1. HSC Legal Studies

2. Legal Studies resources on the internet – HSC and Preliminary
In this session you will learn about:
Online databases you can use to locate media reports
HSC Legal Studies guides – great launching pads
HSC Legal Studies blog – keeping up to date with recent changes to the law
LIAC Crime Library – excellent resource for locating cases
What we will cover in this session

3. Learning outcomes
Year 11 – P8 – locate, select organise legal information
Year 12 – H8 – locate, select, organise, synthesise and analyse legal information
Documents includes resources such as books, magazine and journal articles, websites.

4. Students and teachers need:
Legislation
Cases
Media reports
Magazine and journal articles
International instruments
Readable and understandable
Current
Accurate
Before students can evaluate the effectiveness of the legal system – need to understand something about the issue or topic you are looking at. This is really important.

5.
This is the Find Legal Answers website with a tab for HSC Legal Studies.

6. This is our HSC Legal Studies Page.
Explain what you will find under each.
Preliminary – year 11
HSC – year 12
Crime library – useful for finding cases about crime
Blog – useful for finding out about changes to the law
For students – you will find information about registering online.

7. Preliminary page – follows the syllabus

8. Year 12 page – follows the syllabus
Year 12 page – follows the syllabus. Each guide is like a launching pad to good legal information.

9. Access to databases including:
Informit Online Law – includes:
AGISPlus
Cinch
Family
Oxford Reference Online - includes:
Australian Law Dictionary
Encyclopaedia of International Law
Oxford Companion to Law
Proquest ANZ Newsstand – full text newspaper articles
Explain type of information found in each type of database. Informit online – full text magazines and journal articles written by lawyers – often written a few months after a court decision handed down, or a law has passed – they have thought about the issue and written description and analysis.
Newspaper articles – will find the next day – written by journalists – helpful for finding background information, but are often done very quickly and not written by legal experts. They are usually readable and a good place to start.
Dictionary – very helpful to define what you are talking about. This dictionary invaluable – use for all parts of syllabus. Get into habit of looking to see if your term has been defined. Eg privacy, negligence, rule of law.

10. Benefits of online databases
Provide you with:
access to additional information on the topic you are researching – definitions and other background information
full text media reports
full text magazine and journal articles
using them will develop useful research skills for Year 12 and uni

11. Using these databases, you need a State Library reader’s card
Using these databases, you need a State Library reader’s card. This is what the card looks like.
To register, you will find a link under for students (see next slide).

12. Under for students you will find a link to register online for a reader’s card.
You can fill the form in online, get the card mailed to your residential address, it will take approx a week for the card to arrive.
You can do this later after the session if you have not already done this.

14. Preliminary part 1 – walk through
Show each tab – what you will find under Australian legal system. – next slide.

15. Note link to Australian legal system online
Note link to Australian legal system online. You can click on this slide, it will take you to this page so you can show aust legal system online.

16. Under basic legal concepts – link to the dictionary – excellent for finding definitions.

17. Demonstrating logging into databases
When you click on this link, you will have to type in details from your state library card – the number is found on the back of your card. You also need to put in your name. Leave password blank.
Don’t set password – leave blank

18. If you have a password and you have forgotten it:
If you set password and forget what it is, you can reset.

19. Example of a search – rule of law

20. Useful definition and overview of this key concept.

21. Preliminary –law reform in action
Note we have developed guides for a wide range of different issues you could explore.
Demonstrate using bikie gangs.

22. Show what students have access to – range of information:
overview, with link to bill, and High Court decision, and
information about bikie gangs.
recent blog posts, - what else has happened since this High Court decision in June 2011
legislation.
You can click on slide to go this page to show, or show next slide – to see other information on this page.

23. You will also find:
Magazine and journal articles
Cases – links to crime library to court decisions
Statistics about bikie gangs.
Show how to link to magazine articles listed.
When you click on any of these articles, it will take you into Informit Online – Law – and link to the article. But, you will need to put your card details in first – name and card number.

24. Demonstrating logging into databases
Once you have typed this information in, you will link directly to the article.
Don’t set password – leave blank

25. This is one of the articles.

26. To find more articles about bikie gangs
To find more articles about bikie gangs. Click on link to Informit Online – Law,
This is the search screen. Type in your term – bikie gangs.
Click next to full text records only – this will limit search to articles that you can download.

27. Found 16 hits.
If you click on the complete record
If you click on full text pdf – the article will download and open.

28. You will get summary of article
Note su – this gives you other suggested search terms you could use.

29. Deep link to article Here is the full text again.
Explain up the top – information about the article – author, title, name of journal – need to refer to these in your written assessments for your teachers.

30. What else can you find on the guide?
Show tabs – evaluating laws – key book in your collection
Media reports – links to all the databases you can use for legal studies.
Other guides
You can click on the slide and show.

31. Below this, you will find link to proquest anz newsstand
Below this, you will find link to proquest anz newsstand. If you click on screen it will take you to this page and you can show this.
Other guides – this tab takes you to where you will find other guides.
You can click on the slide and show.

32. Lets look at preliminary part II.

34. After looking at information about cyberlaw in general
After looking at information about cyberlaw in general. Note link to our hot topic Cyberlaw.
You might then decide to look at information on facebook. Next slide.

35. This is the page for facebook.

36. Key tips Bookmark or make this page a favourite on your computer
Great launching pad for each syllabus topic area for finding key information
Before your next class – practice using your library card to access these databases

37. Click on the slide and have a browse of the blog
Click on the slide and have a browse of the blog. Scroll down to show how the categories work.
Good to get into habit of looking at each week. One or two posts are added each week on different areas of the syllabus about recent changes to the law or events and the parliament’s response to them.

38. LIAC Crime Library.
Useful for finding recent criminal cases.

39. Under find a case – there are three ways of browsing, or you can search.

40. Here is the entry for Gordon Wood – recently found not guilty for the murder of Caroline Byrne, next slide shows what else you will find.

41. Strategies for locating media reports.

42. Demonstrating logging into databases
Remember, you will have to put in your card details.
Don’t set password – leave blank

43. To find media reports about the Criminal court appeal decision
To find media reports about the Criminal court appeal decision. Type in gordon wood and appeal and quashed

44. 42 results. Next slide

45. If you wanted to modify, on the right hand sidee, you can modify by date – see purple graph. If you click on any of these years, it will limit search to just that year. You can then modify by month, then by date. Very useful if you get a huge hit list.
Note, You may need to do more than one search, as what you think is a good term to search might not be what appears in the article. So have a play with different search terms.
You can then , or print and download full text of article.s

46. If you have year 12 students, you can click on this slide and show the guide for that part of the syllabus. Human rights, crime have been done. Family, world order, consumers, shelter can be demonstrated.

47. Conclusion
You now have a strategy and place to find information for HSC Legal Studies
Research guides for each topic area
HSC Legal Studies:Newswatch Blog
State Library databases for newspaper articles and magazine articles