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Research Guide to Legal Resources: Library Resources

A list of resources available through Truxal Library for researching legal information

Using Resources

These handouts will help you understand how to use particular legal resources in their print formats:

Circulating Materials

To find books, audio/visual materials, or print periodicals on your topic, conduct a keyword or subject search in the Library Catalog.

Try synonyms and related terms:

laws OR legal system
plaintiff OR claimant
death penalty OR capital punishment

From the information you find in the Catalog, be sure to note:

  • the Location of the item in the Library Building
  • the item's Call Number
  • whether the item is available or has been checked out

To become more familiar with finding materials in the Library's print collection, here's a guide to using Library of Congress call numbers:

Library Databases

Click on the links below to search for articles from periodicals (magazines, journals, newspapers, etc.) and for information from electronic books and multimedia resources. From off-campus, you will need to enter the barcode number from the back of your AACC photo ID or Truxal Library card.

Westlaw Next (ON CAMPUS ONLY)
Includes federal and state cases, statutes, regulations, legislative materials (like Maryland Annotated Code and COMAR), encyclopedias (like AmJur and ALR), selected law reviews, legal guides, and famous law-related documents

JSTOR Arts & Sciences Collections
Full text of The Columbia Law Review, The University of Chicago Law Review, Socialist Lawyer, and more

Criminal Justice Periodicals
Articles from hundreds of criminal justice periodicals, as well as studies, reviews, digests, and bulletins

InfoTrac War & Terrorism Collection
Periodical titles like Social Justice, Air Force Law Review, Denver Journal of International Law and Policy, and more

Ebook Central
Includes thousands of books about legal topics

EBSCO eBook Collection
Includes thousands of titles about legal topics

Credo Reference
Reference book titles like Dictionary of Law, Dictionary of Legal Terms, Great American Court Cases​, and more

Gale Virtual Reference Library
Reference titles include Guide to the U.S. Supreme Court, Encyclopedia of Law and Society

Academic Video Online
Commercial and governmental newsreels, archival footage, public affairs footage, and important documentaries about law and criminal justice topics

Gale Legal Forms
Maryland legal forms 

NOT ENOUGH INFO? Try our multi-disciplinary databases:
Academic OneFile and Academic Search Premier

Searching for Full Text

No full text available?
Have only an article's abstract or just a citation?

Use the library's Finding Articles from Citations page, which is part of the Finding Materials from Citations Guide.

For assistance, contact the reference desk at 410-777-2456 or truxal@aacc.libanswers.com.

Print Reference Materials

Find these materials in the Reference Section of Truxal Library:

  • Anne Arundel County Code
  • Annotated Code of Maryland
  • Black's Law Dictionary
  • The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation
  • A Companion to the United States Constitution and Its Amendments
  • The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to June 28, 2012
  • Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage
  • Essential Supreme Court Decisions: Summaries of Leading Cases in U.S. Constitutional Law
  • Garner's Dictionary of Legal Usage
  • Landmark Supreme Court Cases: The Most Influential Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States
  • Lawtalk: The Unknown Stories behind Familiar Legal Expressions
  • Legal Research, Analysis, and Writing
  • Legal Systems of the World
  • Maryland Business Laws Annotated
  • Maryland Civil Procedures: Forms
  • Maryland Digest 2D
  • Maryland Domestic Relations: Forms
  • Maryland Elements of an Action
  • Maryland Estate Planning and Probate Laws Annotated
  • Maryland Evidence Handbook
  • Maryland Real Estate and Construction Law Annotated
  • Maryland Reporter
  • Maryland Rules of Evidence
  • Maryland Rules Commentary
  • Maryland Summary Judgment and Related Termination Motions
  • Maryland Workers' Compensation
  • Nolo's Encyclopedia of Everyday Law
  • Nolo's Plain-English Law Dictionary
  • The Oxford Companion to American Law
  • The Oxford Guide to United States Supreme Court Decisions
  • Patent, Copyright & Trademark: An Intellectual Property Desk Reference
  • Pleading Causes of Action in Maryland
  • Prince's Bieber Dictionary of Legal Citations
  • The Supreme Court Compendium: Data, Decisions, and Developments
  • Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Legal Issues
  • Uniform Commercial  Code
  • User's Guide to The Bluebook
  • West's Maryland Law Encyclopedia

Research Assistance

More ways to get help:

eBook Spotlight

From off campus, you will need to enter the barcode number from the back of your AACC photo ID or Truxal Library card to access these eBooks:

NEWEST RULES

MLA-style and APA-style guidelines change over time, especially for citing sources accessed electronically.  For the most up-to-date information about how to cite sources correctly, visit these pages:

Using a citation generator from a database or website?
Doublecheck to be sure the generator has used the newest rules.