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UNITED STATES
The legislative branch of the government makes the law.  A full explanation of the federal legislative process can be found in LexisNexis Congressional.

The following databases can help you track legislation and identify associated documents.

PENNSYLVANIA
The state legislative process produces far less documentation than the federal.  A general description of the state legislative process can be found in LexisNexis State Capital.  Making Law in Pennsylvania from the Pennsylvania House of Representaives gives a detailed description of the process in Pennsylvania.

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The judicial branch applies laws enacted by the legislative branch and rules and regulations issued by the executive branch.

SECONDARY AUTHORITIES
Law libraries are your best source for legal dictionaries, encyclopedias, periodicals, and treatises.  The Tri-Colleges do purchase some titles relevant to the curriculum, but most are geared to the general scholar or layman.  To locate titles, search Tripod by Subject or Keyword and look for the subject subdivisions Cases or Law and legislation or Legal status, laws, etc.

Listed below are links to the online secondary authorities and case citator available in the Tri-Colleges.

American Jurisprudence 2d
Am Jur 2d collects, examines, and sumarizes the broad principles of American law.  The publication is divided alphabetically into hundreds of topic headings or 'titles'.

Case in Brief Expanded Research/Analysis
This reasearch tool from LexisNexis is similar to West's American Law Reports, offering similar case analysis and annotation.  Coverage is only 2007-date.

Law Reviews & Legal Periodicals
Law Reviews in LexisNexis Academic can be searched all at once or in groupings by specific area of law.  Use the pull-down Sources box to select journals in a specific area.

Shepard's Citations
This case citator is available online via LexisNexis Academic.  It allows you to research a case and find parallel citations, subsequent history and treatment of the cited case or statute, and perhaps additional related cases and commentary.

CASE LAW: FEDERAL and STATE
Bryn Mawr has access to decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Courts of Appeals, U.S. District Courts, specialized courts, and state courts via the Legal section of LexisNexis Academic.  Click on the Legal tab and then on the Federal & State Cases link on the left.  You can search by keyword, case name, citation, law firm name, or last name of judge.  To focus a keyword search you can select the Court level from the pull-down Sources box.

Most federal and state courts have web sites containing descriptions of the court and decisions from recent years.  See U.S. Courts.gov for links to federal courts and the National Center for State Courts web site for links to state courts.

SUPREME COURT of the UNITED STATES

UNITED STATES LOWER COURTS

PENNSYLVANIA and OTHER STATE COURTS

Pennsylvania Supreme Court, appellate courts, District Courts, and Common Pleas Courts as well as other states court decisions are available online via LexisNexis Academic.  Click on the Legal search tab and then on the Federal & State Cases link on the left.  To focus a keyword only search, select the desired state from the pull-down Sources box.  After you retrieve your search results, you can use the Cases link under Result Groups on the left to limit to a particular court.

Links to Pennsylvania state courts are available via the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania web site.  Links to Pennsylvania and other state courts are available via Lawsonline.com and the National Center for State Courts web site.

OTHER JUDICIAL BRANCH INFORMATION SOURCES

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UNITED STATES
Once a bill is signed into law, it must often be implemented by an agency of the executive branch.  An executive branch agency may issue administrative regulations explaining how it intends to put the law into effect and what a citizen or entity must do to comply with the law.  This section contains links to online resources related to the executive branches of federal and state government.  An alphabetical listing of these resources is at the end of this section.

For information on executive branch agencies consult government organization manuals or agency web sites.

AGENCY WEB SITES

You can find executive branch agency web sites via USA.gov, the United States' official web portal.  Click on the A-Z Agency Index or Federal Government link in the Government Agencies box on the right of the screen.

REGISTERS and CODES

Agencies issue proposed, interim, and final rules and regulations in the newspapers or registers of the executive and administrative branches.

The Federal Register is the source for United States rules and regulations.  For a guide to using the FR see the National Archives web page About the Federal Register.  Bryn Mawr has the FR (1979-1997) on microfiche at Doc M-fiche (Floor B) AE 2.106.  You can also access the FR via GPO Access (1994-date), and both LexisNexis Academic and LexisNexis Congressional (1980-date).  An online Federal Register Index (1994-date) is available on the National Archives website.

Regulations.gov is a gateway to FR regulations open for public comment (proposed rules) and closed for comment (final rules).  Additional supporting materials are included and comments may be submitted for those documents open for comment.

