Socio-Legal Studies Databases

Ask A Librarian

Return to Sociology Guide
Return to Social Policy Guide

Key Databases
Comprehensive Legal Research Services | Cases & Legislation | Parliamentary Databases | Legal Encyclopedias
International Law resources | News databases | Statistical databases | More databases for Socio Legal Studies


Key databases for Socio-Legal Studies  
AGIS Plus Text : Attorney General's Information Service (1975 - present)
References journal articles, government documents, publications from non profit organizations and law reform commissions, on all aspects of law in Australia, New Zealand and the Asia-Pacific. Full-text for selected publications from 1999. Australian content
Terms & conditions

Help
CINCH : Australian Criminology Database (1968-present)
References published and unpublished material on all aspects of crime and criminal justice in Australia. Australian content
Terms & conditions

Help
Agreements, Treaties and Negotiated Settlements Database
Online gateway linking "current information, historical detail and published material relating to agreements made between Indigenous people and others in Australia and overseas" Australian content
 
NCJRSA : National Criminal Justice Reference Service Abstracts via CSA (1975-present)
National Criminal Justice Reference Service (USA), references research on policy, and practice related to criminal and juvenile justice and drug control. Also includes Criminology: A SAGE Full-Text Collection.
Terms & Conditions
Sociological Abstracts via CSA (1952 - present)
References articles, conference papers, books and web resources on socio legal studies other related research in sociology and other social science disciplines. Useful for locating peer reviewed journal articles in socio legal studies.
Terms & conditions

Help
Hein Online (1860 - present)
Full-text legal journals and other legal documents predominantly US, also includes major international publications and some Australia Law reviews. Also includes English Reports, Full Reprint (1220 - 1865)
Terms & conditions

Help
bpress legal repository
Research material from Law schools, research institutes, centers and think tanks. Includes conference, working and discussion papers.
 
Legal Trac (1980 - present)
References law reviews and journals, legal newspapers, law-related articles from other discipline publications.
Terms & Conditions
Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals via OvidSP (1985 - present)
References legal literature worldwide, includes comparative law and legal systems.
Terms & Conditions

Help
Google Scholar
Searches academic information on the internet. May also allow access to publications to which the University of Sydney Library subscribes.
 
Comprehensive legal research services  
AustLII : Australasian Legal Information Institute
Freely available primary legal materials:-legislation, treaties and decisions of courts and tribunals); and secondary legal publications including law reform and royal commission reports and law journals. Provides access to the Law of other countries. Australian content
Help
Law Book Online
Access to Australian legal material including, Laws of Australia, law reports, unreported judgements, journals and loose-leaf services. Australian content
Help
LexisNexis AU
Access to the Cases and Legislation, Legal Commentary and sources for specific practice areas. Includes the case citator CaseBase, Halsbury's Laws of Australia, reported and unreported judgments, and full text journal articles from selected journals
Browser Settings Australian content
Help

LexisNexis
Comprehensive full-text collection of legal material including reported and unreported, statutes, regulations, news and journal articles.
Access problems?
CCH
Full text of commentary, case law and legislation for Australia and Asia Pacific Region. Covers many legal practice areas including Family law.
Help & Tutorials
Westlaw
Westlaw on-campus
Comprehensive full-text collection of legal material including reported and unreported judgements, statutes, regulations, news and journal articles.
Printing Problem
Help
Cases & Legislation  
CaseBase via LexisNexis AU
Australian case citator providing details of where a case has been reported and cases where the main case has been considered. Also provides subject access to cases and journal articles which discuss a specific case.
Helpsheet
Firstpoint via Law Book Online
Search an area of law by subject, identify relevant cases, related legislation and journal articles and also obtain case histories. Firstpoint includes Laws of Australia, Australian case citator, Australian Digest, Australian Legal monthly digest.
Helpsheet
Timebase
Australian Commonwealth and State legislation with Caselinks. Search for legislation by title or keyword link to cases relevant to specific section or subsection.Click subscribers tab to access Legislation with Caselinks.
Terms & Conditions

Help
ComLaw
Official source for the full-text of Commonwealth legislation and the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments (FRLI).
 
New South Wales Parliamentary Counsel's Office
Official website for New South Wales legislation.
 
Parliamentary Databases for Socio-Legal Studies  
Capital Monitor's University Intranet
Parliamentary and Legal information from federal and selected State Parliaments. Includes extracts from debates, press releases, case information, policy and legislative documents. Full-text available for many publications. Australian content
Terms & conditions

Content & Coverage
ParlinfoWeb
Freely available Australian parliamentary documents including debates (Hansard), media releases,legislation, bills, second readings, explanatory memorandum, senate and house committee transcripts, background papers and research notes Australian content
Help
New South Wales Parliamentary & Information Resources
Freely available New South Wales parliamentary documents including debates (Hansard), media releases, legislation, bills, second readings & explanatory memorandum, senate and house committee transcripts, background papers and research papers. Australian content
Help
United Kingdom Parliament
Freely available parliamentary documents including debates (Hansard), media releases, bills & legislation, judicial work, committee papers & reports and research papers.
 
