Legal Research Skills

Subscription databases

Free databases

Searching United States content

1. Type keywords in the search box at the top of the page; or 
2. Select a content type in Browse box.

Searching other international jurisdictions

1. Click International Materials on the right-hand side of the Browse box.
2. Type keywords in the search box at the top of the page; or
3. Browse by jurisdiction or content type.

Browsing international content

1. Click AUS next to the Explore heading (below the main search box), then select a jurisdiction from the drop-down list
2. Click View All Publications for your chosen jurisdiction

Searching international content

1. Click AUS Jurisdiction on the right-hand side of the main search box, then select a jurisdiction to search
2. Type keywords into the main search box & click Search
3. On the results page, click the content types in the left-hand panel to view Cases, Legislation, Secondary Materials etc

Search for a known case

1. Start typing the citation in the search box, then select the case from the list.

Search for cases on a topic

1. Click Full Search, then type keywords into the Catchwords and/or Full text search boxes.

Noting up a case

1. Quickly navigate to case information (including litigation history and subsequent judicial consideration) using the Table of Contents on the left-hand side of a case homepage.

Note: HeinOnline contains U.S. primary and secondary sources, however is primarily recommended for the International Law Journal Library.

1. Click Law Journal Library under the Browse Databases by Name heading.
2. Click Advanced Search under the search box at the top of the page.
3. Type keywords into the search box/es.
4. Select a search field from the drop down list next to the search box/es - recommend Text, Article Title or Author/Creator.
5. On the results page, apply limits as required - e.g. Date, PathFinder Subject, Country published.

1. Click Advanced Search.
2. In the Find box, select a search type from the drop down list, e.g. Boolean Query.
3. Type keywords in the Enter search query: box.
4. In the Select the WorldLII Database(s) to search: box, scroll through and select the relevant databases - e.g. case law, legislation, journals etc.
5. Click Search.
6. On the results page, view by relevance, date or database.