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University Law-Related Courses -Legal Research Resources Are Available For YouThis selective guide highlights major print and electronic resources available to Cleveland State University students researching issues in law-related courses. Please contact a Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Research Services librarian during their regularly scheduled hours or via email to research.services@law.csuohio.edu for help in locating these or other resources to meet your needs. Some of the links below lead to LexisNexis or other OhioLINK research databases and are only available on campus or to Cleveland State University students, faculty, or staff who will need to authenticate (name,C.S.U. ID number, and PIN) to access. Some links are to records in the Law library catalog, SCHOLAR. Use your browser's back button to return to this page.
Where to Start - A Legal Encyclopedia What about all of those abbreviations you see in citations? Finding Law Review/Journal Articles Searching Scholar and OhioLINK Finding Legislative Law - Ohio, Other States Finding Legislative Law - Federal - United States Code Finding Regulations from Federal Administrative Agencies Finding Regulations from Ohio Administrative Agencies Where to Start - A Legal EncyclopediaDo you have a citation? Any details or clues you can bring to the task can be helpful. Think of any terms and synonyms about the subject you want to research. If you need some basic information, or to get a general overview for a particular subject area, consider starting with a legal encyclopedia. Legal encyclopedias break down the law into topics and articles. alphabetically arranged, just as in a general encyclopedia. Footnotes refer you to laws enacted by legislatures, to specific court opinions written by judges, and to other articles or resources to further explain the subject. Start with the index to the encyclopedia. Check under the subject of interest to get a topic and section number within that topic. Then go to the specific volume for that topic, and that section number. Also, check the volume's pocket part supplement under the same topic and section number for more current information. For Ohio law, start with Ohio's legal encyclopedia, Ohio Jurisprudence 3d, in the Reference Area and the Ohio Room KFO 65 .O3543 Ohio Lemon Law Example Let's say that you bought a new car and had to take it back to the dealer many times for repairs. Many people would call that car a lemon. Is there something legally that can be done when you believe that your car is a lemon? What information can you find in Ohio law about this type of issue? Let's use Ohio's Lemon Law as an example to illustrate the types of materials you would use to research this matter. Start with the multi-volume softbound Ohio Jurisprudence 3d General Index I-P volume, and look for the phrase Lemon Law. Once there, you find a reference to a different heading, "See index heading Automobiles and Other Vehicles." Go to the General Index A-C volume, and under Automobiles and Other Vehicles, you find "Lemon law. Warranties, below." Check farther along under that same Automobilies and Other Vehicles, and under Warranties, the lemon law entry directs you to SALEPERS § 179 et seq. At the beginning of the Index volume you will find a Table of Abbreviations. Your abbreviation stands for the topic Sales and Exchanges of Personal Property. Now you can go back to the main set, look on the spines of the books until you find the volume that alphabetically should contain the article, Sales and Exchanges of Personal Property, and in that topic, turn to "§179 Generally." As you read, notice the footnotes which provide references to Ohio Revised Code (RC) sections, citations to court case opinions written by judges discussing and interpreting the law, as well as citations to other sections (§§) within the same article. Footnote 1 yields the following citation to the Ohio Revised Code: "R.C. §§1345.71 to 1345.78" Make a note of this and other citations that may be useful later. You may also want to glance at the table of contents for the topic in case there might be additional useful sections. And, don't forget to check the pocket part supplement which is right inside the back cover (or a separate supplement on the shelf next to the volume) under the same topic and section number, to get more current information. If you do not find enough information
related to your issue in Ohio's legal encyclopedia, or if you need information
relating to other states, or for a matter related to federal law (law
passed by Congress, court cases in the federal courts), consider using
a more comprehensive general legal encyclopedia. Consult American Jurisprudence
2d, Reference Area KF
154 .A422 and follow the same steps used with Ohio Jurisprudence 3d.
