On-line Research Assignment

Kiryas Joel is a town of Hasidic Jews in New York.  For much of the 1990s, members of the community were embroiled in a legal battle with the State of New York; the case eventually went to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Using two on-line research tools, the World Wide Web and the database Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, summarize the nature of the dispute and cite at least three web sites, three newspaper articles, and a court case.

1.  On the web, find three sites that deal with the Kiryas Joel controversy.  Try to find sites that represent conflicting political positions.  Summarize the dispute based on these sites:  for each source, identify the sponsoring group and its political position.  For example, what is the group’s overall political message?

2.  Go to the UMCP Libraries Home Page (www.lib.umd.edu/UMCP/) and select UM Databases.  Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe is your first choice at the top of the page.  Select it. Click the tab for "guided news search."

Select "all available douments" for as long a search period as possible; search for articles about the Kiryas Joel case.  Try to find articles in different newspapers, perhaps from different regions of New York or the country.  What kinds of information does each newspaper provide and how is the information different from the information on the web?

3.  From the same UM Database (Academic Universe), select Legal Research.  From Legal Research, select Get a Case.  Using "Kiryas Joel" as one of the parties in the case, find the case that was decided on June 27, 1994, and summarize it and the decision using the information you’ve gleaned from the websites and newspaper articles.