws of England

Home Literature search Help and advice

Books

Articles


Official documents

Finding information Online access


Comparative studies

THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARYHome Literature search Help and advice

Books

Articles


Official documents

Industry-standard law databases such as Westlaw and Lexis Library will give you focused results, containing up-to-the-minute material (with the latest results ranked first). They contain legal journals which Google and Google Scholar won’t find. They provide comprehensive search help and features as well as useful links between articles, cases and legislation.

• Westlaw – checkout Insight as a great starting place for research, journal articles (some in full-text)

• Lexis Library – full-text journal and newspaper articles from UK national/regional/broadsheets (use Nexis UK for international news)

• HeinOnline – full-text articles often international/American in scope

• ZETOC - for the contents pages of the British Library's journals and conference proceedings. E-mail/RSS feed alerting service to keep up-to-date and for journals that you are interested in following

• Google Scholar (Advanced Scholar Search) – useful for topics which cross into other disciplines can also provides alerts



European / international law

https://scholar.google.co.uk/intl/en/scholar/help.html#alerts


Books

Articles


Official documents


Westlaw and Lexis Library are expensive online resources,partly because they have to invest a huge amount of effort in keeping the law in their databases accurate and up-to-date. New cases are reported everyday and legislation is amended constantly and busy lawyers expect these resources to save them time. The free resources below should be used with caution. Unlike the law databases, they do not provide useful links to related supporting material such as journal articles and commentary.

• Legislation.gov.uk - Google will find UK legislation on Government websites such as but you need to check whether you are looking at amended (and currency of amendment) egislation or as it was originally passed in Parliament.

• BAILLI (British and Irish Legal Information Institute) – useful for unreported case transcripts as well as links to other national legal information institutes and to world law resources – the above note about using free resources with caution applies here. Do bearin mind WorldLII for international sources we may not have.


Comparative Studies

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/

http://www.bailii.org/


Books

Articles


Official documents

• www.parliament.uk – parliamentary papers and debate (Hansard) and command papers.

• House of Commons Parliamentary Papers –18th, 19th and 20th century full-text parliamentary papers.

• House of Commons Library Research Papers

• Law commission reports

• Government websites – can be difficult to search but the Advanced search in Google provides a ‘Search within a site or domain’ tool will search general and local Government sites (gov.uk) as well as individual Government department sites such as the Home Office (homeoffice.gov.uk).



Comparative Studies

http://www.parliament.uk/

http://capitadiscovery.co.uk/port/items/778262?

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/research/

http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/document/


Books

Articles


Official documents


• EUR-lex – European Union law site giving access to the full-text of recent issues of the Official Journal, legislation, selected treaties, parliamentary questions and cases from the Court of Justice. Download a guide to European case lawDownload a guide to European law

European Court of Human Rights including the HUDOC database for case law of the European Court of Human Rights, the European Commission of Human Rights and the Committee of Ministers.

• Lexis Library and Westlaw have EU and some international material (well-hidden – contact Library for advice).

• HeinOnline – for international law yearbooks and a range of journals, many of them American.

• BAILLI (British and Irish Legal Information Institute) – links to other national legal information institutes and WorldLII



Comparative Studies

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/homepage.html



http://www.echr.coe.int/echr

http://www.echr.coe.int/Pages/home.aspx?p=home&c=

http://capitadiscovery.co.uk/port/items/786976



http://www.bailii.org/

http://www.worldlii.org/


Subject-based help

Referencing

Interlibrary Loans

Final tips…

Linda Jones is your Law LibrarianTel: 02392 843240Email: [email protected]

Sharon Bittner is Linda’s assistant Tel: 023 9284 3234Email: [email protected]

Remember that you can book an appointment to see Linda or Sharon at any point in the process of undertaking your legal dissertation or

project. It is helpful if you send three times when you would like an appointment

so that we can check our availability and reply to you.

