1. Secondary Sources of Law and Electronic Resources
Content by: Lee Su-Lin Updated: 28 April 2017
© C J Koh Law Library

2. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, without the written permission of the copyright holder, application for which should be addressed to the author. Such written permission must also be obtained before any part of this publication is stored in a retrieval system of any nature.
No copyright is claimed in the text of statutes, regulations and court decisions quoted within this work.

3. This tutorial was originally designed for the purpose of training first year law students in the use of databases to retrieve secondary sources of law (AY ). The focus then was on the use of indexes rather than full text databases.
This presentation has been updated with brief instructions on the use of HeinOnline and Factiva to retrieve full text articles.

4. Contents What are secondary sources of law? p.5
Electronic resources p.12
How do I find books? p.17
How do I find journal articles? p.22
How do I find newspaper articles? p.37

5. What are Secondary Sources of Law?

6. A. Secondary Sources of Law
Textbooks, casebooks, etc.
Legal encyclopaedias
Legal periodicals
Research literature. E.g. Theses
Reference works. E.g. Dictionaries, directories, bibliographies, digests, citators, indexes, etc.
Secondary sources assist in
locating relevant primary sources of law
interpretation of relevant primary sources.

7. B. Why are Secondary Sources of Law Important?
In legal research, referring to a secondary source is often the first step in the learning the basics of a particular area of law
Thorough legal research requires the use of the various categories of secondary sources
Secondary sources may be cited in court in support of a particular proposition in law - a court is not bound by secondary authorities, but books or articles written by eminent authors of reputable standing may have significant persuasive value in selecting between conflicting authorities (see guidelines in Citation of Secondary Authorities in Court, Supreme Court Registrar’s Circular, No.3 of 2004, s.2(b), online: Registrar’s Circulars document/registrarcircular/rc citation-of-secondary- authorities-in-court.pdf)

8. C. Types of Secondary Sources
1. Textbooks, Casebooks, etc.
a. Textbooks – provide commentaries and critical evaluation of the law. E.g. Constitutional Law in Malaysia and Singapore
b. Casebooks – contain summaries of key judgments on a particular subject, sometimes with editorial commentary. E.g. Cases and Materials on the Law of Restitution
c. Practice books – primarily for use by legal practitioners; include guides to practice and procedure in the courts.
E.g. Chitty on Contracts, Lewin on Trusts, Singapore Court Practice 2017
d. Precedent books – specimens of forms and other legal documents with layout and wording accepted as standard by lawyers.
E.g. Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents
e. Loose-leaf services - books in loose-leaf format regularly updated to keep abreast of changes in the law. E.g. Woon’s Corporations Law

9. C. Types of Secondary Sources
2. Legal Encyclopaedias
These provide detailed statements of the law in alphabetical subject arrangement. They are good starting points for research, and are sometimes preferred to textbooks for an overview of the topic.
E.g. Corpus Juris Secundum, Halsbury’s Laws of Singapore, Laws of Australia
3. Legal Periodicals
Law journals and reviews provide information on the latest developments in the law as well as comments and criticisms of the law.
E.g. Criminal Law Review Singapore Journal of Legal Studies
4. Research Literature
Doctoral, Masters and other theses provide in-depth analysis of specific topics. Theses submitted to the NUS Faculty of Law are shelved in the Law Library’s Theses Collection at call no. KE5009 *[year] [no.]
E.g. KE5009 *

10. C. Types of Secondary Sources
5. Reference Works
a. Legal Dictionaries, Glossaries, Words and Phrases - provide definitions of legal
words or phrases.
E.g. Black’s Law Dictionary
Words and Phrases Legally Defined
Parliamentary Glossary: a Guide to Terms Used in the Singapore Parliament
b. Legal Directories, Law Lists, etc. – listings of and information on lawyers.
E.g. The Law Society of Singapore Directory
Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory
c. Bibliographies – listings of books that have been published on a subject.
E.g. A Bibliographical Survey of Singaporean Legal Materials
d. Digests – contain summaries of cases.
E.g. The Digest: Annotated British, Commonwealth and European Cases
Mallal's Digest of Malaysian, Singaporean, English and Australian Case Law

