Free Online Research Resources
The IICLE Press staff of copy editors and project managers verifies the accuracy of every citation in every handbook we publish. That quote from the 1872 version of the Illinois Laws? A copy editor went to the Supreme Court Library and handled the brittle pages to verify it. A reference to the Alabama penal code? We located the legislature's website and conformed the citation to the Bluebook. Was that 1926 case really overturned in 1978? A staff member verified it by tracing its history with a primary legal research service. A journal article out of Michigan printed in the November 1987 issue? Hopefully the microfilm is filed correctly. We'll find it.
In most cases, the citations provided by the authors are accurate, but we may fill in additional information to ensure that our readers can find the source quickly and easily in their own research. Also, the law moves fast in some areas, and secondary sources can be updated, even if the new edition isn't in the firm's library yet. The staff at IICLE Press makes every effort to ensure that all citations in our handbooks are up-to-date and accurate.
In an effort to keep costs down, we supplement our limited subscription to a primary legal research service by exploiting every free resource we can - the biggest now being the World Wide Web. The copy editors and project managers have extensive bookmarks of websites that we trust for accurate and timely information.
In this ongoing blog topic, we will share some of our favorite websites. Many of these might be very well known, but we hope to share some that you aren't familiar with. We also invite our readers to provide links to their favorite free resources in the comments section.
Here are our first two link tips:
Municode.com has a free online library of municipal codes for the entire United States, including over 100 ordinances for Illinois counties and towns. Although many areas have their own websites on which they provide ordinances, Municode.com is a well-organized and easily browsed collection. Our staff has always found the codes listed here accurate and up-to-date.
The Legal Information Institute, www.law.cornell.edu, is an electronic publishing effort by the Cornell University Law School. The site collects a wealth of information, from the U.S. Code and U.S. appellate and supreme court caselaw to international trade law resources. The staff at IICLE Press have used it regularly for the Uniform Commercial Code as drafted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. But you really should explore the entire site to see all that it offers, including overviews of particular areas of law complete with research tips.