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Legal Research Skills Guide: Library skills

Plan your search strategy

Before you start your legal research, it is useful to plan a search strategy. You should 

  • Identify your search terms - consider the keywords and phrases that best describe the legal issues in your scenario.
  • Identify some alternative search words (synonyms) - legal dictionaries and encyclopedias can help you do this.
  • Consider any search parameters - do you need to limit your search to a particular jurisdiction or point in time?
  • Decide what type of secondary source you are looking for - e.g. journal articles, commentary, law reform material.

This section of the guide will take you through some key skills that will help you in any assessment.

Library Skills menu

This section of the guide will help you to develop some generic research skills before starting your research, including:

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