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Terrorism & the Law

 

This guide includes information about how to find books, articles, and websites that focus on the legal analysis of terrorism. These resources discuss the definition of terrorism, surveillance tools, prosecution of terrorists & the international law aspects of terrorism.

If you have any questions on your research stop by the Reference Desk and ask a Librarian, or if you have a complicated question, e-mail Vincent Moyer , Int'l & Foreign Law Librarian and make an appointment to discuss your research.

Searching for Books

Overview

Hastings has a new catalog called Encore, which allows you to do a quick one-box search to find books at Hastings and articles available through Hein-Online. The advanced search feature allows more complex title, author and subject searching.

Or you can use the Hastings Classic Catalog to find books on your topic. If you find a book that looks interesting, and you are not on campus, click on the call number to browse titles on the shelf nearby. Of course, if you are on campus, browsing the shelves is a great way to find useful books.

One good way to find books on your topic is to search the catalog by subject. This will help you locate the most relevant books in the Hastings Library on your topic. In the Hastings Library catalog there are over 200 individual subjects covering various aspects of terrorism and the law. Because there are so many aspects to terrorism research, the books about terrorism will be spread throughout the library in various locations.

For a wider selection of available books, search the sources below to see if other libraries have books you can borrow through inter-library loan.

Books at Hastings

Use the Hastings Classic Catalog or Encore Catalog to find books on your topic. Here are some search terms that you may want to try using in various databases. Following the links takes you to a search for that subject heading in the UC Hastings catalog.

Bear in mind that you can also combine search terms in an Advanced Search. For example, the subject "prisoners of war" can be combined with the keyword "terrorism" to produce the search (prisoners of war) and (terrorism). Other searches can be done such as this keyword search for terrorism documents which located the 100 volume set "Terrorism: Documents of International and Local Control" and other collections of terrorism documents.

Books at Other Libraries

If the book you want is not in the Hastings Library, or you would like to locate other books on your topic, use FirstSearch, a database containing information about books from most of the libraries in the English-speaking world. Select the WorldCat database to find books; click on the ILL icon at the top of the page to request the book you want. It can take a couple weeks to get a book through inter-library loan; be sure to plan ahead so that we can get the resources you need in a timely manner.

You might also find some other useful books searching Google Books.

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Finding Articles

Subscription Databases: Lexis-Nexis, Westlaw, HeinOnline

The Hastings Law Library subscribes to a number of Internet-accessible resources that may be useful in your research. All of our online resources are listed here. You can access all of them on campus. Most of them also allow remote access. If you are not on campus, and you click on the database, you will be directed to this screen. To use the database off-campus, enter your name as indicated on your Hastings ID and your ID barcode number.

Sometimes law review articles can be one of the best places to find current research on your topic. The sources above can be used to find journal articles. Although there is a lot of overlap on Lexis and Westlaw, you will find some unique articles by searching both databases. Lexis & Westlaw include most of the law review articles written since the mid-1990s. If you have a citation to an law review article that is not on Westlaw or Lexis (and is older than the last year or two), you will probably be able to print a PDF version of the article from HeinOnline.

Working Papers & Unpublished Articles

Legal Scholarship Network:
Search the online Legal Scholarship Network. This is a searchable database of abstracts of working-papers as well as articles accepted for publication.

 

Non-Law or Law-Related Articles

ProQuest:
The ProQuest Combined Journals database is an excellent online source for full-text political science and social science articles having to do with current terrorism issues.

San Francisco Public Library (SFPL):
SFPL has a very good collection of online full-text scholarly non-law articles, including JSTOR. You can access them by visiting SFPL, which is just one block from Hastings, or you can access these article and journal databases online if you have a SFPL library card.

Google for full-text articles:
Try searching Google Scholar. (You may then need to locate the full-text using Lexis or Westlaw or one of the library's subscription databases.)

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Index Searches

Index to Legal Periodicals and Books

The Index to Legal Periodicals & Books online database can be searched online using WilsonWeb or through Lexis (LAWREV:ILP) or Westlaw (ILP). This index search will cover many more articles than the full-text law review search in lexis and Westlaw above, since this index includes almost every law review article written in the United States since 1980. [Note: You can locate articles from 1918-1980 at the ILP online database by selecting "Legal Periodicals Retro".]

Legal Resource Index

Search Legal Resource Index on Lexis (LAWREV:LGLIND) or Westlaw (LRI) or the LegalTrac Internet database. This index search will include a few additional journal articles, and also includes articles from bar journals and legal newspapers written since 1980. This is not a full-text search.

Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals

If articles on your topic may have been published in a foreign legal journal, then you may want to search Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals. This database is updated quarterly and covers 1985 to present. If you need to locate articles published prior to 1985, Hastings has the print Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (1960 - present) in the 4th Floor Reading Room.

Non-law indexes and journal locators

If an article you have found is not in a law-related journal, and not in one of the non-law online resources at Hastings, you may want to search the online databases collection at the San Francisco Public Library. You can check to see if the journal issue you want is accessible from one of the databases provided by the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL), by searching their Periodical Finder. Or you can search through the various SFPL journal indexes. Any resident of California may apply for a SFPL Library card to get online full-text access.

What to do after finding an article in an index or bibliography?

If you have found an article in an index or mentioned in a bibliography, and would like to know where you can access a full-text version, start with Hastings Law Library's e-journal finder and the library catalog.

If you are unable to find the article using UC Hastings resources, you can search for an article using FirstSearch; search the ArticleFirst database and then click on the ILL icon at the top of the page to request the article through inter-library loan.

 

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Government Documents

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Online Resources

International Courts & Tribunals

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Research Organizations & Specialized Websites

News & Legal Blogs

Webcasts and Podcasts

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Research Guides

Online Guides

International Criminal Law

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

International Law & Foreign Law

Print Guides

International and Foreign Legal Research: A Coursebook
by Mary Rumsey and Marci Hoffman
K85 .H64 2008 (5th Stacks)

Guide to International Legal Research
KZ1234.G85 (Reference Desk)

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Updated October 4, 2011
Prepared by Foreign Comparative & International Law Librarian

Copyright © 2012 U.C. Hastings College of the Law. Redistribution or commercial use is prohibited without express written permission.