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Law - Guide for Non-Law Students: Reference Sources

Legal Research Resources for Non-Law Students

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What are reference sources?

Reference sources are publications that briefly provide readers with introductory information on various topic. The main examples of reference sources are dictionaries and encyclopaedias. The Law of South Africa (LAWSA) is an encyclopaedia of South African law, and it is described as the starting point of South African legal research. LAWSA is found on the Lexis Library database. We have linked below other reference sources for your use. 

Reference sources are secondary sources.

Research Support

Find search guides, training videos and tutorials to assist you with finding Reference Sources and conducting research with Reference Sources on the Research Support tab.

Electronic reference works for Law available on UJ databases

Click on theInfo icon | Myiconfindernext to a database link to find a description of the database

 

Black's Law Dictionary available

Subject-specific Encyclopaedias and Encyclopaedias that also cover specific jurisdictions available on Databases

Jurisprudence & Encyclopedias covers 32 publications of different jurisdictions