| Add Site Search Law Library Contact Us Add Site Search Law Library Contact Us ... LawTech Research Guide No. 13 LEGAL PERIODICALS Washburn University School of Law Library Legal periodicals contain articles about law and law-related subjects and normally fall into one of the following categories: Law school reviews; specialized and scholarly journals; bar association journals; commercial journals in specialized fields; or, legal newspapers. Periodicals are particularly useful since they provide researchers with continuing and often up-to-date coverage of legal topics. Articles in periodicals are generally accessed through indexes. This research guide will provide you with information about how to locate articles, how to find the related journal issues in the library's collection, and what to do if the library does not have a periodical that you need. PERIODICAL INDEXES Periodical indexes provide subject, author, and other types of access to journal articles and assist researchers in finding articles of interest and citations to their sources. The Law Library has available the major legal indexes in print and non- print formats. These include: CURRENT LAW INDEX. Location: 4th Floor, Index Tables. INDEX TO LEGAL PERIODICALS. Location: 2nd Floor, CD-ROM "Wilsondisk"; Top Floor, Index Tables. INDEX TO FOREIGN LEGAL PERIODICALS. Location: Top Floor, Index Tables. INDEX TO PERIODICAL ARTICLES RELATED TO LAW. Location: Top Floor, Index Tables. CURRENT INDEX TO LEGAL PERIODICALS. Location: Top Floor, Index Tables. INDEX TO U.S. GOVERNMENT PERIODICALS. Location: Main Floor, Bibliographic Center. INDEX TO LAW SCHOOL ALUMNI PUBLICATIONS by Mary D. Burchill. Location: Top Floor, Index Tables. Provides access to substantive articles published in law school alumni publications. ANNUALS AND SURVEYS APPEARING IN LEGAL PERIODICALS: An Annotated Listing compiled by Eleanor DeLashmitt. Location: Ref./KF/8/.D45. Note that many of these indexes abbreviate the periodical title in the citation; consult the list of abbreviations normally found at the front of the index to determine the complete, correct title. To find an article in the library you will need the complete title of the periodical, volume number, page(s) of the article, author, and the title of the article. The indexes listed above are supplemented by two computer services, LEXIS and WESTLAW. While both services emphasize traditional primary legal materials, (e.g., cases, statutes), they also contain the full text of articles from legal periodicals. The advantage of these computer services is that the entire text may be searched for any word that appears in an article. LEXIS contains the full-text of entire law journals (beginning 1982). WESTLAW is selective in its coverage, containing articles which its editors feel are of special interest; the articles in WESTLAW do come from a larger number of periodicals. If you need help accessing either system, contact a Reference Librarian. In addition to the indexes listed above, Washburn University's Mabee Library has available a number of law-related and social science periodical indexes. These include: Abstracts in Criminology and Penology International Political Science Abstracts Public Affairs Information Service Bulletin Social Science Index Social Sciences Citation Index General Periodicals Academic Edition (on CD-ROM) The Reference Librarians at Mabee can direct you to the location of these indexes. DETERMINING WHETHER THE LAW LIBRARY OWNS A PERIODICAL The Law Library acquires the law reviews published by all American Bar Association accredited law schools, most state bar journals, selected subject and interdisciplinary periodicals, and a few general magazines for leisure reading. The Washburn University Law Library Serials Holdings List has been compiled to assist you in determining whether a particular title is available. Copies of the Serials Holdings List are kept in the Bibliographic Center on the Main Floor and at the Index Tables on the Top Floor. A copy is also available at Mabee Library. The Serials Holdings List will help you determine the Library's exact holdings and their formats, and the locations of a title. The following is a sample entry from the serials holdings list: Harvard law review. CALL NO: K 8 .A78 L38 LIBRARY HAS: Hardcopy=Vol. 1, no. 1 (Apr. 15, 1887)-. Microfiche=Vol. 1, no. 1 (Apr. 15, 1887)-. PUBLICATION HISTORY: Vol. 1, no. 1 (Apr. 15, 1887)- ISSN: 0017-811X OCLC #1751808 Record Date: 870613 This entry indicates that the library has the Harvard Law Review beginning with volume 1, issue 1, in both hardcopy and microfiche formats. LOCATION OF LEGAL PERIODICALS IN THE LIBRARY When first received, virtually all legal periodicals are in an unbound, paperback form. These unbound issues are shelved behind the Circulation Desk on the Main Floor. If a recent issue is not on reserve, contact the Technical Services Department on the Top Floor (ext. 628) to determine whether it has been received. Unbound issues may be checked out for 2 hours for use in the library. Once all unbound issues for a volume are received, the issues are removed from Reserve and shipped to a bindery. At the bindery, a hard, buckram cover is placed on the issues. It normally takes 3-4 weeks for a volume to return from the bindery once it has been shipped. A list of items currently at the bindery is available at the Circulation Desk. Bound volumes of all legal periodicals are shelved on the Top Floor. A call number has been assigned to each title to assist with retrieving and shelving volumes (see the Harvard Law Review example above). As you use the periodical collection, you will also notice that periodicals are arranged alphabetically by their most recent title. Bound volumes may be checked out for use outside the library for a 2-week period. The library's microfiche and microfilm periodical holdings are located in the Microform Room on the 2nd floor. Titles are arranged by format (microfiche or microfilm), and then by title within format. Paper copies may be made from the microforms using the reader/printer for 10 cents each print. WHAT TO DO IF THE LIBRARY DOES NOT HAVE A PERIODICAL YOU NEED If a periodical title or article is not available in the Law Library, arrangement can usually be made to obtain a photocopy or to borrow it from another library on a short-term loan. To arrange one of these interlibrary loans, contact Carol Crocker. Please note the interlibrary loans may take 2-3 weeks to fill, depending on the location of the library from which the item is borrowed. The Law Library has available a number of lists from other libraries that provide us with title access to their collections. The Mid-America Consortium of Law School Libraries Union List of Legal Periodicals has been prepared by fifteen law libraries in Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. A hardcopy version of the Mid-America list is shelved in the Bibliographic Center on the Main Floor. Information in the union list is updated through OCLCcontact a Reference Librarian for further information. The Law Library also has serials holdings lists that cover a number of libraries in Topeka and Kansas. The Topeka Union List of Serials includes holdings for the following local libraries: Washburn University Mabee Library Kansas Supreme Court Law Library State Library of Kansas Menninger Foundation Professional Library Stormont-Vail Health Sciences Library Veterans Administration Medical Library The Kansas List of Serials contains holdings information for 11,816 serial titles held by 31 Kansas libraries. These lists are available in the Bibliographic Center on the 2nd floor. The Kansas Library Catalog available in the Law Library. This catalog, on CD-ROM, contains records for books and periodicals available in libraries throughout the state of Kansas. The Catalog is located at a microcomputer workstation near the WESTLAW terminal and computer lab. Rev. 9/93 jec | |
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