Knowing how to find, assess, and apply this material is an invaluable skill. To achieve it, we will be examining the integrated skills of legal analysis, legal research, and legal writing. Before covering the specifics of using legal research tools in the text, you are given an overview introduction to our legal system and the ten categories of laws that it produces. Early chapters cover the terminology of legal research through definitions, excerpts, and photographs. This material is then incorporated into scores of practical techniques and checklists that can be used to find answers to research problems.
Every chapter begins with an outline of the topics covered in that chapter.
Where needed, an introductory overview of the chapter follows the outline. Key terms are printed in bold in the text. They are defined in the text and in the comprehensive glossary at the end of the book. To illustrate a research topic, you will often find an excerpt from a relevant library book or computer screen. For many of the major research materials, photographs are also provided.