You’ve probably heard the term “research guide” or “libguide” in your classes, or bandied about by one of our librarians when you visited the reference desk, but do you truly understand what a fantastic tool for research they are?  You will now!

Research guides are librarian curated resources which accumulate information on a specific topic. This information can include links to primary sources of law, secondary sources, databases, statistics, videos and so much more. They are the best place to begin when you are researching a topic you are unfamiliar with because they provide a broad overview of your topic and links to resources for a further exploration of the topic. Because they are curated by information professionals, you can trust the resources are scholarly and relevant. Why waste time looking for treatises and journals when a subject specialist has already done the work for you?

There are research guides for any topic under the sun, including why the sky is blue.  For instance, want to dive deeper into the headlines of today’s news?  Here are research guides on Virginia Government, Climate Change, and Baseball.  Too busy studying for interest in national news?  Check out this research guide covering the basics of outlining and exam prep.

Where can you find these troves of information? 

UW Law research guides can be found on our website here. Law Scout from Case Western Reserve provides links to research guides created by various law schools indexed by topic.  Another great trick is to Google your topic and include the word “libguide” in your search.

We strive to create research guides to meet the needs of our patrons, if there is topic you would like to request for a research guide, please contact the Law Library at asklawref@law.wisc.edu. Or just stop by the Reference Desk, we’d love to answer your questions about research guides, baseball, or even why the sky is blue.

Submitted by Elizabeth Manriquez on November 3, 2021

This article appears in the categories: Law Library

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