Designed for use by high school and college students who may need to use a law library to research a topic related to U.S. government, history, or law-related education, this pamphlet contains step-by-step instructions for locating and using legal materials. Students are introduced to four methods of legal research: the topic method, which consists of searching legal encyclopedias and digests for case names and citations on a particular subject; the descriptive word method of using encyclopedia and digest indices; the case method; and the method that uses the set of 46 volumes entitled "Words and Phrases." Each method is described and sample citations from resources appropriate to each method are provided. Additional instructions on how to obtain copies of laws and cases are provided. (LP)