HeinOnline is one of the legal databases the Allegheny County Law Library (ACLL) provides to patrons in the library and remotely to its members. It contains thousands of academic legal journals, case law, federal and state material and historical resources going back centuries. If you’re looking to understand a historical legal case, HeinOnline can be a great resource.
Because May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage (AANHPI) Month, let’s use United States v. Wong Kim Ark as an example of how to research a case in HeinOnline. US vs. Wong Kim Ark was a landmark 1898 case that confirmed that the 14th Amendment conferred citizenship to all children born within the United States.
To access HeinOnline, use the link on the Allegheny County Law Library’s website. If you’re at the library in person, the system should connect you to the database automatically. If you’re not in the library, you’ll see a page from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh asking for your library card number and PIN.
Once you’re in HeinOnline, you’ll see two search bars. The top searches the content of all databases by default. By clicking on the “All Databases” dropdown or the “Advanced Search” link, you can change what resources you’re searching through. The lower search bar searches through the names of databases, which can be useful if you have a specific topic you’re researching. But for our purposes, we’ll just enter the case citation in the top search bar.
When you search for United States v. Wong Kim Ark in HeinOnline, the first result is the full Supreme Court decision taken from Oyez (a free legal archive of Supreme Court decisions). Additional search results show us scholarly articles about the case from university legal journals, legal treatises and historical documents.
All library patrons are welcome to access HeinOnline in-person at the library. The ACLL also provides remote access to HeinOnline and other legal databases to its members. You can learn more about becoming a member on our membership webpage. You can also access many other databases and research resources by registering for a library card from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.
For more information and resources about Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Heritage Month, please visit the library’s dedicated webpage on that topic.