LAW Graduate Law (LLM) Resources
Law 703
Graduate Seminar--Legal Research (Law 703) is the required course for all LLM and PhD students in the Faculty of Law. This course has a series of tutorials for library research.
You will find the PowerPoint slides and handouts from the library sessions on this page so you can access the information after you have completed the course. These will be updated with information from the most current tutorials completed.
Introduction for Orientation
Please view this video before your orientation to the Bennett Jones Law Library. (4:05)
- Orientation SlidesOrientation & Library Services during COVID-19
6 January 2021
Finding Books, Periodicals & Other Commentary
- Intro & PowerPoints
- General & Grey Literature
- Theses
- Articles
- Historical Sources
- Citation Tracking
- Legal Citation
It is always best to start with secondary sources for your legal research. The library search box (Primo) will help you find books and print journal titles.The databases and resources listed here are a place to begin your research. There are many others, depending on your topic. If you are having difficulty determining where to look in your research, you can try the library search box or Google Scholar.
- Overview PowerPoint SlidesBooks, Periodicals, Theses, and Other Commentary - Overview PowerPoint
21 September 2022
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new windowTo set up Google Scholar to detect UofC subscribed resources, refer to Google Scholar setup (in the Natural Sciences Programme LibGuide)A subset of Google that only indexes academic journals. Pros: searching is very easy - just like for regular Google. Covers journals in many disciplines. Cons: Limited functionality for filtering results. May include some journals of dubious quality.
- Finding University of Calgary ThesesLibrary Tutorial created for YouTube to walk you through finding a University of Calgary graduate thesis.
This is list of indexes, general databases, and grey literature sources to get you started with your research.
- Ebook central This link opens in a new window
- Access to subscribed content only. Personal account must be created to access some features
Ebooks are offered from trusted publishers in all academic subject areas along with powerful research tools, such as Bookshelf. Titles from the former ebrary Academic Complete collection are included. - Canada Commons This link opens in a new windowTrojman Corporation and Coherent Digital have developed a new version of Canadian Electronic Library with more content and a new platform - Canada Commons. Canada Commons brings rare, hard-to-find content from Canada that's relevant to a wide range of studies including sociology, anthropology, business and economics. Canada Commons offers extensive coverage of Canadian materials with 25,000 ebooks from scholarly and independent publishers; 180, 000 public policy papers; over 200,000 titles; and a 4,000 entry directory of Canadian research and government organizations. Content was previously available on the dèsLibris platform and is now exclusively on the Canada Commons platform.
- CRL library catalog This link opens in a new windowIncludes non-North American resources such as theses, newspapers, and government documents.
- Access digitized content directly through CRL online catalog request other material through UofC Interlibrary Loans
Membership in Center for Research Libraries provides access to a wide range of uncommon materials, with a focus on news, law and government, finance, the history of science, technology and engineering, and the history and economics of agriculture. The approximately five million newspapers, journals, books, pamphlets, dissertations, archives, government publications, and other resources held by CRL support original research and teaching. CRL holdings include materials from all world regions: Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Central, South and Southeast Asia, North America, and Europe. While these shared collections are largely paper and microform, CRL provides online access to a continually expanding body of digital materials. CRL digital collections of primary source materials support research and teaching in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences. - InFact / Conference Board of Canada This link opens in a new windowGet inFact’s full suite of economic forecasts and human resources research. This all-access subscription is the ultimate insights package with access to over 10,000 premium research reports and forecasts.
- PRISM: University of Calgary Digital Repository This link opens in a new windowPRISM (formerly known as DSpace) is University of Calgary's Digital Repository used to collect, preserve and disseminate the academic works of faculty, students, and research groups.
- PAIS Index This link opens in a new windowIncludes public and social policy literature of all areas of social sciences, with an emphasis on issues that are or might become the subjects of legislation.PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) Index includes PAIS International and PAIS Archive. PAIS International database contains continually updated records for over half a million journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference papers, web content, and more. PAIS Archive is a retrospective conversion of the PAIS Annual Cumulated Bulletin, and covers monographs, periodical articles, notes and announcements, and analytics.
