New online database and print resource!
Bibliography of American Law School Casebooks
Edited by Douglas Lind
Director of the Law Library and Professor of Law at Southern Illinois University
HeinOnline is pleased to announce the release of the second edition of Bibliography of American Law School Casebooks, the only comprehensive casebook index! The second edition is available both in print (covering 1870-2018) and as a new online database that covers from 1870 to current within the last year, with regular updates.
The Use of Casebooks in Legal Education
In 1871, at Harvard Law School, Christopher Columbus Langdell introduced what would come to be known as the “case method” of legal instruction. Langdell wrote what is considered to be the first casebook, A Selection of Cases on the Law of Contracts, that same year, collecting together cases that presented the then-current state of contract law for his students to study. The principle behind the case method is that students read a selection of assigned cases in order to comprehend the guiding legal principles. For nearly 150 years, this method has continued to spread and evolve, and today, some form of it is used in every law school in the United States. As such, casebooks remain the primary vehicle of legal education.
A Print Resource Becomes an Online Powerhouse
Although much has been written on the analysis of the case method and the evolution of the content of casebooks, no attempt had been made to identify all U.S. law school casebooks until the publication of Douglas W. Lind’s Bibliography of American Law School Casebooks, 1870-2004. This new second edition of the work supplements the previous by extending the coverage through 2018 and adding 4,000 new entries.
The database version of the resource offers full search capabilities as well as full-text linking to relevant documents where available. Access online coverage from 1870 to current within the last year (with regular updates), utilizing multiple browse options—including an extensive author index listing more than 4,200 authors. In addition, content within the database has been categorized under 230 subject headings so that users may easily trace the topical development of legal education.
Using the Online Database
Upon arriving in the collection, users are greeted by an introduction derived from those written for the two print editions of Lind’s Bibliography of American Law School Casebooks. Users may navigate to the index itself using the tab at the top of the page.
Browsing and Searching the Index
The nearly 10,000 entries in this work have been arranged into 230 subject headings and listed chronologically. By arranging the titles in this way, the work provides a basis for tracing both the topical development of legal education and the case method of instruction. An author index is also provided with entries for more than 4,200 authors, maximizing the user’s ease of research.
Use the custom casebooks index to browse the bibliography by Subject, Author, Title, Publisher, or Series. Use the dropdown boxes to search these fields, as well, or to search by keyword.
When browsing or searching, casebooks for which the full text is available will have their title hyperlinked. An example from the entries under the subject of Agency and Partnership is provided below.
Select the hyperlink to view the full text of the indexed casebook (shown below).
Learn more about the online version of Lind’s Bibliography of American Law School Casebooks with the database’s dedicated LibGuide.
About the Editor
Douglas Lind is the Director of the Law Library and Professor of Law at Southern Illinois University. He received a BA degree from Purdue University, a JD degree from Valparaiso University, and an MILS from the University of Michigan. Prior to his arrival at SIU in 2007, Professor Lind was the Head of Collections at Georgetown University School of Law Library, where he also taught Advanced Legal Research and Seminar Research Methods.
His writing and research interests focus on the production and marketing of American printed materials in the mid-19th and early 20th centuries. He is the recipient of the Joseph L. Andrews Bibliographic Award for his two-volume reference work, Lincoln’s Suspension of Habeas Corpus.
Pricing
Online and Print Access
This includes the print edition of the book and access to the online database with regular updates. Access will last until the next edition is published. Note: Shipment of the book can be held until the purchasing organization reopens.
1 Print Copy & Online Access…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..$295.00
Additional Print Copies………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………..…………….$125.00
For more information about Bibliography of American Law School Casebooks, please contact the Marketing Department at marketing@wshein.com or 800-828-7571.