What about all of those abbreviations you see in citations?There is a standardized citation format that you will encounter for many types of legal sources. For court cases, the citation includes the names of the parties, followed by the places where that case can be found. The format begins with the volume number, followed by the abbreviation for the set of reports, followed by the page number on which the case begins, and the date of the decision. Example: Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602 (1966). The case called Miranda v. Arizona was printed in volume 384 of the set of court reports called the United States Reports (the official set published by the United States Government), beginning on page 436. It was also published in volume 86 of the set published by the West Publishing Company (now Thomson West) called Supreme Court Reports, beginning on page 1602. The decision was issued in 1966. You may also see another citation for this case, 16 L.Ed. 2d 694, for the case in the print set called U. S. Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers Edition, now published by LexisNexis, and the version you retrieve using LexisNexis Academic. For information on deciphering citations see the Cleveland-Marshall Law Library guide: How to Read a Legal Citation . For further information on citations see the standard legal style manual: The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (Columbia Law Review Ass'n et al. eds., 18th ed. 2005), available at the Law Library Information Services Desk KF 245 .B58
Mary Miles Prince, Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations, KF 246 .P74 2001 (Prince's 5th ed. 2001) available at Reference is very useful for unfamiliar abbreviations. Black's Law Dictionary, 8th Ed., Reference KF 156 .B53 includes many abbreviations listed on page xxv. It also is very useful for checking unfamiliar terms. Black's defines lemon law on page 920 as "A statute designed to protect a consumer who buys a substandard automobile, usually by requiring the manufacturer or dealer either to replace the vehicle or to refund the full purchase price." _____________________________________________________________________________________
Finding Law Review/Journal ArticlesLaw develops constantly. Researchers want to read periodical articles when they need current information about the law on a particular topic, or about a significant court decision, for example. Law schools publish one or several journals or law reviews, many published quarterly. Some, such as the Journal of Law and Health from C.S.U.'s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, concentrate on specific subjects, but many, such as the Cleveland State Law Review, contain articles on a wide range of topics. Sometimes there is a symposium issue, with articles from that event. Footnotes from law review articles can be an excellent method of obtaining citations to legislation, court cases, or other journal articles, enabling you to expand your research.
You can browse current issues of specific law school law reviews (print format) at the Law Library. Bring your C.S.U. ID (VikingCard) or other photo ID to the Information Services Desk and you may check out these issues for use in the Law Library for 2 hours. Volumes from earlier years (many bound volumes) are generally shelved on the Base Level of the Law Library, by call number, beginning with K 1. Titles with call numbers are listed on SCHOLAR.
See Finding Articles in Law Reviews, Journals and Other Legal Periodicals for an explanation of the legal periodical indexes and databases available to Cleveland-Marshall College of Law students and the C.S.U. community.
LexisNexis Academic To search for full-text articles of law reviews electronically, LexisNexis Academic is an OhioLINK research database available to CSU students, faculty, and staff on campus, and also off campus via authentication. It includes the contents of a very comprehensive collection of law school law reviews and many other law journals. To get to LexisNexis Academic, start at the University Library's Home Page, http://www.ulib.csuohio.edu/ , click on Research Databases, then the alphabetical list J-L (for the letter L,) then click on LexisNexis Academic. From the initial LexisNexis Academic screen, on the red tab, click on Legal. The default screen is the basic search screen for U.S. & Canadian Law Reviews, Combined. "Terms and Connectors" should be selected for your type of search. When constructing your search consider using connectors. (You can click from that screen for the details.) Type your search term or terms in the Keyword box: ohio lemon law For tips on constructing your search, look at the Tips section lower down on the screen. Note that the date drop-down menu defaults to "All years." That may be too long a time period, especially for some hot topicss. On the other hand, selecting too short a time period to use for searching law reviews (such as 6 months) . (Sometimes the most recent issue of a title is delayed in publication, and would have an older date on it.) Select All available dates, or whichever time frame you require. Click on the Search button. ___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Your search should yield at least eight results:
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Click on the first title listed to get to the full text of the law journal article. Note that it indicates the number of words in the article, title of article, author, summary, and then the full text of the article. To print the article, click on the Print tab at the top right corner of the screen, follow instructions, and print from your browser. The footnotes will be at the end of the article.
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To identify recent law review articles, Index to Legal Periodicals and Books (ILP) covers 1981 - the present. Please note: The Law Library has a print run of ILP in the Reference Area KF 8 .I54 The OhioLink access has recently ended. For articles written from 1918 to 1981, consult the ILP Retro. ILP Retro is available on campus, and should be available at the Law Library's Legal Research workstations.
