The UBC Law Library has a new research guide: Finding a Case from a Legal Citation

[updated July 6, 2009]

[This deals with information specifically for non-graduate law students. For information specific to graduate law students, click here.]

Circulation Supervisor:

• Purnima Chandra

Librarians:

• Mary Mitchell
• Sandra Wilkins
• Elim Wong

Administrative Details:

Library Card and Transit Pass
• Get your UBCcard from the UBC Bookstore’s Carding Office.
• The UBCcard functions as your Library card; you will need it to borrow books from any of the campus libraries and also for accessing Library resources such as the catalogue, electronic journals & databases, and Microsoft Office software.
• PIN – your default pin is the last 5 digits of your barcode – the first time you try to log on to a workstation, the system will ask you to change your PIN.
• Information about a number of library services, including loan periods for library materials, how to recall a book, overdue fines, and how to set-up e-mail notification is accessible from UBC Library webpages’ blue bar: under Services for You –> Undergraduates and scrolling down to Borrower Services.

Library Hours
• The Law Library is open 7 days a week.
• The hours for the Law Library and other campus libraries can be found from the Library’s homepage under BRANCHES. They are also posted at the entrance to the library, and in the library.

Library & IT Publications
• There are two plexiglas stands adjacent to the Law Library reference desk on the main floor.
• They hold a number of useful guides relating to legal research, general library policies, student brochure and services and UBC IT Services.

Overview of UBC Library Homepage:

Blue bar under “UBC Library” – provides links to information about the library, branch web pages, the catalogue, journals (print & electronic), e-Resources, and under Services for You, information tailored specifically for undergraduate students.

Note the quick drop-down menus, for additional links under the named links

The OneSearch feature is a quick way to enter a simple search. It generates links to results for books or other items in the catalogue; articles or papers; journal titles; Library website pages & general web pages.
N.B. – this is a basic-level search – for more precise, comprehensive results, be sure to use more focused resources such as the catalogue, or a particular journal index or database.

Catalogue:

There are 3 search screens: basic, guided keyword and course reserve.

At the bottom of each of the search screens, there is a Help section.

The Simple Search tab:
The default search is Keyword ranked by relevance (it links keywords using OR) and is generally not that helpful, as it finds too many “irrelevant” items.

The second keyword option uses boolean operators and is better for research, as your results are more precise.
Example: “sale of goods” and Canada

Use the Journal/Ejournal Title search box if you are looking for a particular journal title, such as the Harvard Law Review
• you can find where print copies are located
• you can find links to electronic copies (dates of coverage vary)

The Guided Keyword search allows you to search for specific terms in a number of different fields.
Example: irwin law (as a phrase in the publisher field) and criminal (in the title field)

Note:
• Once you find a book on your research topic, be sure to go to the full record. The record will give you a complete call number and indicate where the book is shelved.
• The full record of a book also lets you find more books on the topic, simply by clicking on the appropriate subject heading(s).

The UBC Library homepage has 4 main sections in the middle of the page:
• Find
• How to
• Subject Resources
• My Account

A feature to be aware of:
• under the Find section, note the term MetaLib adjacent to Articles/papers. MetaLib is an interface that allows simultaneous searching across a pre-selected number of databases, in a range of subject areas.
N.B. not all resources are supported by MetaLib, and in the law subject area a key periodical index is missing – the Index to Canadian Legal Periodical Literature

Library Layout – 3 floors
• the citation stand is an important resource

Overview of the Law Library Homepage:

Here are a few features of the Law Library Homepage:

• Interdisciplinary and News Indexes can be found under Subject Resources for Law

• Indexes to Legal Periodicals

• Commercial Databases:
• Legal Commercial Databases are accessible from the Law Library homepage.
• As a law student, you will have free access to a number of subscription Commercial Databases, e.g.: LexisNexis Quicklaw, Westlaw Canada, and CCH Online. See Elim Wong to register for passwords.
• Training sessions for LexisNexis Quicklaw, Westlaw Canada and other legal research refresher sessions are listed on the Law Library website – under “What’s New”, linking to the Blog announcement; please register online for these sessions.

• Legal Websites & Databases provides access to free legal websites including:
• Legislation & Government
• Case Law
• International Resources

• Interlibrary Loans

• Staff link

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• We’re here to help you succeed in your program, please ask for help whenever you need it – at the reference desk or make an appointment to see us about your research.

Theses Resources is a new link available from the Law Library homepage.

Links include:

• UBC Law Theses & Dissertations

• Theses Canada Portal

• ProQuest Dissertations & Theses – Full Text

The UBC Library now subscribes to the full text of all titles published in the ProQuest Digital Dissertations database since 1997 (previously only full text for UBC titles was available).

• FAQ: Dissertations and Theses

Revised August 27, 2007