Legal Definitions - search book

A search book in legal research refers to a specialized publication designed to help legal professionals locate specific laws, cases, or regulations. Unlike traditional lawbooks that explain legal principles or reproduce the text of statutes, a search book does not contain the actual substance of the law. Instead, it provides organized lists, tables, or indexes that serve as navigational tools, guiding researchers to the primary legal sources they need. Its sole purpose is to facilitate the discovery of legal information, not to interpret or present the law itself.

Here are some examples illustrating the concept of a search book:

• Example 1: A comprehensive index to a state's compiled statutes.

  Scenario: A lawyer needs to find all statutes related to "environmental protection" in their state. They would consult a large, multi-volume index that lists thousands of legal terms alphabetically, with each entry pointing to specific chapter and section numbers within the state's statutory code.

  Explanation: This index is a search book because it does not contain the text of the environmental protection laws themselves. Instead, it provides a structured list of keywords and their corresponding statutory locations, allowing the lawyer to quickly navigate to the relevant sections of the actual lawbooks.

• Example 2: A table of cases for a federal court reporter series.

  Scenario: A paralegal is looking for a specific court decision, Smith v. Jones, but only remembers the parties' names and that it was decided by a federal appellate court. They would use a table of cases, often found at the beginning or end of a volume or series of court reporters, which lists cases alphabetically by party name and provides the volume and page number where the full opinion can be found.

  Explanation: This table is a search book because it does not reproduce the court's opinion or explain its legal reasoning. Its function is purely to direct the paralegal to the exact location (volume and page) where the full text of the Smith v. Jones case is published, acting as a finding aid.

• Example 3: A legislative history index for federal acts.

  Scenario: A policy analyst is researching the legislative intent behind a particular federal act passed decades ago. They consult a specialized index that cross-references the act's public law number with various congressional documents, such as committee reports, hearing transcripts, and floor debates, indicating where these documents can be found.

  Explanation: This index is a search book because it does not contain the actual legislative history documents or interpret their content. It merely provides a structured guide, listing the relevant documents and their locations, enabling the analyst to efficiently locate the primary sources that shed light on the law's original purpose.