If you use HeinOnline, you’re probably well aware of its comprehensive Law Journal Library and U.S. Congressional Documents, but there’s so much more. Here are highlights of new databases and other content that Hein added and updated in 2016.
HeinOnline is available to everyone at Harvard, not just HLS, so if you’re researching history, government, and related topics these resources are accessible to you too!
Note: descriptions of resources come from HeinOnline and have been lightly edited
National Survey of State Laws 7th Edition & Database
The new edition and database version of National Survey of State Laws provides an overall view of some of the most sought-after and controversial legal topics in the United States. The book and database are presented in chart format, allowing users to make state-by-state comparisons of current state laws. Additionally, database enables users to compare laws among specified states and previous editions. This database will be updated at least twice annually, ensuring up-to-date and accurate information.
UNC Press Law Publications
In May, HeinOnline reached an agreement with the University of North Carolina (UNC) Press to include nearly 150 law-related publications both within their own unique database and throughout existing collections. UNC Press was the first university press in the South and it has earned national and international recognition for excellence in publishing. The collection, which became available in September, includes both current and historical titles, with many available as full-color, image-based PDFs.
Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & Law
This significant collection brings together a wealth of legal materials on slavery in the United States and the English-speaking world, including every statute passed by every state and colony, all federal statutes, all reported state and federal cases, and hundreds of books and pamphlets on this subject. The collection will continue to grow and now contains nearly 1,200 titles and 870,000 pages, including the prestigious Judicial Cases concerning American Slavery and the Negro by Helen Tunnicliff Catterall. Tools unique to this database include a Slavery Quick Finder, which enables users to select publications based on their position on slavery, document type, jurisdiction, and topic. These categorizations also apply to searching, so it’s simple to refine search results using facets. HeinOnline offered free global access to this brand-new resource.
Preview of United States Supreme Court Cases
The ABA’s Preview of United States Supreme Court Cases provides comprehensive expert analysis of all cases argued before the United States Supreme Court, is now available online exclusively via HeinOnline’s fully searchable, user-friendly platform. Released in October, this database includes complete archives as well as the most current material. In addition, the database version of this title features a case locator tool, access to exact replicas of original case briefs, full print transcripts of cases, links to audio transcripts via Oyez, and citation and summary information for each case.
Provincial Statutes of Canada
This new collection includes nearly 100 titles and 1,500 volumes of public and private acts passed by Canadian provincial governments. Current, revised, and historical coverage is available for Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Ontario. Revised and historical material only (material not under Crown Copyright) is available for Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan.
Brennan Center for Justice Publications at NYU School of Law
Publications from New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice were made available in October. The Brennan Center is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that seeks to improve the systems of democracy and justice in the United States. The Center’s work focuses on a wide range of issues, including voting rights, campaign finance reform, racial justice in criminal law, and constitutional protections in the fight against terrorism. The Center considers itself to be a think tank, public interest law firm, advocacy group, and communications hub. Its law and policy scholarship addresses many issues, is largely written by attorneys, and is extensively peer-reviewed by both scholars and legal practitioners.
Other notable additions
- 50 legal dictionaries from Georgetown’s prestigious collection are in the process of being added to Spinelli’s Law Library Reference Shelf. To date, this collection contains more than 250 legal dictionaries.
- Buddhism, Law & Society, a new journal published by William S. Hein & Co., Inc., is the first interdisciplinary academic journal to focus on the relationship between Buddhism and the legal world. Buddhism and its many social and legal manifestations are a central area of interest for the journal, as are the state’s legal relations to Buddhist actors, institutions and texts
- The New York State Comptroller Opinions archive was completed, so coverage of this title is now from inception to current
- Historical Martindale-Hubbell Law Directories
- 117 new journals. There are now 2,343 journals in the Law Journal Library, all available back to inception
- 1,209 new legal classics, for a total of 7,970 titles in this collection
- 20,128 congressional documents. There are now 51,465 hearings, 20,894 CRS reports, and 5,013 Committee Prints in addition to complete coverage of the Congressional Record and its predecessor volumes
- 125 new compiled legislative histories to the U.S. Federal Legislative History Library
- 75 new titles and more than 1.4 million pages to State Reports: A Historical Archive
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