This Week in the Law Library ... April 14, 2025

This week in the Law Library we're teaching 1Ls about low cost and free legal resources, teaching advanced legal research, teaching faculty about getting the most out of group work, spotlighting tax policy and law resources, raising awareness for sexual assault, and celebrating Arab American Heritage Month and Scottish and Scotch-Irish American Heritage Month.

Monday, April 14, 2025

Advanced Legal Research: Transactional
Instructional & Reference Services Librarian Laura Dixon-Caldwell
Room 135
9:00am – 9:55am

Advanced Legal Research: Ohio
Associate Director Susan Boland
Room 135
10:05am – 10:55am

Tuesday, April 15, 2025

Lawyering II, Advocacy, Cohort 6
Research Instructional Services Librarian Shannon Kemen
Room 245
9:00am – 10:35am
Low Cost & Free Legal Resources

Lawyering II, Advocacy, Cohort 3
Instructional & Reference Services Librarian Ashley Russell
Room 135
10:40am – 12:05pm
Low Cost & Free Legal Resources

Lawyering II, Advocacy, Cohort 5
Associate Director Susan Boland
Room 245
10:40am – 12:05pm
Low Cost & Free Legal Resources

Lawyering II, Advocacy, Cohort 4
Instructional & Reference Services Librarian Laura Dixon-Caldwell
Room 230
10:40am – 12:05pm
Low Cost & Free Legal Resources

Technology Tuesdays
Shannon Kemen, Legal & Technology Research Instructional Services Librarian
12:15pm - 1:15pm
Zoom
Getting the Most  Out of Group Work

Lawyering II, Advocacy, Cohort 1
Instructional & Reference Services Librarian Ashley Russell
Room 245
3:00pm – 4:30pm
Low Cost & Free Legal Resources

Lawyering II, Advocacy, Cohort 2
Electronic Resources Instructional Services Librarian Ron Jones
Room 230
3:00pm – 4:30pm
Low Cost & Free Legal Resources

Wednesday, April 16, 2025

Advanced Legal Research: Fiction and Fact
Research Instructional Services Librarian Shannon Kemen
Room 107
10:05am – 11:00am

Taxes are due April 15th! In honor of tax day, we're spotlighting tax law and policy resources. Be sure and check out last week's blog post, It's Almost April 15! Get Ready with our Tax Law Resources for more!

Federal Income Tax: Examples & Explanations

Available via the Aspen Learning Library, this text provides students with a summary of topics and issues in federal income tax. Its index includes a Table of Cases and a Table of Internal Revenue Code Sections. Analysis is first provided for a topic and then examples are given to help students understand the analysis. A series of problems at the end of each section or chapter assist you in testing your understanding. Answers are provided for these problems.

Principles of Tax Policy

Available via the West Academic study aid subscription, this new edition explains the essential building blocks of the American tax system clearly and concisely, including the effects of changes adopted in the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017. Chapters range from the political process to individual and corporate income taxes, Social Security and other payroll taxes, state and local budgeting, and international tax planning. Each chapter opens with a brief description of the covered policy topic, providing a synopsis of the current state of the law. Ample footnotes provide easy access to articles and standard reference works allowing readers to dig deeper on their own.

Tax Law CALI Lessons

CALI offers many interactive exercises for Tax Law students. You will need to set up a password to use CALI online. To set up a username and password, you will be asked to enter UC Law’s authorization code. UC Law students can get this code from any reference librarian.

Understanding Federal Income Taxation

Available via LexisNexis Digital Library study aid subscription, this text consists of forty-four chapters with each chapter addressing a basic topic in individual income taxation, e.g., the taxation of personal injury awards, the interest deduction, installment sales. Because the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code are necessarily at the heart of tax study, a part or all of the Code section(s) pertinent to the specific topic are included in each chapter. Likewise, the chapters contain summaries of leading cases and relevant administrative rulings as well as numerous examples explaining the application of the law. Like the prior edition published in 2013, this new Fifth Edition of Understanding Federal Income Taxation is a valuable resource for students studying the tax law for the first time and for general practitioners handling transactions with individual income tax concerns. The Fifth Edition incorporates recent developments in the Internal Revenue Code and addresses important recent income tax cases as well as revised regulations and other new administrative materials. Many of these tax law changes are illustrated in new and revised examples included in the Fifth Edition.

