Hist196s

 Library Resources

Hist 196s.10 Regulating American Business

Preliminary Research Steps

Create potential list of keywords which include the type of business (eg. railroads, chemical) and regulatory terms (eg. regulatory, administrative law, statutory law). 

Remember to exploit truncation:

regulat* = regulate, regulatory, regulated, regulates

Truncation symbols differ in databases but using * or ? is usually safe.

Catalog hints:

1.  Read the whole record and check the subject headings for possible keywords.
2. When searching broad topics (such as "regulatory") limit to specific Duke libraries.
3. Be sure to "Ask a Librarian" if you get stuck.

Key Resources

U.S. Statutes at Large - statutory law as passed by Congress

• Completely available electronically in Lexis Nexis Congressional and Hein Online
• Completely available in paper in Public Documents & Maps

U.S. Code - public laws codified by subject/agency

• Current version available electronically at GPO Access and Lexis Nexis Congressional
• Paper version available in Public Documents & Maps
• Historic versions available at the Law Library

Federal Register - proposed regulations, public comment, announcements

• Full text from vol. 1 to present available in Hein Online

Code of Federal Regulations - regulations codified by subject/agency

• Current and recent electronic versions available at GPO Access
• Historic electronic versions are on Hein Online
• Historic paper versions available in the Law Library

State Codes - codified state statutory law

• Current versions available electronically on Lexis Nexis Academic
• Many current and historical versions available at the Law Library

State Administrative codes - codified state regulations

• Historic versions difficult to locate unless in law libraries within the state.

Indexes to Primary Source Material

• 19th Century Masterfile
• American Periodical Series
  
• America's Historical Newspapers
• Hein Online
• Lexis Nexis Congressional
  
• Readers Guide Retrospective
• U.S. Congressional Serial Set
  

Databases of Secondary Sources

• America History and Life
• Hein Online - law journals, monographs
• Legal Trac 
• PAIS International