Upon completing this Secondary Sources unit, you will be able to:
- Recall the distinction between primary and secondary sources of law;
- Describe the purpose and limitations of using secondary sources as a legal research tool;
- Distinguish the characteristics of each of the major types of secondary sources for legal research, to include legal dictionaries, legal encyclopedias, books and treatises, law review and journal articles, American Law Reports (ALR annotations), and Restatements of the Law;
- Find secondary sources using the law library's online catalog, free Internet resources, and electronic databases;
- Determine the currency of the various types of secondary sources and update them;
- Choose the appropriate secondary sources to help understand a specific legal issue and identify relevant primary sources;
- Demonstrate how to use finding aids for secondary sources, including indexes, tables of contents, and tables of authorities; and
- Cite secondary sources using the Bluebook.
