General Research Databases | Book Finders | Government Documents | Journals, Newsletters & Indexes
Non-Legal Databases | Subject-Specific Databases | Treaties & International/Foreign Docs
Accessing the Databases
Unless otherwise indicated, the databases linked on this page are available only to current CUNY students, faculty and staff.
For home access to non-Lexis or Westlaw databases you must obtain a library barcode number and enter it when prompted. If
you are having trouble accessing any of the databases, see our database access help page for more information.
Finding Journals by Title
Use the Electronic Journal Finder if you are looking for a particular journal in full-text and want to know it it's available in an electronic database that CUNY School of Law has access to. If you do not find a particular journal, or you have trouble accessing a journal link that appears in the results list, please contact one of our librarians.
General Research Databases
This link lists all the BNA databases our library subscribes to and provides a convenient link to sign up for email summaries from BNA. The BNA databases we subscribe to are also listed separately in the Subject-Specific category of the page you are now viewing. Many BNA databases are also available through Westlaw if you prefer to access them that way.
Contains reports written by Congressional Quarterly's editors about current issues in society affecting legislation in Congress. In depth analysis of both sides of each issue is presented. Reports go back to 1991 and may be searched or browsed by subject/date. When viewing reports, the "CiteNow!" link includes an option to display the Bluebook citation for the report.
Initially
known for its large archive of law reviews, this constantly expanding
collection of resources now also includes many historical federal
primary source materials.
CUNY Law students can go to this Web site and sign-up for a password. Ask a librarian for details on gaining access.
A free version of Lexis that allows you to search all U.S. Supreme Court decisions going back to 1781, as well as most
federal and state appellate decisions from the last 5 years. Over 6,000
free legal forms are also available through this site. Additionally,
there is a "pay-as-you-go" option that allows you to use Lexis to
obtain other documents without a password by using a credit card.
Book Finders
If
you click on this link from a computer on the law school's network, you
should enter the law school's catalog by default (indicated at the top
of the search screen). Accessing the catalog from outside the law
school will default to the general catalog containing the holdings of
all CUNY libraries, or to a different individual CUNY library if you
are on their campus network. Use the links on the search page to select
any individual CUNY library you wish, or all libraries at once.
Provides
direct links to law library catalog search pages. Mostly U.S. law
schools, but includes some other types of law libraries and a few
Canadian law libraries as well.
From the provider: "The HeinOnline Legal Classics Library offers more than 1,200 works from some of the greatest legal minds in history, including Joseph Story, Louis Brandeis, Benjamin N. Cardozo and Edwardo Coke. In addition to many "classics", this collection includes rare items that are found in only a handful of libraries around the world. The collection focuses on constitutional law, political science, and other classic topics."
An
online catalog that allows you to search millions of bibliographic
records from OCLC member libraries. Note that this particular resource
is not a "legal database" as it contains records for books from all
disciplines, not just law. It has been included on this Web page as a
source to find books that aren't contained in the collection of the
CUNY School of Law Library. Please contact our library if you are
having difficulty finding a specific book or wish to obtain one through
interlibrary loan.
Government Documents
This is the most comprehensive online resource we have available for finding and downloading congressional documents. Full-text documents are available in most years for House & Senate Reports (1819 - ), House & Senate Documents (1817 - ), Legislative Histories (1969 - ) and the U.S. Serial Set (1789 - 1969). The collection also includes indexes for Committee Hearings (1824 - ) and Committee Prints & Misc. Publications (1830 - ), with limited full-text available for those documents as well. If you find a reference to a document that is not available in full-text, please see one of our reference librarians for help in obtaining it through other means. Using the advanced search function allows you to search for the documents mentioned above in combination or individually. Additional areas of the collection include the full-text of U.S. Public Laws (1988 - ), U.S. Statutes at Large (1789 - ), GAO reports (2004 - ), the C.F.R. (1981 - ), the Federal Register (1980 - ) and more. There is also a section with information about members of Congress that includes voting records and identification of campaign contributors. Available only to current CUNY School of Law students and faculty.
