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Administrative Law Research Guide: Tips To ID Looseleafs & Databases

Focus: free and fee-based sources

SARA Catalog To Identify Looseleafs/Databases + Instructions To Access Fee-based Databases

  • Key publishers of looseleafs (& databases) are: Bloomberg BNA, CCH (a division of Wolters Kluwer Tax and Accounting), LexisNexis Matthew Bender & RIA (a division of Thomson Reuters Tax and Accounting).  
    • TIP #1: To view our library's holdings, conduct a keyword search in the BLS Library catalog, SARA, combining words from a publisher's name with a legal subject area.  To focus on databases in your search results, review catalog records that include the words: [electronic resource]        
      • Sample searches in SARA:
        • bna employment discrimination law
        • cch federal securities law
        • ria federal tax law
        • bender immigration law

Fee-based: Practice-Area Pages in LexisNexis & Westlaw To Find Material Published by Agencies

BLS researchers can access many sources pertaining to federal agencies through Lexis.com, Lexis Advance, Westlaw Classic and WestlawNext.  These materials include both sources published by U.S. agencies and sources published by vendors.  Examples of sources published by vendors: Lexis provides the LexisNexis Matthew Bender Immigration sources.  Westlaw provides selected Thomson Reuters [RIA] tax sources.  Tip: To identify databases of regulations, decisions & commentary arranged by legal subject area, use:

  • Lexis.com: click tab: "Legal" > link: "Area of Law by Topic"
  • Westlaw Classic, click tab: "Directory" > link: "Topical Materials by Area of Practice"
  • Westlaw Next, click tab: "Topics"  Example: Then, if a researcher selects a topic such as: Tax, the researcher will see vendors' materials listed under "Tools & Resources" on the far right of the screen.

Fee-based: LawTRIO To Identify Looseleaf Services & Databases

LawTRIO (single-user access within the BLS firewall) is another tool to ID looseleaf services (& databases).

  • Tip: Access LawTRIO subscription database either on-campus or off-campus through the BLS proxy server (see Proxy Instructions).
  • In LawTRIO, click left-frame link: Search LawTRIO
  • Check a format, such as: Looseleaf
  • Conduct a keyword search to identify looseleaf services.  Examples:
    • brownfields
    • disabilit*
    • "executive compensation"
    • "employee benefit" or erisa
  • Note: LawTRIO identifies published sources.  It does not identify sources owned (or licensed) by BLS Library.  If LawTRIO provides a useful title, conduct a title search in SARA to determine whether BLS Library owns or licenses the source.