Cite-checks for law review can be terribly tedious, but Heafey’s reference librarians have a few tips for making the process easier:

• First, if you’re pulling your hair out trying to find your sources, ask one of the reference librarians for help.  We are happy to help you track down hard-to-find materials.
• If you’re a new cite-checker and it’s been awhile since you’ve encountered an online library catalog, review our online OSCAR tutorial before you begin looking for sources.  The tutorial has both basic and advanced OSCAR search tips that will save you lots of searching frustration! 

• HeinOnline is a great resource for cite-checkers.  This database contains exact page images of law reviews and journals, U.S. Reports, the Federal Register, and other primary and secondary legal sources.  When we demonstrate HeinOnline at the reference desk, students often exclaim, "We can’t use electronic resources for cite-checking!"  But because there’s absolutely no difference between looking at a PDF version of a law review volume and the actual print volume, law review editors should not object to using HeinOnline to check article citations.  For this reason, Heafey’s staff will not pull a print volume from remote storage if the volume is available electronically in PDF on HeinOnline.

• LINK+ is another useful resource for cite-checking.  LINK+ is essentially a pooled catalog of books available from participating academic and public libraries in California and Nevada. If you encounter a nonperiodical source that is not available at SCU, you may request the material through LINK+.  There is no charge to patrons for this service, and you usually receive your material within 3-5 business days.  Two key things to remember about LINK+:  1) you must first confirm that the book that you need is not available at SCU in order to obtain the material from LINK+; and 2) Heafey Law Library patrons will need to pick up LINK+ materials at the Orradre Circulation Desk.