Provides access to the Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations from inception to within a few months of the current date.
Provides searchable databases of old U.S. Government documents, most of which
are not available through Lexis, Westlaw or Internet sources. Also includes state law sources, as well as some foreign and international law. The collection is constantly growing, so check the information links on the site to learn more about what is actually contained in each database. Produced by the Law Library Microform Consortium, which is gradually converting its huge repository of government documents from microform to digital format.
According to the publisher's description, this is a "comprehensive source for identifying thousands of articles, books,
government documents, loose-leaf services, court opinions and Internet sites that compare state
laws on hundreds of subjects." Includes over 18,000 bibliographic records. When material in the record is available on HeinOnline or through other selected Internet sources, a link is provided.
Includes official opinions from 1871-1982, annual reports from 1870-2005, and opinions of the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice from 1977-1996. Also includes various historical documents, such as the Opinions of the Confederate Attorneys General 1861-1865.
Coverage includes the U.S. Statutes and Large as well as the Congressional Record and its predecessor publications containing the debates of Congress going back to the earliest volumes.
A
growing collection of federal agency decisions from the Board of
Immigration Appeals, National Labor Relations Board, Federal Trade
Commission, Securities & Exchange Commission and many others.
The
"U.S. Federal Legislative History Title Collection" includes full-text
legislative histories for a small group of laws selected based on
historical significance, The "Sources of Compiled Legislative History
Database" provides citations to books, journal articles and other
sources that have compiled legislative histories for other laws.
Additional documents provide guidance on how to compile your own
legislative history.
A
collection of various historical Presidential documents, executive
orders, inauguration speeches, etc. Includes the Weekly Compilation of
Presidential Documents from inception to within a few months of the
current date.
Includes U.S. Reports from inception to within the past year and related publications.
More Sources of Government Documents and Information
See our Federal Law and Government page.
Journals, Newsletters & Indexes
Enter the title of a legal or non-legal journal to see if it's available in full-text in an electronic database that CUNY School of Law has access to. The search result screen will include links and date coverage information for each database that includes the journal. Databases covered include Lexis, Westlaw, HeinOnline and many other legal and nonlegal databases listed on the search page. If you do not find a particular journal, or you have trouble accessing a journal link that does appear in the results list, please contact one of our librarians.
The
publisher, the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law,
describes this as "The nation's intellectual marketplace for legal aid
lawyers and others to share ideas and plant seeds for legal and policy
innovation."
This page provides links to the law journals available through DOAJ. Access to these journals is free and many of them provide full-text search options. However, you can't search multiple journals at the same time through DOAJ. DOAJ as a whole provides links to over 3.900 peer-reviewed, scholarly journals covering a variety of subjects (mostly in the sciences).
This site provides access to three peer-reviewed law journals: Global Jurist Fontiers, Global Jurist Advances and Global Jurist Topics.
A
free environmental index database hosted by EBSCO. This is not a legal
database, but it is included on this page because it includes much
law-related content. GreenFILE indexes scholarly and general interest
titles, as well as government documents and reports. The database
contains nearly 300,000 records, full text for selected titles and
searchable cited references for more than 200 titles as well.
Provides
full-text access to articles from hundreds of law review titles and
goes back much further than Westlaw or Lexis in many cases.
Indexes legal literature concerning foreign (non-Anglo-American) law. Coverage from 1985 - present.
This
link provides access to two H.W. Wilson databases: "Index to Legal
Periodicals and Books" (1982 - present) and "Index to Legal Periodicals
Retrospective" (1918 - 1981). You may select either database or search
both simultaneously. These databases provide digital access to the
complete book series that previously required searching through
multiple hard copy volumes.
Covers 1958 - within past year. Indexes journals that are not included in legal periodical indexes. This was originally a print based index and can be browsed by time period. The search feature doesn't search the actual print copies but searches a separate database that was created for that purpose. Be sure to read the search tips under the "Resources" tab to make the best use of this database.
