Cheryl Nyberg’s Subject Compilations of State Laws has long been recognized as the most comprehensive source for identifying thousands of articles, books, government documents, looseleaf services, court opinions and Internet sites that compare state laws on hundreds of subjects. The first volume, 1960-1979, compiled by Lynn Foster and Carol Boast, won the AALL Joseph L. Andrews Bibliographical Award in 1982. The database version of this collection won the 2009 AALL Best New Product Award. The series has been previously chosen for Best Legal Reference Books and has been called “unique,” “priceless” and “irreplaceable.”
This HeinOnline database has revolutionized historical state subject searching, and the 2017-2018 volume adds more than 1,000 entries under 310 main subject headings. Researchers now have instantaneous access to more than 27,000 bibliographic records, many with extensive annotations. There is no longer a need to browse the twenty-plus print volumes in the series.
Most importantly, the annotations link directly to articles and other documents residing in HeinOnline. In all, more than 14,000 records link to HeinOnline periodicals, while the majority of other records link to case law or external websites. Additionally, users will find a subcollection within the database called “Other Related Works” which contains links to more than 670 full-text documents within HeinOnline. Database users also enjoy access to the current and all prior volumes in this series.
Also included in this collection is the State Law Index: An Index and Digest to the Legislation of the States of the United States Enacted During the Biennium, volumes 1-12 (1925-1948). This index, published biennially by the Legislative Reference Service of the Library of Congress, is a valuable source for identifying session laws by subject that were enacted by the various states during the years involved.
Cheryl Rae Nyberg currently works at the Marian Gould Gallagher Law Library, University of Washington, as a Librarian in Digital Initiatives. She is also the content manager for the Gallagher Law Library website.