|
Type
of Source or Access Tool |
General
Examples |
Binding
Upon |
Used
For |
|
Primary |
Constitutions |
All
branches of government. |
Known
item and institutional searches where you need binding authority. |
|
Codes
and Session Laws (Statutes at Large)
(site) |
Except
as found unconstitutional, all branches of government. |
|
Court
Decision
Reporters,
Case Digests and Words
and Phrases |
Binding
upon lower courts of the same jurisdiction and other branches of government. |
|
Codified
Regulations or Administrative Codes and Administrative
Registers or Regulations (site) |
Binding
upon agency issuing the regulation until repealed. |
|
Administrative
Agency Opinions and Rulings. |
Generally
binding upon the agency. Sometimes, may only be binding upon the agency
with respect to the parties in question. |
|
Secondary |
Encyclopedias
(Missouri
Practice),
Treatises and
Hornbooks,
Law Reviews and
Bar Journals,
Form Books |
Not
binding. |
Subject,
statistical and special experience searches where you need to understand
the issues and background of an area of law or problem. Also use to confirm
your interpretation of a primary source. |
|
Combined |
Looseleaf
and Newsletter Services,
American Law Reports
(If ALR were an animal what would it be? Answer) |
Only
primary sources have any binding authority. |
Use
when ease is important. Such sources combine statutes, regulations, commentary,
and case law annotations in a topical arrangement with a good table of
contents and indexing system. |
