Occupational Therapy

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY 556, 653 and 762
Professor Meriano
Arnold Bernhard Library Resources & Pantalena Law Library Resources   

1)  Legal Reference Sources

Black’s law dictionary   
      9th ed.  Bernhard Library Reference Collection   Ref KF156 .B53 2019
                   Law Library Reference                            Ref KF156 .B53 2019 

The Law Dictionary - free online legal dictionary, featuring Black's Law Dictionary

 2)  Electronic Resources

The Library databases can be searched on campus and off-campus. 

To do so you must go through the Edward and Barbara Netter Library or Arnold Bernhard Library homepage. 

To get to the Library homepage:

• Click on MyQ and then  >Log In 
• Select IT & Libraries tab in the top navigation bar,  click on Library-Edward and Barbara Netter or Library-Arnold Bernhard.  

3)  Resources for the Research Paper 

Please check the "Find Articles" page of this Guide for a listing of databases for your research papers.  

4)  Professional Association

American Occupational Therapy Association    http://www.aota.org​

Check the "Legislative Action Center" to find legislation and the "Advocacy" section for advocacy issues and news on federal legislation and policies, state policies, health care reform, etc.

5)  State Websites -> State Statutes

• State of Connecticut website    
  http://www.ct.gov

Note: For other state websites enter the two letter abbreviation in place of “ct” (for example: ny or nj).  Remember that each state may search a bit differently.

• Search Example for licensure and link to Connecticut General Statutes

In the Search box, enter occupational therapist. The link for licensure comes up and links to the Connecticut General Statutes, etc.     

• Searching the CT State Statutes specifically (in cga.ct.gov): Scroll down and click on Legislative under CT Government , then click on Statutes and then Search Statutes in Connecticut General Assembly website.  Type keywords into the Document Text search box (note drop down menu options).  Examples: Good Samaritan or birth to three

Browse Statutes link 

Search Statutes link   

PLEASE NOTE: PROFESSOR MERIANO RECOMMENDS SEARCHING THE CONNECTICUT STATUTES THROUGH THE "BROWSE STATUTES" OPTION SO THAT ONE CAN MOVE THROUGH DIFFERENT SECTIONS.
 

      State Websites -> State Agency Regulations or Administrative Code

• Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies: these are also searchable from the State of Connecticut website by conducting a keyword search
• Other states may use different terminology, such as Administrative Code. For example in New Jersey, LexisNexis provides free online public access to the semi-monthly updated version of the New Jersey Administrative Code at http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/njcode. 

 ***Remember:  Google is a good option for searching State websites since some are not as user friendly as others, and it is usually straight forward.  Check the domain for a site from the State government, for example ct.gov, ri.gov, but some states are subcontracting with private companies for certain services, like Massachusetts for licensing. Make sure that the State government site leads to the subcontracted site.

Google site search: search within a specific site. Example, site:cga.ct.gov occupational therapist

More Google tips

6)  Web Sites for Federal Information        

• Congress.gov:  Congress.gov is the official source for federal legislative information.  This is the place to look for Bills as well as other legislative sources such as Public Laws and committee reports.  
       
       On the homepage the default search is for current legislation or Congresses and this may prove a good place to start.  Enter keywords for search and use quotes around phrases when appropriate, for example "occupational therapy".  If you are not finding what you want, try extending the time frame.  In the left margin check off the earlier Congress and run the search or at the top choose All Legislation.    
       
       If you have a Public Law such as Every Student Succeeds Act, Public Law 114-95, the title of the act can be searched in quotes and then limit results to "Became Law."  Also can search by law number, enter in quotes this way:  "public law no 114-95" 
       Another example:  Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), Public Law 103-322  (part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994)    The best way to search for this law is by law number, enter in quotes his way:  "public law no 103-322"

• United States Code  -  The United States Code is a consolidation and codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. This is the freely available website from the U.S. House of Representatives, Office of the Law Revision Counsel.  Keyword searching is available.

Note: The Code only includes the general and permanent laws of the United States. Temporary laws, such as appropriations acts, and special laws, such as one naming a post office, are not included in the Code.

• Electronic Code of Federal Regulations - This is the compilation of federal agency regulations.  This is the freely available website from the Federal Government, the Federal Digital System. Keyword searching is available without entering a Title Number or selecting a Section.

7)  Database with Legal Research Component

Nexis Uni: Search this database for federal and state cases; law review articles; as well as federal and state statutes and regulations..

The Nexis Uni homepage provides access to case law and legislation through the drop-down menu “All Content Types” to the right of the search box.  A screen shot is below.

Add keywords to search box after selecting US Cases and jurisdiction or US Legislation and  federal or state designation.

8)  Affordable Care Act: some selected sources are listed below

The complete name is The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148) and was signed into law on March 23, 2010 by President Obama.

About the Law    https://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/about-the-aca/index.html

AOTA:  check the Association

• Health Care Reform serves as a portal to information

​Non-governmental Sources of Information:  there are many articles, blogs, etc. on this topic and many more current articles.

9)  Statistics Sources

State Health Facts Online by The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

• http://www.statehealthfacts.org

ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the US   Current Edition

10) Additional Resource

LII - Legal Information Institute Cornell Law School 

Free legal resources

Introduction to Basic Legal Citation

Federal and State Statutes 

Reference Example
A reference list entry for a federal statute looks like this:

Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. (1990).

Note: Et seq is a Latin abbreviation indicating that the section number is the first in a series of a few sections that codify this act.

In-Text Citation Example
The in-text citation format for a federal statute is similar to that for other APA Style references. Cite the name of the statute and the year:

• Narrative citation: Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (1990)
• Parenthetical citation: (Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, 1990)

For more information, please visit APA Citation Help - Legal Citations, or Purdue OWL Legal References

In addition, the legal citation style manual is available in print copy only:
      The Bluebook: a Uniform System of Citation.  Ref KF245 .U55 2021 in the Bernhard Library Reference Collection and the Netter Health Sciences Library and the Law Library.

The CINAHL database provides access to AJOT from 1980 to present.  If you want to search only AJOT, the link below will take you to the journal page within CINAHL.  Click on "Search within this publication" above Publication Details and add keywords in the second and third row.

  AJOT

See:  The American journal of occupational therapy  (0272-9490)