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50-State Law Surveys. Cheryl Nyberg March 17, 2007 Dallas Association of Law Librarians. The Perils of Praline!. Preview. What types of 50-state law surveys are available? Where and how are they published? How can I find a 50-state law survey on a specific topic? How does she do that?.
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50-State Law Surveys Cheryl Nyberg March 17, 2007 Dallas Association of Law Librarians
The Perils of Praline!
Preview • What types of 50-state law surveys are available? • Where and how are they published? • How can I find a 50-state law survey on a specific topic? • How does she do that?
Why Me? • Compiler & editor since 1980 • Identified 16,000+ surveys in 20 volumes Subject Compilations of State Laws
Subject Compilations • 21 volumes • 1970s-date • Annual • 17,000+ state law surveys • Hundreds of subjects
Survey Says . . . • List • Identify • Describe • Summarize • Reprint
Charts • Sometimes include citations • Examples • An Overview of Abortion Laws [link] • Third-Party Visitation [link]
Tables • Usually include citations • Examples • Gift Cards & Gift Certificates [link] • State Laws & Published Ordinances—Firearms [link]
Summaries • Usually include citations • Examples • Congress Passes Prohibition of Qualified Civil Claims Against Gun Manufacturers and Distributors [link] • State Pet Shop Laws [link]
Full Text • Examples • Clergy as Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse & Neglect [link] • Open Government Guide [link]
Sources • Law review articles • Books & looseleaf services • Websites & commercial databases • Federal & state documents • Court briefs & opinions
Law Reviews • 700+ US law school, association & commercially published periodicals • Most indexed in the Current Index to Legal Periodicals [link]
Last Week • 63 issues • 404 articles • 15,177 pages 16 state law surveys
Using Law Reviews • LexisNexis & Westlaw versions link to statutes [link] • Except: tables & charts may be omitted or not linked [link]
Using Law Reviews • Hein Online PDFs don’t allow text selection • Use “View Text” option OR • Use Adobe online conversion tools [link]
On the Internet • 80+ from the last 3 years • Findlaw [link] • Law Reviews Online [link] • USC Legal Journals [link]
Brainstorm! • Abortion (159) • Attorneys (155) • Limited liability companies (152) • Sodomy (142) • Health insurance (141)
Top Five Subjects • Sex offenders (162) • Sexual abuse of children (174) • Labor law (193) • Living wills (284) • Capital punishment (328)
Super Subjects • Business & commerce • Criminal • Family • Health & medicine • Labor
Sources: Print • Current Publications in Legal & Related Fields (Rothman) • Law Books & Serials in Print (Bowker) • Legal Looseleafs in Print • Book reviews, footnotes, etc.
Sources: Online • Amazon [link] • LX [link] & WL [link] • OCLC WorldCat [link] • Publisher catalogs & websites • IndexMaster [link]
Citation Searching Ann. 44 states Stat. 25 states Code 23 states Rev. 14 states Google
Subject with • “states have laws” • “state laws on” • “state statutes on” • “state regulation of”
To Be Fruitful, Multiply! • Multiple searches • Multiple search engines
Search Engines • Search Engine Watch [link] • Meta search engines • Clusty [link] • Dogpile [link] • Kartoo [link]
The Usual Suspects • Associations • Government agencies • Public interest organizations
Abortion Animals Criminal justice Education Firearms Freedom of information Seniors Traffic Brainstorm!
Abortion • Guttmacher Institute [link] • NARAL Pro-Choice America [link]
Animals • Animal Legal & Historical Center [link] • Animal Protection Institute [link] • Humane Society of the US [link]
Criminal Justice • Am. Prosecutors Research Institute [link] • Legal Momentum [link] • National Center for Victims of Crime [link]
Education • Education Commission of the States [link] • Home School Legal Defense Association [link]
Firearms • National Rifle Association [link] • US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms [link]
Freedom of Information • Freedom of Information Center [link] • Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press [link]
Seniors • AARP Public Policy Institute [link] • National Center on Elder Abuse [link]
Traffic • Insurance Institute for Highway Safety [link] • US National Highway Traffic Safety Admin. [link]
Un-Subs • Encyclopedia of Associations (WL: EOA) • Associations on the Net [link] • Gateway to Associations [link] • InfoPlease, US Societies & Associations Directory [link]
National Conferenceof State Legislatures • 200+ surveys • Surveys & legislation tracking databases [link]