Information on deciphering legal citations and a location and abbreviation table of commonly used materials is also provided. These legal encyclopedias may provide a good overview of statutory and case law for a variety of areas. Access is through a multi-volume index at the end of each set. The index gives references to topics and section numbers in the main volumes, which are arranged alphabetically by topic. 2d and C.J.S. cover the entire U.S. Am.
Digests provide the primary means for finding case law on a given topic.
West's digests are arranged alphabetically by topic name. To find the appropriate topic name use the Descriptive Word Index found near the end or at the beginning of each set of digest volumes. The annotations provide a very good summary of relevant case law and statutory law on the covered topic. Numerous entries and cross-references are provided. These annotated versions of the United States Code provide a wealth of citations to case law, law review articles, and other relevant material in annotations following each statutory section.