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Early American Case Law

Hein’s Early American Case Law is a robust collection containing coverage of historical cases from the late 1700s through the 1920s and spanning nearly 2 million pages.

Search Tips

Main Search Bar Tips

  • The one-box search bar is stationary throughout HeinOnline
  • Once inside the Early American Case Law database, the search bar will search only within this database, unless the Search All Databases box is ticked
  • Need something more robust? Click Advanced Search to perform a search using custom drop-downs
  • Need a refresher on how to construct a perfect search? Click Search Help for a quick reference guide to commonly used search syntax

image of the Search Help option located under the main search bar within the Early American Case Law database

For example, enter the query "railroad law" AND contract into the one-search bar.

  • Select where you want to search for this phrase: as an Author, appearing in the Title of any document or article, as a Citation, or in our Catalog as a title. Want to see your search in any of these fields, or appearing in the full text of a document? Select Just search for

image of main search bar options including Just Search for, Author, Title, Citation, and Catalog

  • Use the facets on the left side of the page to narrow your results by Date, Section Type, and Title
  • Terms matching the search query appear in bold text within the matching text page snippets
  • Sort search results by relevance, volume date, or title
  • Save to your MyHein account, email a result, display download options, or download a PDF using the icons on the right side of each search result
  • Use the icons next to the sort-by bar to modify your current search, to search within results, to toggle all matching text pages, or to turn OFF infinite scroll

Search results in Early American Case Law

Using Advanced Search

  • Click Advanced Search to be taken to a page with custom facets to help maximize your research within this collection
  • Use the drop-downs to choose a variety of ways to search: Text, Parties, FR Citation, Citation, Docket Number, Court, and/or Date 
    • Add another search field if three isn't enough
  • Select a Document Title to search within
  • Restrict results within a date range and change how results are sorted

image of Advanced Search options within the Early American Case Law database

 

About Venn Diagram Search

 

  • Venn Diagram Search offers a visual representation of how search terms interact with each other
  • Helps users both refine their current search terms and become better researchers going forward
  • Find the link to Venn Diagram Search on the Advanced Search page
  • Searches are constructed by stringing together multiple terms separated by the Boolean operator "AND," with phrases grouped together in quotation marks

image of a Venn Diagram search within the Early American Case Law database

 

 

  • Results on the right side of the page pertain to the search as we originally constructed it (represented by the red slice in the center of the intersecting circles)
  • Select Clear for the ability to hover over the different segments of the diagram and see all possible search term combinations from our original query
  • In our example, we can see results for:
    • aviation AND "Superior Court"
    • aviation AND petition
    • petition AND "Superior Court:
    • the terms "Superior Court," aviation and petition individually
  • Sort the results, save or export, turn to the specific page of a result, or start at the beginning of a given title