For campus access, begin with the Law Library's home page, click on the Quick Links drop-down menu, and click on ILP / ILP Retro which takes you to the WilsonWeb Advanced Search screen.
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Click the boxes to select Legal Periodicals & Books and Legal Periodicals Retro. For our Ohio example, you want all three words to be searched, so in the first Search For: line type Ohio (and have the connector "and" in the drop-down menu); in the second box, lemon ( "and" in the drop-down menu), and in the third search box, law. You can indicate how you want the results sorted -- by relevance or by date. You can also limit by date. Click the Start button.
You should get a screen with at least 5 items.
Make a
note of the page number to the article you want to view. Click on
the
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Hein Online
Under Full Text, click on HeinOnline and another window will open taking you directly to that database of full-text law review articles, and to the volume of the publication that contains your article. Please note - Hein Online is not available from off-campus. In the new window, click on Volume Contents
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Scroll down to your title/page. Click on the link
and the article (in pdf) should appear.
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HeinOnline includes older law reviews not otherwise available electronically, and the ability to print a pdf version of the page. Generally the footnotes will be at the bottom of each page. Charts (if any) will be available in this format whereas they are likely not to be in some of the other databases. To print, at the top right of the article screen, click on Print/Download Options. Then select the pdf for Current section, if you want to print the entire article, or Current page pdf to print just the single page. (If you do not take the step of the Print/Download Options screen, and just print screens, the bottom few lines of each page are likely to appear on a second page - not what you want for a long article.) In HeinOnline, you can also search by author or title or subject, all of the journals, or a single journa's full text. The Tables of Contents for specific volumes can also provide helpful information. Links to law journal titles available on HeinOnline are included in SCHOLAR and in the Journal Finder (on the home page of both the University and Law Libraries.) ______________________________________________________________________________________
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Legal Collection Another OhioLINK option for indexing, abstracts, and full text for some major law review titles (and a number of other law titles, many of which have shorter articles than those scholarly articles in law school law reviews) is the Legal Collection from Ebsco.
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Searching Scholar and OhioLINK(Click for Scholar Hands-on Instruction) Use SCHOLAR to check for books on your topic owned by C.S.U.'s University and/or Law Libraries. From the SCHOLAR screen, select Keyword for your search.
If you don't know the exact subject heading used in an online catalog, you should try a Keyword search of words that you might expect to find in a title, author, description of contents, or subject heading. Enter the keyword search lemon law and it turns out that there is a title, Consumer Warranty Law: Lemon Law, Magnuson-Moss, UCC, Mobile Home, and Other Warranty Statutes, 3rd ed. / Carolyn L. Carter and Jonathan Sheldon / Boston, Mass.: National Consumer Law Center, 2006. Located on the Atrium Level of the Law Library under the call number KF 919 .C6 S42 2006, it is a title for use in the Law Library. This title is from a respected publisher, and would be worth checking. When you look under lemon laws (state), the Index refers you to Chapter 14, "New Vehicle and Motor Homes: Lemon Laws, Other Remedies," beginning on page 601. In addition, Appendix F contains a "State-by-State Analysis of New Car Lemon Laws" which gives summaries and code sections to facilitate your research. Looking for a book all related to Ohio law, lemon law may be too specific a topic to have an entire book about it, so, consider a broader concept. The title you just located had the word consumer in the title and in the subject headings, so it could be a useful keyword search term. Enter the Keyword search: Ohio Consumer Law
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Your results screen shows three entries. Look at the dates. A dash indicates an ongoing subscription to a title, whether a book with new editions, or a periodical.
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Click on the middle entry, Ohio consumer law / Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, Ohio State Legal Services Association and the screen displays the record for this handbook.
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with the location of each copy. In SCHOLAR, had you not found a title that seemed to apply to your issue, you could click on the OhioLINK button to automatically run your original search in the OhioLINK catalog. The OhioLINK catalog contains the holdings of over eighty (80) libraries across Ohio. It's possible that there is not an entire book on your issue. If you have any questions, ask your Law Library Research Services librarian.
