Sandbox:Library:Law Legal Research

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Introduction

Welcome to the web page of the University of British Columbia Law Library! This site provides a general introduction to the Law Library, its policies and services. For further assistance, please contact members of the Law Library staff.

The Law Library is part of the UBC Library System, and is located on three floors in the Faculty of Law complex. It supports the study, reference, and research needs of the students and faculty of the Faculty of Law, and other members of the University community. As well, any person may use library resources for study and research in the Library.

The Library is committed to providing a learning environment that meets the intellectual and physical needs of users who are frequently in the library for extended periods of time. You may drink from spill proof containers but you may not eat in the Law Library. Please help us to preserve the library and collections for future generations of scholars.

Words & Phrases

What information do Words & Phrases sets provide?

  • Words & Phrases sets give the meaning of words and phrases that have been judicially interpreted or legally defined in court and administrative tribunal decisions;
  • The definitions show the context in which a word or phrase has been judicially defined, by including the relevant excerpt from the decision, and the case citation.

When to use them?

Legal Encyclopedias

What information do they provide?

  • Legal encyclopedias are multi-volume sets that provide overviews of the law, in narrative form, on a full range of legal topics; the commentary provides references and footnotes to primary sources, including relevant cases and legislation.
  • Standard features such as index volumes and ‘tables of contents’ at the beginning of each topic provide useful access points for researchers.
  • Cross-references to related topics covered in the encyclopedia direct you to issues and areas of the law that you may not have even considered.

When to use them?

  • If you are unfamiliar with a topic, or if you don’t even really know what your legal topic is, legal encyclopedias are an excellent place to begin your research.
  • Canadian Legal Encyclopedias:
    • In print form, the Canadian Encyclopedic Digest (CED) is a multi-volume loose-leaf set, produced in both a Western and an Ontario version. The western version of the encyclopedia focuses on federal law and provincial law from the 4 western provinces. Use the INDEX volume to facilitate access to the topics (called Titles) covered in the main set. The titles are arranged alphabetically. Every title has a Table of Contents, Table of Cases, Table of Statutes, Table of Rules & Regulations (if applicable) and a subject index. Remember to bring your research up-to-date by checking the grey-edged (or yellow) supplements at the front of most titles.
      • One strong feature of the C.E.D. is its coverage of statutes. If you need to fine out whether there is a statutory provision that affects your issue, or whether there is similar legislation in other provinces, the C.E.D. is a good resource to use. Look for the ‘Table of Statutes’ pages at the beginning of each topic (after the Table of Contents pages & Table of Cases).
      • The RESEARCH GUIDE AND KEY volume provides an alphabetical listing of all of the federal and provincial statutes, rules and regulations covered in the individual titles of the encyclopedia.
      • Caveats: the C.E.D. is not exhaustive; it won’t refer you to all of the law on a subject; check the currency date of the information, as some topics may be a bit dated; read the cases and statutes cited before relying on them.
      • The C.E.D. (West) is available in print at KE156.2 .C362 (LC) Law Reference and online via Westlaw Canada Ubclaw.jpg
    • Halsbury’s Laws of Canada is Canada’s newest legal encyclopedia. Introduced in 2006 by LexisNexis Canada, it is based on Halsbury’s Laws of England, an authoritative and widely-used legal encyclopedia from the U.K.
      • Each Title (or topic) covered in Halsbury’s Laws of Canada is authored by a Canadian expert and has common features such as: a Table of Contents, List of Related Titles, Table of Cases, Table of Statutes, Index, and a Glossary of Definitions. The glossary identifies words and phrases defined in legislation, relevant to the title’s subject matter.
      • Use the Companion Guide and Consolidated Index to facilitate access to all of the Titles covered in the main volumes.
      • Once completed, the set (approximately 60 bound volumes, plus a Cumulative Supplement) will provide commentary and references to case law and statutes on a full range of Canadian legal topics.
      • Halsbury’s Laws of Canada is available in print at KE180 .H34 (LC) Law Reference and online via LexisNexis Quicklaw Ubclaw.jpg
  • U.S. Encyclopedias:
    • American Jurisprudence 2d, available in print at KF154 .A42 1962 (LC) Law Reference and online via via Westlaw Canada Ubclaw.jpg (identifier: AMJUR)
    • Corpus Jurisprudence Secundum, available in print at KF154 .C67 (LC) Law Reference and online via via Westlaw Canada Ubclaw.jpg (identifier: CJS)
    • American Law Reports (Annotated)
      • KG357.A19 Law Reports and KG357.A185 Law Reports (top floor of Law Library) and online via via Westlaw Canada Ubclaw.jpg (identifier: ALR)
      • Published in 2 current series (ALR - for general & state legal issues and ALR Federal - for issues of federal law).
      • Not every research issue is covered by the set, and it is not really an encyclopedia, but are a very useful resource for doing U.S. research.
      • An annotation (or memorandum of law) can be invaluable for a researcher.
  • U.K. Encyclopedia:
  • International Encyclopedia:

