11 - Legal Research

Question 1

online

Answer 1

1 - connected to another computer or computer network, often through the internet
2 - residing on a computer and available for use; activated and ready for use on a computer

Question 2

Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act (UELMA)

Answer 2

a statute that provides a method of letting users of government sites know that the law contained on the sites is authentic

Question 3

federal depository library

Answer 3

a public or private library that receives free federal government publications to which it must allow access by the general public without cost

Question 4

CARTWHEEL

Answer 4

a technique designed to help you think of a large variety of words and phrases to check in online search engines and in book indexes

Question 5

pinpoint cite

Answer 5

a reference to specific material within a document (e.g. a quote) in addition to the citation of the entire document

Question 6

codify

Answer 6

to arrange laws or rules in a systemic order, usually by subject matter, regardless of when the laws or rules were enacted

Question 7

Restatement

Answer 7

a special legal treatise of the American Law Institute that states the law and indicates changes in the law that the Institute would like to see implemented

Question 8

motion

Answer 8

an application or request made to a court or other decision-making body seeking to obtain a favorable action or ruling

Question 9

short-form citation

Answer 9

an abbreviated citation format of an authority for which you have already provided a complete citation earlier in the document

Question 10

term of art

Answer 10

a word or phrase that has a special or technical meaning

Question 11

on point

Answer 11

1 - raising or covering the same issue as the one before you

2 - relevant to the issues of a research problem

Question 12

Descriptive Word Index (DWI)

Answer 12

the main index to the digest of West; index will lead you to key numbers, which is the heart of the organization system used by the digest to find case law

Question 13

annotations

Answer 13

1 - research paper in sets of volumes called American Law Reports (ALR)
2 - note or commentary that summarizes or explains something

Question 14

ALR index

Answer 14

the main index to annotations within the volumes of American Law Reports

Question 15

reversed

Answer 15

to reject or cancel a holding on appeal in the same litigation

Question 16

overruled

Answer 16

to reject or cancel a holding in an earlier opinion by rendering an opposite decision on the same question of law in a different litigation

Question 17

cited

Answer 17

mentioned or discussed

Question 18

citator

Answer 18

a book or online service containing lists of citations that can

a) help you assess the current validity of an opinion, statute, or other items; and
b) give you leads to additional relevant materials

Question 19

shepardize

Answer 19

to use Shepard’s Citations to obtain validation and other data on a case, statute, or other documents you are shepardizing

Question 20

slip law

Answer 20

a single act passed by the legislature and printed in a single pamphlet

Question 21

session law

Answer 21

a statute passed by the legislature and printed in volumes that are organized by date rather than by subject matter

Question 22

statutory code

Answer 22

a collection of statutes organized by subject matter rather than by date

Question 23

official statutory code

Answer 23

published by the government or by a private company with special permission or authority from the government

Question 24

unofficial statutory code

Answer 24

published by a private company without special permissions or authority from the government

Question 25

pocket part

Answer 25

a pamphlet inserted into a small pocket built into the inside back cover of a hardcover volume; pamphlet contains text that supplements or updates material in the hardcover volume

Question 26

annotate

Answer 26

to provide notes or commentary (if provided along with the text)

Question 27

annotated statutory code

Answer 27

a collection of statutes organized by subject matter rather than by date, along with research references such as historical notes and summaries of court opinions that have interpreted the statutes

Question 28

notes of decisions

Answer 28

summaries of opinions that have interpreted a statute, usually printed beneath the text of the statute in annotated statutory codes

Question 29

historical note

Answer 29

information on the legislative history of a statute printed after the text of the statute

Question 30

popular name

Answer 30

a phrase or short title identifying a particular statute

Question 31

natural language

Answer 31

plain English as spoken or written every day, as opposed to a language that is specifically designed for computer communication

Question 32

terms and connectors

Answer 32

relationships between terms in a search query that specify which documents should be included in or excluded from the search

Question 33

universal character

Answer 33

a special character (* ! ?) that can be used to represent one or more characters in a search query

Question 34

root expander

Answer 34

an exclamation mark (!) that stands for one or more characters added to the root of a term you are searching in Westlaw and LexisNexis

Question 35

wildcard

Answer 35

a special character (* ! ?) that can be used to represent one or more characters in a search query