Whether you are struggling with research or stuck on referencing

we are here to help!Next steps…

Sharon

Linda


Subject-based help

Referencing

Interlibrary Loans

Final tips…


You will find help with specific subjects including Law on the Library website if you click on the My Subject tab on the homepage or at www.port.ac.uk/library/subject

They are a great starting point if you want to find a selection of good quality sources. Click on the drop-down arrows to see the top databases, journals, and websites etc.

Move from here to there on the library website.

See also:

Comparative Studies

http://www.port.ac.uk/library/subject

http://www.port.ac.uk/library/home/


Subject-based help

Referencing

Interlibrary Loans

Final tips…


You will be expected to reference your sources using the Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA)

Pick up the OSCOLA referencing example handouts from the Library.

View the manual and download a quick reference guide at:http://www.law.ox.ac.uk/publications/oscola.php

Get help with using OSCOLA from Referencing@Portsmouth:

http://www.lib-guides.port.ac.uk/index.php?clear=&search=N&txt=OSCOLA&cat=0&sub=0

http://www.law.ox.ac.uk/publications/oscola.php

http://referencing.port.ac.uk/


Interlibrary loansIf you find something that is not available from the Library, we may be able to obtain it for you from another Library. To find out more, go to the Library website at www.port.ac.uk/library/services/interlib

The system requires you to register and I strongly advise you read all the instructions carefully and make sure you watch the video and read the instructions before your requested material arrives in your inbox.

Subject-based help

Referencing

Interlibrary Loans

Final tips…


http://www.port.ac.uk/library/services/interlib

http://www.port.ac.uk/library/services/interlib/fileopen/


Final tips…

• Allow plenty of time. Interlibrary loans can take between

7 and 14 days to arrive. Allow time to read the books!

• Be systematic and keep records. Copy your references carefully with page numbers now or you may not be able to find them again later.• Reference properly. Use OSCOLA and consult

your unit and assessment handbooks.• Keep copies of anything crucial or valuable as

pdfs – start a personal library of material and organise it. Back-up your work in more than one place.

Subject-based help

Referencing

Interlibrary Loans

Final tips…


Next steps


Choosing your topic

Keywords


Academic knowledge

Are you confident about accessing Portsmouth materials from off-campus?

Make sure you know how to

Travel equipped.

Find out about SCONUL and vacation access to check out other academic libraries you could visit during the break.

If you are thinking of visiting the British Library or the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies check out their advice before you leave - neither may be the best place for you.

before you leave for vacations so that you can build on your proposal research over the vacation:Check out the Help page on the Library website


http://www.port.ac.uk/library/services/otherlibraries/

http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/inrrooms/stp/register/keyreginfo/keyreginfo.html

http://ials.sas.ac.uk/library/admiss/admissio.htm

http://www.port.ac.uk/library/


Choosing your topic

Keywords


Academic knowledge

The effort you put in now and will provide a springboard into your final year. Consider taking database Certification if you have not already it will be invaluable

Your last year will fly by, and the more you can do in advance the less likely it is that your dissertation or project will interfere with the rest of your workload.

The Library staff are here to help wherever you have problems with identifying, obtaining or referencing your source material.

Good Luck!

Use the time you have this year to invest wisely in preparing for next and creating your proposal.



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You should also consider the following…

Are your language skills up to using primary material from your chosen comparator?

Do you understand the differences between the English legal system and that of your comparator?

Looking at a gallery of newspaper front pages from this country, you are probably able to quickly identify political, class and social connotations about the choice of language, illustrations and editorial slant. Would you feel as confident assessing news media from your comparator country? Remember that in other countries factors such as regional bias and religion may play a stronger role.

Books

Articles


Official documents


Comparative Studies


http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/gallery/2010/may/06/general-election-2010-newspapers-front-pages?picture=362252670#/?picture=362261406&index=13


Stepping up your research skills

Slide 1 THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY HomeLiterature searchHelp and adviceOnline accessFinding information...

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