Legal Textbooks or Treatises

Textbooks or treatises on your subject:

  • Are important secondary research tools;
  • Provide in-depth commentary and scholarly analysis of areas of law;
  • Provide citations to potentially relevant cases, statutes and secondary sources such as journal articles & books.


UBC online catalogue

  • Used to locate textbooks;
  • Includes holdings for all UBC Library branches;
  • 2 main approaches to searching the catalogue for books:
    • Simple Search (this is the default search)
      • Search using the exact title of a book or the name of an author by selecting relevant section in box on the right;
      • Or select keyword, linking key (or important) words by using Keyword (use AND,OR,NOT, or "a phrase").
      • Click on the entire record to see the location of the book and subject headings.
      • Click on the subject headings to expand searches and locate other useful materials on the same topic.
        • Example: international and "human rights"
          • Click on the subject heading(s) to locate other books on the same topic.
    • Guided Keyword Search
      • Allows one to search for terms in specific fields (author/title/subject/publisher fields)
        • Example: international criminal court (as phrase) in subject field and united states (as phrase) in default Keyword - All Fields

WorldCat

WorldCat:

  • Accessible via UBC Library page's menu bar: e-Resources > Indexes & Databases
  • Provides access to the holdings of other academic libraries.
  • Useful for expanding research for books beyond UBC.
  • Items not held by UBC can be ordered via Interlibrary Loan (ILL) (from the Library homepage under the heading "How To").

Locating Law Journal Articles (Legal Periodicals)

Locating Law Journal Articles (Legal Periodicals): What information do periodicals provide? When to use them?

  • Legal periodicals include law reviews, legal newspapers, bar association periodicals and interdisciplinary journals. They can be general in scope (such as the U.B.C. Law Review) or focused on a specific subject (e.g., the Canadian Business Law Journal).
  • Locating law journal articles on a topic that you are researching can be invaluable and can save you hours of research time. Journal articles tend to focus on narrower legal issues and the authors, usually academics and practitioners in a field, provide informed analysis of the law and references to relevant case law and legislation.
  • Articles often provide a good introduction to the law in emerging areas and in areas of the law undergoing change.
  • ’Case comments’ discussing the background and effect of significant cases are also published in legal periodicals.
  • Because policy analysis is often a focus of many law periodical articles, the articles also help in understanding the law and in developing persuasive arguments.
  • Conclusion: when the topic that you are researching is current, fairly specific, too new or too narrow to be the subject of a book, consider looking for relevant journal articles.
  • Caveat: There are different types of articles, and an article’s type will affect its ‘authoritative value’. For example, an article written by a judge or law professor would have more ‘weight’ than a note or comment written by a student, or a brief article in a legal newspaper. Always evaluate the sources that you want to rely on.

Legal Periodical Indexes and Full-text Searching: There are two methods of searching for legal periodical articles: using periodical indexes and full-text searching.