AnswerConnect

This database provides access to materials on new or updated regulations, explanations, cases, IRS publications, forms, instructions, and time-saving practice tools to help support your research.

Guide to Researching US Tax Policy

This guide covers resources to help you research US tax policy and law. It includes how to find articles, books, CRS Reports, the Internal Revenue Code, legislative history, IRS administrative materials, and more!  

Bloomberg US Income Tax Management Portfolios  

Available via Bloomberg Law,  Tax Management Portfolios are written by leading tax practitioners and cover virtually every tax topic with deep analysis, real world examples, working papers, and more. In addition to the US Income Tax portfolio, there are State, Accounting, and International Topics portfolios.

IRS Videos (official YouTube channel)

The Internal Revenue Service's official YouTube channel features IRS videos to help America's taxpayers understand and meet their tax responsibilities and enforce the law with integrity and fairness to all. See also our ASL and Multilingual channels.

IRS.gov

The IRS mission is to provide America's taxpayers top quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax responsibilities and to enforce the law with integrity and fairness to all.

About National Arab American Heritage Month

April is National Arab American Heritage Month (NAAHM) and celebrates the heritage, culture, and contributions of Arab Americans. Immigrants with origins from the Arab world have been arriving to the United States since before our country’s independence and have contributed to our nation’s advancements in science, business, technology, foreign policy, and national security. The Arab American Foundation and Arab America initiated the National Arab American Heritage Month in 2017. States and other organizations began recognizing April as National Arab American Heritage Month and last year President Biden issued an official proclamation.

The Arab American Institute estimates there are 3.7 million Arab Americans. Arab Americans are found in every state, but “[n]early 75% of all Arab Americans live in just twelve states: California, Michigan, New York, Texas, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Minnesota, Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania …”

Resources to Learn More on Arab American Heritage  

Arab American Archives

This project is produced through a collaboration between the Arab American National Museum and the Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies. It is funded through a generous grant the NHPRC. The aim of this project is to create singular gateway for researchers to learn about and access the various collections of Arab American histories which are housed in various institutions across the US.

Arab American National Museum

The Arab American National Museum (AANM) is the first and only museum of its kind in the United States devoted to recording the Arab American experience. AANM has one of the most extensive archives of Arab American historical documents, oral histories and artifacts.

Baylor Oral History Collection, Oral Histories from the Arab Americans in the Southeast

While the majority of Arab Americans reside in the northern tier of the United States, numerous Arab American communities exist in the southern United States. Regional studies on Arab American communities in the South are scarce. In this oral history project, interviewer Rosemarie M. Esber interviewed Arab Americans living in Louisiana, Mississippi, Virginia, and Texas to learn how these families became residents of the South, as well as answers to other questions.

Faris and Yamna Naff Arab American Collection

The collection is the result of research conducted by Dr. Alixa Naff (1920-2013) relating to the study of the early Arab immigrant experience in the United States from about 1880-World War II. The study began with oral history interviews in 1962 and became a major project in 1980 with a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. It documents the assimilation of Arabic speaking immigrants in the United States.

About Scottish-American Heritage Month

April is also Scottish-American Heritage Month, celebrating the contributions of the Scottish-Americans who have had an impact on U.S. society. Tartan Day is observed on April 6th to commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320. This document was Scotland's Declaration of Independence. 

Resources to Learn More About Scottish-Americans

Michael Fry, How the Scotts Made America

Ever since they first set foot in the new world alongside the Viking explorers, the Scots have left their mark. In this entertaining and informative book, historian Michael Fry shows how Americans of Scottish heritage helped shape this country, from its founding days to the present.