- WorldCat This link opens in a new windowWorldCat is a worldwide union catalog created and maintained collectively by more than 9,000 member institutions. With millions of online records built from the bibliographic and ownership information of contributing libraries, it is the largest and most comprehensive database of its kind.
- Index to Canadian Legal LiteratureLaw Library K1.A1137Republished and consolidated for the years 1985-2000. Receives regular updates. The original three volumes provide retrospective coverage up to 1984. Comprehensive, including government documents, continuing legal education papers and other "grey literature".
- Index to Canadian Legal Literature(U of C access only) Database ICLL on WestlawNext CanadaICLL is both a comprehensive periodical index and a bibliography of Canadian secondary legal literature containing books, journal articles, conference proceedings, collections of essays, government publications, audio-visual materials, continuing legal education materials, book reviews, case commentaries and annotations. Coverage begins with August 1985. Also available in print in the Reference area (K1 .A1137) and on Lexis Advance Quicklaw.
- Lexis Advance Quicklaw This link opens in a new windowLexis Advances Quicklaw provides access to an extensive database of over 2 million cases, jurisdictional sources, including exclusive sources like Halsbury's Laws of Canada and Canadian Tort Law. This database includes QuickCite, which ensures decisions are based on good authority by cases. Lexis Advance QuickLaw provides access to Canadian law (legislation, jurisprudence, and doctrine) as well as law sources from the United States, United Kingdom, France, Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong.
- Lexis+ AI Canada This link opens in a new window
- Available to Faculty of Law students only
- Password access only
Content includes Canadian, US, UK, international and foreign legal materials, and Practical Guidance. - Westlaw Canada This link opens in a new window
- Access to subscribed content only
Platform for database products published by Thomas Reuters Canada. Includes primary sources, commentary, court documents, forms and precedents, and finding tools. Full text source for Canadian law resources. Includes the Canadian Abridgement Digests and Canadian Encyclopedic Digest; cases (reported and unreported), commentary, legislations, journal articles covering the areas of general law, family law and criminal law. - Westlaw Edge (UofC Law School only) This link opens in a new windowFaculty of Law students and faculty may obtain an individual password.Westlaw Edge is a full text and indexing database that provides access to a variety of law and finding tools. It includes Canadian statutes and regulations, reported decisions from Canadian courts and tribunals, Canadian law journals and law reviews. Westlaw includes nearly 15,000 databases covering most US primary and secondary legal materials and legal research tools. It also includes over 700 full text law reviews and has legal material from the UK, Australia and the EU.
These are links to free and fee-based thesis indexes and databases:
- University of Calgary Theses and Dissertations This link opens in a new windowA digital archive of University of Calgary master’s and doctoral theses. This also includes The Vault and PRISM Legacy Theses and Dissertations.
- ProQuest Dissertations & Theses @ University of Calgary This link opens in a new windowIncludes dissertations and theses produced by students at the University of Calgary.
- Theses Canada This link opens in a new windowTheses Canada, launched in 1965 at the request of the deans of Canadian graduate schools, is a collaborative program between Library and Archives Canada and Canadian universities. It strives to: acquire and preserve theses and dissertations from participating universities; provide free access to Canadian digital theses and dissertations in the collection; and facilitate access to non-digital theses and dissertations in the collection.
- ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global This link opens in a new windowSearchable and browsable database of dissertations and theses from around the world, spanning from 1743 to the present day. It also offers full text for graduate works added since 1997, along with selected full text for works written prior to 1997. It contains a significant amount of new international dissertations and theses both in citations and in full text. Designated as an official offsite repository for the U.S. Library of Congress, PQDT Global offers comprehensive historic and ongoing coverage for North American works and significant and growing international coverage from a multiyear program of expanding partnerships with international universities and national associations.
