Legal Research for Library Students

For some years now I have been visiting the Information Resources and Services II class at my alma mater Grant MacEwan University. The two year diploma program in Library and Information Management (as it was called when I attended) has been delivered in Edmonton since the seventies and is a great jumping off point for careers in many types of information related organizations.

I always enjoy showing legal research methods to library students, most of whom have not been exposed to this area previously. They always ‘get’ that the method for gathering information to answer a legal problem follows the same consistent path. They don’t mind the demonstrations of electronic research gathering sources and they understand why I say “read the screen”. They ask questions, even when I forget to bring candy bribes. They applaud at the end of the class (perhaps from relief, but maybe not).

What did I share with these energetic, enthusiastic learners today? The session was all about case law. I covered starting points, how to find case law using fee and free sources, and what it means to note something up and some methods for doing that task. I have posted the slides.

Cheers GMU Library Tech class of 2010!