Provides indexing for more than 1,400 legal periodicals, plus law-related articles from over 1,000 additional business and general interest titles.
This
is a weekly update service on developments in all areas of law from
across the United States. Previous issues are searchable back to 1997.
Links are provided to access the full text of U.S. Supreme Court and
other decisions reported in this publication. A separate link is
available to take you to the Supreme Court Today
portion of this site, which includes docket information and and search
capabilities for U.S. Supreme Court Opinions. Published by the Bureau
of National Affairs (BNA).
Non-Legal Research Databases
Go to our Non-Legal Databases page.
Subject-Specific Databases
Reports news about antitrust law issues and cases. Includes links to the full-text
of cases discussed and a searchable database.
This free database collects cases on selected civil rights topics where injunctive relief was the objective rather than money damages. Includes links to decisions, docket information and some court documents such as complaints and briefs. More information.
Reports news about criminal law issues and cases. Includes links to the full-text
of cases discussed and a searchable database.
Reports news about employment discrimination issues and cases. Includes links to the full-text
of cases discussed and a searchable database.
Our subscription provides access only to the environment materials in this database.
Reports news about family law issues and cases. Includes links to the full-text
of cases discussed and a searchable database.
Reports news about health law issues and cases. Includes links to the full-text
of cases discussed and a searchable database.
Reports news about human resources issues and cases. Includes links to the full-text
of cases discussed and a searchable database.
Reports news about international environmental issues and cases. Includes links to the full-text
of cases discussed and a searchable database.
An extensive resource for labor and employment law research. Includes links to cases, reference manuals, finding aids and more.
Provides online access to the index and table of cases for the BNA Labor Relations Reporter.
The full text of sources cited in the index can be found in the hard
copy version of that set, located in our Library under call number KF 3420.5 .L3.
Publisher's
description: "A collection of over 500,000 legal documents, the Poverty
Law Library is the information source for frontline legal aid
attorneys. Whether they are preparing for an individual case or a class
action suit or drafting legislation, our library is their virtual law
firm." Provided by the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law.
Reports news about securities regulation law issues and cases. Includes links to the full-text
of cases discussed and a searchable database.
Treaties, International and Foreign Law Documents
Includes
archival access to earlier versions of constitutions. Note that pop-up
blockers may disable certain functions, so check the "help" menu on the
vendor's site if you experience problems.
From HeinOnline: "This collection encompasses the decisions of the English Courts prior to the commencement of the Law Reports in 1865. It represents reprints of 275 separate series of reports, arranged by the English Courts: House of Lords, Chancery, Rolls Court, etc. The English Reports, Full Reprint contains over 100,000 cases reprinted verbatim and spans the years 1220 to 1867." More information.
From the publisher's introduction: "This work endeavors to provide the lawyer or legal researcher with relevant information on sources of foreign law, including complete bibliographic citations to legislation, the existence of English translations whenever possible, indications of currentness of the legal materials listed, and, finally, selected references to secondary sources in English." Also includes information on international convention and treaty sources.
An excellent free resource providing links to foreign, international and comparative law resources on the Web. Maintained by the Hauser Global Law School Program at NYU School of Law.
Indexes legal literature concerning foreign (non-Anglo-American) law. Coverage from 1985 - present.
Reports news about international environmental issues and cases. Includes links to the full-text
of cases discussed and a searchable database.
Indexing
is it's primary function, but it also includes the full-text of
selected documents. If the particular documents you want are not
available in full-text on this database, note the citations and ask our
Reference Librarians where you might be able to obtain the documents.
Many UN documents are also available in full-text from the UN Documentation Centre Web site, listed above.
Includes a wide range of official and unofficial treaty documents, indexes, guides and other materials. This collection focuses on U.S. treaties. For international conventions and treaties to which the U.S. is not a party, consult the Foreign Law Guide using its "Conventions & Treaties" link. Additional treaty research sites are linked under the "Treaties" category of our International & Foreign Law page.
