You may have heard of Presidential Libraries. Maybe your home state had one, or you visited one on a field trip. But what exactly are they, and who runs them? Presidential Libraries are privately constructed archives and museums that hold records and memorabilia of the former Presidents for researchers and the public. They also create …
Meet the UNC Law Library’s New Reference Librarian: Kerri-Ann Rowe
The Kathrine R. Everett Law Library at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill welcomes our newest Reference Librarian, Kerri-Ann Rowe. Kerri was most recently the Student Services and Outreach Librarian at the University of Colorado Law School. She holds a J.D. from the University of Notre Dame, an M.L.I.S. from Syracuse University, and a B.A. …
Sign-up for Prep for Practice: Legal Technology Workshops
Librarians don’t just love books! We also love technology – especially keeping up to date with tech trends in legal practice. The Law Library would like to invite UNC Law students to participate in the Prep for Practice: Legal Technology Workshop Series for Spring 2021. Each workshop will be led by a UNC law librarian …
Researching Federal Tax Law – Specialized Databases Available to UNC Law Students
Are you interested in pursuing a career as a tax attorney? Taking Income Taxation or one of the advanced tax law classes at UNC Law? If so, this blog post outlines the specialized legal research databases available to you as a UNC Law student. Be sure to familiarize yourself with how these databases operate and …
Resources for Writing Seminar Papers: Print & Digital
It’s that time of the semester when students need to start buckling down and writing their RWE seminar papers! At this point, topics have been selected and research has begun. But how do you put it all together? How do you organize a seminar paper? How do you develop and support your thesis? How do …
Locating North Carolina Municipal Ordinances
North Carolina towns and cities have been appearing in the news a lot lately. After the expiration of House Bill 142 in December, municipalities have begun passing their own nondiscrimination measures. This blog post will clarify the difference between ordinances and statutes, help you locate ordinances, and describe how to stay current with local ordinance …
Researching Presidential Materials: Key Resources to Know
As the Biden administration begins—and the news fills with a flurry of presidential activities—now is a great time to brush-up on authoritative sources for presidential documents and materials. Presidential materials include executive orders, proclamations, memorandum, directives, signing statements, and assorted other documents like speeches and announcements. There are four authoritative government resources publishing these documents: …
State and Regional Encyclopedias: Unexpected Legal Research Tools
Skilled legal researchers are accustomed to using state legal encyclopedias to support the research of our students, faculty members, and communities. But what about general encyclopedias devoted to individual U.S states and regions? Roughly half of the U.S. states have free, online state encyclopedias available. Many state encyclopedias originated in the print era. Some were …
A Different Way to Study: Audio Study Aids
The semester has only begun, and exams are, thankfully, months away. However, study aids can be used throughout the semester to help prepare for class or to review topics that didn’t seem to quite make sense in class. If your eyes grow weary of the constant reading (in print or online), if you’d like to …
Using Legislative History to Learn About Past Presidential Inaugurations
Inauguration Day ceremonies are typically marked by a variety of traditions, including the administration of the presidential oath of office and a speech given by the newly inaugurated President. While presidential speeches from these ceremonies are widely available (see the online collection from The Avalon Project at Yale Law Library), few records contain descriptions of …