Things to consider when finding legislation related to your topic:
- Do you know if a law was passed or if a bill was introduced on your topic?
- If so, was it at local, state, or federal level? Federal laws and bills can be located online or in print in the Library. New York State session laws (laws as they were passed chronologically) can be located in print in the Library. New York State consolidated law (laws arranged by subject) can be located online or in print in the Library. Only currently active New York State bills are available online.
- When did the law pass or when was the bill introduced?
- Is the information you are looking for legislative (laws or bills), executive (regulations), or judicial (court decisions)? Legislation, including laws and bills, come from the legislative branch of government, which is Congress (House of Representatives and Senate for federal, Assembly and Senate for New York State). Regulations come from the executive branch of government, which includes government agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration. The judicial branch of government decides cases.
- Have you found a public law (PL) number or a bill number? You can use these to locate the text of the law or bill.
Search Techniques for Databases/Catalog
Summit Catalog
Use the Catalog to find books, journal titles, videos, sound recordings, government documents, and other materials (NOT articles within journals) located in the libraries on the Syracuse University campus. You can renew library books and look at your library record by clicking Patron Info towards the top of the page.
Databases, literature search, and background information about legislative and policy issues
Use databases to begin searching for articles and information on your topic. You will retrieve citations. Some databases also offer full-text articles. Most of these databases are subscribed to by the library and are only available to SU faculty, staff, and students. If you are off campus, you will be asked to enter your last name and SUID number to log in to the database. *Enter all ten digits of your SUID, including the last one.*
Social Work related databases
CQ Researcher
Description: An encyclopedia addressing public policy issues. Over 44 reports are released each year, covering legislative action in areas ranging from social and teen issues to environment, health and nutrition, education, international affairs, economics and science and technology. Each report focuses on a single topic and features concise background discussion and chronologies, overviews of the current situation, pro and con commentary, as well as online links to relevant organizations, and a lengthy bibliography of related books and articles. Covers 1923-present.
CQ Weekly
Description: A week by week non-partisan report on activity within the United States Congress. Discusses issues about to be addressed by Congress, summaries of the previous week's legislative events, status of bills pending before the House and Senate, committee and floor activity, and outcomes of roll call votes. Searchable by date, topic, latest votes. Covers 1983- present.
SU Library subscription news databases
Cornell University Law School - Wex
This offers overviews of relevant state and federal laws on various topics
West's Encyclopedia of American Law 2nd ed. Detroit : Thomson/Gale, c2005 Call Number: KF154 .W47 2005 Location: Bird Library Reference, 1st floor.
Databases Main Menu gives access to all of the databases available through SU Library. The databases are categorized by subject area.
Please contact Adina Mulliken for help finding citations to articles on your topic if needed.
Selected Internet References from 611 Syllabus:
Center on Budget & Policy Priorities http://www.cbpp.org/
Children’s Defense Fund http://www.childrensdefense.org/
Citizen’s Access to New York State Government Agency websites http://www.state.ny.us/state_acc.html
FEDSTATS access to statistical data of all federal agencies http://www.fedstats.gov/
General Accountability Office-excellent source for GAO reports http://www.gao.gov/
House Committee on Ways and Means Committee Prints, Congress – This is an important search site which enables you to search the 2004 Green Book, a compilation and description of most of the nation’s income and health security programs plus much http://www.gpoaccess.gov/wmprints/green/2004.html
Library of Congress http://lcweb.loc.gov/homepage/lchp.html
National Association of Social Workers http://www.naswdc.org/
National Association of Social Workers New York State http://www.naswnys.org/
New York State Assembly - 2005 Green Book – This provides overviews of the financing and recent legislative changes for all state government programs in New York State - http://assembly.state.ny.us/comm/WAM/2005Green/
Onogdaga County Legislature http://www.ongov.net/
Onondaga County Government Agencies http://www.ongov.net/Legislature/
Policy Action Network http://www.movingideas.org/
Statistical Abstract of the United States http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/
Thomas Legislative Information on the Internet
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas2.html
United Nation’s homepage http://www.un.org/
U.S. Bureau of the Census http://www.census.gov/
White House http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/Welcome.html
Finding full text and Citing
I found some citations to articles that I want in a database. Where do I find the text?
Citation style guides
These links explain how to write citations and a bibliography for your paper. More thorough explanations are available in Publication manual of the American Psychological Association and other style guides, located at the Reference Desk in Bird Library.
Please Ask Us for help locating text of articles once you have a citation if needed.
Legislative Resources
Federal
Legislative Research: A Web-Based Bibliographic Instruction Program
This will give you an overview of the research process for federal legislative documents. It is maintained by the Documents Center at the University of Michigan.
LexisNexis Congressional
Library subscription database includes comprehensive index to bills, hearings, reports, committee prints, public laws, etc. Many items in full text. For other items, use SuDoc or accession numbers to find publication on shelves or in fiche cabinets (most on 3rd floor Bird Library).
