What Are Secondary Sources?
Just about every book in the library that is not a primary source (constitution, statute, administrative regulation, and court case), is a secondary source. The major types of secondary sources are legal encyclopedias, law reviews, ALR, and treatises.
Secondary sources are not authority for any legal question. They merely help to explain and identify primary sources which are authority.
What Are Am Jur and CJS?
These are national legal encyclopedias, which attempt to provide introductory coverage for a large variety of legal topics. They are arranged in alphabetical order by topic and are well-indexed. Am Jur is short for American Jurisprudence 2d, and CJS stands for Corpus Juris Secundum. Although these encyclopedias are similar, they are not the same. Some states have their own legal encyclopedias (e.g. New York Jurisprudence). Encyclopedias are a good place to begin research. (online and Reading Room)
What Is ALR?
ALR, which stands for American Law Reports, is a multi-volume series of in-depth discussions on specific legal issues. It covers fewer issues than encyclopedias, but discusses the issues in more depth and also is a good place to begin research.(online and Reading Room)
What Are Law Reviews?
Virtually every law school publishes a law review, and many publish additional journals on specific topics. These law reviews are run and edited by law students, who gain valuable experience which is highly regarded by many employers. They feature scholarly articles on various law-related topics, which present the authors’ views and commentary. Law reviews are the main forum for which scholars (often law professors) write and they contain the bulk of scholarly research in the legal field. (online and Lower Level)
To find law review articles, search full text online or use an index.
What Are Treatises?
Treatises are secondary sources that present the law in a given field, often providing exhaustive treatment of a narrow subject area (e.g. Siegel’s New York Practice). They are sometimes published as multi-volume sets. See:
Some treatises will provide access to both primary materials (court cases, statutes and administrative regulations) and secondary materials (commentary and explanation) in a specific area of the law (e.g. Nimmer on Copyright).
You can also search the Library's catalog, Discovery.
