This guide has been designed to assist you with researching notable court cases. It includes links to sources for articles, books, ebooks, and reference information. Use this URL to get back to this page: https://libguides.ccac.edu/courtroom
Image by Chris Potter, CC-BY. Flickr: https://flic.kr/p/dvMZm5
Use the resources on this page to (a) identify a famous trial and (b) conduct research to gather more information about the trial for your presentation. The research tools listed below can help you find articles from sources like newspapers, magazines, and reference materials. See the in-class learning objectives.
The Famous Trials site offers background information and details on many notable court cases. It's written by a law school professor and can be a useful tool for selecting a case to research.
Find books, articles, videos, and more from a single search box.
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If you know which case you're going to research, Credo is a great place to start your research. Show me how
Includes reference content, periodicals and multimedia allowing users to search for people based on name, occupation, nationality, ethnicity, birth/death dates and places, or gender as well as keyword and full text.
Show me how
Ultimately, it's your responsibility to evaluate the quality of any information before using it it a paper, presentation, or another project.
The steps of the SIFT model* described below can be used to help researchers identify key elements to be on the lookout for when assessing a source. Check out the explanations and questions for each section and start using them to evaluate sources such as books, articles, and websites.
Before using or sharing a source (website, article, book, etc.), do a quick evaluation of it
to ensure it's legitimate and reliable.
Next steps
Take a few minutes to quickly examine a source's author/publisher before using it to help
you avoid inaccurate or misleading information. Google and Wikipedia can be great tools for
this step.
Next steps
Most topics are usually well-covered by multiple sources, which means you don't have to rely
on the first source that you find. A better quality source is likely available to confirm
any claims in any questionable sources you may have encountered.
Next steps
Information can be distorted or misinterpreted when it is shared outside of
its original context. If you encounter quotes, statistics, or other information that is
attributed to another source, finding the original source of that information will allow you
to verify its accuracy.
Next steps
*Adapted from Caulfield, Mike. "SIFT (The Four Moves)." Hapgood, 19 June 2019. CC-BY. Also see this online mini-course on SIFT by the same author for additional detail and examples.
This citation management tool can help students generate precise citations and create properly-formatted bibliographies in MLA and APA styles. Students can create an unlimited number of projects to keep different research assignments separate and organized. Provided by NoodleTools. PDF Guide
A Decade-by-Decade Look at Ten of America's Most Sensational Crimes
This comprehensive set of essays documents the most important criminal, civil, and political trials in the United States from colonial times to the present, examining their impact on both legal history and popular culture.
An excellent source to learn about notable court cases. Use the search function on the lower right side of the screen to search this ebook.