Finding Legislative Law - Ohio, Other States
Legislatures create law by passing bills that are signed by the Executive and become Acts. In Ohio, the legislative body is called the General Assembly, and the Governor signs bills into law. A code is the compilation of legislated laws, arranged by topic or subject. Without codes, everyone would need to remember when a particular law was passed in order to research the law. Changes in the law, by new laws, or by amendments to the code (by later acts) are incorporated into the code. What is an annotated code and why do I care? If a code is annotated, the editors of that code have added additional information beyond the text of the law, specifically to help the researcher. Annotations may include citations to cases that the editor believes are related to the code section, cross references to other code sections, and perhaps history sections indicating information about amendments to the code section. Annotations also often include references to other books, practice manuals, and legal periodical articles which discuss the statute. Ohio: Over its history, Ohio has had a number of different Codes. The latest major revision was completed in 1953 and the current Ohio Code is called the Ohio Revised Code. For annotated versions of the Ohio Revised Code, with references that can lead you to other resources including court cases interpreting sections of the law, see: Baldwin's Ohio Revised Code Annotated (Thomson West) In print format, in Reference, Reserve, and Ohio Room: KFO 30 1953 .A4 Start with the Index, and then go to the title number, and then section number.
Page's Ohio Revised Code Annotated (LexisNexis) In print format, in Reference, Reserve, and Ohio Room: KFO 30 1953 .P3 Page's ORC is also available electronically, both on and off campus for C.S.U. students, faculty, and staff at: LexisNexis Academic Legal Research State Codes: Ohio Type in your code section 1345.71 in the Keyword box. Note that the Source includes the Ohio Revised Code, Ohio Constitution, Rules, and Advanced Legislative Service, which gets you to newer law.
Click on the Search button, and retrieve at least nine items.
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Click on the first result link, for ORC Ann. 1345.71, and the following screen appears. Note that this section contains definitions that may be important in other sections. As you scroll down, you will notice that the text of the law is followed by the annotations for that section which have been included by the editors of that publication.
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Looking for court decisions to see whether there may be a case involving the issue of whether a lessee of a new vehicle is a "consumer" for purposes of the lemon law, you find an annotation that refers you to the decision: Potente v. Peugeot Motors of Am., Inc., 62 Ohio Misc. 2d 335, 598 N.E.2d 907 (CP 1991). The Law Library would have this decision in print form, in the Ohio Room on the 1st Level, but to read this case electronically, copy one of the citations provided, go to the Lexis Nexis Academic State Case Law: Ohio page and paste the citation into the Search Terms box and be sure to change the Date box to All available dates.
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Click on the Search button for the following result:
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Click on the name of the case link, Pertuset, to get to the full text of the decision.
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Read the case to determine whether it is useful for your research. To print a document from LexisNexis Academic, click on the Print symbol in the top right corner of the screen, and follow instructions. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ If you only want the text of the law, an unannotated electronic version of the Ohio Revised Code, you can access LAWriter from anywhere via the Internet from the State of Ohio website. Click on the specific title ( for example: Title 13 Commercial Transactions - Ohio's Uniform Commercial Code, and then click to the specific section.
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Other States' Codes: Codes for other states are available electronically, both on and off campus for C.S.U. students, faculty, and staff at: LexisNexis Academic Legal Research/ State Codes Click on the specific state and search in the same manner as in other LexisNexis Academic databases. Code arrangement will vary by state. The Law Library has a current print annotated code for many states. The sets are shelved by call number, alphabetically by state, on the Atrium Level of the Law Library, beginning with KFA (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona), KFC (California), etc. Start with the index, and make sure to check the pocket part supplement for amendments to the law and newer annotations to court decisions.
