ENPM 808A: Environmental Law for Engineers
Web page created by Travis Johnson and Gerri Foudy, Social Sciences Team, UM Libraries
Instructor: Professor Michael A. Brown
The University of Maryland Libraries have many resources that will help with your research. If you need additional information, please contact Travis Johnson or Gerri Foudy, the Law Librarians, or speak with a Reference Librarian at McKeldin Library's Service Plus Information Desk.
Because of licensing agreements, access to bibliographic databases and electronic journals is restricted to UM faculty, staff, and students. These may be accessed from off campus; consult Remote access for further information. For a complete list of electronic resources available to University of Maryland faculty, staff, and students, as well as information about the full range of library materials and services, consult the UM Libraries' home page.
Please also note that as University of Maryland students you are welcome to use and check out books from any one of the University of Maryland System libraries (you will need your College Park student ID). Click here for more information on the other campus libraries that are available.
Contents
- Library Catalog
- Legal Databases
- Engineering Databases
- Legal Information Websites
- Legislative History Sources
- Legal Citations
- Other Research Guides
Library Catalog
Search the online catalog
for books and documents on your topic. Start with a keyword search.
Example: hazardous waste and law
You must also use the catalog to find out whether the Libraries subscribe to a particular journal.
Do a title browse on the journal title (not the article title).
Example: Maryland Law Review
Legal Databases
When off-campus, access databases through MdUSA or by dialing into the campus network [Further Information].- Academic Universe (Lexis-Nexis)
Legal Research section has full-text of law reviews and legal newspapers, newsletters and magazines, federal and state case law, Shepard's citations for US Supreme Court cases, federal code and regulations, and state code. It also has mostly full-text access to US and international newspapers, journals, wire services, and news transcripts including the Washington Post and the New York Times. - Catalog of US Government Publications (government site, freely available off campus)
Index to government publications from 1994 to the present; some full text available. - Congressional Universe
Comprehensive access to US legislative information including legislative histories, an index of congressional publications from 1970 to the present, and congressional hearing testimonies. - Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations on GPO Access (government site, freely available off campus)
The Federal Register is the daily publication which reports all federal regulations as they are announced and put into force. Those regulations are encoded (put into subject order) in the Code of Federal Regulations. -
The CQ Researcher
Full-text coverage of the CQ (Congressional Quarterly) Researcher publication from 1992 to the present.
Engineering Databases
When off-campus, access databases through MdUSA or by dialing into the campus network [Further Information].
These are a few of the civil and environmental engineering databases which also include some information on legal aspects of engineering projects. Best to use when you already have a specific law or regulation in mind and want the professional perspective or specific detailed implementation information.
- Civil Engineering Library
abstracts of articles in professional civil engineering journals. - GEOBASE
Information about articles and other materials on geography, geology, ecology, and related disciplines. - ICONDA
(International Construction Database) Information about articles and other publications on architecture, civil engineering, and construction worldwide.
- LII: Legal Information Institute
Cornell Law School site with information on laws by topic (example: crimes & criminal procedure), and constitutions and codes, court decisions, and law by source or jurisdiction. Home page tracks major current law events and big decisions on controversial or important topics.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/ - Cornell Legal Research Encyclopedia
An organized collection of links to legal information, organized by broad subject.
http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/library/encyclopedia/ - Findlaw
Comphrehensive site with a legal subject index (example: Communications Law) and information on federal, state and foreign law. Click on "Legal Subjects" for a list.
http://www.findlaw.com/
Legislative History Sources
Legislative Histories compile the documentation produced as a bill goes through congress, including reports, bills, debates, and hearings, among others. They are typically used to determine the intent of Congress in passing a bill.
Legislative history for most recent (the past 30 years or so) legislation of any significance is available online through Congressional Universe. Recent legislative history information can also be found on Thomas, the Library of Congress legislative site. For older laws you may need to consult print resources such as the following, most of which will be available in any research or law library:
- CIS/Index to Publications of the U.S. Congress 1970-
Three parts: Index, Legislative History, Abstracts. Indexes and abstracts committee reports, hearings, committee prints, and House and Senate documents. The documents indexed are available on microfiche. A CIS/Index Search Guide is available at the Government Documents information desk.
LOCATION: GOVDOC LC DOC (Latest edition in GOVDOC QCKREF)
CALL NUMBER: JK8.C6 - CIS US Congressional Committee Hearings Index (early 1800s-1969)
Comprehensive index access to published and unpublished hearings. Index coverage includes bills and laws discussed, Federal agencies concerned, witnesses who testified, and the organizations they represented. Full-text of the hearings are available on microfiche.
