Paper Topic Development: International: Spooky Source Checking Tips

• Note: If you are on campus using the BLS network or off campus using a web browser that communicates with the BLS proxy server, you should be able to access: WashingtonPost.com without creating an individual account.  

• Search by keyword(s) or use the pull-down menu to search by title or author.  (If a book/report title begins with: "The": Ignore "The" -- Do not add The to your catalog search.) 
  • A title search often is effective in SARA catalog:

• In Find a Source, enter a journal’s title (or a newspaper's title) to see whether BLS Library has holdings for, and links to, the journal (or newspaper):

• In OneSearch's "Advanced" search form, enter an article's title to search many (but not all) BLS databases.  Use the pull-down menu to choose option: TITLE - TI, then run search:

• HeinOnline's Law Journal Library
• HeinOnline's International and Non-U.S. Law Journals

• Use WorldCat's Advanced Search Form to determine whether other libraries might own a source.  Below is an example of searching WorldCat by a book's title: Principles and Practice in EU Sports Law and author: Weatherill:

• Because BLS Library's collection focuses on legal sources, public libraries can be helpful sources of history books, biographies, books on hot topics, etc. 
  • NYPL Catalog
  • NYPL's E-Collections
  • NYPL Research Catalog
  • BPL > link: Books and More
• NYPL also subscribes to many databases. 
  • NYPL's A-Z Databases List.  The blue "home" icon means you should be able to access the database remotely by entering your NYPL barcode & PIN/password.

Check Westlaw: Secondary Sources - Law Reviews & Journals to see whether your journal previously cited to a source you need to check.  Below is a sample Westlaw Boolean "terms and connectors" search to see whether an article published in Brooklyn Journal of International Law ever cited to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties:

• "Brooklyn Journal of International Law" AND "Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties"

  • If you retrieve search results, sort results by: Date (cites in a recently published BJIL article would reflect application of the rules from a recent edition of The Bluebook).

  • If you do not retrieve search results, check to see how other scholarly journals cited to the desired document and review the appropriate Bluebook rule(s).

If reading a legal journal article in Westlaw, check Copy Menu (on right of screen) for option: Copy Citation.

• Verify by consulting Bluebook Rule 16.

If reading a legal journal article in HeinOnline’s Law Journal Library, click: Cite (on left of screen) & review: Bluebook 21st ed. cite format.

• Verify by consulting Bluebook Rule 16.

This BLS Treaty Research Guide discusses how to apply Bluebook rule 21.4 (Treaties) and provides sample treaty cites here.  To apply rule 21.4, determine whether the U.S. is a party to the treaty.  Sources that answer this threshold question:

• United Nations Treaty Collection, MTDSG, tab: Status of Treaties  Provides cites/parties to multilateral treaties registered or filed with the United Nations.  Enter treaty's title or keywords. 

• U.S. Department of State, Treaties in Force (+ 2021-2023 supplement)

  • Provides cites to treaties currently in force to which the U.S. is a party.  You will see cites to the previously published United States Treaties and Other International Agreements series (U.S.T.) and to the currently published Treaties and Other International Acts Series (T.I.A.S.).
  • If Treaties in Force index does not reference a recent U.S. treaty, try consulting these U.S. Department of State Office of Treaty Affairs web pages: Recent Actions for Treaties for Which the United States is Depositary and Treaties Pending in the Senate.  
  • Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London (host), Flare Index to Treaties 
    • Provides cites to 2,000+ multilateral treaties (scope: "key multilateral treaties from the 1600s onwards" + "key bilateral treaties from 1353 to 1815"). 
    • Cites include Bluebook-preferred sources.   
  • Westlaw > Secondary Sources > Law Reviews & Journals
    • Search by a treaty's title or popular name and note how scholarly legal journals have cited to the treaty.  
• If you find a cite to the treaty, copy the cite.
• If the U.S. is a party to the treaty, apply either Bluebook rule 21.4.5(a)(i) [primarily: bilateral treaties] or rule 21.4.5(a)(ii) [multilateral treaties].
• If the U.S. is not a party to the treaty, apply rule 21.4.5(b).
  • Requires researchers to cite to one source published by an international organization.
  • If a treaty does not appear in a source published by an international organization, researchers can cite to the treaty in the unofficial document collection: International Legal Materials (I.L.M.). Finally, if a treaty does not appear in International Legal Materials, researchers can cite to the treaty as posted at a government's website, an intergovernmental body's website, or other sources listed in rule 21.4.5(c) of The Bluebook.