WHAT ARE SECONDARY SOURCES?
Secondary sources are research materials that lead you to primary authority.  They often cite or refer to other secondary sources for further research on a particular legal topic. They range from brief overviews of legal topics to in depth analysis of legal issues.  Secondary sources are useful because they help you understand the law, and most point to primary authority related to your legal research. 

top


SECONDARY SOURCES ONLINE
The law library provides access to secondary sources in print and online through Lexis, Westlaw, and HEIN Online.

top


LEXISNEXIS & WESTLAW
Access to secondary sources through Lexis and Westlaw are username and password driven.  Public patrons do not have access to secondary sources via Lexis or Westlaw.

Use HEIN Online to get the full text version of legal periodicals going back as far as 1808, the U.S. Statutes at Large from 1789, and other U.S. documents from 1794.

Access HEIN Online from the law school campus:  http://heinonline.org.  On the main page, click on:  SUBSCRIBERS, PLEASE CLICK HERE TO ENTER.  

top


HEIN ONLINE REMOTE ACCESS
Howard University students, faculty, and staff can use HEIN Online off campus or from a remote location.  To access HEIN Online remotely, please contact a Reference Librarian at the law library at:  Reference@law.howard.edu, or call 806-8208.

top


SELECTIVE LIST OF SOURCES
American Law Reports (ALR)

• Available on Lexis, Westlaw, and in print on the 2nd floor of the law library

American Jurisprudence (Am Jur)

• Available on Lexis, Westlaw, and in print on the 2nd floor of the law library

Bar Association Journals

• Available on Lexis, Westlaw, HEIN Online, and in print on the 3rd floor of the law library

Corpus Juris Secundum (CJS)

• Available on Westlaw, and in print on the 2nd floor of the law library

Handbooks, Legal Loose Leafs, and Manuals / state and topic oriented

• Available on Lexis, Westlaw, and in print on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th floor of the law library

Law Journals

• Available on Lexis, Westlaw, HEIN Online, and in print on the 3rd floor of the law library

Law Reviews

• Available on Lexis, Westlaw, HEIN Online, and in print on the 3rd floor of the law library

Legal Bulletins / state bar and topic oriented

• Available on Lexis, Westlaw, HEIN Online, the AV room and in print on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th floor of the law library

Legal Encyclopedias / state and topic oriented

• Available on Lexis, Westlaw, and the 2nd, 3rd, and in print on the 4th floor of the law library

For more information please contact a Reference Librarian at the law library at:  Reference@law.howard.edu, or call 806-8208.

top