After publication in the FR, rules and regulations are gathered in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).  The current print edition of the CFR is available at Swarthmore McCabe Ref AE 2.106/3.  Online versions are available via GPO Access (1996-date), and both LexisNexis Academic and LexisNexis Congressional (1981-date).  A print CFR Index is available at Swarthmore McCabe GovDoc AE 2.106/3-2: and at Bryn Mawr as one volume in the multi-volume United States Code Service (B Canaday KF62 1972 L38).  Check the List of CFR Sections Affected (LSA) for any pertinent regulations in the Federal Register since the most recent CFR revision



PROCLAMATIONS and EXECUTIVE ORDERS
The President can issue proclamations and executive orders that have regulatory impact. 
Executive orders and proclamations are first published in the FR and the Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents (formerly the Weekly Compilation) and then compiled in to CFR Title 3, The President and the Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States. 

The Compilations are available via GPO Access (1993-date) and ProQuest Research Library (1992-date).

Agencies are also involved in administrative decision making.  LexisNexis Academic has files of federal and state agency decisions in their Legal/Administrative Materials & Regulations section.  Administrative Decisions and Other Actions by Agency is a web site created by the University of Virginia Library that provides links to administrative actions that are outside the scope of the CFR or the Federal Register.  Federal Administrative Decisions and Opinions, created by the Pace Law School Library, is another site that links to agency decisons and opinions .

PENNSYLVANIA
MANUALS and AGENCY WEB SITES
At the state level, just as the federal, once a bill is signed into law, it must often be implemented by an agency of the executive branch.

For information on state executive branch agencies consult state government organization manuals [often referred to as blue books], or agency web sites.

The Pennsylvania Manual is a guide to Pennsylvania government and includes profiles of officials from the executive, judicial, and legislative branches as well as information on local government.  The most recent print Manual is available at the Canaday Reference Desk.  Earlier years are shelved on Floor A. Recent Manuals are also available online via the Pennsylvania Department of General Services web site.

Links to the Pennsylvania and other state blue books are available via the American Library Association Government Documents Roundtable.  Links to state agencies and commissionas are available via the LexisNexis State Capital List of Links.

REGISTERS and CODE
Links to Pennsylvania executive agency web sites are available on the  Commonwealth of Pennsylvania web site.  For other states use the State Sites link in LexisNexis State Capital.

Agencies issue proposed, interim, and final rules in the newspapers or registers of the executive and administrative branches.  The Pennsylvania Bulletin is the source for Pennsylvania rules and regulations.  The Bulletin (1996-date) is available from the Commonwealth and from LexisNexis State Capital (1994-date).  Links to many state registers are available via the University of Michigan Documents Center State Legal Sources on the Web.

After publication in the state newspapers or registers, rules and regulations are gathered in official Codes.  Print versions of the Code are available at Bryn Mawr PA Documents (Floor A)  PGA 134.18 and at Swarthmore McCabe Ref KFP30 .A25.  An online version of the Pennsylvania Code is available from the Commonwealth and also from LexisNexis State Capital.

PROCLAMATIONS and EXECUTIVE ORDERS
The Governor can issue proclamations and executive orders that have regulatory impact.  For Pennsylvania these are published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.  Executive orders are are also available on the Pennsylvania Office of Administration web site.

As a convenience, here is an alphabetical list of the executive branch online resources listed above:
Agency administrative decisions (LexisNexis Academic)
Agency administrative decisions (Pace Law School)
Agency administrative decisions (University of Virginia Library)
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) (GPO Access)
Code of Fedral Regulations (CFR) (LexisNexis Congressional)
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR Title 3, the President) (GPO Access)
Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents (GPO Access)
Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents (ProQuest)
Federal Register (GPO Access)
Federal Register (LexisNexis Congressional)
Federal Register, About  (National Archives)
Federal Register Index (National Archives)
List of CFR Sections Affected (LSA) (GPO Access)
Pennsylvania Bulletin (Commonwealth of PA)
Pennsylvania Bulletin (and other state registers) (LexisNexis State Capital)
Pennsylvania Code (Commonwealth of PA)
Pennsylvania Code (LexisNexis State Capital)
Pennsylvania Exective Agencies (PA Pennsylvania)
Pennsylvania Governor Executive Orders (PA Office of Administration)
Pennsylvania Manual (PA Dept. of General Services)
Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States (GPO Access)
Regulations.gov
State Blue Books/Manuals/Registers (ALA GODORT)
State Government Resources (LexisNexis State Capital)
US Government Manual (GPO Access)
US Government Manual (UMinn Digital Text Project)
USA.gov

Associations, advocacy groups, and policy research organizations are often good sources for information on law and legislation.

Please come to the Library Reference Desk at the Canaday TECH Bar for personalized help with your research.

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