Research Center Workshops: Research Certificates

Earning a Certificate

In order to earn the Research Center's Legal Research Certificate, you must attend four Core workshops and four Elective workshops over the course of the academic year.

The four Core workshops are will remain the same throughout the year: the four featured in Fall will also be offered in the Spring semester. No matter which semester you end up taking them (Fall, Spring, or a mix of the two), all four are required for the certificate. The Elective workshops rotate each semester, so there will be four Elective workshops in Fall and four different ones in Spring. Any four Elective workshop credits will work for your certificate, no matter when you take them during the academic year.

Step-by-Step Guide

Follow these four steps for each workshop you attend:

1. Join the Canvas page - to access the workshops and quizzes, you must join the Legal Research Workshops Canvas page. The enrollment link is located in "Where Can I View the Workshops?" section at the top of this page.
2. Watch the presentation - each workshop presentation is roughly 30 minutes long, and the videos themselves will be available to access for the whole academic year.
3. Complete the post-presentation quiz - each quiz closes two weeks after the date of its corresponding presentation. You must achieve a score of 80% on a quiz to earn credit toward the certificate. Note that each quiz is typically made up of multiple choice and short answer questions that directly reference that week's workshop presentation.
4. Attend all four core workshops and any four elective workshops - over the course of the academic year in order to earn the certificate.

Who Can I Contact for More Information?

If you have any questions regarding workshops or the Research Certificates, contact studentref@law.fsu.edu.

Where Can I View the Workshops? 

The workshops are hosted on the Legal Research Workshops Canvas site. By clicking the link below, you will have access to all workshops throughout the semester and will receive notifications through Canvas similar to a course site.

https://canvas.fsu.edu/enroll/7C6WTF

NOTE: Please keep in mind that the Workshops are not for course credit, and unless you are aiming for a Certificate then no workshop or quiz is truly "required."

What Workshops are Offered?

Workshop presentations will fall under one of two categories: Core or Elective. The workshops listed below are examples of what may be offered and what has been offered in the past. To view the schedule for the current semester, click the relevant tab at the top of this page.

Core Workshops

• Administrative Law Research
• Constitutional Law Research
• Discovering Resources in the Library
• Factual Research
• Federal Legislative History
• Good Law & Red Flags: Using Citators
• Secondary Sources

Elective Workshops

• Advanced Google Searching
• American Indian Law Research
• Being Socially Sound
• Bluebooking
• Cost-Effective Legal Research
• Docket Research 
• Ethics, Security & Privacy
• Florida Administrative Law
• Florida Legislative History
• Florida Secondary Sources
• Getting Your First Assignment
• HeinOnline
• Immigration Law Research
• Keeping Up with Legal News
• Microsoft Office Skills
• Mind Your Business: Researching Florida Companies
• Municipal Laws
• One Good Case
• Online Presentations
• Our Planet: Conservation Research
• PDFs for Lawyers
• Power Searching
• Researching Public Records
• Tech Tools for Writing