Oct. 7, 2009 – Several months ago, the Wisconsin State Law Library launched a new Web site. In addition to the services provided by the library, the Web site functions as a legal portal. It is an excellent source for online research. This article highlights just a few of its features.
A-Z legal topics
Several hundred legal topics are found in this section. Examples include cyber crimes, electronic signatures, product recalls, and garnishments. The library staff has evaluated numerous online resources and compiled a list of reliable sources. Use these links as a starting point for research. If applicable, this section includes relevant state and/or federal law. The search results often include a listing of related topics, library resources, or law review articles.
Judicial Council index
The Judicial Council Collection consists of thousands of items. Documents encompass Council minutes, correspondence, and committee materials. These resources are especially useful when conducting a legislative history. Browse the collection or take advantage of the search engine. The actual materials are not available online. Contact the library for assistance.
Legal forms
This portal provides links to various online forms. It includes Wisconsin court, agency, town law, and federal forms. The Web site also contains court and general forms for the various counties. To access them, the researcher must use the County Resource database.
Legal research guides
Often a research guide is useful when exploring a new area. On this page, the user will find a variety of pathfinders, each providing useful tips and hints. Topics range from locating treaties, to discovering administrative law, to understanding the legislative process. In addition to the title of the document, the staff has included the source and date of the guide.
The State Law Library Web site supports several other sections of value. The tribal and international law pages are quite extensive. Ordinances for numerous counties, townships, and villages are centrally located on the ordinances & codes page.
The library staff has created a useful portal to efficiently aid the researcher. The Web site also outlines the other services available to Wisconsin lawyers, including library cards, online journal databases, and classes.
Bev Butula is the manager of library of services at Davis & Kuelthau, Milwaukee. She is a past president of the Law Librarians Association of Wisconsin. Bev has written articles and spoken to numerous groups on issues such as effective Internet research, evaluation of Web sites and legal research. Prior to obtaining her Master's Degree in Library Science from UWM, Bev was a litigation paralegal.