Stephen M. Millett, The Scottish settlers of America: The 17th and 18th centuries

Originally published in thirteen installments of "U.S. Scots" magazine, Dr. Millett draws the following conclusions about Scots colonists: (1) The principal motivation for Scottish emigration was self-improvement and economic gain; (2) Scottish settlers were ambitious and self-reliant; (3) Scottish emigrants arrived as families intending to stay; (4) Most Scottish settlers readily assimilated into colonial society; (5) The Scots favored certain parts of the colonies over others; and (6) The principal sources of identity for Scots were surname and family. Dr. Millett develops these findings in considerable detail, of course, in chapters devoted to the Scottish homeland and its peoples, the push/pull of emigration/immigration, Scottish colonial settlements prior to 1707, and the establishment of the principal 18th-century Scottish communities along the Chesapeake, the Carolinas and Georgia, and throughout the Middle Colonies. In addition, a special chapter treats the role of Scots during the American Revolution, including the part played by Scottish Loyalists. While this is a book that is primarily historical and not genealogical, researchers will nonetheless find in it sketches of famous Scots like John Paul Jones and Hugh Mercer, not to mention invaluable narrative and statistical background information on the Scottish presence in the colonies.

Nation, Migration, and the Province in the First British Empire: Scotland and the Americas, 1600–1800

For more than four decades, historians have devoted ever-increasing attention to the affinites that linked Scotland with the American colonies in the eighteenth century. This volume moves beyond earlier discussions in two ways. For one, the geographical coverage of the papers extends beyond the territories that became the United States to include what became Canada, The Carribean and even Africa. For another, the volume attends not only those areas in which Scotland was closely linked to the Americas, but also to those where it was not.

Duncan Sim, American Scots: The Scottish Diaspora and the USA (e-Book)

Some 30 million people worldwide claim Scottish ancestry, making the Scots one of the world's largest diasporas. Duncan Sim describes the Scottish diaspora in America, one of the largest. His survey includes interviews with Scottish Americans about their family histories, their membership of Scottish societies and their continuing links with the Scottish homeland. Academic interest in diasporas has grown as the world's population has become more mobile and as forced migration has led to major increases in the numbers of refugee diasporas. In relation to the Scottish diaspora, there is increasing interest, partly as a result of devolution and the existence of a Scottish Government able to engage directly with Scots overseas. The author explores theories of diaspora and how the Scots fit into these. He describes work with American Scots and reports on detailed interviews which cover family histories and issues of identity and belonging. There are chapters dealing with diaspora events such as National Tartan Day and it concludes with some discussion of the continuing nature and importance of expatriate identity. Duncan Sim's book will interest those studying notions of identity as sociologists, geographers or political scientists. It provides a fascinating study of how American Scots relate to their 'home' and an insight into how those in Scotland perceive those Scots who are now abroad.

William E. Van Vugt, British Buckeyes: the English, Scots, and Welsh in Ohio, 1700-1900

Using biographies and primary sources, the author describes the lives and influence of British immigrants to Ohio.

Sexual Assault Awareness Month

April is also Sexual Assault Awareness month. 

More Resources to Raise Awareness about Sexual Assault

Arizona Coalition to End Sexual & Domestic Violence, History of the Anti-Sexual Violence Movement

This webinar, discusses the origins of the anti-sexual violence movement in the U.S. up until the present day. The webinar will discuss how far we have come in this movement, mistakes we have made along the way, as well as where we are going. It will also discuss how the anti-sexual violence movement is related to other social justice movements.  

Rappaport Center for Law & Policy at Boston College Law School, Second Look Laws and Other Emerging Issues in Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Survivor Advocacy

A 2025 panel discussion where panelists share policy reform efforts that center the voices and experiences of sexual assault and domestic violence survivors. 

SPARC, Stalking & Sexual Violence: Understanding the Intersections Webinar

Sexual violence and stalking are both prevalent, commonly misunderstood, and severely underreported victimizations. In honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, this webinar explores the intersection of stalking and sexual violence, focusing on similarities, co-occurrence, and strategies to support victims and survivors.

Teal Talk Podcast

This is a podcast where we discuss issues affecting survivors of sexual violence in Ohio. We interview professionals in the field to help spark conversation and break down barriers to building communities free from sexual violence. Join us every episode for discussions that will close the gap between where we are right now and where we want to be.

Webinar on Addressing Sexual Assault Against People with Disabilities

This webinar highlights the prevalence of sexual assault in the disability community. It will focus on the perspectives of sexual assault survivors with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) who will discuss their experiences, the barriers they encountered when seeking support, and the recommendations to improve access to care and justice. The target audience is broad and includes organizations serving people with I/DD, organizations serving survivors of sexual violence, and victim advocates and prevention specialists, plus partners and grantees from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and other government agencies.

Posted Apr. 14, 2025 by Susan Boland

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