RESEARCH STRATEGIES FOR ADMINISTRATIVE MATERIALS

Undertake Background Research

Identify the enabling act or other relevant legislation.

Determine what administrative agency or agencies are involved in rulemaking
and/or adjudication, and their relationship if more than one is involved.
Identify the types of pronouncements/documents the relevant agency or
agencies issue

Take note of procedural rules

Determine whether the relevant agency or agencies have their own sets of
procedural rules that must be followed and whether these will play a role in
your research.

Find out what published sources are available

Use looseleaf service

Consult the agency reporter

Make use of electronic sources

Make use of the Internet

Many of the major agencies have home pages that are kept up to date and
may include regulations as well as other agency materials

Update thoroughly

Updating is important with administrative materials, which may change more

frequently and more quickly than statutory or case law.
Familiarize yourself with the updating tools peculiar to an area of law or its
sources

Use informal sources

Personal contact by telephone or e-mail with individuals involved in rulemaking

or adjudicatory activity may be essential to obtaining complete and accurate
information on the topic being researched.
Many print or electronic sources of documents will provide names of contact
persons whose help and advice may be invaluable.
 LOOSELEAF SERVICES

Considered a mini- library, a consolidated source that contains the full text of
primary sources such as statutes, regulations, and both judicial and
administrative decisions, all related to a specialized area of law.
Usually appear in the form of binders that are frequently updated by the
removal of old pages and the interfiling of new pages containing current
material.
Can reduce your research time by providing, in one place, information you will
need to cover a topic thoroughly.
generally shelved on the fourth or fifth floor with other materials on the same
subject in the library.
Online looseleaf services are also available through the librarys homepage.
You can search by title and be linked directly to the database which includes
this material.

Looseleafs are Organized in Two Ways:

Interfiled looseleaf service

individual pages in the binder can be removed and replaced

indexed thoroughly to make it easy for the user to find current
information topic quickly

Newsletter-style looseleaf

file the newsletters in a binder for reference.

the most recent developments are summarized in each issue of
the newsletter.

Two Major Reasons to use Looseleaf Services

For the convenience of finding in one place various types of materials

concerning an area of law.
- Primary and secondary materials, statutes and regulations,
administrative and judicial decisions are all often found in a single
looseleaf service.

Currency- updated frequently, sometimes as often as every week.

- A good source of up-to-date information in a particular area of law.
Looseleaf Service Provides:

Recent court opinions and/or summaries of opinions.

Relevant legislation
Administrative regulations, decisions and advisory opinions and/or
summaries.
References to relevant studies and reports.
Editorial comments and practice tips.
Internal finding aid