  • Index searching involves looking for relevant articles using the subject, author, title, keyword, or other fields that have been ‘indexed’ by subject specialists.
  • Articles found using indexes tend to be more relevant, because the retrieved articles are connected to the indexed search terms. In contrast, a full-text search will return any articles in the database that mention the search words used, regardless of the topic of the article. In other words, a full-text search results in a greater number of irrelevant hits.
  • Periodical indexes provide the most thorough coverage of articles published in law journals. To give you just one example: full-text searching of Canadian law journals on LexisNexis Quicklaw Ubclaw.jpg covers approximately 30 law journals, and does not include a number of key Canadian law reviews, such as the Supreme Court Law Review, the Canadian Business Law Journal and the Canadian Labour and Employment Law Journal.
  • The most thorough resource to use for comprehensive coverage of law journal articles published in Canadian law journals is the Index to Canadian Legal Literature (ICLL), which covers more than 200 Canadian legal and law-related periodicals. The index is accessible to you via Westlaw Canada Ubclaw.jpg or LexisNexis Quicklaw Ubclaw.jpg, and in print at KE1.I532 Law Reference.
  • Caveat: the online versions of this index cover materials published after 1985. Use the print version to find earlier articles.
  • Periodical indexes allow you to focus your research by looking for journal articles from a particular jurisdiction or jurisdictions e.g. Canada, the U.S., the U.K., European Union, and foreign jurisdictions.
  • Full-text searching can be useful when you want to locate articles about a narrowly-defined topic or you have unique keywords to use.
  • All online legal periodical indexes can be accessed via the Law Library homepage by clicking on Indexes to Legal Periodicals (for comprehensive journal coverage by jurisdiction, including Canada, U.S., U.K. & EU coverage, Australia & N.Z. coverage, foreign law journals, etc.)

Finding Full Text Journals (Online Or In Print) If you are not in a database that provides full text, it is relatively straightforward to find a copy of the article (online or in print). Follow these steps:

  • Make a note of the citation.
  • Decipher unfamiliar abbreviations.
  • Enter the journal title in the “Print & Electronic Journals” search box.
    • From UBC Library menu bar: Use the "Journals" pull-down menu on the menu bar to select "Print & Electronic Journal" and enter title
    • OR From UBC Library catalogue: In the catalogue's default Simple Search tab, enter the journal title in the Journal/Ejournal Title search: box.
  • Example with full text available:
    • Enter UBC Law Review in the “Print & Electronic Journals” search box.
    • Choose HeinOnline Law Journal Library.
    • Click on 2008.
    • Select first article, starting on page 1.
  • How to print or save a pdf:
    • Ensure the full screen is open so the printer icon on the top far-right is visible.
    • Click on the printer icon.
    • You can choose to download the whole article, or select pages - click the print/download button.
    • It takes just a few seconds to download an article and then it can be read online, saved, or printed.
  • Example with print version only:
    • Enter Canadian Tax Journal in the “Print & Electronic Journals” search box.
    • Click on UBC Print Holdings.
    • Carefully note the locations.
      • Many journals are in several locations (e.g., Law Journals, Law Storage, Law Reserve, Pre-bindery, Bindery).

Interdisciplinary Research

Example: Commerce & Business Administration - note list of subject guides and business indexes & databases

Other Resources

Legal Research & Writing Guides: A Selective List

  • Research Methods for Law

K85.R47 2007 (LC) Law Reserve

  • At KE250 in Law Reserve, including:

Legal Problem Solving: Reasoning, Research & Writing
KE250.F57 2007 (LC) Law Reserve

Legal Research & Writing
KE250 .T53 2004 (LC) Law Reserve or Online

Legal Research Handbook
KE250.M33 2003 (LC) Law Reserve

  • For U.S. guides:

Legal Reasoning, Research & Writing for International Graduate Students
KF240.N43 2004 (LC) Law Reserve

Process of Legal Research
KF240.P76 2004 (LC) Law Reserve

Citation Guides

  • Required citation guide in Canada:

McGill Guide: Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation
KE259.C35 2006 (LC) Law Reserve & Citation Stand

  • For U.S., but sometimes useful:

Harvard Bluebook
KF245.B58 2005 (LC) Law Reserve & Citation Stand

[This document can be accessed via the Research Guides link from the Law Library homepage.]

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