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Harris County Robert W. Hainsworth Law Library

1019 Congress
Houston, Texas 77002
7137555183

Harris County Law Library

Harris County Robert W. Hainsworth Law Library

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    • About the Library
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    • About Robert W. Hainsworth
    • Contact Us
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    • Tours & Speaker Services
  • Library Resources
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Ex Libris Juris - HCLL Blog

From Grunts to Greatness: Frankenstein’s Monster and the Evolution of Legal Research 

October 31, 2025 Heather Holmes

Image Source: https://ndla.no/r/engelsk-2/frankenstein-or-the-modern-prometheus-by-mary-shelley/0d3f85047e, Creative Commons

Much like Frankenstein’s Monster, every researcher begins with a kind of linguistic infancy—punching in a few keywords, seeing what comes up, and hoping for the best. This is the “fire bad” stage of searching: simple, direct, but often imprecise.  Then comes the next phase—the learning, the refinement, the humanizing process. As we grow more skilled, we start using controlled vocabularies Boolean operators, and Terms & Connectors to sculpt our queries with precision. We might even engage with AI-powered tools or Large Language Models that can parse meaning, context, and nuance—much like Shelley’s creature learning to manipulate words and master the expression of complex human emotion. This increases the specificity and relevance of our results, and we exclaim: “It’s alive. It’s ALIVE!” The feeling can be electric! 

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In Feel Good Friday, Research Tips, Tech Tips Tags Boolean Logic, Search Terms, Controlled Vocabulary, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Legal Research

The Apparatus of Search…and of Play

December 1, 2023 Heather Holmes

Our goal in sharing the apparatus of search is to help information seekers more intuitively grasp the complexity of sophisticated database queries and to achieve better information outcomes. Constructing complex search strings can be difficult, but building proficiency as an expert-level searcher can be fun! Understanding the multidimensionality of search and leveraging the power of its complexity might even begin to feel like play.

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In Legal Tech Institute, Tech Tips Tags Boolean Logic, Search Terms, Databases, Venn Diagrams, Legal Research

Small Business Legal Resources

May 25, 2023 Guest User

Image by southworks from Canva

Starting a small business can seem overwhelming. There are many moving parts to consider throughout the process and it can be impossible to know where to start. The Harris County Robert W. Hainsworth Law Library has a plethora of resources that can help you with the legal side of starting and running a small business.

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In Research Tips Tags Small Business, Legal Research, Pro Se

Law Library Resources from Home (and Beyond!)

May 16, 2023 Guest User

If you’re unable to visit the Harris County Robert W. Hainsworth Law Library in person, never fear – the Law Library has a wide variety of remote databases, downloadable publications, and other online resources that are accessible from anywhere you can connect to the internet.

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In Featured Resources Tags Harris County Robert W. Hainsworth Law Library, Self-Help, Legal Research

Law Library of Congress May Webinars & Events

April 21, 2023 Jeanine Vasquez

Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

If you are interested in learning free U.S. legal research strategies, mark your calendar for May because the Law Library of Congress Legal Research Institute is offering classes on these topics. You can find more information on the Legal Research Institute website.

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In In The News, Events, Around the Web Tags Webinar, Legal Research, Case Law Research
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Ex Libris Juris - HCLL Blog RSS

What’s behind the name? “Ex Libris Juris” is Latin for “from the books of law” and much of the information here will relate to the legal information collected and curated by the Law Library. Additionally, “Ex Libris” has long appeared on bookplates – labels appearing inside the front cover of books – and has acquired the connoted meaning “from the library of” to show ownership of the book. Using this connotation, the phrase becomes “from the library of law” and better describes the posts about digital resources, event announcements, and research tips that will regularly appear here.

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Harris County Robert W. Hainsworth Law Library, 1019 Congress Street, 1st Floor, Houston, Texas 77002

We are open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

The library is a division of the Office of the Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee. The content of this Website is for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.

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