This Week in the Law Library ... Feb. 17 2025
This week in the law library we're teaching advanced search techniques, advanced legal research, spotlighting presidential power, and celebrating Black History Month.
This Week's Research Sessions
Monday, Feb. 17, 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, Feb. 18, 2025
Lawyering II, Advocacy, Cohort 6
Research Instructional Services Librarian Shannon Kemen
Room 245
9:00am – 10:35am
Advanced Searching Techniques
Technology Tuesdays
Research Instructional Services Librarian Shannon Kemen
Zoom
12:15pm - 1:15pm
Creating a Learner Centered Syllabus
Lawyering II, Advocacy, Cohort 3
Instructional & Reference Services Librarian Ashley Russell
Room 135
10:40am – 12:05pm
Advanced Searching Techniques
Lawyering II, Advocacy, Cohort 5
Associate Director Susan Boland
Room 245
10:40am – 12:05pm
Advanced Searching Techniques
Lawyering II, Advocacy, Cohort 1
Instructional & Reference Services Librarian Ashley Russell
Room 245
3:00pm – 4:30pm
Advanced Searching Techniques
Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025
Advanced Legal Research: Fiction and Fact
Research Instructional Services Librarian Shannon Kemen
Room 107
10:05am – 11:00am
Happy Presidents Day!
Monday is Presidents Day. The third Monday in February is Presidents Day. It evolved from honoring President George Washington, whose birthday is February 22, and President Abraham Lincoln, whose birthday is February 12. The position of the holiday between the birthdays of Washington and Abraham Lincoln gave rise to the popular name of Presidents Day. NARA, Washington's Birthday
Interested in researching presidents? Check out some of the resources below:
Public Papers of the Presidents
Compilation of Presidential Documents 1992 – Present
State of the Union Addresses – 1994 – Present
Presidential Inaugural Addresses
Impeachment Related Publications
Library of Congress Presidents of the United States: Resource Guides
Smithsonian National Museum of American History, The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden
The American Presidency Project
Stop by the Law Library and check out our Presidential Power display!
Featured Study Aids
Presidential Power Stories
Available through the West Academic study aid subscription, this book tells the story of a dozen notable presidential power disputes in our nation’s history. Ranging from the Neutrality Controversy of 1793 to the Supreme Court’s decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld in 2006, the chapters present a diversity of presidential powers issues as well as a dispute’s historical and legal background.
Examples & Explanations Constitutional Law National Power and Federalism
Available via the Aspen Learning Library, this study aid walks the student through issues pertaining to the structure of our constitutional system, including judicial review, justiciability, national power, supremacy, the separation of powers and federalism, as well as some of the structural limitations that the Constitution imposes on state powers. Combines textual material with well-written and comprehensive examples, explanations, and questions to test students; comprehension of the materials and provide practice in applying legal principles to fact patterns. New to the Ninth Edition: Inclusion of more than 40 new Supreme Court cases, more sophisticated discussion of the federal preemption doctrine, updated treatment of presidential impeachment, expanded discussion of the executive privilege doctrine, and deeper coverage of the appointment and removal of federal officials.
Understanding Administrative Law
Available through the LexisNexis Digital Library study aid subscription, this text addresses the role of administrative agencies in our system of government, the processes of administrative decision making by agencies, and judicial review of agency action. It touches on the substance of the laws that agencies are called upon to implement and administer. As students study the topic of administrative law and later enter into legal practice, they will find that the substance of the laws that agencies implement and administer and the procedures that agencies follow in performing those functions are increasingly intertwined and, in many instances, almost inextricable. An awareness that no bright line exists between substance and procedure, particularly in the context of an administrative agency, is especially helpful to a thorough understanding of administrative law. Additionally, Understanding Administrative Law identifies trends in judicial review of agency action, including an evolving jurisprudence regarding the nondelegation doctrine, agency design, and judicial deference to agency interpretations of law.
Featured Database
HeinOnline U.S. Presidential Library
Available on HeinOnline, this database contains the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Daily and Weekly Compilations of Presidential Ddocuments, Public Papers of the Presidents, documents relating to impeachment, Title 3 of the CFR, and other related works.
