Law Subject Guide

Where do I start my research?	How do I find journal articles? (Databases)
How do I find books on my subject?	What are some useful Web sites?
How do I find case law?	How do I cite and manage my sources?
How do I find legislation?	Past exams
For help: Email: law.reference@utas.edu.au Phone: 6226 2841	Go to: Law Library Faculty of Law

Where do I start my research?

A good way to start your research is to define your topic by using law dictionaries and to find background information in encyclopaedias such as:

Butterworths Australian Legal Dictionary	Law Ref KL 40 .B97 1997
Laws of Australia	Law Ref KL 39 .L3 1993
Osborn's Concise Law Dictionary	Law Ref KL 40 .O84 1993
Halsbury's Laws of Australia	Law Ref KL 39 .H32 1973

In the reference section you can also find subject specific encyclopaedias and dictionaries:

Crime and Criminology	Law Ref KM 695 - KM 706
Medical Law	Law Ref KN 185
Torts	Law Ref KB 100
International Law	Law Ref KC 71 - KC 405
Human Rights	Law Ref KC 200 - KC 217

How do I find books on my subject?

To find books on your subject you can:

search the Library Catalogue using the 'subject keyword' or 'general keyword' option.
OR
browse the bookshelves using these call numbers:

Law Library:

Jurisprudence	KA
Comparative Law	KB 100 - 250
International Law	KC 100 - 1999
Conflict of Laws	KC 2000 -2150
Religious Legal Systems	KD
Ancient and Medieval Legal Systems	KE
Legal Systems	KL1-49
Legal Profession	KL 50-129
Legal Research	KL 130-180
Legal History	KL 400 -489
Constitutional Law	KL 30 - 299
Administrative Law	KM 300 - 399
Taxation	KM 335 - 359
Criminal Law	KM 500 - 699
Criminology	KM 700 - 799
Contract	KN 10 - 29
Tort	KN 30 - 39
Property Law	KN 60 - 95
Succession	KN 120 -149
Family Law	KN 170 - 179
Industrial Law	KN 190 - 199
Trusts	KN 210 - 219
Commercial and Company Law	KN 250 - 349
Evidence	KN 390 - 394

How do I find case law?

You can find authoritative cases on a subject by searching case annotators and digests in print and online. You can also search full text case law databases using subject keywords or catchwords.

Indexes to case law | Case law databases

Indexes to case law

ALMD (Australian Legal Monthly Digest)

This monthly publication includes summaries of significant reported decisions arranged alphabetically. There are Cumulative Tables published every six months which make it easier and faster to find information .Tables include indexes, tables of cases and words and phrases.

ALMD (Australian Legal Monthly Digest) is held in print at:
Law RepDigest KH 51 .L4

CaseBase

CaseBase is a case citator and annotator for over 35,000 cases. It covers over 60 law reports from Australia and the United Kingdom. There are links to the full text of unreported judgments from the High Court and the Supreme Courts of all Australian states and territories. There are references to journal articles from over 100 Australian and overseas legal journals.

Australian Current Law - Reporter

Australian Current Law has the latest up-to-date case law. It indexes all available judgments from the High Court, the Federal Court and the State Supreme courts, and contains important decisions from the Family Court, AAT and selected tribunals. There are links to Halsbury's Laws of Australia and the Unreported Judgments database.

Australian Current Law - Reporter is also held in print at:
LawRep Digest KH 51 .A9

Case law databases

AustLII	Unreported judgments from the Australian Commonwealth, states and territories, searchable by general keyword and case name.
Unreported Judgments	Unreported judgments in full text from the a High Court of Australia, the Federal Court of Australia and the Supreme Courts of all Australian States and Territories. The database is searchable by Case Name, Citation, Catchwords and general keywords. Contains over 108,600 judgments and spans more than a decade of Australian case law. Unreported Judgments online is updated daily and contains links to the Australian Law Reports and CaseBase.
LexisNexis International	Full text case law from Australia, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and other European countries, searchable by party name, catchword or subject keyword.
Westlaw International	Full text case law from Australia, the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Canada, and other countries, searchable by party name, catchword and subject keyword.

