In light of the exciting new advances going on in generative AI, I thought it would be helpful to provide students with some high-quality resources so that you can wield this technology effectively. Obviously, this is still a developing field and you need to exercise caution when you are applying this technology.

Suffolk University Boston’s Law School’s Libguide, “Student Guide to ChatGPT”

This brief guide will give you the broad strokes of how what ChatGPT is and how you could potentially use it in law school (and beyond). It gives a brief technical overview of how the technology works and…
Continue Reading ChatGPT, Bing, Generative AI, and Law School

HeinOnline is a deep resource with tons of primary documents, scanned beautifully and OCR’ed for your research needs. If you are interested in a brief introduction to using HeinOnline for law school research, we have created one on our YouTube channel in our Introduction to Topical Research Databases.

Today HeinOnline released an exciting new addition to our law school accounts: Law Library of Congress Reports.

HeinOnline’s Law Library of Congress Reports collection was developed in conjunction with the Law Library of Congress. It contains more than 3,000 reports on foreign, comparative, and international law written by the Law Library of Congress…
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The Law Library provides you with unlimited access to a number of premium resources while you are in school and even after you graduate. But it’s important for you to know that your access may change during the summer or if you graduate. You may face limitations while using these platforms for non-academic work, such as representing clients in a commercial law firm.

Summary of Legal Research Platform Access

ServiceSummer AccessPost-Graduation AccessImportant NotesBloomberg LawUnrestricted access (academic or commercial use).6 months after graduation.Lexis Unrestricted access (academic or commercial use).6 months after graduation. Can apply for 12 months of access if working…
Continue Reading Summer 2023 and Post-Graduation Use of LexisNexis, Westlaw, Bloomberg Law

Are you looking for a reliable and comprehensive research guide to international and foreign law? Look no further than the Ross-Blakely Law Library’s guide. This guide provides researchers with detailed information on all aspects of international and foreign law with individual pages for each of the following sections:

Secondary Sources 

Embark on your legal research journey with the aid of secondary sources, which offer invaluable insights and comprehensive overviews of a wide array of legal topics. Delve into our curated list of essential secondary sources, encompassing legal encyclopedias, scholarly law reviews, and authoritative treatises. For instance, you might consult…
Continue Reading International and Foreign Law Research at the Ross-Blakely Law Library

Arizona legal research can be overwhelming for any law student, even if you have lived in Arizona your entire life. With so many resources available, it’s easy to feel uncertain about where to begin. Furthermore, legal research in Arizona presents unique complexities that you may be unaware of, regardless of how familiar you are with the state.  

Fortunately, the Arizona Law Research Guide is here to help. This guide provides a wealth of information on sources of primary law in Arizona, including Arizona Courts, Arizona Legislature, and Arizona Constitutional History.  Since it covers both free and…
Continue Reading Our Favorite Guide to Arizona Legal Research

The law library has many resources for sports and entertainment law research, like our detailed research guide, but today we want to introduce you to HeinOnline’s amazing database called “BLASE,” which is short for Business and Legal Aspects of Sports and Entertainment.

BLASE is the ultimate database for anyone interested in the legal implications of sports and entertainment industries. It’s like having your own personal coach to guide you through the legal hurdles of the entertainment industry, minus the sweat and the gym membership. It has books, scholarly articles, congressional documents, important cases, legislative histories, etc.  It is intended…
Continue Reading Shooting for Success: Tips and Tricks for Conducting Winning Sports Law Research

One of our great joys as law librarians is seeing the incredible research and writing that is produced by the faculty and students of this wonderful institution. We love it so much that each year we host an Award for Exemplary Student Research.

To win this award, you do not need to produce “new” research – only provide a short write-up of research that you have done in the last year.

First Place: $500

Second Place: $250

Details can be found on the award website, including submission instructions. You still have time to put something together this weekend…
Continue Reading Last Call: Law Library Research Contest

Academic libraries play a vital role in supporting faculty and students by providing access to academic resources that can enhance research and instruction. One of the database providers that we subscribe to is Gale, owned by Cengage, which offers a variety of databases to support these efforts.

ASU Law Has Five Law-Specific Databases on Gale

Making of Modern Law: Legal Treatises, 1800-1926

Provides legal treatises on US and British law published from 1800 through 1926 with full-text searching.

Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources

Consists of a fully searchable digital archive of early state codes, constitutional conventions, municipal codes, legal…
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Have you ever noticed small bells, envelopes, or concentric semicircular lines when performing legal research? Those symbols can help you make sure that you’re up to date, and our new library guide, Keeping Current, makes it even easier to navigate the many ways databases and websites help you track developments.

The law is not a static creature, quietly collecting dust like an ancient tome on a shelf. It’s a hyperdynamic beast constantly reinventing itself as judges rule, lawmakers legislate, and scholars publish.

The Keeping Current guide provides instructions, including video tutorials (also at the bottom of this blog post),…
Continue Reading Keeping Current: Staying Updated Across Many Platforms and Services

Citation managers are software programs that help scholars, researchers, and students keep track of their sources and organize their citations. They are particularly useful for academics, lawyers and students who need to cite a large number of sources in a consistent and accurate way.

Citation Managers and the Bluebook

One of the main challenges with citation managers is that they do not work well with The Bluebook citation style, which is commonly used in law schools. This style is known for its complex rules and formatting requirements, and many citation managers are not equipped to handle it. This can make…
Continue Reading Writing a Large Paper?  Consider a Citation Manager

Lawyers and librarians alike have a way with words, spending much of their time with books and internet databases, reading, researching, and writing. But we also must step up and let our voices be heard. Whether law students are undergoing the first-year rite of passage of delivering oral arguments in their finest legal attire or honing their presentations for a moot court championship, the librarians can help budding public speakers maximize their persuasiveness.

Students preparing for the Legal Advocacy argument should check out the Law Library’s First Year Legal Writing page. This research guide points to useful resources for modeling…
Continue Reading Resources Enhance Oral Advocacy

The Ross-Blakley Law Library Award for Exemplary Student Research is not just any writing competition. As research experts, the librarians are looking for the best examples of effective gathering and synthesis of resources, in print or online.

Current Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law 2Ls, 3Ls, MLS students, and LLM students are eligible to submit their entries. The top prize is $500 and second place receives $250.

Students must submit a minimum 3,750-word scholarly paper with citations in Bluebook format, written June 2022-March 2023. Entries must not be prepared for moot court, employment, or an Advanced Legal Research course, but they may…
Continue Reading Hit the Books (and Databases) to Win Law Library Award for Exemplary Student Research