Featured Guide
Federal Administrative Law
Congress creates administrative agencies and delegates to them the authority to act, but they are part of the executive branch. Administrative agencies generate rules and regulations, much like a legislature generates statutes. These administrative rules and regulations help further interpret a statute. Additionally, agencies may conduct hearings and issue decisions concerning matters that fall under their jurisdiction, much like a court. Finally, agencies may also investigate and enforce violations. This guide describes how to research Federal Administrative Law.
Featured Treatise
Law of the Executive Branch: Presidential Power
Available via Oxford Scholarship Online, this e-book places the law of the executive branch firmly in the context of constitutional language, framers’ intent, and more than two centuries of practice. The book strives to separate legitimate from illegitimate sources of power, through analysis that is informed by litigation as well as shaped by presidential initiatives, statutory policy, judicial interpretations, and public and international pressures. Each provision of the US Constitution is analyzed to reveal its contemporary meaning in concert with the application of presidential power. Controversial issues covered in the book include: unilateral presidential wars; the state secrets privilege; extraordinary rendition; claims of “inherent” presidential powers that may not be checked by other branches; and executive privilege.
Featured Video
Administrative Law: Presidential Documents
This video, updated in 2024, covers how to find presidential documents, including executive orders, proclamations, administrative orders, tweets, signing statements, and veto messages. Among the sources looked at are: The Compilation of Presidential Documents, Congress.gov, Papers of the Presidents, the Federal Register, the Code of Federal Regulations, govinfo.gov, HeinOnline, The American Presidency Project, and Lexis and Westlaw. The video is 10:16 minutes long and features closed captioning and a table of contents.
Featured Website
Presidential Actions at Whitehouse.gov
The list of President Trump's executive actions from the Whitehouse.gov website.
Celebrate Black History Month!
This year’s theme for Black History Month is "African Americans and Labor." According to the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, “[t]he theme, 'African Americans and Labor,' intends to encourage broad reflections on intersections between Black people’s work and their workplaces in all their iterations and key moments, themes, and events in Black history and culture across time and space and throughout the U.S., Africa, and the Diaspora..”
2025 Black History Month Proclamation
Black History Month Origins
Dr. Carter G. Woodson, founder of the organization now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History External (ASALH), began Negro History Week in 1926. In 1975, President Ford issued a Message on the Observance of Black History Week. In 1976, ASALH and President Ford extended it to Black History Month and presidents presidents continued to honor Black History Month through messages. Public Law 99-244 designated February 1986 as "National Black (Afro-American) History Month.” Since 1996, presidents have issued annual proclamations for and Congress has passed resolutions honoring Black History Month.
University of Cincinnati Events
Monday, February 17, 2025
Black FUTURE Month Uncommon Read
Viral Justice with Cassandra Jones
Join every Monday in February to read about the relationships between innovation and inequity, knowledge and power, and health and justice.
12:30pm
Taft Research Center
Lift Every Voice & Sing-A-Long
Join the AACRC Choir, the Black Faculty Association, and the Department of Africana Studies in paying homage to James Weldon Johnson’s eloquent poem-turned-hymn that was recognized in 1919 by the NAACP as the “Negro National anthem,” and is today still celebrated as the "Black National Anthem."
12:01pm
TUC Atrium
A'ukre in Cyberspace:
Dialogues, Challenges, and Transformations in the Digital Age
Kaket Kayapo, Pat-i Kayapo, and Mizael Lima da Silva
5:30pm
Clifton Court Hall, Room 5280
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Black Cosplay
Join Ashanti Airship for a singular Black FUTURE event! Steampunk, Goth, and Anime are welcomed!
6pm-7:30pm
AACRC, Harambee Room
The Black Future Month 2025 Mini-Movie Festival
The Black Future Month 2025 Mini-Movie Festival presents a film every Tuesday in February. This week's film is “SMOKE: Marijuana + Black America,” tracing the fascinating and complex legacy of marijuana in the Black community.
6:30pm - 8:30pm
TUC Cinema
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
Drink 'N Think S'More
Ludlow Wines will host Dr. Holly Y. McGee every Wednesday in Black History Month for a 4-part lecture series on everything you've ever wanted to know about African American History but were hesitant to ask.
Nat Turner’s Rebellion
Join us as we cover the most terrifying slave revolt in American History and answer the question, “Is murder ever justifiable?”
