Secondary sources in law are those that discuss, analyze or summarize the primary law. This includes textbooks, law reports and journals, dictionaries, and encyclopedias.
Jurisprudences and encyclopedias can be useful to provide background and overviews of different topics in law.
American Jurisprudence, Texas Jurisprudence, and the Corpus Juris Secondum are available full-text in Westlaw.
American Jurisprudence 2d
Texas Jurisprudence 3d
Corpus Juris SecundumPLEASE NOTE: The print series available in the Library are no longer being updated and are for Teaching Purposes Only. For the latest information, see Westlaw.
The volumes are organized by major topic headings.
To locate information on a particular topic or point of law, you will need to start with the index.
Search for your topic or keyword in the General Index volumes, shelved near the end of the series. Words appear in the Index alphabetically.
For example, if you are looking for "arson," you would use the General Index A-D volume.
Within the index, use the letters at the top corners of the page to find your term alphabetically.
On the page, locate the bold heading.
Under each bold heading, there will be subtopics for more specific information. Locate the listing that is closest to what you are looking for.
Write down or make a note of the section code listed. This is what you will use to find the entry in the rest of the series.
For example: Cloapr § 379 = Criminal Law: Offenses Against Property, section 379
NOTE: Texas Jurisprudence likes to use abbreviations for their section headings. Typically, these abbreviations stand for the first letter or so of the words in the heading, like in the above example.
Go back to the shelves and use the spines of the books to find the volume that includes that section.
For example: Cloapr § 379 = Criminal Law: Offenses Against Property, section 379
Using the section number, find the heading within the volume.
Example: Criminal Law: Offenses Against Property, Section 379
Since the bound volumes are only as up to date as the date they were printed, it is critical to check for updates. Texas Jurisprudence uses annual supplements to update its content. Most of the time, these appear as pocket parts at the back of the volume. When a pocket part becomes too big to fit in the pocket, it will come as a separate paperback supplement shelved right after the volume.
Turn to the back of the volume to check for a pocket part.
Within the pocket part, check for your same section number.
If nothing appears, like in this example, it means there were no updates to that section since the bound book was published.
The volumes are organized by major topic headings.
To locate information on a particular topic or point of law, you will need to start with the index.
Search for your topic or keyword in the General Index volumes, shelved near the end of the series. Words appear in the Index alphabetically.
For example, if you are looking for "arson," you would use the General Index A volume.
Within the index, search for your term alphabetically.
Major terms appear in bold headings. Under each bold heading, there will be subtopics for more specific information.
Write down or make a note of the section code listed. This is what you will use to find the entry in the rest of the series.
For example: Arson § 1-56 = Arson, sections 1-56
Go back to the shelves and use the spines of the books to find the volume that includes that section.
For example: Arson § 1-56 = Arson, sections 1-56
NOTE: The heading that you are looking for may not appear on the spine itself. Instead, it may fall alphabetically between the terms listed on the spine.
Using the section number, find the heading within the volume.
Example: Arson, section 10
Since the bound volumes are only as up to date as the date they were printed, it is critical to check for updates. American Jurisprudence uses annual supplements to update its content. Most of the time, these appear as pocket parts at the back of the volume. When a pocket part becomes too big to fit in the pocket, it will come as a separate paperback supplement shelved right after the volume.
Turn to the back of the volume to check for a pocket part.
Within the pocket part, check for your same section number.
If nothing appears, like in this example, it means there were no updates to that section since the bound book was published.
Both American Jurisprudence and Texas Jurisprudence are available full-text in Westlaw.
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