Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Thesauri Related to United States Law

Encyclopedias

American Jurisprudence
KF90 .A4; Located in Willis Library, Third Floor

Systematic outline of legal doctrine, with citations to relevant case law. UNT copy is no longer being updated.

Corpus Juris Secundum
Call Number KF90 .C6; Located in Willis Library, Third Floor

Systematic outline of legal doctrine, with citations to relevant case law; somewhat dated, and not as clear as American Jurisprudence.

West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, 2nd Edition
Call Number KF154 .W47 2005; Located in Government Documents Reference

Articles on a wide range of topics, explained for a general audience.

American Justice
Call Number KF154 .A44 1996; Located in Willis Library General Reference

Primarily articles on contemporary social issues.

Dictionaries

Legislative Branch

Congressional Glossary (C-SPAN)

Browse a list of hundreds of terms arranged in a compact tabular format.

CongressLink Glossary (The Dirksen Congressional Center)

Definitions and brief explanations of terms related to Congress and to the United States Constitution.

    Senate: Glossary (U.S. Senate)

Select from a list of Senate terms dealing with conference committees, presidential action, laws, legislation, the federal budget, Senate documents, Senate committees, Senate leadership, offices, and party organizations, sessions, and adjournments.

    House: Parliamentary Terms and Definitions (U.S. House of Representatives)

Includes a pocket guide to floor procedures in the House, an abridged dictionary of parliamentary terms, and a glossary of terms used in the federal budget process.

Judicial Branch

Glossary of Terms (U.S. Federal Judiciary)

Brief list of terms related to U.S. court system.

Thesauri

Legislative Indexing Vocabulary (Library of Congress)
Available in Documents Reference under Call Number LC 14.2 : L 52

Thesaurus of authorized terms developed by the Congressional Research Service to classify legislative and public policy materials. It is used for searching subjects in the THOMAS Bill Summary & Status files and the Library of Congress Information System (LOCIS) Federal Legislation files.