Other titles may provide state-specific code citation references: Searching the Law, the States: A Selective Bibliography of State Practice Materials in the 50 States, 4th ed. / Francis R. Doyle / Ardsley, N.Y.: Transnational Publishers, 2003. 2 vols. Reference KF 240 .S43 2003 Martindale-Hubbell Law Digest -- Reference Area KF 190 .M374 Subject Compilations of State Laws -- Reference Area KF 240 .S795 Consumer Warranty Law: Lemon Law, Magnuson-Moss, UCC, Mobile Home, and Other Warranty Statutes, 3rd ed. / Carolyn L. Carter and Jonathan Sheldon / Boston: National Consumer Law Center, 2006. Atrium Level KF 919 .C6 S42 2006. Appendix F:"State-by-State Analysis of New Car Lemon Laws" -- summaries and code sections. ___________________________________________________________________________________________
Finding Legislative Law - Federal - United States Code
At the national level, the United States legislative body, Congress, passes bills, which when signed by the President, become the Public Laws of the United States. A code is the compilation of legislated laws, arranged by topic or subject. Without codes, everyone would need to remember when a particular law was passed in order to research the law. Changes in the law, by new laws, or by amendments to the code (by later acts) are incorporated into the code. What is an annotated code and why do I care? If a code is annotated, the editors of that code have added additional information beyond the text of the law, specifically to help the researcher. Annotations may include citations to cases that the editor believes are related to the code section, cross references to other code sections, and perhaps history sections indicating information about amendments to the code section. Annotations also often include references to other books, practice manuals, and legal periodical articles which discuss the statute. There are two annotated versions of the United States Code: The United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.) (Thomson West), Reference or 2nd Level
KF
62.5 .W45
or United States Code
Service (USCS) (LexisNexis), Reference KF62
.L38 Both contain a multi-volume subject index. Start there and then go to the Title and Section number. Remember to check the pocket part supplement or pamphlet under the same Title and Section number for updated information -- any amendments to the Code, references to newer court decisions, etc. Some sections of law may be a paragraph or a few pages, but there may be many pages of annotations. United States Code Service is also available via LexisNexis Academic
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For free electronic access from anywhere via the Internet to an unannotated U.S. Code, from the U.S. Government, at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode/index.html This site provides the text of the law, without any annotations that you would find in the privately published sets (U.S.C.A. or U.S.C.S.) that can lead you to court decisions interpreting the law. You can search by keyword.
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Finding Regulations from U.S. Federal Administrative AgenciesGovernmental agencies create rules and regulations that fill in the gaps left by their legislative bodies. The U.S. Congress may pass a new tax law but rarely will it contain all the details regarding who should pay the tax or how much or when it is due. Filling in the gaps is the job of the governmental agency, such as the Internal Revenue Service or IRS. Proposed regulations are published in the Federal Register, and there is a comment period. Final regulations are then published in the Federal Register. The regulations are then published by subject in a set called the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Conversely, if you have a CFR cite, and you want to check for changes, the Federal Register is a daily update of the CFR.
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) -- If you have a cite to the CFR, you can find the current year in print on the First Level rotunda (Reference Area) of the Law Library KF 70 .A3. The previous two years in print are on the Second Level, and the complete backrun of the CFR is available on microfilm and microfiche on the Base Level. You can search recent years of the CFR by words, or browse by section, at the Federal Government's GPO Access web site. To locate a section to print from pdf format, use the browse function. Federal Register (FR or Fed. Reg.) -- The current and prior year of the Federal Register in print are shelved on the First Level rotunda (Reference Area) of the Law Library KF70 .A2 and the complete backrun is available on microfilm and microfiche on the Base Level. You can access issues of the Federal Register 1994 - current from the Federal Government GPO Access web site. On the CSU campus, HeinOnline provides electronic access for earlier years (Vol. 1 - , 1936 -- several months ago.) You can search both titles online via LexisNexis Academic Use the drop-down menu to make sure that you are in the title (CFR or FR) you are expecting for your search.
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Finding Regulations from Ohio Administrative AgenciesThe Ohio Administrative Code is the Ohio compilation of state government administrative agency regulations. Its monthly update is called the Ohio Monthly Record. If you have a cite to the Ohio Administrative Code (Ohio Admin. Code or OAC) you will find it in the Law Library in print in Reference, Reserve Room, and Ohio Room KFO 34.5 .O35 . There is an index volume. You can also search or browse the Ohio Administrative Code electronically (LAWriter) via the Internet on the Ohio state government website.
