LEGAL REFERENCE RESOURCES FOR PUBLIC LIBRARIANS

DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN LEGAL REFERENCE TRAINING SESSIONS

2015:

So You Want to Change the World! How to Be a Great Librarian to Your Activist Patrons (2015 Oregon Library Association Annual Conference)    

• Resource Guide

2008-2014:

• Multnomah County Library Reference Forum: Legal Reference Triage (2014 Reference Staff Training)
• Legal Reference Questions - 2013 Oregon Virtual Reference Summit
• Law Library Workshop 2012 (Washington County and Multnomah County Public Libraries)
• Legal Resource Referral Bookmarks
• L-net Summit 2010 Legal Reference Breakout Session Handout
• PALACE Reference Refresher, May 14, 2010, Legal Research Handout
• Golden Rules of Legal Reference Service in Public Libraries Handout
• "How to Answer a Legal Reference Question": Tip Sheet
• Sample Disclaimers
• Oregon Legal Assistance Resource Guide
• Oregon County Law Libraries, Recommended Titles (OCCLL)
• PACER Policy
• Washington County Legal Research Guides website

BOOKS ABOUT LAW LIBRARIANSHIP for PUBLIC LIBRARIANS (see also)

• Aycock, Anthony, "The Accidental Law Librarian," Information Today, Inc., 2013.
• Eubanks, Virginia, "Digital Dead End: Fighting for Social Justice in the Information Age," MIT Press, 2011.
• Healey, Paul D., "Legal Reference for Librarians: How and Where to Find the Answers," ALA, 2014.
• Selwyn, Laurie and Virginia Eldridge, "Public Law Librarianship: Objectives, Challenges, and Solutions," IGI Global, 2012.
• Tucker, Virginia and Marc Lampson, "Finding the Answers to Legal Questions," Neal-Schuman Publishers Inc., 2011.

QUICK LEGAL REFERENCE

Caveat emptor: If you refer library patrons to non-official websites that compile legal forms and/or laws, please remind them that these unofficial documents or collections of laws may not be accepted by courts, complete, updated, corrected, or authenticated.

211 Info

Law school libraries and clinics (and their associated websites)

Oregon Law Help (Legal Aid)

Legal research blogs (e.g. Oregon Legal Research website and blog)

Federal, state, and local government, social service agencies, and nonprofits

Oregon Judicial Department (OJD)

Oregon Legislative Liaisons: 503-986-1000

Oregon State Bar (OSB): 503-684-3763

Public library websites

State of Oregon government offices, administrative and legislative

OCCLL (Oregon Council of County Law Libraries) Directory

OCCLL Database Grid (legal databases in Oregon county law libraries)

Oregon Legal Research website and blog

Legal Abbreviations (Frequently Used in Oregon) (PDF)

More Legal Abbreviations: Search the web for: legal abbreviations

Style Manuals: Oregon Courts (OJD Style Manual)


LEGAL FORMS QUESTIONS

 
FAMILY LAW

• Information specific to Washington County, Oregon

     Other Oregon Family Law Resources:

• Oregon State Bar (OSB) self-help family law resources
• Oregon Judicial Department (OJD) self-help family law resources
• Oregon Law Help (Legal Aid) family law resources
• St. Andrew Legal Clinic 

OREGON LAW SCHOOL AND COUNTY LAW LIBRARIES

• Lewis & Clark Law School Library
• State of Oregon Law Library
• Multnomah Law Library
• University of Oregon Law Library
• Willamette Law School Library
• Oregon County Law Libraries

 
LEGAL RESEARCH GUIDES

1) Search Engine Research Tip: If you’re looking for a legal research guide (aka pathfinder), enter:

• [topic] legal research guide, or [topic] legal research pathfinder
• Add the words law and legal as needed
• E.g. juvenile law research guide legal

2) Collection Analysis and Collection Development

• Contact a public law librarian in your state for advice and assistance.
• Your county law library, state law library, or state law library association may be able to refer you. In Oregon: www.occll.org

3) For more legal research tips, visit:

Oregon Legal Research website and blog