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Legal Research Basics: Current Awareness Tools

Where to begin your legal research.

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Current Awareness Tools Online

Practicing attorneys use current awareness tools to stay up-to-date with breaking news, statutory and regulatory changes and appellate court opinions in their field of practice. You should learn how to use these tools in law school. 

Social Media Tools for Current Awareness

Social media is another great place to discover and keep up on the latest legal issues.

Blogs

There are a number of law blogs ("blawgs") in specialized subject areas written by attorneys, professors, judges, students, and other legal specialists. Use the links below to find a blog of an interest. 

Current Awareness Services in Print

Some services providing analysis of current development in the field and reports of recently decided cases are available in print in the Law Library. Searching the catalog for these tools can be difficult at times. Consider using “reporter” and your legal topic as a keyword search. Other words that may prove useful include “weekly,” “alert,” “current,” “news,” “analysis,” or “newspaper” and then use one of these in conjunction with “law” or “legal.”

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