Florida State University College of Law Research Center Water Law Research Elizabeth Farrell Research/Instructional Technology Librarian Fall, 2008

Florida State University College of Law Research Center Getting Started… Water law can be confusing to research because an issue may involve looking at federal and state statutes, regulations and common law. There also may be significant overlap with environmental, land use, and natural resources legal issues. So, where do you start?

Florida State University College of Law Research Center Secondary Sources! Types of Secondary Sources: Periodicals – law reviews/journals Treatises Legal Encyclopedias CLE Materials Current Awareness Tools (Blogs, Newsletters) Don’t forget – Look for both topical (water) and jurisdiction- and geographic-specific (Florida or Eastern U.S.) sources. Also think about interdisciplinary materials (e.g., science, engineering, urban planning/land use, geography).

Florida State University College of Law Research Center Check the Catalog!

Florida State University College of Law Research Center Research Strategy If you’ve found a helpful resource – mine the bibliography, footnotes and endnotes for additional resources and other angles to pursue with your research.

Florida State University College of Law Research Center Treatises Lexis & Westlaw have valuable resources (check both), however…. There are a number of essential sources outside LN/WL Check for both PRINT and ONLINE materials –Have you searched the catalog? –Have you looked at the available databases?

Florida State University College of Law Research Center Water Law on Lexis

Florida State University College of Law Research Center Water Law on Westlaw

Florida State University College of Law Research Center Water Law on Westlaw

Florida State University College of Law Research Center Water Law on Westlaw

Florida State University College of Law Research Center Checking Interdisciplinary Sources The FSU Libraries have a wealth of databases in non- law areas that might be of interest in researching local, national and international water law topics.

Florida State University College of Law Research Center Current Awareness Tools Great for staying up on the issues and controversies Good source to find paper topics Possible tools: –Newsletters (BNA) –Mainstream Media, Blogs –Environmental Advocacy Organizations Always check on reliability and reputation of source

Florida State University College of Law Research Center BNA Newsletters Access BNA via the Research Center’s list of databases.

Florida State University College of Law Research Center General/Business News

Florida State University College of Law Research Center Environmental/Water Advocacy Groups

Florida State University College of Law Research Center Research Tip: For policy issues, make sure you find different perspectives on the issues!

Florida State University College of Law Research Center Other Important Water/ Environmental Law Databases The Research Center has online (and some print) access to these resources: BNA Environment Reporter ELI’s Environmental Law Reporter E&E Publications (ClimateWire, Land Letter, Greenwire)

Florida State University College of Law Research Center BNA Environment Reporter

Florida State University College of Law Research Center ELI’s Environmental Law Reporter

Florida State University College of Law Research Center E&E Publications

Florida State University College of Law Research Center Sources of Water Law Water law covers all branches of government - you may need to research statutes, regulations, administrative decisions and cases depending on your issue.

Florida State University College of Law Research Center Sources of Water Law - Florida

Florida State University College of Law Research Center Agencies often have a number of publications available – covering general, legal and scientific information.

Florida State University College of Law Research Center Sources of Water Law - Federal

Florida State University College of Law Research Center

Questions?