LOCATION: GOVDOC LC DOC
CALL NUMBER: KF25.C66 - CIS US Congressional Committee Prints Index: From the Earliest Publications Through 1969
LOCATION: GOVDOC LC DOC
CALL NUMBER: Z7165.U5B52 1980 v. 1-5 - Congressional Index 1953-1994
Contains a subject index for bills and resolutions passed in Congress. There are sections for Senate Bills, House Bills, House and Senate Resolutions, Status of Senate Bills, Status of House Bills, Voting Records on Senate Bills, and Voting Records on House Bills.
LOCATION: GOVDOC LC DOC
CALL NUMBER: J69.C6 - Congressional Quarterly Almanac 1945-
Sessional compilation of articles from CQ Weekly, coverage of actions, votes, presidential statements, and public laws. It includes the annual CQ Vote Studies, significant bills and resolutions, key votes, and roll call votes.
LOCATION: MCKREF STKS
CALL NUMBER: JK1.C66 - Congressional Quarterly Weekly (Report) 1958-
Reports the weekly actions of Congress. Sections include: Status of Major Legislation, House Votes and Senate Votes.
LOCATION: MCK FOLIO (Current Issues at McKeldin Reference Desk or online - see databases section above)
CALL NUMBER: JK1.C15 - Congressional Record 1873 -
"Official record" of the daily proceedings of Congress. The House and Senate sections include records of votes and legislative actions, and full texts of many bills. The Daily Digest, a summary of daily activities, is a factual record of committee and floor proceedings, including action on bills, votes, hearings, meeting, and bill status.
LOCATION: GOVDOC SU DOC
CALL NUMBER: X1.1: [Congress Number - Session Number - Date] - Congressional Record Index
Itemized the contents of daily Congressional Records and provides a "History of Bills and Resolutions" section detailing the status of legislation.
LOCATION: GOVDOC LC DOC (1873-1970)
CALL NUMBER: J11.R521 (1873-1870) Indexes for 1971- are shelved with volumes of the Congressional Record - Digest of Public General Bills and Resolutions (CRS Bill Digest) 1955-1992
Index to bills and resolutions arranged by bill number, with separate indexes for subject, short title, sponsor and co-sponsor.
LOCATION: GOVDOC SU DOC
CALL NUMBER: LC14.6 - United States Code
Official compilation of active laws, the U.S. Code (USC) offers a subject compilation of public laws under 50 "titles" or categories. The USC does not summarize legislative history, but refers to the slip law in the Statutes at Large.
LOCATION: GOVDOC LC DOC
CALL NUMBER: KF62.A2 - United States Congressional Serial Set 1789-
Serially numbered collection of House and Senate Reports and documents dating back to 1789. Microfiche version issued with title: CIS U.S. serial set, covering 1789-1969; as part of: CIS microfiche library.
LOCATION: GOVDOC SU DOC
CALL NUMBER: Y 1.1/2: - (CIS)United States Congressional Serial Set Index 1789-1969
Covers the American State Papers and the Serial Set; allows searching by subject, names of people and organizations, report and document numbers, numbers of bills for which reports were issued (1819-1969), and serial volume numbers.
LOCATION: GOVDOC LC DOC
CALL NUMBER: Z1223.Z9C65 - United States Statutes at Large 1789-
Sessional cumulation of public and private laws, joint and concurrent resolutions. Cites the US Code and provides a brief legislative history.
LOCATION: GOVDOC LC DOC
CALL NUMBER: KF50.U5
Legal Citations
Legal citations are very specifically formatted and include many abbreviations, and they can be a challenge to create or understand.
- The Bluebook : a uniform system of citation, 17th ed. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Law Review Association, 2000.
LOCATION: MCKREF QCKREF
CALL NUMBER: KF245.B58 2000
This is the basic legal citation handbook. Includes great detail but also provides a short list of the basic rules. Also includes helpful tables of abbreviations. - Introduction to Basic Legal Citation
Cornell site based on the 17th edition of the "Bluebook."
http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/citation.table.html - Reading legal citations, an online guide complied by the Boston College Law Library, provides a more concise guide to the basics of citing legal sources and deciphering citations.
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/law/lawlib/GUIDES-H/legalcite.html.
- Finding Congressional Hearings
http://www.lib.umd.edu/UMCP/GOV/hearings.html - Finding Federal Bills and Resolutions
http://www.lib.umd.edu/UMCP/GOV/bills.html - Finding Federal Regulatory Information
http://www.lib.umd.edu/UMCP/GOV/fedregs.html - Finding U.S. Government Documents in the University of Maryland Libraries
http://www.lib.umd.edu/UMCP/GOV/basic.html - Finding U.S. Supreme Court Decisions
http://www.lib.umd.edu/UMCP/GOV/supreme.html
