Treatises- are book-length expositions on the law as it pertains to a particular subject. Treatises may be scholarly in nature or they may be geared toward a legal practitioner. A legal treatise may be a short, single volume or a large, multi-volume set. Many are available electronically as well as in print. <http://guides.library.harvard.edu/c.php?g=309942&p=2070277>.
Law Review Articles- are scholarly publications, usually edited by law students in conjunction with faculty members. THey contain both lengthy articles and shorter essays by professors and lawyers, as well as comments, notes or developments in the law written by students. Law review articles often focus on new or emerging areas of law and they can offer more critical commentary than a legal encyclopedia or ALR entry. <http://guides.library.harvard.edu/c.php?g=309942&p=2070278>.
Dictionaries- a legal dictionary contains the definitions of legal terms taken from a variety of sources. They are the first place you should look when you do not understand what a legal term means. <http://guides.ll.georgetown.edu/secondary/dictionaries>.
Legal Encyclopedias- contain brief, broad summaries of legal topics, providing introduction to legal topics and explaining relevant terms of art. They also provide citations to relevant primary law and sometimes give citations to relevant major law review articles. <http://guides.library.harvard.edu/c.php?g=309942&p=2070279>.
Hornbooks- provide more detailed treatments of particular areas of law than an encyclopedia or ALR entry. They generally contain summaries of landmark cases and other useful details. <http://guides.library.harvard.edu/c.php?g=309942&p=2070277>.
Restatements of the Law- are highly regarded distillations of common law. They are prepared by the American Law Institute, a prestigious organization comprising of judges, professors, and lawyers. They aim to distill the "black letter law" from cases to indicate trends in common law, and occasionally to recommend what a rule of law should be. They are organized into chapters, titles, and sections. Sections contain a concisely stated rule of law, comments to clarify the rule, hypothetical examples, explanations of purpose, as well as exceptions to the rule. <http://guides.library.harvard.edu/c.php?g=309942&p=2070280>.
