Reference Question of the Week


The blog provides answers to questions posted by an academic law librarian and is meant primarily for the law librarian community.

Author: Posts are by Joan Shear, who is a law librarian at Boston College Law School.

Blawg Related Categories: Law Libraries • Boston College • Librarian

Recent Posts from Reference Question of the Week


  • Old Executive Orders

    Question: I need to find the cite to a Presidential Executive Order from 1863. I had found it referenced in an article, but my professor said I need to have a cite to the real…

  • When Capitals Count

    Question: I’m having trouble finding portions of the new Massachusetts Individual Health Coverage law on Westlaw even though he had a print out that mapped all the bill sections to their ...

  • Subject Law Reviews

    Question: Where can I get a list of law reviews that publish articles on a particular subject? I’m trying to figure out where to submit my article. Answer: Eugene M. Wypyski’s ...

  • Quasi-regional Reporters

    Question: I have this New York state case and I can't find it. It is on Lexis and Westlaw, but it is from 1963 and there is no PDF. It is a low level court,…

  • What is c.v.s.g.?

    Question: What does c.v.s.g. mean? This opinion says a party filed for a writ of certiorari, c.v.s.g. Answer: Library staff guessed that it meant something like "cert. vacated, ...

  • More on Reporting Unreported Decisions

    Question: A confused 1L asked about how to find and KeyCite an unpublished case from the SDNY. He knew the names of the parties but didn't know what it means to be unpublished, and was…

  • Is This Appeal Binding or Not

    Question: Where can I find decisions of the Massachusetts Appellate Division? Are they binding on the Superior Court? Where can I get an authoritative statement that the Superior Court is ...

  • Why Not Check the Catalog

    Question: Student had a cite to: Comptroller, Federal Protection and Preservation of Wild and Scenic Rivers Is Slow and Costly (1978) from the GAO. Answer: This GAO report is too old to ...

  • Law Reviews of the Future

    Question: A student working on a source collection was unable to locate volume 85 of the Indiana Law Journal which was alleged to contain two documents referenced by the author of the ...

  • Bluebook Blues

    Message received via e-mail: I was hoping to get some help on a law review article that I'm helping a professor with. I am currently preparing some footnote citations according to Bluebook ...