Research Guides and Databases for Your Research Needs

The first thought among many law students is to go directly to Bloomberg, Lexis, or Westlaw for research needs. While these databases are important to your research, widening your net in the search for information for your paper or other projects may be helpful.

When seeking information that you don’t know where to locate, think first of the law library’s research guides, which are subject-specific finding aids for locating resources on a topic. There is a direct link to the guides from the law library’s homepage.

The research guides also contain information on databases specific to the topic that may be of use to the researcher. The databases should be thought of in two broad categories: law databases and non-law databases. There is a link to the law databases from the law library’s homepage and the non-law databases (under the link ‘Research Databases’) from the Cleveland State Michael Schwartz (Main) Library’s homepage. The Schwartz library’s homepage link can also be found on the law library’s hompage.

The non-law databases contain full-text of articles and documents along with indexes and abstracts. The databases cover a wide range of topics and interests. Some of the databases have many sources, while others might only have one source (e.g. Newspaper Source vs. New York Times).

Consider using other law databases (e.g. HeinOnline) to find information that is beyond the coverage of Bloomberg, Lexis, and Westlaw.

Not sure where to start in your research? Law Librarians are available to help during Research Services Hours:

• Phone: 216-687-6877
• Email: research.services@law.csuohio.edu
• or Chat

You can also Schedule a Research Consultation.