New to HeinOnline: Revised Statutes of Canada

A newly added HeinOnline collection is now available to Hofstra Law students and faculty.  The Revised Statutes of Canada includes complete coverage of all six revisions of the federal laws of Canada passed by the Canadian Parliament since 1867, when Canada became a federal state. The text of the six revisions (1886, 1906, 1927, 1952, 1970, and 1985) is from the official printed volumes.  The collection also includes amendments and Acts that have been passed since the last revision up until November 1991, as published in five Supplements to the 1985 Revision. Canadian laws passed since that time through 2011 can also be found on HeinOnline, in the Session Laws Library.  (Here, click on "All Titles," and under "Governmental Session Laws" select Canada.)  Conveniently, the Revised Statutes of Canada collection is also included within the Session Laws Library.  To access either of these collections, click on the HeinOnline link in the "Alphabetical List of HeinOnline Titles" line on this page of the Law Library website, and locate them under "Subscribed Libraries."    

The Revised Statutes and the Canadian session laws on HeinOnline are wonderful resources for both legal research and source gathering assignments.  All content is from official government publications in PDF.    

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

HeinOnline Congress and the Courts Library

HeinOnline's Congress and the Courts Library provides materials prepared by various Congresses relating to the purpose, formation, and organization of the federal government.  The Library provides numerous documents of legislative intent, testimony, and other historical information.  Congress and the Courts also provides Congress & the Courts: A Legislative History 1787-2010 compiled by William H. Manz as well as periodicals, links to scholarly articles, CFR Title 28 and more.  Click here to access the library and click here to learn more.


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HeinOnline Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals Training Videos

HeinOnline recently released seven new videos on searching the Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (IFLP).  These are especially helpful since IFLP was recently rebranded by HeinOnline.  The videos provide information on how to conduct a keyword search, searching by author, index browsing and more.  To access the videos click here.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

HeinOnline Search Syntax "Need Help" Link Feature

HeinOnline has recently added a "Need Help" link to the advanced search screen across its numerous collections and libraries.  This new feature will allow users to determine how to do a proximity and wildcard search as well as how to use the boosting feature.  The “Need Help?” link can be found below the search box field on the advanced search screens.  When the user clicks the “Need Help” link, a new window will open with information on volume or section level fields for that particular library, along with information on common search syntax for proximity, wildcard/root expanders, and boosting.  In addition, the window provides a link to the Advanced Search Syntax Guide for more information.  To learn more about this feature click here.

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HeinOnline State Attorney General Reports and Opinions Library

HeinOnline recently added the State Attorney General Reports and Opinions Library.  This new library provides 600,000 reports and opinions from all fifty states as well as Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands.  There is also access to the Opinions of the Office of Legal Counsel of the United States Department of Justice and the Official Opinions of the Attorneys General of the United States.  Full-text searches can be done as well as searches by opinion number.  Click here to learn more about the State Attorney General Reports and Opinions Library or click here to begin using it.

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New on HeinOnline: Congressional Hearings

HeinOnline has just announced the addition of more than 3,000 Congressional Hearings to its U.S. Congressional Documents Collection.  The documents, from law firm Covington & Burling's prestigious collection of Government Printing Office hearings, span the period from 1927 (71st Congress) through 1994 (103rd Congress).  This collection provides easy access to many important hearings in searchable image-based PDF format, with the familiarity of HeinOnline navigation and features, and a Congressional Hearings Quick Finder.  HeinOnline will add more hearings monthly, and plans to eventually bring the collection up to the present date. To access the Congressional Hearings collection on HeinOnline, select "U.S. Congressional Documents Library" on the HeinOnline Resources page of the Law Library web site, and then select "Congressional Hearings" under the browse options. 

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New HeinOnline Training Guides

Nearly all law students use HeinOnline, but it's not always clear how to construct a search and use many of the features in the HeinOnline libraries.  The good news is that HeinOnline has some new, free and downloadable training guides, all available here. For search tips, a guide to the HeinOnline app for iPhone or iPad, the Quick Reference Guide to the HeinOnline Law Journal Library, and more, be sure to check out these brief, useful guides to more effective HeinOnline research.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

HeinOnline Canada Supreme Court Reports

HeinOnline recently added the Canada Supreme Court Reports Library to its collection.  HeinOnline’s Canada Supreme Court Reports is a primary source for Canadian high court decisions.  This collection contains more than 9,400 cases which include background information, statutes and regulations, authors cited, analysis and the decision. Cases can be searched by citation or browse by year and case name.  Click here to learn more about this new collection or click here to search it.

