The following are important considerations to keep in mind when conducting research online.
Primary Sources
Primary materials are more likely to be available online than secondary materials. The U.S. federal government has especially made a point of trying to make official documents available online. It is also less expensive to publish electronically, so many governments are moving toward online-only government publication policy.
Secondary Sources
Secondary sources are less likely to be online (for copyright, use, and cost issues). However, many law journals are now published in both print and electronic formats.
Coverage Dates
With the exception of archival projects, most legal information on the internet is available beginning in the mid-1990s.
Citators
There are no free citators for ensuring that a law is still good.
Depth of Research
Free internet resources are likely the fastest (or only) option when looking for a single document or statistic. These resources are not as useful for in-depth legal research, such as looking for the ten best cases on your subject or making sure your case is still good law.
Research Guides
Research guides will often list useful print and Internet resoruces for legal research on a given subject. They can been a good starting point for legal research on an unfamiliar subject. Online research guides are generally free and most major law school libraries have collections of research guides on their websites. Remember that local and regional law libraries may have research guides on state-specific legal research.
Library Catalogs
Many law libraries now add links to Internet materials in their online catalogs. Searching a library's catalog is more exact than searching the Internet because libraries use standardized subject headings and uniform names that do not vary within a particular catalog or between catalogs. Library catalogs are also helpful because the librarians have already looked at resources and then made the decision to select that resource for their collection. Accordingly, the Internet resources linked in library catalogs will often be official or useful or both.
The University of Michigan Law Library has additional print and electronic resources, beyond the links in this guide. Check out our guide to Legal Resources for the Public for information on using the Law Library and performing legal research.
Call us at 734-764-9324
Text us at 734-329-5606
Email us at askalawlibrarian@umich.edu. Emails are answered by Librarians during standard business hours, Monday-Friday. Patrons may expect a response within 1-2 business days for most emails.
Consult with us. Schedule an appointment to meet with a Reference Librarian.
Visit us at the Information Desk on Sub-1 for immediate in-person assistance. Open 8 am - midnight, Sunday-Thursday, and 8am - 10pm, Friday-Saturday*
The chat service is available to all of our patrons but is designed to meet the legal research needs of U-M students, staff, and faculty.
Chat is monitored from 1-6 pm Monday-Wednesday and 1-5 pm Thursday-Friday on days when class is in session.
*Excluding University holidays and semester breaks--check library hours for more information. The Building and library are available to law school community ONLY after 6 pm, and are closed to all but law school community on home football Saturdays.
December 6, 2019
