Introduction to Legal Research
This page includes resources relevant to all areas of legal research, including information on the U.S. Constitution, statutes, and caselaw, as well as information on New York Law. You can also find links to databases for legal research and some suggested subject headings for searching our book catalog.
United States Constitution & Related Materials
- Interactive Constitution – National Constitution Center
- The Articles of Confederation – Yale Law School’s Lillian Goldman Law Library
- The Bill of Rights – National Archives
- Declaration of Independence – National Archives
- Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774 to 1789 – Library of Congress
- The Federalist Papers – Library of Congress
- United States Constitution – Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute
- United States Constitution – Annotated – Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute
Statutes, Regulations & Congressional Materials
- Administrative Procedure Law – Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute
- American Memory – Congress.gov
- Code of Federal Regulations – GovInfo
- Congress.gov
- Congressional Record – GovInfo
- Congressional Research Service – Congress.gov
- Cornell – U.S. Code – Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute
- EPA Laws & Regulations – US Environmental Protection Agency
- Federal Register – GovInfo
- Federal Rules of Procedure – Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute
- U.S. Code – GovInfo
- U.S. Statutes at Large 1789-1875 – Library of Congress
- U.S. Statutes at Large 1951 – 2020 – GovInfo
- Uniform Commercial Code – Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute
Case Opinions & Related Materials
- Cornell – U.S. Supreme Court Opinions – Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute
- CourtListener – by Free.Law
- Justia – Court Opinions
- SCOTUSBlog – Petitions We’re Watching
- U.S. Supreme Court Opinions
Executive Orders & Presidential Materials
- American Presidency Project – UC Santa Barbara
- Codification of Presidential Proclamations & Executive Orders – National Archives
- Executive Orders – BallotPedia
- Presidential Nominations & Appointments – Partnership for Public Service
- Presidential Proclamations – the White House
- Public Papers of the Presidents – National Archives
New York Law
- New York Case Law – Justia
- New York Constitution – New York State Senate
- New York Court of Appeals
- New York Courts
- New York Federal District Court Case Law – Justia
- New York State Consolidated Laws – FindLaw
Searching for…
Articles
Here you can find some suggested databases for article research related to the law.
- Criminal Justice – from ProQuest
- Criminal Justice Collection – from Gale
- General OneFile – Gale
- Google Scholar
- Omnifile Full Text Select – EBSCO
Law Reviews
Here you can find some databases allowing you to search multiple law reviews and law journals simultaneously.
For suggestions and links to individual law reviews, see the Law Reviews & Journals tab of this guide.
Books
Here you can find some suggested subject headings for looking for books on the law in our catalog. Click one of the subject headings below to be directed to a search in our catalog.