Set up a system for documenting your preemption check. This way you will have something to show your professor or editor, and you can refer back to it later when you begin to research in depth.
Some journals or professors may have a set way they want you to record your research. If so, use that. If not, set up a research log in a way that makes sense to you, or consider using an online research manager like Zotero.
For example, we'll use my working thesis statement from the first page of this guide: "Disney will likely begin lobbying for another copyright term extension act this year, but they will be less successful because of how copyright has changed in light of the rise of the Internet." An abbreviated sample from my research log might look something like this:
|
Search Platform |
Search Terms/String Used |
General Notes |
Any Promising/Problematic Specific Resources |
|
Lexis+ |
“Mickey Mouse” AND “copyright extension”, then narrowed results to secondary resources |
“Public domain” and “Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act” are related terms that seem to come up a lot. |
2004 U. Ill. J. L. Tech. & Pol’y 105: Will Mickey Mouse be Property of Disney forever? (compares to patent laws, talks about potential for 2018 further extension at the end, against infinite extensions) |
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2013 U. Ill. L. Rev. Online 1395: Article: The New Public Domain (good historical overview and argues from a public domain theory/copyright public policy perspective) |
|
Lexis + |
“Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act” and Disney AND lobb! |
Lots of Ashcraft v. Eldred analysis from early 2000s. |
13 Wake Forest J. Bus. & Intell. Prop. L. 5: Will Copyrights Expire in 2019? (looks at Eldred and Golan v. Holder arguing 2019 is fundamentally different from Sonny Bono era) |
Remember you can also use the "History" functions in Westlaw and Lexis to remind you of search terms or documents you viewed.
Take a moment to brainstorm some research terms before you begin searching. Start with the terms that make up the main ideas of your thesis sentence, and then add synonyms or other possible terms of art. You will likely add to this list as you go on. As you can see in the sample research log, some of my initial search terms were:
As I researched, I found other terms that could be useful, like:
If you're searching in WorldCat or another database that isn't Lexis or Westlaw, pay attention to Keywords and Subject Terms. They may lead you to more and/or better search terms.
