Over a decade ago I first pitched this, and after years of off-again on-again discussions, Courthouse Libraries BC has reached a notable milestone in legal research and public access to justice in British Columbia. We’ve secured special access to BC’s Court Services Online’s (CSO) E-search for all visitors to our library branches. This access is not just a new service—it’s a bridge to understanding the intricacies of legal proceedings, offering unparalleled insight into court cases within the limits of court records access policies.

What is CSO E-search and Why Does It Matter?

CSO E-search is an online portal that allows . . . [more]

This submission is part of a column swap with the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) bimonthly member magazine, AALL Spectrum. Published six times a year, AALL Spectrum is designed to further professional development and education within the legal information industry. Slaw and the AALL Spectrum board have agreed to hand-select several columns each year as part of this exchange. 

Wouldn’t it be great if there were a worldwide, standard taxonomy—adopted by all major vendors, firms, and clients—to make legal data interoperable? Well, happily for us all, just such a taxonomy exists. It’s called SALI. And this standard taxonomy/ontology . . . [more]

If you’ve ever taught law, you will have had to decide whether to build your course around an established casebook authored by somebody else, or from materials (cases, legislation, and articles) you’ve compiled yourself. As a law book publisher, I’d like to make the case for teaching from a casebook; and, if you have the opportunity – contributing to one. For one thing, when choosing to teach from a book, you’re not just making a straight choice between your own and someone else’s materials. Even if an authored casebook is the work of a single author, by the time it’s . . . [more]

This book list was curated to offer those on the cusp of law school a summer reading list packed with important insights, presented in a manner that would not put them to sleep. It turned out to have something for everyone. Whether you prefer e-books or the old fashion flipping of pages, here are five must-reads for the summer months…

Bob Joseph, 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality (Canada: Raincoast Books, 2018) ISBN: 9780995266520

Why read it this summer? Because, as Misha Munim puts it, “this book . . . [more]

Several times each month, we are pleased to republish a recent book review from the Canadian Law Library Review (CLLR). CLLR is the official journal of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD), and its reviews cover both practice-oriented and academic publications related to the law.

Law, Life, and the Teaching of Legal History: Essays in Honour of G. Blaine Baker. Edited by Ian C. Pilarczyk, Angela Fernandez & Brian Young. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2022. 532 p. Includes illustrations, appendix, bibliography, contributor biographies, and index. ISBN 978-0-2280-1206-1 (hardcover) $140.00; ISBN 978-0-2280-1207-8 (softcover) $39.95; ISBN 978-0-2280-1226-9 . . . [more]

Several times each month, we are pleased to republish a recent book review from the Canadian Law Library Review (CLLR). CLLR is the official journal of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD), and its reviews cover both practice-oriented and academic publications related to the law.

Law Dissertations: A Step-by-Step Guide. By Laura Lammasniemi. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2022. x, 190 p. Includes illustrations, bibliographic references, and index. ISBN 978-0-36764-230-3 (hardcover) US$160.00; ISBN 978-0-36756-877-1 (softcover) US$45.95; ISBN 978-1-00312-355-2 (eBook) US$41.35. Reviewed by Leanne Notenboom Law Librarian Toronto Metropolitan University Writing a dissertation or major research paper . . . [more]

Applications and nominations are now being received for the Walter Owen Book Prize offered by the Canadian Foundation for Legal Research. The deadline for submissions is May 26, 2023. Additional information is available at:
https://cflr-fcrj.ca/walter-owen-book-prize/ . . . [more]

The Canadian Association of Law Libraries conference is #IRL in 2023. Our theme Innovation Research Leadership features a focus on each topic during the event May 28-31 in Hamilton, Ontario. Early Bird registration is available for a few more days if you are looking for a discount price. The conference is a must for anyone working in law libraries and welcoming to anyone who has an interest in legal research, knowledge management, legal technology. This conference is our first in-person event since our 2019 meeting in Edmonton. Our virtual events were very successful the last couple years. Member focused activities . . . [more]

Several times each month, we are pleased to republish a recent book review from the Canadian Law Library Review (CLLR). CLLR is the official journal of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD), and its reviews cover both practice-oriented and academic publications related to the law.

Defining Sexual Misconduct: Power, Media, and #MeToo. By Stacey Hannem & Christopher J. Schneider. Regina: University of Regina Press, 2022. xvi, 368 p. Includes table of contents, appendix, notes, bibliography, and index. ISBN 978-0-88977-870-2 (hardcover) $89.00; ISBN 978-0-88977-809-2 (softcover) $34.95. Reviewed by Danielle Noonan Law Library Co-op Lederman Law Library, . . . [more]

Several times each month, we are pleased to republish a recent book review from the Canadian Law Library Review (CLLR). CLLR is the official journal of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD), and its reviews cover both practice-oriented and academic publications related to the law.

Fertility: 40 Years of Change. By Maureen McTeer. Toronto: Irwin Law, 2022. ix, 266 p. Includes glossary, bibliographic references, and index. ISBN 978-1-55221-637-8 (softcover) $39.95; ISBN 978-1-55221-638-5 (PDF) $39.95. <irwinlaw.com/product/fertility-40-years-of-change>. Reviewed by Alexandra Kwan Digital Services & Reference Librarian Bora Laskin Law Library, University of Toronto Fertility: 40 . . . [more]

Several times each month, we are pleased to republish a recent book review from the Canadian Law Library Review (CLLR). CLLR is the official journal of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD), and its reviews cover both practice-oriented and academic publications related to the law.

Narrative Expansions: Interpreting Decolonisation in Academic Libraries. Edited by Jess Crilly & Regina Everitt. London, U.K.: Facet, 2022. xxxii, 290 p. Includes bibliographic references and index. ISBN 9781783304974 (softcover) US$78.99; ISBN 9781783305216 (ePUB) US$92.00. Reviewed by Sonia Smith  Law Librarian Nahum Gelber Law Library, McGill University Narrative Expansions: Interpreting Decolonisation . . . [more]

A very short tip today! You can limit your search results on Google to PDFs by adding filetype:pdf to your Google search. PDF isn’t the only file type that Google will recognize; you can also limit your search to file types such as .ps, .dwf, .kml, .kmz, .xls, .ppt, .doc, .rtf, or .swf.

— Susannah Tredwell . . . [more]