Research Guides: Researching Statutes: More Help for Statutes

Constitutions & Statutes

Please note that Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law are only available to law students and law faculty.

United States Constitution: Researching Its History and Analysis Video -- by Ken Hirsh This video explores how to research Constitutional Law. It covers specialized resources such as Elliot's Debates, as well as general resources such as annotated codes. It is 7:28 minutes long and features closed captioning.
Using Elliot's Debatesto Research Constitutional History (video opens in a new window) -- by Ken Hirsh This video demonstrates how to use Elliot's Debates on the Library of Congress A Century of Lawmaking. The video is 1:57 minutes long.
Researching Statutes: Organization of Constitutions & Codes -- Susan M Boland This video describes what a statute is, what a code is, and how constitutions and codes are organized. It is 6:31 minutes long and features closed captioning and a table of contents.
Researching Statutes: Annotated Codes on Lexis & Westlaw -- Susan Boland This video covers the format of annotated codes on Lexis and Westlaw and discusses navigation aids within each statutory section such as the table of contents, as well as editorial enhancements such as the case annotations, research references, and more. The video is 5:01 minutes long and features closed captioning and a table of contents.
Researching Statutes: Statutory Finding Tools This video looks at how to retrieve a statute by citation, how to get to an annotated code, and how to use statutory finding tools such as the index, table of contents, and popular names table. The video is 7:38 minutes long and features closed captioning and a table of contents.
Federal Law Part I: Overview of Constitutions, Statutes, and Legal Authority Video -- by Susan Boland This video introduces US Constitutional and statutory law. It explains where they fit in the hierarchy of legal authority, what a session law is, what a code is, and the difference between official and unofficial codes. The video is 11:24 minutes long and features closed captioning
Federal Law Part II Video: Researching Constitutional & Statutory Law on Westlaw Video -- by Susan Boland This video demonstrates how to find constitutional and federal statutory law on Westlaw. It covers finding constitutions and statutes by citation, using code annotations, and using KeyCite. This video is 12:166 minutes long and features closed captioning.
Federal Law Part III: Researching Constitutional & Statutory Law on Lexis Video -- by Susan Boland This video demonstrates how to research a constitutional and federal statutory issue on Lexis Advance. It covers finding constitutions and statutes by citation, using the annotations, and using Shepards. The video is 11:52 minutes long and features closed captioning.
Federal Law Part IV: Researching Constitutions and Statutes on Bloomberg Law Video -- by Susan Boland This video demonstrates how to research a constitutional and statutory issue on Bloomberg Law. It describes retrieving constitutions and statutes by citation, using the table of contents, and explores the case analysis feature. The video is 6:10 minutes long and features closed captioning.
Advanced Statutory Citators Video -- by Susan Boland This video discusses how to make sure your statutes are still good law and how to use citators with statutes for further research. The video demonstrates some advanced features of KeyCite and Shepards that you can use with statutes. The video is 6:55 minutes long and features closed captioning.
Researching State Statutes, Session Laws & Superseded Codes Video -- by Susan Boland This video explains state session laws and state codes, the codification process, why and when you use state codes for legal research, how to find state codes (online and print), and how to find superseded codes. The video is 8:55 minutes long and features a table of contents and closed captioning.
Uniform & Model Laws Video -- by Susan Boland This video explains what a uniform law and model act are, explores the Uniform Laws Annotated set in print and online, demonstrates how to use the finding tools within this set, and discusses other online resources for uniform laws and model acts. This video is 7:43 minutes long and features closed captioning.
50 State Surveys Video -- by Susan Boland This video looks at how to find 50-state surveys of statutory law. It covers online and some print resources. The video is 9:28 minutes long and features closed captioning.

Lexis Tutorials & Help with Statutes

Please note that Lexis Advance is only available to law students and law faculty.

Lexis Advance® Reference Quick Guide (PDF)
Lexis Overview (YouTube) This 5:45 min. video provides an overview of Lexis
Lexis + Overview Brochure (PDF)
Common Research tasks (PDF)

Statutes & Legislative Research on Westlaw

How to Research Statutes on Thomson Reuters Westlaw Edge (PDF) This quick reference guide covers retrieving a statute by citation, browsing the table of contents, retrieving statutes using an index, retrieving statutes using the Popular Name Table, keyword searching for statutes, and navigating search results.
How to Research Judicial Interpretation of a Statute Video This 3:10 min. video covers using the Notes of Decisions, KeyCite, and research references.
How to Check the Status of a Statute Using KeyCite (PDF)
Quick Tips to Create a Survey Across Jurisdictions (PDF)
How to Gather and Analyze All 50 State Statutes and Regulations for a Legal Topic (PDF)
How to Compare Two Versions of a Statute
How to Compare Statutes from Different Jurisdictions (PDF)
How to Research the Legislative History of a Statute (PDF)

Bloomberg Law Tutorials & Help with Statutes

Please note that Bloomberg Law is only available to law students and law faculty. You must sign on to Bloomberg Law in order to access the tutorials.