11. C. Types of Secondary Sources
5. Reference Works (contd.)
e. Citators
Case citators – list references to where cases were originally reported and to where they were subsequently cited.
E.g. Current Law Case Citator
Legislation citators – list references to cases which cited particular legislation.
E.g. Mallal’s Digest: Legislation Citator 1932 to 2014
f. Indexes - include indexes of:
legal citations and abbreviations – provide meanings of legal abbreviations.
E.g. Index to Legal Citations and Abbreviations, Singapore Legal Abbreviations
cases – alphabetical or subject listings of cases.
E.g. Mallal’s Digest: Consolidated Tables of Cases 2015
legislation – alphabetical or subject listings of legislation.
E.g. Chronological Table of the Statutes (published by HMSO)
legal periodicals – listings of journal articles by author or subject.
E.g. Index to Legal Periodicals and Books (online)

12. Electronic Resources

13. A. What Resources are Available in Electronic Format?
Many secondary sources are now available in electronic format.
For example,
Electronic books (eBooks)
E.g. International trade law [electronic resource] / Indira Carr
Access: via LINC
Electronic journals (eJournals)
E.g. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies Access: via LINC
Indexes to legal periodicals
E.g. LegalTrac
Access: via Databases in NUS Libraries Portal

14. A. What Resources are Available in Electronic Format?
Several electronic databases are “hybrid” sources of law, containing both primary and secondary sources. These full text databases are very popular with legal researchers.
Access: via NUS Libraries Portal
Access: via Resources on NUS Faculty of Law homepage

15. B. Library Guides on Databases
The C J Koh Law Library has published 2 guides to aid students in the use of electronic resources:
Guide to Electronic Resources Collection
Comprehensive listing of the Law Library’s electronic legal resources.
Available in print at the C J Koh Law Library Information Desk or
online on the C J Koh Law Library website.
How to Access Electronic Resources
Instructions on how to access the Library’s electronic resources.
Available in print at the C J Koh Law Library Information Desk or
online on the C J Koh Law Library website.

16. C. Using E-Resources to Find Materials
This tutorial focuses on the use of e-resources for retrieving secondary sources of law. Several of the databases subscribed to by the NUS Libraries can assist you in finding books, journal articles, newspaper articles, etc.
Here’s how …

17. How Do I Find Books?

18. A. Search LINC
To find a book in the NUS Libraries, search the catalogue LINC (Books & Media tab) in the NUS Libraries Portal
E.g. Principles and Practice of Securities Regulation in Singapore by Hans Tjio
Search for a book using keywords, book title, author’s name, subject, etc.

19. A. Search LINC
Select relevant item and click on the title for more details.

20. A. Search LINC Take note of location, call no. and status of book.
Copies of book available in Law (LW) and Hon Sui Sen Memorial (HSSML) Libraries

21. A. Search LINC
Where e-books are available, this will be indicated as in the record shown below.
Click on the link provided to access the e-book

22. How Do I Find Journal Articles?

23. A. Using an Index to Legal Periodicals
Step 1. Find the Citation
If you have an incomplete citation or do not have a citation to a journal article, you may use an index to legal periodicals or journal index to find the complete citation.
Several indexes are available in the NUS Libraries Portal: Select Databases > Subjects > Law to see alphabetical listing.
Note: Journal indexes have much wider coverage as compared to full-text databases - journal range is more comprehensive and date coverage more extensive.

24. A. Using an Index to Legal Periodicals
Step 1. Find the Citation (contd.)
Select the most relevant database. This table contains a selection of online periodical indexes and a summary of their coverage:
Jurisdiction
Database
General
Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (1985- )
Mainly non-Anglo-American
Index to Legal Periodicals and Books (1981- )
Mainly Anglo-American
LegalTrac (1980- )
Europe
Malaysia/Singapore
PERIND (1980- )

25. A. Using an Index to Legal Periodicals
Step 2. Obtain the Full Text
Upon obtaining the citation, determine the availability and location of the journal in the Law Library by searching LINC (Books & Media tab).
Full texts of various journal articles are also available online in the electronic databases (see slide 32).

26. A. Using an Index to Legal Periodicals
Example. Where do I find articles on “Rylands v Fletcher”?
1. Determine the scope of your research
“Rylands v Fletcher” is a common law concept.
2. Select appropriate indexing database/s
Select databases focusing on common law articles, e.g. LegalTrac or Index to Legal Periodicals & Books

27. A. Using an Index to Legal Periodicals
Example. Where do I find articles on “Rylands v Fletcher”?
E.g. Use LegalTrac (access via NUS Libraries Portal)
Select DATABASES tab
Enter name of database in search box

28. A. Using an Index to Legal Periodicals
Example. Where do I find articles on “Rylands v Fletcher”?
Click on database name

29. A. Using an Index to Legal Periodicals
Example. Where do I find articles on “Rylands v Fletcher”?
Click here when on campus
Enter NUSNET ID and password
when off-campus
Accept the NUS Libraries E-Resources Appropriate Use Policy on the next page

30. A. Using an Index to Legal Periodicals
Example. Where do I find articles on “Rylands v Fletcher”?
3. Search the database using relevant terms Various search options are available under Advanced search. For simple searches, just enter the relevant keywords in the Basic Search box.

