This week in the Law Library we’re looking at bar exam resources, reviewing basic legal research skills for summer, and celebrating Pride Month.
Bar Exam Study Resources
Congratulations! You have made it through law school but now the bar exam looms. Don’t worry, the Law Library’s got your back. When you’ve caught your breath and you’re ready to start your bar studying, we have resources that can help. Check out our Bar Exam Research Guide.
The July 2024 bar examination will be administered at the Roberts Centre, 123 Gano Road, Wilmington, Ohio July 30-31, 2024. The Holiday Inn Roberts Centre room block opens on May 14, 2024, at 11 am. Learn more at: Ohio Bar Exam
5 More Resources to Help You Study for the Bar Exam
The Bar Exam is not a sprint, it’s a marathon so pace yourself! Check out this week’s Bar Exam Resource highlights below.
ABA Student Lawyer Division, Student Lawyer – Bar Exam Blog Posts
The ABA’s Student Lawyer Division publishes the Student Lawyer blog. You can view their bar exam related posts here.
Help! I am Zoning Out!
Although this CALI Lesson references law school exams, students studying for the bar exam will find it useful. This lesson is designed to provide students with data about why their attention levels may dip during class or studying, including recent research regarding the effects of digital distractions on concentration. The lesson invites students to reflect upon the reasons they may lose focus and/or concentration while in class or while studying, and provides a robust set of strategies students can use to anticipate and control for that loss of focus, incorporating several free-writes. If using CALI, you will need to create an account (if you have not already done so) using a Cincinnati Law authorization code. You can obtain this code from a reference librarian.
Learning Tips and Retention: Discussions in Law School Success
Although this CALI Lesson references law school exams, students studying for the bar exam will find it useful. This CALI podcast discusses tips to help you remember more information and to perform better on law school exams. Three learning strategies are explained: spaced repetition, the testing effect, and cognitive schema. Briefly defined, spaced repetition incorporates periodic studying throughout the semester. The testing effect can be more challenging and is exactly what it sounds like; it is testing yourself to see whether or not you know the material. Lastly, the podcast explains how to create a cognitive schema as an organizational structure that you can use to retain information. If using CALI, you will need to create an account (if you have not already done so) using a Cincinnati Law authorization code. You can obtain this code from a reference librarian.
Mindfulness Practice for Law School
Although this CALI Lesson references stress during law school, the bar exam creates new expectations and the environment increases anxiety and stress for many students. This lesson introduces basic skills to help students practice mindfulness and stay in the present despite the numerous stressors. If using CALI, you will need to create an account (if you have not already done so) using a Cincinnati Law authorization code. You can obtain this code from a reference librarian.
Secrets to Improved Memorization
Although this CALI Lesson references law school exams, students studying for the bar exam will find it useful. This CALI Lesson provides insight on how to remember the vast information to apply on the bar exam. If using CALI, you will need to create an account (if you have not already done so) using a Cincinnati Law authorization code. You can obtain this code from a reference librarian.
Summer Legal Research Tips
Previously, we looked at initial steps to take when you get a summer research project, looking at secondary sources, and researching statutes in annotated codes. Start by identifying the resources available to you at your place of summer employment and ask questions. Develop a research plan. Read more about developing a research plan on our Research Strategy & Documentation guide. Then you may need to do background research about your issue before jumping into primary sources such as statutes and case law. A good secondary source can explain the law around your issue and cite you to primary sources. It can save you a lot of time and effort! Learn more about researching in secondary sources in our Researching Secondary Sources Guide or watch our videos on finding and searching within the various secondary source types. If your issue is statutory, you want to use an annotated code. An annotated code is a great research tool because it offers editorial enhancements such as: (1) cross references to related statutes and regulations; (2) more detailed historical notes, secondary source references; (3) if it is a Thomson Reuters code you will get topic and key number references to help you find cases; and (3) the case annotations. This week we will continue to take a look at researching a statutory issue in an annotated code, covering statutory finding tools. Learn more about researching statutes in our Researching Statutes Guide or watch our videos on finding and searching within annotated codes.
Statutory Finding Tools
There are several useful statutory finding tools that you can use when researching statutes.
Indexes
All print codes and some online codes will contain separate subject indexes. An index is a great finding tool. Topics are listed alphabetically and will refer you to the codified statutory sections pertaining to that topic. If you see an index entry for a topic that gives you another term and then states generally this index; generally, post; or generally, ante; it is telling you to search for that other term in the index either in another part of the index, after the entry you are looking at (post), or before the entry you are looking at (ante). If you see a statutory citation in the index that says et seq., this is Latin for “and the following ones.” In other words, multiple sections — it is just giving you the first one.
