Be sure to read and follow the requirements carefully. There are different requirements for each of the different abstracts.
This page will help you find sources. Then you'll need to
write an abstract.
Any article that comes from a publication called a "law review" will be OK. Many articles that come from a publication called a "law journal" will not be acceptable, but some will. If your publication is a "journal" as opposed to a "review," it will not count unless it is at least 10 pages long. If you use a "journal," put the beginning and ending page numbers or, if from the Internet, the word count. The word count would need to be at least 2,500.
You can do your research at the law library or on-line using Lexis.
This means, find the Volume 77 of Harvard Law Review, pages 1120 to 1155 (yes, they are usually very long).
6. Write an abstract.
1. Using your university e-mail account user I.D. and password, you can use Lexis on-line. You can also access this account from home by following the directions on the Mullins Library page.
2. Go to the Mullins Library site.
3. Under Find Information, click on Top Ten Databases.
4. Click on Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe. (You may be asked for your userid and password.)
5. Right under Search, click on Legal.
6. Enter your query in the search engine box, select the time period and search.
7. These documents count as law review articles, not as Web sites. Get the citation information required for law reviews, not for Web sites. If your citation is really long with a bunch of numbers in it, it's the wrong citation.
8. Write an abstract.
How to Cite Law Review Articles
(author, title, law review, volume, date, pages)
Shurlds, Katherine. "Like Nailing a Jellyfish to the Wall." Harvard Law Review 77 (December 1997) 100-177.
1. You can use any search engine you prefer to find Web pages connected to your report. However, depending on your topic, it might be better to try to narrow your search by using the legal research or law areas provided in most popular Web search engines. Google is an excellent search engine and will help you narrow your search. Go to www.google.com and click on directory. Then click on "Society" and then "Law." You might want to click further in or just search there. Try both if you have trouble finding pages.
2. In the search engine window (not the http window), type in a query. This doesn't have to be one of those you came up with as a group, but those should help get you started. Also, everyone on a team can use the same query as long as you find different sites (see No. 6).
3.After you type in your query, click on "search" or "submit." You will get a list of WWW pages that mention your word or phrase. Click on each of these pages individually until you find one you like. If you don't like any of the first 10 listed, click on the icon that takes you to the next 10, usually at the bottom of the page. And so on.
4. Once you find a site you want to use, print out two pages of the Web site, including the one that discusses your topic. (Your site could be one page long; in that case, turn in one page.)Turn these in with your abstract. They also go in your final Media Law Report along with your abstract.
5. BE SURE to write down the URL (the Internet address that begins "http://" at the top of the page you decide to use). The URL will not necessarily be on the printout, so write it down -- carefully.
6. BE SURE you do not use the same page twice -- an easy mistake if you don't watch for "extensions" -- for instance,
http://www.1stamend.ar.us/libel
and
http://www.1stamend.ar.us/privacy
are the same document. If the URL of your page looks anything like the URL of another, to be safe, get a new one.
7. Two kinds of Web sites that are not allowed are "additional cases" and "search engine results." I won't approve an additional case having to do with your area of the law. I've given you the five cases I believe are best for this MLR -- don't submit other court cases that you find on the Web. You may submit news stories or commentaries found on the Web about other cases, but not the court case itself. "Search engine results" includes any list of links to other pages. I'm looking for content -- something you can quote from. You can't quote from a list of links. If in doubt, ask me before you turn these in. I won't give credit for them and you'll have to replace them. (Usually, you can find a good site if you just click on one of the links connected to your MLR and write about what you see there.)
8. Finally: If you don't already know it, let me assure you that there is a lot of dreck on the Web. Use your judgment. Read the document; see if it sounds as if the writer knows what he's talking about. Check to see who sponsors the page. Is there some information about the writer? Include this information in the abstract.
9. Write an abstract.
How to cite Web pages
Please give me only the root of the Internet address. Test it to see how many extensions you can take off and still make the page appear easily.
(author, title of page, title of site, date created, <URL>, date viewed)
Shurlds, Katherine, "First Amendment Resources," Shurlds & Young Home Page, 1997, <http://www.uark.edu/~kshurlds/resources.html> (Oct. 17, 1998)
1. Find a book relating to your cases or subject or area of law. A good place to start looking for such a book is in the bibliographies of a law review article you did or a journal article related to your topic. If you don't find anything there (the author didn't do a very good job!) but then you can use Infolinks or a regular card catalog. You probably won't find an entire book on your subject, so look for books that might have a chapter about your topic. Text books are not acceptable. If you're not sure if it's a text book, ask me about it before you turn in the abstract.
2. Scan/read the book.
3. Write an abstract.
How to Cite Books:
(author, title, where published, publisher, date)
Shurlds, Katherine. First Amendment Heroes. New York: Vanity Press, 1997.