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Barker, D --- "Concise legal research" [2009] LegEdDig 15; (2009) 17(1) Legal Education Digest 54


BOOK REVIEW

Concise Legal Research

Robert Watt and Francis Johns

The Federation Press, 2009, 323pp

When the first edition of this book was published in 1993 it occupied a unique position in legal education as there had been very few texts published on the topic. Those in existence were more oriented towards the student engaged in postgraduate legal research studies. Now of course legal research is regarded not only as a major form of postgraduate study but is becoming a standard requirement in most undergraduate degree programs. This has meant that there has been a major expansion of books dealing with legal research. However despite this, Concise Legal Research has managed to maintain its niche in the field. Why is this? One reason would be that Robert Watt, the original author, has remained as a face-to-face teacher in the subject and therefore has been able to translate his first-hand experience in teaching the subject into each new edition of the book. Additionally he is also a qualified librarian, which has ensured that these additional professional skills continue to contribute to the high quality of the topic legal materials which remains a major component of the text. The introduction of Francis Johns as co-author has injected his particular expertise within the area of on-line date retrieval, apart from his own experience as a law collection consultant.

There will be a temptation for the reader to access those particular chapters which are directly relevant to the research task which is facing them. However this reviewer would recommend that one of the features of the book is that it is written in such a way that enables anyone who is new to the topic of research to obtain an overall knowledge of the subject by reading the book from cover to cover. If this is not an attractive prospect then at least one should read the Introduction What is Concise Legal Research? This has the advantage of encapsulating in just over a page and a half the needs of which the prospective law student or teacher will need to be aware of when engaging in their own legal research. For the law lecturer it is an ideal format to serve as a text for teaching legal research, particularly for first year students.

All readers are directed particularly to Chapters 1. Citation; 2. Primary Source Material; and 5. Secondary Source Material. These chapters, which deal with the fundamentals of legal research, are written in a clear and readable style, and contain many useful insights. In particular a knowledge of them would enable the reader to gain a mastery over the detailed requirements of legislation, law reports and the more in-depth knowledge of these topics in the particular jurisdictions set out in the other chapters.

Although the authors have integrated the various forms of electronic data retrieval throughout the text, they have still retained in the final chapter a comprehensive list of Non-Commercial Internet Addresses for Legal Research.

The value of the book lies in establishing a feeling of confidence in the reader who might be involved with legal research for the first time. To those who are experienced in legal research this new edition will still serve as both a useful aide-memoire and stimulation for the conduct of their future research.

Emeritus Professor David Barker AM

Editor


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