Where do you begin when you have little or no knowledge about the law and need a concise legal overview of a particular subject area?  Try a legal encyclopedia located on the 3rd floor.

There are two major legal encyclopedias, American Jurisprudence 2d (Am.Jur.2d) and Corpus Juris Secundum (C.J.S.).

Am.Jur.2d features highly readable content, relatively frequent revisions and selective supporting authorities (court opinions).  

C.J.S. features comprehensive coverage and fairly exhaustive supporting authorities, but content is revised less frequently.  

Both encyclopedias publish an annual softbound multi-volume general index.  However the C.J.S. annual index is not as detailed as the indices that follow each of the topics covered in the individual C.J.S. volumes.  

Both encyclopedias are updated with pamphlets located in the back covers of each volume (pocket parts) and occasional free-standing softbound pamphlets.
 

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