Specific law reports are available online, for example Australian Law Reports, Commonwealth Law Reports, Federal Law Reports. You can find these and others by either going to the Library Catalogue or to the Law Reports Available Online help sheet.

How do I find legislation?

Legislation is the general term used to describe laws made by a Parliament. Legislation exists in a number of forms - Bills, Statutes or Acts of Parliament and Subordinate or delegated legislation.

You can find legislation on a subject by searching the subject indexes of legal encyclopaedia and statute annotators. You can also search full text legislation databases by subject keyword.

Indexes to legislation | Legislation databases

Indexes to legislation

ALMD (Australian Legal Monthly Digest)	This monthly publication includes recent legislative developments. There are specialised tables which make the finding of information faster and easier. Tables include a Legislation Index, legislation judicially considered, statutes passed, amended, repealed or commenced during the year , a table of subordinate legislation, a table of bills and a table of reprinted legislation. ALMD (Australian Legal Monthly Digest) is held in print at: Law RepDigest KH 51.L4
Australian Current Law - Legislation	Australian Current Law - Legislation contains the latest legislative changes. It is possible to search the legislation database for material dating from 1991. The most up-to-date amendments to Acts, Regulations and other statutory instruments in all jurisdictions are available. Australian Current Law -Legislation is held in print at: LawRep Digest KH 51 .A9
Commonwealth Statute Annotator	Details amendments to principal Commonwealth Acts and selected regulations since the latest reprint and includes case annotations and article references. The Commonwealth Statute Annotator is held in print at: Law Statute KH 18 .A2
Indexes to the Legislation of Tasmania	This index is divided into three parts, explanatory notes, a table of acts and statutory rules and a subject index. Indexes to the Legislation of Tasmania is also held in print at: Law Stat KH 126 .I48
Wicks' Subject Index to Commonwealth Legislation	A subject index to Commonwealth Acts and subordinate legislation currently in force. Wicks' Subject Index to Commonwealth Legislation is held in print at: Law Stat KH 18 .W5

Legislation databases

AustLII	AustLII contains Acts and subordinate legislation from the Australian Commonwealth, states and territories, searchable by act name and general keywords.
ComLaw	ComLaw is the official site for Commonwealth legislation and legislation for non self-governing territories. It includes Commonwealth primary legislation in electronic form, and the new Federal Register of Legislative Instruments (FRLI) that was established on 1 January 2005.
Lawlex	Lawlex provides access to the full text of Australian legislation including bills, acts and regulations. All jurisdictions are covered. The Search Legislation function in Lawlex is freely available to everyone.
LexisNexis International	Full text legislation from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and other European countries, searchable by act name and subject keyword.
Tasmanian Legislation	The EnAct web site gives access to current Tasmanian Acts, and subordinate legislation from 1998. It is searchable by Act name and subject keyword. It is possible to view and print individual Parts, Divisions, Subdivisions and Schedule Parts. Users are able to view a point-in-time summary that shows parts of the legislation as they have changed through time.
Westlaw International	Full text legislation from the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Canada and other countries, searchable by party name and subject keyword.

How do I find journal articles?

The Library holds journals in print and electronic format.

When you find an article you want to read, use the Library Catalogue or the E-journals list to see if we hold a print copy or have access to the electronic copy in full-text. E-journals in Lexis and Westlaw are not found in the E-journal list.

Some databases listed will have direct links to the full-text article.