- CRL library catalog This link opens in a new window
- Access digitized content directly through CRL online catalog request other material through UofC Interlibrary Loans
Membership in Center for Research Libraries provides access to a wide range of uncommon materials, with a focus on news, law and government, finance, the history of science, technology and engineering, and the history and economics of agriculture. The approximately five million newspapers, journals, books, pamphlets, dissertations, archives, government publications, and other resources held by CRL support original research and teaching. CRL holdings include materials from all world regions: Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Central, South and Southeast Asia, North America, and Europe. While these shared collections are largely paper and microform, CRL provides online access to a continually expanding body of digital materials. CRL digital collections of primary source materials support research and teaching in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences. - PAIS Index This link opens in a new windowPAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) Index includes PAIS International and PAIS Archive. PAIS International database contains continually updated records for over half a million journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference papers, web content, and more. PAIS Archive is a retrospective conversion of the PAIS Annual Cumulated Bulletin, and covers monographs, periodical articles, notes and announcements, and analytics.
- Russian National Bibliography This link opens in a new windowA comprehensive bibliography of Russian printed works providing access to books, newspapers, journals, book criticism and reviews, the arts, sheet music, dissertations and maps.
A list of database links to indexes and databases.
- ProQuest One Business (formerly ABI / Business Premium Collection) This link opens in a new windowBusiness-related databases with international industry and country information as well as business and legal periodicals.ProQuest One Business is an intuitive and comprehensive business library containing millions of full-text items across scholarly and popular periodicals, newspapers, market research reports, dissertations, books, videos and more. Designed to help business researchers balance theoretical and practical learning, and acquire research skills that will make them successful in their courses and careers. ProQuest One Business content includes: company, industry, and country reports from providers such as Fitch Solutions and Economist Intelligence Unit, and in-depth analyst reports from J.P. Morgan; scholarly journals and ebook coverage from hundreds of publishers; full text of the three major global business news sources: The Wall Street Journal, the Economist, and the Financial Times; and a robust collection of videos.
- EconLit This link opens in a new windowEconLit, the American Economic Association's electronic database, is the world's foremost source of references to economic literature. EconLit is a reliable source of citations and abstracts to economic research dating back to 1886. It provides links to full-text articles in all fields of economics, including capital markets, country studies, econometrics, economic forecasting, environmental economics, government regulations, labor economics, monetary theory, urban economics, and much more. EconLit indexes six types of records: journal articles, books, collective volume articles, dissertations, working papers, and full-text book reviews from the Journal of Economic Literature.
- HeinOnline This link opens in a new windowLaw Journal Library is an lectronic archive of law reviews (never the current issue) under “Law Journal Library,” including International Legal Materials.Contains the full text of numerous legal journals and monographs, U.S. government documents, foreign and international law materials, legal classics, world trials and more.
- Index to Canadian Legal LiteratureLaw Library K1.A1137Republished and consolidated for the years 1985-2000. Receives regular updates. The original three volumes provide retrospective coverage up to 1984. Comprehensive, including government documents, continuing legal education papers and other "grey literature".
- Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals This link opens in a new windowThe Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals, produced by The American Association of Law Libraries, provides access to legal literature worldwide, covering all forms of foreign (non-Anglo-American) law. This includes comparative law and legal systems, such as Islamic law; socialist law; public and private international law; and transnational commercial law. The data is not limited by country of publication, but rather type of publication. Thus, while publications concerning British and American law are not included, British and American publications concerning foreign law are included. Coverage begins with 1985, digitized version of print edition available back to 1960.
- International Political Science Abstracts This link opens in a new windowInternational Political Science Abstracts (IPSA), produced by the International Political Science Association, includes current indexing and abstracts of the world's leading journals in political science. This database covers over 1,000 journals published from 1951 to the present.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window
- Access to subscribed content and open access eBooks
JSTOR is a shared digital library which includes over 2,300 academic journals (dating back to the first volume ever published), along with thousands of monographs and other materials relevant for education. JSTOR also includes articles in the public domain, including Early Journal Content (U.S. content published before 1923 and non-U.S. content published prior to 1870). - Project Muse This link opens in a new window
- Access to journal collection
Project MUSE is a leading provider of digital humanities and social science content for the scholarly community. Since 1995 the MUSE journal collections have supported a wide array of research needs at academic, public, special, and school libraries worldwide. MUSE is the trusted source of complete, full-text versions of scholarly journals from many of the world's leading university presses and scholarly societies.