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HeinOnline Session Laws Quick Locator Enhancement

The HeinOnline Session Laws Library is a great source for PDF's of the official bound session laws of all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and more. In order to make this vast amount of materials more accessible, HeinOnline has recently added the sessions law enhancement. This enhancement allows the user to now select a state, chapter number, enter a year or page number and quickly jump to the page they are looking for. This enhancement is also integrated at the individual state browsing level. Click here to learn more about this new enhancement.
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HeinOnline App User’s Guide

If you have taken advantage of the free HeinOnline app and have some questions about it or want to learn more then you will find their recently published "App User Guide" very helpful. The guide provides quick information on how to access content by citation, browse by volume, navigate a volume with the electronic table of contents, how to use full advanced searching techniques and more. To access the guide click here and to learn how to access the app from your device click here.
Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Legal Research App

Continuing with my explorations of HeinOnline, you can take advantage of the advantage of the One-Box Search feature and other HeinOnline resources on you iPhone or iPad using the relatively new (and free) app.

To access HeinOnline from your device you either must get the username and password from the Reference Desk librarian or you can access HeinOnline while on campus through a wireless connection. If you access via wireless on campus (authenticate) , you will be able to access HeinOnline on your device from anywhere for 30 days. After 30 days, you must return to campus authenticate your app again.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

New HeinOnline One-Box Search Feature

HeinOnline has recently introduced a new enhancement called the One-Box Search option. It appears on the HeinOnline welcome page and was created to begin research when users are not sure which collection would be the correct option to start researching in. The One-Box search allows users to search across all of the subscribed libraries at the same time and also acts as an advanced search box. Click here to access the advanced search guidelines brochure and click here to begin using this feature.
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New HeinOnline Enhancement: US Congressional Documents Collection

The HeinOnline US Congressional Documents Collection has recently been reorganized to make searching easier and more efficient. This extensive collection contains the complete Congressional Record Bound version, Annals of Congress, Register of Debates, Congressional Globe and other important congressional material. The new browse options allows users to search sections separately and includes searching All Titles, Rules & Precedents, Debates of Congress, Other Works Related to Congress, and more. To learn more about the new enhancements click here. To access HeinOnline click here.
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HeinOnline from off campus

Right now, if you try to get to HeinOnline from the link on our homepage while you are off campus, you will be prompted for a HeinOnline ID and password. You can get this login information from the reference desk, but you can also get to HeinOnline without needing that ID and password by clicking on a link to a specific database within Hein from our online resources list.


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New HeinOnline United Nations Collection Features

HeinOnline recently restructured the United Nations Collection to make searching easier and more efficient. The new features include browse options which are located at the of the collection homepage. The browse options include searching by titles, treaty publications, International Court of Justice, UN Commission on International Trade Law, International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, UN Yearbooks, UN Serials, and more. Learn more about the new features here.
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HeinOnline Law Journal Library Quick Reference Guide

HeinOnline provides a comprehensive collection of over 230 law journals with many of the legal periodicals being available from the first edition to the present. As such, it can often be overwhelming to search such a large collection of materials. In order to make the search for law journal articles easier, HeinOnline has recently published a "Law Journal Library Quick Reference Guide." This Quick Reference Guide outlines the various search options available including word search, title search, volume date search and more. In addition, this guide provides screen shots to effectively illustrate where the feature can be found and a step by step view on how to use the feature. It also includes an overview of certain tools in this collection including Hein's ScholarCheck, Citation on Page and more. Access and read the guide here.
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Dodd-Frank Legislative History on HeinOnline

A legislative history of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, signed into law in July 2010, is now available in the Taxation and Economic Reform in America library on HeinOnline. This compilation includes more than 140 legislative and executive documents in PDF, arranged in nine parts: The Law; Reports on the Law; Bill Versions; Related Bills; Presidential Materials; Congressional Record materials; Related Reports; Related Hearings; and Congressional Budget Office Reports. With new regulations and federal agencies coming into being as Dodd-Frank is implemented, this legislative history will be an invaluable resource for student and faculty research, law journal source gathering, and legal practice. For help in using this or other HeinOnline legislative histories, ask a reference librarian.
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Changes for Exam Archive, HeinOnline

There are some recent changes in how you access two favorite Library resources, the Exam Archive and HeinOnline. Now, when you click on the "Exam Archive" link under Resources on the Law Library's main page, you will be taken directly to the Hofstra portal to log in, and then immediately to the law exam course page, without having to use an additional password. As long as you access the exams from the Law Library web page link, this will work from any location on or off campus. Remember that all past exams in the file are submitted on a voluntary basis and at the discretion of individual faculty.

Have you noticed something different when using one of your favorite databases, HeinOnline? The homepage has been redesigned. Simply click on the blue "Log in to HeinOnline" link in the upper right corner to be taken directly to the menu page to select the Law Journal or other HeinOnline library. Off campus, you will need to log in to the network using your name and Hofstra ID number to reach the homepage. More about the new page is here at the HeinOnline Blog.





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U.S. Code on HeinOnline

You can now access and download PDF images of the United States Code on HeinOnline! This should relieve many law journal members of carrying 30-40 pounds of books back and forth between the library and their offices a few times each year. (It may not immediately improve life for anyone else.)

To access Hein, click here, or click on the HeinOnline link on our library's homepage.



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HeinOnline Tips

The HeinOnline blog contains tips and tricks for navigating and searching the databases. The most recent post contains a recap of the tips and tricks of the year grouped by category. I find it quite handy!


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