ENCYCLOPEDIAS
If you are just starting your research, encyclopedias are excellent sources. The resources are ordered by the general encyclopedias to those specific to education law.
Encyclopedia of law and higher education by Encyclopedia of Law and Higher Education This encyclopedia, edited by Charles Russo, specifically covers various legal issues affecting higher education. The encyclopedia provides a clear and concise explanation for legal research, and arranges the entries alphabetically. This resource is also useful because each entry directs readers to related legal concepts that are discussed in the encyclopedia (whether entries or cases), provides a list of suggested readings (e.g., journal articles on the issue), and lists legal citations. Why use this source? You can get a general understanding of an higher education legal issue; for example, you want to learn more about academic dishonesty. Not only will you learn about the basic definition of academic dishonesty (i.e., achieving academic success through unethical means), but you will be provided examples (e.g., fraud, plagiarism). After you read a given entry, you can read about related concepts, and you can also read the suggested journal articles to learn more about a given higher education legal issue.
(AMJUR 2d)- Law Reading Room Low Stacks [non-circulating], AMJUR indexes Education Law as “Schools and Education” (e.g., see American Jurisprudence General Index: S-Z (2012)). The AMJUR series provides general rules for federal and state education law and organizes specific education law issues under an overarching legal issue (e.g., “Schools, Religion, and the First Amendment”), with each specific issue divided by section, starting with a general overview of that overarching issue. Why should you use AMJUR? AMJUR is particularly useful to those who have access to Westlaw or Westlaw annotated statutes and case reporters because the corresponding Westlaw key number is listed with each encyclopedia entry. Having this key allows you search by Westlaw's key number (e.g., Westlaw's legal classification), which could be used to limit your search to a specific topic.
Law Reference [non-circulating]. The education encyclopedia entry can be found in vol. 4 pg. 182-191 (1st ed. 1998). The topics include a general history, a description of federal and state law, First Amendment issues, Fourth Amendment Search Engines, Separation of Church and State, Racial Segregation, Education of Children with Disabilities, Employment Issues, and Administrative Issues.
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