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Gallagher Law Library Videos

Guide to instructional videos from the Gallagher Law Library.

Fundamentals of Law

If you need a quick refresher about the structure of the U.S. government and the types of law created by the three branches, these videos are for you!

Fundamentals of Law Part 1: The U.S. Constitution and Three Branches of Governments (Gallagher Basics series) (3:37)

Fundamentals of Law Part 2: Primary Law (Gallagher Basics series) (4:16)

These videos covered the three branches of government and primary law. If you want to learn more about secondary sources (which interpret, analyze, critique, or discuss primary law), check the following tutorials and research guide:

Secondary Sources (General)

Secondary Sources (Gallagher Basics series)

Introduces major types of secondary sources: legal dictionaries, legal encyclopedias, American Law Reports, treatises and practice manuals.

Most students will need study aids and law review articles before most of these secondary sources, so watch those videos (also in the Gallagher Basics series) first.

(12:09)

Secondary Sources: Law Review Articles

Law Review Articles, Part 1: What Are They? (Gallagher Basics series) (4:17)

Law Review Articles, Part 2: Where to Look Them up (Gallagher Basics series). Discusses where you'll see citations to journal articles. Demonstrates how to look them up in HeinOnline, Lexis, and Westlaw. (5:24)

Law Review Articles, Part 3: How to Search for Them (Gallagher Basics series). Demonstrates searching in HeinOnline, Lexis, and Westlaw. (5:26)

Finding Secondary Sources with Westlaw Campus Research

Westlaw Campus Research is available to UW users outside the law school. This video demonstrates finding secondary sources. (5:31)

Start Your Paper with HeinOnline

How do you get started on a paper when you don't even have a firm topic? This video shows how to use HeinOnline's Law Journal Library in the early stages of a research paper. Brainstorm some ideas, then try a broad search. Sort, filter, and refine your search to find a few articles to read first. Read those articles to get an overview of the issues and leads to primary and secondary sources. You're well on your way to a successful paper project! (11:02)

HeinOnline logoFor more on using HeinOnline, take a look at Hein's own videos, including these on finding articles in the Law Journal Library.

West Academic Study Aids & CALI

If you've flipped through your course materials and they feel a bit daunting, never fear! Study aids can help! And you have access to some amazing study aids FOR FREE through the Library's subscription. These videos will help break down what study aids are and how to specifically use West Academic Study Aids and CALI. For more information, see our guide:

Study Aids Part 1: What are They? (Gallagher Basics series) (2:31)

For more about West Academic Study Aids, see the company's video, Study Aids Collection Student Guide (20:00)

Study Aids Part 2: West Academic (Gallagher Basics series) (3:51)

For more about West Academic Study Aids, see the company's video, Study Aids Collection Student Guide 2021 (20:00)

Study Aids Part 3: CALI (Gallagher Basics series) (5:04)

Secondary Sources: Why to Use Them, How to Search for Them

Help! I Have Too Many Results! Tip: Use Secondary Sources

When you run a search and get a zillion cases, you have a lot of options for focusing. This video discusses using secondary sources to get an overview (with citations to cases) before searching for cases directly. (4:54)

Finding Secondary Sources on Copyright Law

How can you find treatises, study aids, and practice guides about copyright law? This lesson shows you. (4:53)

Books Without "Books": Tips for Source Gathering

How can you gather sources and confirm citations when the libraries are closed? This video shows how you can use ebooks through the library, Google Books and Amazon, and sources on Bloomberg Law, Lexis, Westlaw, and HeinOnline. (It was created for the COVID-19 situation, but all these techniques will still be useful when the libraries open up again.)

(16:34)

Retrieving Magazine Articles: Tips for Source Gathering

This video demonstrates how to find magazine and journal articles using the UW Libraries list of e-journals, starting with a known citation.

(10:51)

Call Number Browsing: Another Way to Find Good Stuff (5:07)

Once you find one relevant book, you can find more on similar topics by browsing the shelves--or by browsing call numbers in the library catalog. It's all thanks to the magic of call numbers!

Keeping Track of Books in the Catalog. A handy feature of our library catalog lets you save records to refer to later. It's an easy way to create a reading list or a list of material for a research project. This video shows you how. (2:39)

Legislative Materials

Retrieving Congressional Reports & Hearings

Researchers often need to find congressional reports or hearings that they see cited in cases and articles. Journal students gathering sources for articles often have to find A LOT of them. This video tells you how to retrieve reports and hearings, focusing on easy techniques. We use Google, congress.gov, govinfo.gov, and HeinOnline.

(13:14)