6:30pm
Ludlow Wines
Thursday, February 20, 2025
Black FUTURE Month Diaspora Studies Series
Takiyah Nur Amin
1:30-3:30pm
Taft Research Center
Friday, February 21, 2025
Free Black Food Truck Friday
This is a ticketed event. You can get your FREE ticket by attending any BFM event earlier in the week. Tickets are distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Sigma Sigma Common, bad weather location: Africana Studies Student Lounge, 3rd Floor French Hall West
11:30am-1:30pm
Black FUTURE Month Diaspora Studies Series
Disparities in Urban Health: The Wounds of Policies and Legal Doctrines
Edward Wallace
1:30-3:30pm
Taft Research Center
Jazz Concert
Join us at the AACRC for a free concert by UC community musicians and artists!
7pm
Saturday, February 22, 2025
"Get Your A&S On the Bus!" to Wilberforce University
A free field trip to Wilberforce University to tour a museum, enjoy lunch, and see the campus of Ohio's #1 HBCU.
National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center @ Wilberforce University
9am-4pm (Bus load @ A&S 8:30am)
Onyx & Ruby Gala
The Onyx & Ruby Gala recognizes the achievements of African American alumni, faculty, staff and students at the University of Cincinnati. This elegant evening is one of the UC Alumni Association’s largest events each year. *REGISTRATION REQUIRED*
6pm
Great American Ballpark
Sunday, February 23, 2025
Historical Black Church Visit #4 @ Gaines United Methodist Church
Come one, come all! Each Sunday in February a different local church will open its doors to Bearcats and their friends/family. You are invited to attend Sunday services, then stay afterwards for a catered "Fellowship Hour" where you can meet and greet members of the congregation.
10:45am
Gaines United Methodist Church, 5707 Madison Rd, 45227
5 More Resources to Help You Celebrate and Learn During Black History Month
HeinOnline’s Civil Rights & Social Justice
A person’s civil rights ensure protection from discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, national origin or ethnicity, religion, age, and disability. While often confused, civil liberties, on the other hand, are basic freedoms outlined in the Bill of Rights and Constitution. Examples of civil liberties include the right to free speech, to privacy, to remain silent during police interrogation, and the right to have a fair trial. The lifeblood of civil rights protection in the United States is the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (“No state shall make or enforce any law which shall … deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”). Click through the pages in this database to learn how far our nation has come in fulfilling its promise of “all men are created equal” and how much further it still can go.
HeinOnline’s Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & Law
This HeinOnline collection brings together a multitude of essential legal materials on slavery in the United States and the English-speaking world. It includes every statute passed by every colony and state on slavery, every federal statute dealing with slavery, and all reported state and federal cases on slavery.
Oxford African American Studies Center
A comprehensive collection of scholarship focused on the lives and events which have shaped African American and African history and culture, coupled with precise search and browse capabilities. Features over 7,500 articles from Oxford’s reference works, approximately 100 primary sources with specially written commentaries, over 1,000 images, over 100 maps, over 200 charts and tables¸ timelines to guide researchers through the history of African Americans and over 6¸000 biographies. The core content includes: Africana, which presents an account of the African and African American experience in five volumes; the Encyclopedia of African American history; Black women in America 2nd ed; and the African American national biography.
ProQuest’s Black Freedom Struggle in the United States: Challenges and Triumphs in the Pursuit of Equality
ProQuest’s Black Freedom Struggle in the United States features 2,000 expertly selected primary source documents – historical newspaper articles, pamphlets, diaries, correspondence and more – from pivotal eras in African American history. Documents are focused on six different phases of Black Freedom: 1. Slavery and the Abolitionist Movement (1790-1860) — 2. The Civil War and the Reconstruction Era (1861-1877) — 3. Jim Crow Era from 1878 to the Great Depression (1878-1932) — 4. The New Deal and World War II (1933-1945) — 5. The Civil Rights and Black Power Movements (1946-1975) — 6. The Contemporary Era (1976-2000). The documents presented here represent a selection of primary sources available in several ProQuest databases.
ProQuest Black Studies Center
The Black Studies Center consists of scholarly journals, commissioned overview essays by top scholars in Black Studies, historic indexes, and The Chicago Defender newspaper from 1910-1975. At the heart of Black Studies Center is Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience, consisting of essays that provide an introduction to major topics in Black Studies. Explore interdisciplinary topics through in-depth essays; read the seminal research and timelines that accompany each topic; and search for images and film clips to provide another dimension to your research.
Posted Feb. 17, 2025 by Susan Boland