Which Study Aid should I use?
While navigating this guide, you may be wondering which study aids are right for you and your studying needs. Below is a quick guide to some of the most popular study aids series, detailing which ones are best for the task you need it for.
Hornbook Treatises
Available on West Academic.
Hornbook Treatises are one-volume legal treatises written for law students on subjects covered by their law school courses. They summarize and explain the law in a specific area, distinguishing them from casebooks, which are collections of cases chosen to illustrate and stimulate discussion about legal issues. Hornbooks are considered basic, settled legal principles and are distinct from black letter law, which is the body of law created by the courts.
These are good for when you want to familiarize yourself with the black letter law and understand the basic legal definitions and principles of a subject.
Examples and Explanations
Available on Aspen.
The Examples & Explanations (E&E) series provides an alternative perspective to help you understand your casebook and in-class lectures. Each E&E offers hypothetical questions complemented by detailed explanations that allow you to test your knowledge of the topics in your law school courses and compare your own analysis.
Q&As
Available on Lexis.
Questions & Answers (aka Q&As) breaks down each legal topic into subparts and provides short multiple-choice quizzes as well as longer “issue spotter”-style questions.
All Q&A subject areas have been written by law school professors and experts in their chosen field. For each multiple-choice question, our authors provide detailed answers that indicate which of the options is the best answer and explains thoroughly why that option is better than the other choices. Each short-answer question is designed to be answered in fifteen minutes or less. For these questions, the authors have prepared thoughtful, comprehensive, yet brief model answers.
In a Nutshell series
Available on West Academic.
Nutshells are compact guides that provide a succinct, yet thorough overview of a particular area of the law with an emphasis on key cases and statutes. This is a great way to brush up on a subject and get a basic understanding of the law in a field.
Understanding series
Available on Lexis.
The Understanding series provides law students with the essential foundation for a full and clear comprehension of the subject area, and are designed to provide an organized and accurate presentation of the material, including more in-depth treatments for particularly challenging areas. An index and glossary allow you to quickly find the material you need and look up key terms that are unique to a particular field.
Short and Happy guides
Available on West Academic.
The Short and Happy Guides provide a concise (hence "Short") overview of fundamental aspects of the law, but present the information in an accessible, somewhat quirky manner (hence "Happy").