Interdisciplinary Research in Law:   Treaty, Legislative, and Administrative History Research Dana Neacsu

Read your research question Is NAFTA constitutional despite having failed to receive two-thirds Senate approval as required by the Treaty Clause?

Preliminary cognitive meta -research 1. Clarify your question. 2 Preliminary cognitive meta -research 1. Clarify your question. 2. Break it into smaller concepts, if it crosses academic subject matters. 3. Do a literature search within each academic subject.

Preliminary strategic meta-research Can you go for the primary source? -treaty -statute -case law Where do you start? What is your jurisdiction? 1.Free of charge databases? 2. Fee-based databases? How do you choose? Who publishes them? Where can you access them?

Google Search Finding library guides! Finding the correct title of the treaty and Statute Hard to find the treaty itself!

Library Catalogs Try on your own and pay attention if you cannot find what you need!! Use CLIO to find statutory legislative history

Library Catalog Searches; Other Examples 1. Useful to find secondary sources compiling comprehensive treaty & legislative history on point But terminology is key! Compare a search for CEDAW with one for Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women? 2. Useful to find a starting point (e.g. state statutory history for minimum wage for woemen before 1938); Useful to find THE Legislative History database: Proquest Congressional

Westlaw & Lexis Searches Use WestlawNext to find NAFTA’s comprehensive legislative history and regulatory implementation. Then Use LexisAdvance Use ProQuest and compare the results!

Questions? Dana Neacsu Email: edn13@columbia.edu