Legal Research

Bluebook nerds rejoice in newest edition!

By Pamela

The 19th edition of the Bluebook has been published and we Bluebook nerds are poring over it.  The new edition is almost 100 pages longer than the previous edition.  There are major changes in at least one important area, which had been (IMHO) an area of weakness — the citation of internet, electronic media, and other non-print resources.  Rule 18.2 gets things started with a bang, stating “The Bluebook requires the use and citation of traditional printed sources when available, unless there is a digital copy of the source available that is authenticated, official, or an exact copy of the printed source, as described in rule 18.2.1.”*   This is very different from the 18th edition.  New Rule 18.2.1 allows citation to an authenticated, official, or exact copy of a source available online WITHOUT ANY URL (or other location) INFORMATION APPENDED.  Hmmm.  I’m pondering the implications of this rule.

Rules for podcasts have been added and the rules for emails, blog postings, and blog comments have been expanded.  Each of these rules includes many more examples. Sadly, the editors have not fixed my pet peeves.  There is still that (superfluous) space required between the section symbol and the number in statutory citations and T10.1 still uses the same old archaic state name abbreviations.  Oh, well.  That means my questions are still in play for the AALL program!**

* The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation 165 (Columbia Law Review Ass’n et al. eds., 19th ed. 2010).

** See my previous post below.

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Full post as published by Cocky Law Blawg on June 15, 2010 (boomark / email).