start the download - Faculty of Law - University of Cambridge

LL.M. HANDBOOK 2011-20121. GENERAL GUIDANCE ON RESEARCHING AND WRITING INTHE LLMUseful PublicationsYou may find it useful to consult one of the several published guides to legal research andwriting, such as:ATH Smith, Learning the Law 14 th ed., (Sweet & Maxwell, 2010)Philip Thomas, Dane & Thomas: How to Use a Law Library 4 th ed. (Sweet &Maxwell, 2001)Peter Clinch, Using a Law Library: A Student’s Guide to Legal Research Skills, 2 nded., (Blackstone, 2001)Guy Holborn, Butterworths Legal Research Guide, 6 th ed., (Butterworths, 2010)Nicholas J McBride, Letters to a Law Student: A Guide to Studying Law at University(Pearson, 2 nd ed., 2010).Students from non-common law backgrounds may also find helpful James A. Holland andJulian S. Webb, Learning Legal Rules 4 th ed., (Blackstone, 1999).Keeping Records of your ReadingIt is essential right from the start of your research that you adopt a systematic method ofkeeping track of the materials which you have read. You can do this using a card index,with a separate card for each book or article, on which you record all the details needed tocite the item in full (date and place of publication, starting and finishing page numbers of anarticle, etc.). Alternatively you can use software programmes to achieve the same result.Regardless of the method you use to keep track of sources, you should always record thepage numbers of any quotations you may wish to use. More generally, methodical recordkeepingwhen you are doing your reading can save you a lot of time looking things up againlater.Libraries and Research ResourcesThe research required for a thesis or an essay is very different from simply working from areading list. To find what you need, you will need to familiarise yourself with the variouslegal index systems, such as Current Law, the Index to Legal Periodicals, Halsbury’s Lawsof England, etc, all of which are available in the Squire Law Library. Many of theseresources are also available online.If you access online resources through a computer which is part of the University network(such as a computer in the Faculty or your college) you will generally not need a password.If you access these services from outside the University network, or otherwise find youneed a password, you should generally use your RAVEN ID. This ID should be issued toyou at the start of term. If you have any problems logging in to any database, you shouldcontact one of the Faculty Computer Officers.26