Whether you need to find references for a term paper or are interested in a subject and want to broaden your horizons, this page is a valuable resource.

Search engines, like Yahoo and Dogpile offer instant and complete searches for any conceivable subject.

These sites can be useful when looking for both general and more specific information. Unlike a library with books that are essentially set in stone, the Internet offers the most updated information right at your fingertips and these links can take you there.

Law and Justice students often have the need to find cases and information on laws. Sites like Findlaw and Oyez, a site that provides summaries for virtually every important case that was ever presented to the Court as well as information about Justices and the history of the Court, provide an excellent starting point.

The CWU library page links students to Lexis/Nexis, NCJRS, Proquest, newspapers, article first and a huge variety of other databases and is the best place to begin important research. For Washington law and the RCW, Washington State's homepage can also be accessed. For federal statutes one can access the Cornell University site, featuring a searchable version of the United States Code.

The alphabet soup of research links decoded are:

• BOJ - Bureau of Justice
• OICJ - Office of International Criminal
• FBI - Federal Bureau of Investigation
• DOJ - Department of Justice
• ACLU - American Civil Liberties Union

These sites can lead you to new and updated statistics, news on important cases and laws, as well as information on government.

If you are considering graduate studies or law school, US News ranks and summarizes, as well as links to, the top schools in the nation. Another great starting place for finding the right post-graduate program is Kaplan.

If you want to catch up on the news or research a recent news story, CNN is one of the best sites on the web. If you are looking for a quick distraction, Foxsports will allow the much needed break from school and research and let you catch up on all the happenings in the sports world.

Department of Law and Justice's New Law Library in Farrell Hall

In Ellensburg, the main library provides adequate resources, particularly online materials. The new location in Farrell Hall allows for a departmental library/study area. Future funding for departmental library acquisitions eg. law materials, are anticipated. Another major plan for the future is a computer lab in Farrell Hall adequate for research and classroom instruction.

Faculty regularly use the main library for hard copy resources, while there is a heavy reliance on computer based resources, particularly law and justice related eg. Professional journals, government documents, abstract services, etc. Also, the two major online legal resources, West Law and Lexis Nexis, are invaluable to students and faculty. In the classroom, most faculty use blackboard and various related I.T.

The Centers have availability to all of the same library resources that are available on campus. Des Moines and Lynnwood have a library resource person who can assist students and the instruction and outreach librarian comes to the centers to assist and facilitate the centers with any library issues and also along with the two on site resources people at Des Moines and Lynnwood gives instruction sessions to students. He also assists the department with the administration of Westlaw by assigning passwords to students each quarter at all locations and assists in doing training on the legal resources and online databases.