Law Databases | Multi-discipline databases | Journal title abbreviations

Law Databases:

AFPD (Australian Federal Police Digest)	A database that indexes and abstracts articles from published and unpublished material on policing, criminology, law enforcement, management, law, occupational health and safety, and social sciences. Material is sourced from Australian and overseas journals, conference papers and chapters of some books.
AGIS Plus Text (Attorney-General's Information SAervice Plus Text)	An indexing and full text database that provides access to journal articles from more than 400 journals on all aspects of Australian law. The majority of articles are from Australia, New Zealand and Pacific law journals but there are selected articles from major law journals from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The subject coverage includes administrative law, banking, companies and securities, constitutional law, copyright law, criminal law, environmental law, family law, human rights, international law and trade practices.
CINCH (Australian Criminology Database)	A database that indexes and abstracts articles from published and unpublished material on all aspects of crime and criminal justice from 1968-. The Australian Criminology Database covers corrections, crime, crime prevention, criminal law, criminology, juvenile justice, law enforcement, police and victims of crime. Included are articles, books, conference papers, government documents, book reviews, theses, research in progress and some statistics.
LexisNexis International	Offers full text law reviews and journals, and legal commentary, from a wide range of jurisdictions including the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
Westlaw International	Offers full text law reviews and journals, and legal commentary. Jurisdictions covered include the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, European Union, and Australia.

Multi-discipline Databases:

APA-FT (Australian Public Affairs - Full Text)	An indexing and full text database of journal articles on social sciences and humanities. Subject areas include business, health, current affairs, economics, humanities, law, literature, politics and social sciences. There are over 2000 journals in APAIS . Approximately half of these are from 223+ comprehensively indexed journals. Source documents include a wide range of periodicals, newspapers, scholarly journals, conference papers and books.
AusStats (Australian Bureau of Statistics	Australian Bureau of Statistics database provides a national statistical service covering new releases each month, products, services, and information. As well as providing financial and economical statistics, the ABS has a strong interest in broader social indicators.
ProQuest	ProQuest provides access to thousands of current periodicals and newspapers, many updated daily and containing full-text articles from 1986. Includes references to popular and academic journal articles.

Journal title abbreviations:

Butterworths' Australian Legal Dictionary	Held at the Law Library Information Desk.
Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations	Lists and expands abbreviations for law reports and journals, from the British Isles, the Commonwealth and the United States, including those covering international and comparative law.
Osborn's Concise Law Dictionary	Held at the Law Library Information Desk.

Useful Web Sites

Web sites | Guide to using the World Wide Web

Web sites:

AustLII	AustLII (Australasian Legal Information Institute) subject category provides links to online indexes, legal commentary, online journals, and the web sites of law related treaties and international agreements.
CataLaw	CataLaw is a catalogue of legal web sites on the Internet. It arranges indexes of law and government by topic and by region, with an 'extra info' option available for different types of users, for example law libraries and law students.
Google Scholar	Google Scholar is a free web site which enables you to search for scholarly articles from selected law journals. Google Scholar can be used to find articles from a wide variety of academic publishers, professional societies and universities.
Legal Resources in the UK and Ireland	Legal Resources in the UK and Ireland provides a set of links to useful legal resources relating to various branches of UK law.
WebLaw	Weblaw is a co-operative subject index to Internet resources for Australian legal researchers. Covers both government and non government organisations, international resources, statistics and publications.
WorldLII( World Legal Information Institute)	WorldLII (World Legal Information Institute) is a free global legal research facility. It includes links to AustLII, British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII), Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII), Hong Kong Legal Information Institute (HKLII), Legal Information Institute (Cornell) (LII Cornell), Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute (PacLII) and Wits University School of Law (Wits Law School) as well as its own collection of databases not found on other LII's. Databases include case-law, legislation, treaties, law reform reports, law journals, and other material. The WorldLII Catalog provides links to over 15,000 law-related web sites worldwide.

How do I cite and manage my sources?

Below are guides to citation styles and other aspects of presentation. The citation styles that you use will depend on the policies of the schools that you are studying in and specific publications.

The University has a site license for EndNote software, to help manage your sources when undertaking in-depth research. The Library provides training in EndNote.

Legal Referencing (2nd edition)	Law Res K 114 .S78 2001
EndNote 9	Information about Endnote - how to download the software, filters, connection files, styles and an introductory guide to using the most basic functions.

Library Home