Tables of Contents
It is always a good idea to see your statutory section in context by looking at the table of contents. This will allow you to find related statutory sections such as preambles, definition sections, etc. With codes, you will often find a table of contents for the different divisions in which the code is organized. For example, in the United States Code, you will get a table of contents for the code, the title, and one for the chapter.
Popular Names
Sometimes a statute will have an official or popular name. If there is a well-known name for the law you are interested in, consult the “Popular Names Table” in one of the code versions. This will provide you with the session law number and the session law citation for the original act, as well as providing references to where the act has been codified. In print sources, the “Popular Names Table” may be a separate volume or be a section within the last volume of the general index. Westlaw contains popular names tables for all of its statutes. Bloomberg Law provides a popular names table for the United States Code HeinOnline provides a popular names table for the United States Code. Lexis does not generally provide a popular names table for its state statutes but it does for USCS.
Parallel Reference Tables
Each code includes volumes that contain tables for parallel references. Locate the session law citation or public law number you are interested in on the table, and it will provide you with the title and section numbers where the statute has been codified. Codes will also contain tables that relate older state codifications to the current code.
Keyword Searching of Statutes
If you don’t have a popular name or citation, you can search for keywords based on your topic of research. This can be difficult. Using indexes instead will often save you time. Statutory language is not always intuitive, and the language used can appear in multiple statutes so it’s easy to pull up references to statutes that are not relevant to your research. If searching statutes by keyword, take advantage of the fields and segments and create a more advanced search. Some useful fields for statutes in Westlaw are: CA, the caption field which includes the section and heading for a statute; and PR, the prelim field which includes headings and chapters assigned to the statute. In Lexis use the section segment which contains the section number and section heading of the statute; and the heading segment which contains the headings and subheadings before the subject.
June Is Pride Month!
About Pride Month
Pride Month is commemorated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall uprising in New York City. The Stonewall Inn was a popular gay bar that police raided on Jun 28, 1969. The raid resulted in days of protest and the uprising is often cited as a catalyst for LGBTQ+ activism. Read President Biden’s 2024 Proclamation on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Pride Month.
Learn more about Pride Month and LGBTQ+ issues by checking out the resources below!
Pride Month at University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati is a Premier Campus, earning 4.5 out of 5 stars in the Campus Pride Index, a national listing of LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities. The index is an overall indicator of institutional commitment to LGBTQ-inclusive policy, program and practice. Additionally, in a recent national ranking the University has been ranked #52 among the top LGBTQ-friendliest colleges and universities.
UC Clermont, Frederick A. Marcotte Library Digital Display Pride Month
UCBA Library Pride Month Display
University of Cincinnati Alumni, Pride Month
Susan Helmick, Celebrating Pride Month in Cincinnati, The Graduate College News
UC Pride GrillOUT @ The Graduate
Thursday, June 20, 2024
4 – 7 p.m.
The Graduate Cincinnati
151 Goodman Drive
Cincinnati, OH
5 Resources to Learn More About LGBT+ Issues and History
Learn more about Pride Month and LGBTQ+ issues by checking out the resources below!
Digital Transgender Archive (DTA)
The purpose of the Digital Transgender Archive (DTA) is to increase the accessibility of transgender history by providing an online hub for digitized historical materials, born-digital materials, and information on archival holdings throughout the world. The DTA is an international collaboration among dozens of colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations, public libraries, and private collections. The DTA uses transgender in a broad and inclusive sense, using transgender and trans as a framework for collecting materials, as a point of departure rather than as a fixed identity term.
Gender Studies Database
Gender Studies Database, produced by NISC, combines NISC’s popular Women’s Studies International and Men’s Studies databases with the coverage of sexual diversity issues. GSD covers the full spectrum of gender-engaged scholarship inside and outside academia. This database includes more than 696¸750 records with coverage spanning from 1972 and earlier to present.
GenderWatch
GenderWatch is a full text database of publications that focus on the impact of gender across a broad spectrum of subject areas.
LGBTQ+ Source
LGBTQ+ Source (formerly LGBT Life, formerly GLBT Life) is an index to the world’s literature regarding gay¸ lesbian¸ bisexual and transgender issues. This database contains indexing and abstracts for more than 120 LGBTQ+-specific core periodicals and over 230 LGBTQ+-specific core books and reference works. The product also contains data mined from over 40 priority periodicals and over 1¸700 select titles¸ as well as full text for 50 of the most important and historically significant LGBTQ+ journals¸ magazines and regional newspapers¸ and dozens of full text monographs. The database includes comprehensive indexing and abstract coverage as well as a specialized LGBTQ+ Thesaurus containing over 6¸300 terms.
LGBT Thought and Culture
LGBT Thought and Culture is an online resource hosting books, periodicals, and archival materials documenting LGBT political, social and cultural movements throughout the twentieth century and into the present day. Supported by the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center.