14 Dictionaries and Encyclopaedias
Legal encyclopaedias and dictionaries can provide you with a context and background understanding of your research topic.
Legal dictionaries
Legal dictionaries assist with clarifying the meaning of legal jargon and other terms/phrases. They may provide references to legislative provisions defining the term and/or cases that have considered the term. Legal dictionaries can help you to:
- identify terms relevant to a particular area of law
- understand the specific legal meaning of everyday words
- locate words and phrases defined in legislation or judicially interpreted.
You can access many legal dictionaries online via the Get Started tab of the UQ Library Legal Research guide and other guides.
Find the legal definition of terms in Lexis+ by using the ‘Advanced search’ function for ‘Secondary materials’ and searching in the ‘Defined terms’ box.
Legal encyclopaedias
Legal encyclopaedias contain more extensive information than dictionaries and provide:
- a concise introduction to the topic
- key case and legislation references
- coverage across all Australian jurisdictions.
They are a useful starting point when researching an unfamiliar area of law or legal topic. The table of contents is organised by title (field of law/subject) and then structured into chapters > subheadings > [paragraphs]. Encyclopaedias provide a basic overview of legal concepts, including references to key legislative provisions and case law in the notes area beneath each paragraph. To find information in legal encyclopaedias:
- browse through the table of contents topics using the + symbols
- search across an entire encyclopaedia by keyword/s or limit to within headings/titles only.
Two Australian legal encyclopaedias are available online:
- The Laws of Australia in the Westlaw Australia database – view the publisher’s training video (2m12s).
- Halsbury’s Laws of Australia in the Lexis+ database.
You can access The Laws of Australia and Halsbury’s Laws of Australia via the Get started tab of the UQ Library Legal Research Guide.