Basic Search
It’s often helpful to use index terms.
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Legislative history, bills and laws (1969-present)
Click Legislative history, bills and laws
If you are searching by keyword:
To find legislation chronologically as it was passed, choose Public Law.
To find legislation integrated with other legislation on relevant subjects, choose US Code. This version of the law is sometimes referred to as "consolidated law". It is divided by title, chapter, and section numbers. Here is a browsable list of the titles in the US Code
If you are interested in additional documents created during the legislative process, such as hearings, debates and reports, choose Legislative history.
If you have a number, click Get a document:
Laws:
If you have a Public Law number, enter it. (105-33) and click the radio button for Public Laws.
If you have a US Code citation, choose US Code from the pulldown menu.
Bills:
If you have a bill number, enter it. (105 H.R. 1003). Click the radio button for Bills (Full text)
Thomas
Freely available government website includes the Congressional Record and full text legislation from 1989 (101st Congress) to the present. THOMAS also provides summaries (not full text) of legislation back to 1975 (94th Congress). Includes bill summaries and status, committee information, roll call votes, historical documents, etc. A service of the Library of Congress.
US Code Classification Tables
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These tables show where recently enacted laws will appear in the United States Code and which sections of the Code have been amended by those laws. The tables sorted in Public Law order may be used to identify the sections of the Code affected by a particular law. The tables sorted in Code order may be used to determine whether a particular section of the Code has recently been amended. The tables only include those provisions of law that have been classified to the Code. The text of recently enacted laws may be found through the Library of Congress Thomas web site."
State
Guide to Compiling NY State Legislative History from the New York State Library.
State Legal Resources on the Web for all states. Fewer documents are available on the web for states than for the federal government. Some print sources for New York laws are available on the 3rd floor of Bird Library, as listed below.
Findlaw
Links to the information each state makes freely available online. Some states post more than others.
New York Consolidated Laws Service-Statutory Code Lexis Nexis
This "contains the statutory code for the State of New York as published in the compilation entitled New York Consolidated Laws Service. It includes all laws of a general and permanent nature, as enacted by the New York Legislature."
New York Advance Legislative Service Lexis Nexis
"This file contains the full text of laws enacted during a legislative session." "Updated continuously throughout the legislative session."
To get to New York Advance Legislative Service:
Click on the Sources tab
Enter "New York Advance Legislative Service" in the "Find a source" box
NY - New York Consolidated Laws Service, Constitution, Court Rules & ALS, Combined Lexis Nexis
This "contains documents from the compilation entitled New York Consolidated Laws Service (Statutes, Constitution and Rules) and the New York Advance Legislative Service.
The New York Advance Legislative Service (ALS) contains the full text of all laws enacted during a legislative session. This group file includes only those ALS documents that have been enacted since the code was last updated."
Laws of New York
Select Laws of New York from the menu. That page will include consolidated and unconsolidated laws, Court Acts, Rules, and miscellaneous (constitution, NY City charter and administrative code). Unconsolidated laws are any laws passed by the legislature that are not part of the Consolidated Laws. They can include court acts, the NY City Charter and Administrative Code, miscellaneous laws that do not fit into the Consolidated Laws, and other special laws.
NY State Assembly bill search
Freely available government website allows searching by bill number or keyword; current bills only (latest amended version). Results may include summary, action, votes, memos; plus full text of bill.
McKinney's Consolidated Laws of New York Annotated (print source)
New York's statutory code, compiled into 91 subject areas. Pocket parts (located inside back covers) include text of very recent legislation. Table volumes show major revisions and trace section changes. Also includes separate general indexes and popular names table. Cross-references to New York Official Compilation of Codes, Rules, and Regulations (NYCRR). Source notes provide chapter numbers and year of passage. Historical notes show law's development and may reference corresponding Session Laws.
KFN 5030 1939 A324
Government Information Reference
3rd floor, Bird Library
McKinney's Session Laws of New York (print source)
Session laws are printed in chronological order, exactly as they were passed. Also includes related reports and memoranda. "Legislative findings and purpose," if available within the Session Law, express the official intent of the legislation. They do not show subsequent appeals or amendments. Pamphlets contain subject indexes and cumulative tables indicating which sections of the Consolidated Laws are affected by new legislation.
KFN 5025 M3
Government Information Reference
3rd floor, Bird Library
NY State Assembly Committees Commissions and Task Forces
See the Committees on Aging, Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, Children and Families, Health, Insurance, Mental Health and others. The links for Public Hearing Calendar, Press Releases, and Legislative Reports may also be of interest.
NY State Library Digital Collections
To browse legislative resources, click the browse button, New York State Government Publications, Legislative Branch, then the chamber and and files you want, such as Legislature (Assembly) and New York State Assembly Committee on Health. Text of some public hearings, committee reports, testimonies and more are available. Be sure to disable popup blockers to see the documents.
For more information, including some print sources, see SU Library's Government Information page.
Please contact Adina Mulliken for help with legislative resources if needed.
