Happy Valentine's Day!
About a month ago I asked you to tell me which legal research text you used
and why. I received 15 responses:
3 people used Amy Sloan's "Basic Legal Research" for their 1L classes.
Several others were considering using it. Everyone raved about its
simplicity, how well-written it was, how well it integrated electronic with
manual sources -- the only complaint was that there was no workbook.
1 person used the Cohen & Olsen Nutshell for their 1L class, also commenting
on its brevity and simplicity. 1 person used to use it but now uses the
Sloan book with the McKinney workbook that is intended for use with the
nutshell.
1 person used Cohen & Berring's "How to Find the Law" for their ALR class
but used Mersky & Dunn's "Fundamentals of Legal Research" to add to their
lectures because it was more up-to date on electronic resources.
1 person used Berring's "Finding the Law" for their 1L class and 2 people
used it for their ALR classes. Everyone liked it because it is "concise"
although one person said it was weak on secondary materials.
1 person used Mersky & Dunn's "Fundamentals of Legal Research" for their ALR
class and another used it for their 1L class but switched the order so
secondary materials came first. 1person used "Legal Research Illustrated"
for their 1L class.
2 people who taught ALR didn't use a text at all but used a combination of
readings from various texts on reserve or readings linked to a syllabus on
the web.
1 person used Teply's "Legal Research and Citation" for their 1L class.
2 people used Nancy Johnson's "Winning Research Skills," pointing out that
it was free from West Group and they didn't have much time to teach legal
research and this covered the basics. It is a little biased toward West
products, however.
No one currently used Kunz's "The Process of Legal Research," although at
least 3 people used to. The reason for switching? Too much detail. People
did like the fact that is started with secondary sources and had good charts
and graphs, though.
So . . .
Is there any major text that I've missed? What about Wren & Wren's "The
Legal Research Manual?" Will anyone out there stand up for the Kunz book?
Kelly
P.S. Joan Shear polled the Legal Writing listserv and received 11
responses: 6 used Sloan, 3 used Kunz, one used the Nutshell and one used
"Fundamentals of Legal Research." They also liked Sloan's simplicity.
Kelly Browne
Head of Reference
University of Connecticut
School of Law Library
39 Elizabeth Street
Hartford, CT 06105
(860) 570-5071
(FAX) 570-5104
kbrowne@law.uconn.edu
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Nov 14 2007 - 20:36:13 PST