____________________________________________________________________ Ohio Monthly Record - Ohio state government regulations as issued and arranged chronologically; published beginning 1977. Print format: available at Law Library Reference and Reserve (older volumes, Ohio Room) KFO 35 .A23 O35 Register of Ohio - "Providing Public Notice of State Agency Rule-Making" If you are looking for agency regulations for a specific state government agency, definitely take a look at the agency's website. Regulations may be found under a category such as "Laws, regulations, etc." ____________________________________________________________________ For additional information about researching Administrative Law, see the Law Library's Administrative Law Resource Guide. ____________________________________________________________________
Finding Court CasesStructure of the Ohio Judicial System - http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/introduction/structure/
If you have a citation and want the full text of the decision: Example: three parallel citations for the same case: 92 Ohio St. 3d 327, 750 N.E. 2d 531, 2001-Ohio-212
Print Options: You can go to the Ohio Room, 1st Level, on the left past the PC Lab, to a set of books, Ohio State Reports 3d Series (Ohio Official Reports, call number KFO 45 .A23,) go to Volume 92, and the case begins on page 327. Or, you can go to the Ohio Room, to a set called the North Eastern Reporter 2nd Series, Ohio Cases (call number KFO 47 .A2.) Check the physical volume that contains Volume 750, and go to page 531. In addition to the case, the NE 2d set has at the beginning of each case the Key Number information from the West editorial staff. These and other sets of Ohio reports are listed in Scholar, and in the red Range Guide notebook at the the Public Services Desk.
Electronic Options: The third citation above is to the Ohio Supreme Court's citation format, which you can use at the Ohio Supreme Court's web site http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/newpdf/default.asp Recent Ohio Appellate Court decisions are also available at that site.
LexisNexis Academic at the Law Library, University Library, or off campus provides access to full text court decisions. To get to LexisNexis Academic, start at the University Library's Home Page, http://www.ulib.csuohio.edu/ , click on Research Databases, then the alphabetical list J-L (for the letter L,) then click on LexisNexis Academic. Once at LexisNexis Academic, on the left side, click on Legal Research.
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If you have a case citation, you can "Get a Case" via LexisNexis Academic See LexisNexis Academic's "Get a Case" Citation Formats for proper format.
If your citation has a format like: 2004 Ohio App. LEXIS 226 use LexisNexis Academic's Get a Case to get to the full text. If you know the names of the parties, you may be able to locate the decision using Get a Case, although for some names, you are likely to retrieve an excessive number of results. A better route would be to go instead to State Case Law, Ohio, and type your search using this format: name(smith and toyota), perhaps also adding some additional terms you would expect to find in a decision. _________________________________________________________________________________________
If your citation has a format like: 1998 WL 172862 use Premise to get to the case. West Publishing Company's Premise CD Rom Workstation, Reference Area, 1st Level, provides full-text searching of Ohio court decisions, both those which have been Reported in the print sets of court reports, and those considered Unreported, but for which you may encounter citations. Use Premise if you are looking for an Ohio case that does not appear on LexisNexis Academic. You can obtain printouts of decisions at 10 cents per page.. If you are searching Premise by parties, use the format title(johnson and chrysler) . If you are looking for cases in which Johnson v. Chrysler Corp. was mentioned, your search may instead be johnson /5 chrysler.
In print format, if you have names of parties, check West's Ohio Digest's Table of Cases volumes, or Ohio Jurisprudence 3d (selective) for citations to decisions. _________________________________________________________________________________________
To identify Ohio court cases on a specific topic or issue:
Print Resources: West's Ohio Digest (West Publishing Co. - print format only) - Reference Area and Ohio Room KFO 57 .W47 Start with the Descriptive Word Index volumes. Check your subject and note any pertinent Digest Topic and Key Number. The set is arranged alphabetically by Topic. Go to the volume with your Topic, and check under the specific Key Number for brief digests of specific points of law, with the citations to those court cases. Also, check the pocket part supplement under the same Topic and Key Number, for newer case listings. Write down the citations to tne cases you want to read. Ohio Jurisprudence 3d (West Publishing Co. - print format only) Reference Area and Ohio Room KFO 65 .O3543 This legal encyclopedia is arranged alphabetically by topic. Start with the index to the set, and check under the subject of interest for a topic and section number within that topic. Then go to the topic itself and section number . Also, check the pocket part supplement under the same topic and section number to check for more current information. Write down the citations to pertinent court decisions. If you want court cases specifically about a section of the Ohio Revised Code, then start with Baldwin's or Page's Ohio Revised Code Annotated and note court case citations included in the annotations following the section of law. Ohio treatises or books on legal topics also include footnotes with citations to court decisions. _________________________________________________________________________________________ Electronic Resources:
