Facts, Opinions, and Statistics
The following web sites will lead you to quick facts, opinions, statistics, and background information on a variety of topics.
- 2010 Census
- American Factfinder (Population, housing, economic, and geographic data from the U.S. Census. Use their tutorials to learn more.)
- Credo Reference ("Online reference collection providing access to a selection of over 240 reference works, including encyclopedias, dictionaries, biographies and books of quotations.")
- Gale Virtual Reference Library (encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources)
- Legal Research Sources (Links to sources of legislative, judicial, and administrative law, including periodical databases.)
- NewsBank Special Reports (Focus on topics of current interest, including current and background information, statistics, maps, images, websites, and suggested search terms. Updated daily.)
- Minority Links (Quick and easy links to the latest data on racial and ethnic populations in the United States)
- Public Opinion Polls and Surveys
- Public Records Directory
- RefDesk.com--Reference, Facts, News
- Roper Center for Public Opinion Research (Archives of public opinion surveys. Search the "iPOLL Databank," which is organized at the question level, from national public opinion surveys, 1935 to present. Search for datasets using "RoperExpress," which allows downloading of about 75% of public opinion studies conducted in the US and many recent studies from outside of the US.)
- San Fernando Valley Statistics & Facts
Legal Research
The following sources can help you find related court cases, legal codes, and scholarly law review journal articles; as well as background information and definitions of terms.
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West's Encyclopedia of American Law, 2d edition
- Provides current information on more than 5,000 legal topics; cites relevant cases and statutes. Includes definitions of legal terms and more.
- Encyclopedia of the American Constitution
- Gale Encyclopedia of American Law
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California Law Research Guide
- Detailed guide on how to research California law in the Oviatt Library and online.
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FDsys (Federal Digital System, U.S. Government Printing Office)
- Includes recent primary sources of information from the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Federal government.
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FindLaw Cases and Codes
- Search U.S. and State constitutions, statutes, cases and more. Note: FindLaw is not completely free. If you are prompted for a credit card to retrieve information, don't do it! Use LexisNexis Academic legal research to find similar information about court cases or codes.
- FindLaw U.S. Constitution: First Amendment
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FindLaw Legal Dictionary
- Definitions of legal terms and legal usage from Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, 1996.
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LexisNexis Academic
- Use the Find a Case search to quickly locate a court case by name, e.g., United States v. American Library Association or citation, e.g., 539 U.S. 19.
- Use the U.S. Legal search options menu to locate landmark cases, law review journal articles, Supreme Court briefs, U.S. and state Supreme Court and Appellate Court cases, U.S. District court cases, U.S. and state statutes, codes, and constitutions; and the Code of Federal Regulations.
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Supreme Court of the United States
- The official web site of the Supreme Court. In addition to the opinions, you can also read or listen to recent oral arguments presented at the Supreme Court.
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U.S. Law Research Guide
- Detailed guide on how to research U.S. law in the Oviatt Library and online.