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Posted by: Barbara Bavis
This post was co-authored by Barbara Bavis and Robert Brammer, Legal Reference Specialists. Although we are likely more frequently asked about federal laws here at the Law Library of Congress, we do receive quite a number of reference requests concerning state and local law. Of these non-federal requests, some of the more challenging questions deal …
Posted in: Law Library, Research Guide
Posted by: Barbara Bavis
This post was co-authored by Barbara Bavis and Robert Brammer, Legal Reference Librarians. Social Security disability benefits have taken on an ever-increasing role in the press in recent months, and as such, it is no surprise that the Law Library of Congress has received many questions regarding the law in this area. In this post, …
Posted in: Law Library, Research Guide
Posted by: Barbara Bavis
This post was co-authored by Barbara Bavis and Robert Brammer. One of the most frequent requests we receive from patrons at the reference desk at the Law Library Reading Room is for help in tracking down statutes passed by the United States Congress. While at first glance, finding a statute may seem straightforward, there are …
Posted in: Education, Law Library, Research Guide
Posted by: Barbara Bavis
This post was co-authored by Barbara Bavis and Robert Brammer One of our most frequent requests at the Law Library of Congress is to help patrons with their legislative history research. Often, researchers will want information about the votes and debates made on the floor of Congress in order to track the history of the …
Posted in: Law Library, Research Guide
Posted by: Barbara Bavis
This post was co-authored by Barbara Bavis and Robert Brammer, Legal Reference Librarians. Despite the federal government’s recent reduction in spending—according to Bloomberg, federal “government spending on contracts fell 3.1 percent last year, the biggest one-year decline since 1997”—government contracting is still a big business nationwide. The multitude of laws and regulations that control a …
Posted in: Law Library, Research Guide
Posted by: Barbara Bavis
Nonprofit organizations have become a critical part of American culture. Not only is the nonprofit sector one of the “fastest-growing part[s] of the U.S. economy,” but also, as a recent study by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Public Policy has shown, nonprofit workers make up approximately 10.2% of the total U.S. workforce. It is no …
Posted in: Law Library, Research Guide
Posted by: Barbara Bavis
This post was co-authored by Robert Brammer and Barbara Bavis, Legal Reference Librarians. In the recent public debate regarding immigration reform, some groups have called for a change to our current method of granting asylum to those who fear returning to their country of origin due to “persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on …
Posted in: Law Library, Research Guide
Posted by: Barbara Bavis
For the next entry in our Beginner’s Guide series, I will touch upon patent law, an area of law that, despite its seeming need for specialization and technical knowledge, holds a large amount of interest for the public at large. The Law Library of Congress receives many questions regarding patent law, particularly with regard to …
Posted in: Law Library, Research Guide
Posted by: Barbara Bavis
This post was coauthored by Robert Brammer and Barbara Bavis, Legal Reference Librarians. For the next installment of our Beginner’s Guide series, we will examine an area of law that never appears to go out of style—contract law. Contract law is a constant part of our lives, whether it is signing a lease for a …
Posted in: Law Library, Research Guide