Legal Encyclopedias  
Halsbury's Laws of Australia via LexisNexisAu
Statements of legal principle covering all jurisdictions in Australia. Browse categories or sub-categories or search by legal principle, keyword, phrase, case or legislation. Updated by Australian Current Law: Reporter.
Browser settings Australian content
Help
Laws of Australia via LawBook Online
Statements of legal principle covering all jurisdictions in Australia. Browse categories or sub-categories or search by legal principle, keyword, phrase, case or legislation. Updated by Australian Legal Monthly Digest. Australian content
Help
Resources for International Law & Politics  
CIAO : Columbia International Affairs Online (1991-present)
Published research on international affairs from university research institutes, NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, conference proceedings, books, articles and policy briefs.


Help
United Nations Treaty Collection Homepage (Scroll down and click on Access to the database)
Treaty Reference Guide Home Page
Full text access to all treaties and international agreements entered into by any Member of the United Nations.
Terms & conditions

Direct Access to database

Frequently Asked Questions
WorldLII
Full text access to international legal material including the decisions of international Courts and Tribunals.
 
News databases for Socio-Legal Studies  
Factiva
Full-text news, commentary, pictures and media transcripts from over 8,000 overseas and Australian news media sources.
Help
TVNews
TVNews indexes Australian television news, current affairs programs, and selected documentaries from the free-to-air networks and links to the video files. (Local nightly news programmes currently included are Melbourne broadcasts.)
Provided access is restricted to University of Sydney staff and students, the material is used for educational purposes and the Copyright Part VA Warning Notice is displayed, possible uses of TVNews items include:
  • lecturers downloading a news items to a workstation and showing this in a class or tutorial
  • lecturers loading a number of news stories into a Learning Management System such as Blackboard or WebCT and making these available online to students
  • students viewing the items online or saving a copy on their workstation for later viewing
Terms & Conditions

Access help
World News Connection
United States Foreign Broadcasting Information Service (FBIS) compiled from non-U.S. media sources. Includes newspaper articles and television and radio transcripts. Material is translated and either an extract or the full article is available from the database.
Terms & Conditions

Help
Statistical databases useful for Socio-Legal Studies  
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Australia's official statistical organisation. Freely available data for social, health, economic and demographic research and census data for 1996-2006. Links to other statistical agencies via the ABS subject themes page. Australian content
 
ASSDA: Australian Social Sciences Data Archive (1977-present)
Over 2,000 data sets from Australian and non-Australian studies. Data available for research includes census data, crime & justice, courts, opinion polls, electoral studies, education, youth studies, social welfare and social attitudes. Access information is available from the ASSDA website. Australian content
 
More useful databases for Socio-Legal Studies (A-Z)  
APA-FT : Australian Public Affairs Full Text (1978 - present)
References journal articles and other published material in the social sciences and humanities. Selected full-text from 1994/1995. Australian content
Terms & conditions
AFPD: Australian Federal Police Digest (1991-present)
References criminology, law enforcement, law, management and policing issues in the social science. Australian content
Terms & conditions

Help
MAIS : Multicultural Australia and Immigration Studies (1988 - present)
Covers immigration and multicultural issues, including ethnicity, racism, education, migrant health and welfare, refugees, population studies. Compiled by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs Library. Australian content
Terms & conditions

Help
Family & Society Plus 1980- via Informit Online (1980 - present)
References research, policy and practice issues relating to Australian families and society. Includes journal articles, government documents and publications from non profit and advocacy organisations. Selected full-text from 2000. Australian content
Terms & conditions
JSTOR
Full-text for major journals in the Social and Political Sciences. Latest five years are not available in this database.
Terms & conditions
Proquest 5000
Multiple databases covering disciplines within the Social Sciences. Also includes digitised collections of key US newspapers, dissertations & theses.
Terms & conditions

Help
Peace Research Abstracts (Trial only) (1963 - present)
References articles and other published material in peace and conflict studies, human rights and other related disciplines. Evaluation Form
Terms & Conditions
World Wide Political Science Abstracts (1975 - present)
References articles, conference papers, books and web resources in Political science and other related social science disciplines. Useful for locating peer reviewed journal articles in Sociology.
Terms & Conditions

Help
Web of Science via ISI Web of Knowledge
Social Sciences and Arts & Humanities citation indexes, useful for citation and subject searching for articles, books and reviews in the social sciences and related disciplines. Allows the identification of key articles in a discipline.
Terms & conditions

Help

Back to top