31. A. Using an Index to Legal Periodicals
Example. Where do I find articles on “Rylands v Fletcher”?
Click on title for more bibliographic information
4. Get the full text
LegalTrac often provides links to full text articles, where available. If not, then take note of citation and search for journal in LINC (Books & Media)

32. B. Using a Full-Text Database
Full-text databases containing law journals include:
HeinOnline – NUS Libraries Portal
JSTOR – NUS Libraries Portal
LawNet – Law Proxy Service
Lexis Singapore - NUS Libraries Portal
Westlaw Next - Law Proxy Service.
Advantage of using a full text database - journal article can be retrieved directly without the 2-stage process of having to search a journal index followed by the library catalogue.
Disadvantage - full-text databases cover only a percentage of the journals that are indexed in journal indexes. Thus, relying solely on full-text databases will limit the sources you find.

33. B. Using a Full-Text Database
Example. Using HeinOnline to find articles on “inchoate title”
On NUS Libraries Portal page, select DATABASES and search for HeinOnline.
After logging in to the database, select Law Journal Library.

34. B. Using a Full-Text Database
Example. Using HeinOnline to find articles on “inchoate title”
Select Advanced Search

35. B. Using a Full-Text Database
Example. Using HeinOnline to find articles on “inchoate title”
Select relevant field from the drop-down menu (e.g. “Text” or “Article Title”), and enter the search terms before clicking on the Search button below.

36. B. Using a Full-Text Database
Example. Using HeinOnline to find articles on “inchoate title”
Click on title to retrieve full text
Click here to check relevancy of article

37. How Do I Find Newspaper Articles?

38. A. Why are Newspaper Articles Important?
Newspaper articles provide valuable sources of information:
the latest legal news
commentaries on the law
information on current cases, many of which may never be published in the law reports.
Swissco judicial management bid gets High Court nod
22 Apr 2017, Business Times
TCM physician's suspension, $10k penalty quashed
22 Apr 2017, Straits Times
Apex court: Use of rival's directories not a copyright breach
24 Apr 2017, Straits Times
Device stuck in boy’s throat: Maid’s sentence doubled after appeal
26 Apr 2017, TODAY

39. B. Using News Aggregators and Databases
Read the latest Singapore legal news on Singapore Law Watch.
Full texts of newspaper articles, in particular earlier reports, may be obtained from the following databases:
Access to world leading and business sources including The Straits Times (1 May 1992-), Business Times (1 May 1992-),
The Times (UK) (1 Jul 1985-)
Access to local, national and international newspapers and business magazines, including The Straits Times (1 Jul 1989-),
Business Times (29 Jan 1984-), The Times (UK) (5 Jan 1981-),
The New York Times (1 Jun 1980-)

40. C. Using Factiva
E.g. Search for Straits Times articles on sentencing in the “City Harvest case”
In the NUS Libraries Portal, click on Databases; then select Factiva from the drop down list of Major & Popular Databases

41. C. Using Factiva
E.g. Search for Straits Times articles on sentencing in the “City Harvest case”
Select Search, followed by
Search Builder

42. C. Using Factiva
E.g. Search for Straits Times articles on sentencing in the “City Harvest case”
4. Select Search Form
1. Select date range
2. Click on Source arrow
3. Search specific source

43. C. Using Factiva
E.g. Search for Straits Times articles on sentencing in the “City Harvest case”
Enter search terms
e.g. Under All of these words, type “city harvest church” sentenc*
Note: 1) Enter words in quotation marks to search them as a phrase
2) * is a wildcard. So, sentenc* will retrieve sentence, sentences, sentencing, etc.

44. C. Using Factiva
E.g. Search for Straits Times articles on sentencing in the “City Harvest case”
Click on relevant title/s for full text

45. You have reached the end of this tutorial
You have reached the end of this tutorial. If you have any queries, please or speak to a librarian at the C J Koh Law Library Information Desk:
The End
Content by: Lee Su-Lin
Updated: 28 April 2017 © C J Koh Law Library