You may be able to find a PDF version of a primary source using one of the electronic databases listed below. (Note that this is not an all-inclusive list of every resource containing PDF primary law sources.) Following this list is a chart that provides the dates of coverage for various primary law sources available in PDF in the first three databases mentioned below.
HeinOnline contains a number of primary law “libraries” in addition to the Law Journal and Legal Classics libraries discussed above. When you select HeinOnline from the Law Library’s “Online Resources” page, you will see all of the available HeinOnline libraries listed. Many of the primary law sources available on HeinOnline can also be accessed through links on the law library’s catalog, ADVOCAT.
This official web site for U.S. government documents provides free electronic access to a large number of federal primary law sources in PDF.
Law Library Microform Consortium (LLMC) is a non-profit cooperative dedicated to the preservation of legal information. LLMC Digital is its PDF collection of government and legal publications, many of which are primary law sources. This resource is still a work in progress, but it contains many historical publications that may be difficult to find elsewhere. Like HeinOnline, LLMC Digital is accessible through the law library’s “Online Resources” page, and some of the sources included in the collection can also be accessed through links in the law library’s catalog, ADVOCAT.
PDF versions of all federal and state cases from the West federal and regional case reporters are available on Westlaw.
This chart provides the dates of coverage for various primary law sources available in PDF in the first three databases on the list.
|
|
HEINONLINE |
govinfo |
LLMC DIGITAL |
|
U.S. Reports (U.S.) |
|
||
|
United States Code (U.S.C.) |
|
||
|
Federal Public Laws - U.S. Statutes at Large (Stat.) |
|||
|
Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) |
|
||
|
Federal Register
|
|
||
|
Federal Agency Decisions (for select agencies) |
|
||
|
U.S. Attorney General Opinions |
|
||
|
U.S. Treaties and Other International Agreements (U.S.T.) |
|
||
|
Treaties and Other International Acts Series (T.I.A.S.) |
|
|
|
|
English Reports
|
|
*The govinfo and print versions of the official U.S.C. are updated differently. On govinfo, the code titles are revised each year to reflect the “current” version of the law (though some U.S.C. titles are only updated through 2012). The print editions, in contrast, are only reissued every six years and updated through yearly supplements.
**govinfo includes recent public laws not yet published in U.S. Statutes at Large under Public and Private Laws. These laws appear in exactly the same form in which they will eventually appear in Statutes at Large (with the permanent Stat. volume and page numbers included as well).