LexisNexis Academic at the Law Library, University Library, or off campus. To get to LexisNexis Academic, start at the University Library's Home Page, http://www.ulib.csuohio.edu/ , click on Research Databases, then the alphabetical list J-L (for the letter L,) then click on LexisNexis Academic. Once at LexisNexis Academic, on the upper left side, click on Legal Research, then State Case Law, then Ohio. Consider using the Guided Search option (tab to get there) to take advantage of the drop-down menus for connectors and parts of the cases to search. Read the tips for searching. The particular court's cases searched, and the time frame, can also impact which cases you retrieve. West Publishing Company's Premise CD Rom Workstation in the Reference Area, 1st Level, provides full-text searching of Ohio court decisions, both those which have been Reported in the print sets of court reports, and those considered "Unreported." You may need to search in several places in that database, for different time periods for Reported and Unreported cases. Premise may contain some Ohio unreported cases that do not appear on LexisNexis Academic. You can obtain printouts of decisions for 10 cents per page. _________________________________________________________________________________________
Federal Courts - Structure - http://www.uscourts.gov/courtlinks/
U.S. Supreme Court and other Federal Court cases are available via LexisNexis Academic If you have a citation or parties' names, you use Get a Case, or you can go to the Federal Case Law section, and search terms, in a similar manner as for Ohio cases. This is the Guided Search screen that includes some useful drop-down menus for connectors and for parts of the documents to search. Select the specific court(s) to search, and also the appropriate dates. If you prefer the Basic search screen, select that tab.
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Recent U.S. Supreme Court cases are available at the U.S. Supreme Court Web Site http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/opinions.html You can find other electronic links on our Law Library Judicial Branch page. _________________________________________________________________________________________
News ArticlesNews Articles -- Perhaps some news articles can provide clues to assist in your legal research. For example, it makes a difference whether a senator is "planning to introduce a bill," compared to a situation where the President "has just signed a bill into law." Likewise, if an article notes the specific court in which a case has been decided, that information can help you determine where you will go to check for the availability of the decision. Names of the parties or the name of the judge, or date of the decision can all be very helpful. If you are looking for News items, try searching the LexisNexis Academic News Databases The Guided News Search screen (use the tab to get there) gives you steps and nice drop-down menus for the various options. For comprehensive coverage of national level issues: In Step One: Select the news category, General News, and in Step Two: Select a news source - Major Papers will get you to full text of the New York Times, Washington Post, and many others. For Ohio articles, in Step One select: U.S. , and in Step Two, Ohio. For international articles, in Step One select: World News, and in Step Two, select a region. Use date qualifiers in Step Four that aren't too great a time span. Search using the same techniques as in the Legal databases.
____________________________________________________________________________________________ Other Internet ResourcesYou are likely to find links to authoritative information on legal issues via major web portals such as the ones that you can find on the Law Library's Mega Sites and Legal Portals page. Among these important electronic legal information resources are: FindLaw.com - http://www.findlaw.com/ which provides the following about Lemon Law:
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____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Following links leads to organizations such as the: Better Business Bureau - www.bbb.org Help with your Lemon Law /Auto Warranty Problem
To identify additional organizations, CSU and CSU campus users may access the OhioLINK research database: Associations Unlimited Search this database using key words to obtain information about organizations, and links to their websites. An organization retrieved by the search lemon laws is the: Center for Auto Safety http://www.autosafety.org Once there, a tab takes you to
Need additional assistance? The Law Library's Research Services librarians are available during Research Services hours , or via email to research.services@law.csuohio.edu and are glad to assist you in locating these or other resources to meet your needs.
Marie Rehmar, Head of Reference Services and Schuyler Cook, Government Information/Reference Librarian rev. 8/28/2006; rev. 4/27/07mr;mr8/14/07 |
or
Corpus Juris Secundum Reference Area 
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to the left of item number 1. A new window should open up.
Write down the call number and location. When you take the copy off the
shelf, open it to the Index at the back (or perhaps the Table of Contents
at the front), and there is a chapter on Ohio Lemon Law. While reading
the text, note that the footnotes can lead you to laws, court cases, and
other references. This is one of the titles in the Baldwin's Ohio
Handbook Series, which the Law Library receives on a standing order for
new editions. 
