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Audio Recording
Current awareness
Includes products such as BNA All (Full text access to BNA products on a wide variety of legal topics. Usage of this database is subject to a license agreement. BNA products are also available through Westlaw and LexisNexis. E-mail summaries for individual titles are also available. Contact Mary Johns for more information)
Database
Databases are comprehensive electronic resources. Many databases cover multiple topics and are not listed in this guide.
Hornbook
Hornbooks are single volume texts that cover a particular area of law, often one that is also the subject of a law school course. They are usually written by law professors that are experts in a particular field of law. Hornbooks are primarily a study tool that, unlike casebooks, provide answers in a straight forward and narrative fashion to major questions in a particular area of law. In other words, hornbooks provide the "Black Letter" law.
See the Law Library's Research Guide "The Hornbook Series" at http://www.law.lsu.edu/globals/pdfs/Library/pathfinders/Hornbooks.pdf for a complete listing of the library's holdings.
Journal
Law Library Guide
Research guides or pathfinders to library materials prepared by LSU Law Library staff and other libraries.
Nutshell
Nutshells are a series of paperback volumes published by West Group that cover various areas of law. Like treatises and hornbooks, Nutshells are usually written by legal scholars. However, Nutshells are more concise and provide more of an overview of the law versus the more detailed discussion and analysis found in treatises and hornbooks. Nutshells are meant to be used primarily a study tool and are rarely, if ever, cited by courts. Nutshells are often a good starting point for anyone wishing to become familiar with a particular area of law. See the Law Library's Research Guide "The Nutshell Series" at http://www.law.lsu.edu/globals/pdfs/Library/pathfinders/Nutshells.pdf for a complete listing of the library's holdings.
Practice Books & Forms
Practice books are guides to actual law practice. These include the Louisiana practice series and other practice materials, which often include forms.
Reference Material
Reference materials includes dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other source material.
Study Aid
Study Aids includes series such as Examples and Explanations, and LexisNexis Understanding series; and CALI lessons.
Treatise
Treatises are legal texts that are often multivolume in size. Treatises can vary in terms of style and analysis but they generally provide a detailed survey of a particular field of law. See for example, Corbin on Contracts (Law Reserve KF 801.C65). Treatises are a secondary source and lack legal authority. However, because they are written by respected legal scholars they can carry considerable persuasive value depending on how highly the author and the treatise are regarded by the court.
Videorecording
