THE USE OF LAW INFORMATION SOURCES IN LEGAL RESEARCH BY NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES LAW STUDENTS

Abstract

The paper investigated the law information sources used in legal research among undergraduate law students in Nigeria universities. Twelve faculty of law libraries were purposively selected from among the thirty four universities that offer law in the country. In all, 1534 law students were randomly selected from the total population of 7219 registered law students at the time of this study. A descriptive survey method was used to obtain open and close ended data from law students, 82% responses were retrieved as sample size for the study. The finding revealed that primary and secondary law sources in both print and electronic formats were available in in Nigerian university law libraries. It was also found that the print law sources were mostly available in the law libraries, which the law students frequently used in legal research to access law related information. The respondents indicated that they do legal research to further their knowledge on legal issues. The study identified the some challenges experienced in legal research while sourcing information in the law libraries. The study recommends that the university managements should provide relevant information sources in especially electronic resources to enable legal research in the law libraries.

Keywords

• Law information sources, Legal research, Legal professionals, Law students, Nigerian universities

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