- Canadiana Online This link opens in a new windowCanadiana online is a full-text searchable database that includes books, journals and government publications documenting Canadian History. The e-book collection, spans three and a half centuries of Canadian documentary history, holds rich primary materials exploring a wide range of subjects and disciplines. Topics range from major historical events to the development of institutions, laws, and science; from Canadian literature to philosophical treatises; from agriculture to politics, trade, and tariffs. The Serials collection includes a wide range of daily and weekly newspapers, specialized journals, and mass-market magazines, as well as city directories and annual reports from churches, schools, and corporations. Specialized publications include trade or industry journals as well as many men’s, women’s, student’s and children’s popular magazines. Early periodicals are an invaluable source of information for researchers in all fields, as they offer a remarkable record of thought and opinion on diverse issues. Lavishly-illustrated journals open a captivating window onto early Canadian society and culture through their articles, advertisements, cartoons, drawings, and photographs. The Government Publications collection includes over 1.7 million pages of historical pre-1920 colonial, provincial and federal government documents. This collection includes government acts, bills, committee reports, court rules, debates, journals, ordinances, a selection of official publications from France and Great Britain, sessional papers, regulations, royal commission reports, voter’s lists, and treaties.
- English Reports This link opens in a new windowThe English Reports delivers exact page images of the original bound reprint edition, containing more than 100,000 cases, together with the Indexes and Book of Charts. In addition, multiple navigation tools, such as a Case Locator, Chart Tool, and an Advanced Search feature enhance the ease of access to specific cases. Also included in this collection is the Statutes of the Realm (1235-1713), along with Pre-1865 Law Reports.
- History of International Law This link opens in a new windowThis collection contains more than 825 titles and 660,000 pages dating back to 1690 on subjects such as: war and peace, Nuremberg Trials, Law of the Sea, international arbitration, and Hague Conferences and Conventions and much more.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window
- Access to subscribed content and open access eBooks
JSTOR is a shared digital library which includes over 2,300 academic journals (dating back to the first volume ever published), along with thousands of monographs and other materials relevant for education. JSTOR also includes articles in the public domain, including Early Journal Content (U.S. content published before 1923 and non-U.S. content published prior to 1870). - Legal Classics This link opens in a new windowIncludes thousands of works from some of the greatest legal minds in history including Joseph Story, Jeremy Bentham, William Blackstone, William Holdsworth, Henry Maine, Federick William Maitland, Frederick Pollock, Benjamin N. Cardozo, and many more! In addition to many classic treatises, this collection also includes rare items that are found in only a handful of libraries around the world.
- LLMC digital This link opens in a new windowFull text, image-based searchable database of primary and secondary legal publications. Collections include: U.S. federal, state, and territories government documents; case reporters, legal periodicals and treatises; foreign government, multi-jurisdictional, and international law documents; canon law, Native American law, and legal philosophy.
- Making of modern law. Legal treatises, 1800-1926 (The) This link opens in a new windowThe Making of Modern Law: Legal Treatises, 1800–1926 is the most comprehensive full-text collection of Anglo-American legal treatises available today. Sourced from the world's foremost law libraries, this archive covers nearly every aspect of American and British law and encompasses a broad array of the analytical, theoretical, and practical literature for research in U.S. and British legal history. It features casebooks, local practice manuals, form books, works for lay readers, pamphlets, letters, speeches, and other works from the most influential writers and legal thinkers of the time. The collection traces the evolution of historical and contemporary legal thought in the United States and the United Kingdom during this period of monumental change. It provides researchers with a logical, interdisciplinary approach to the study of modern law and allows a vast segment of the literature of law to be quickly searched by specific keywords or phrases, full text, author, title, date, subject, source library, and more.
- Making of modern law. Trials, 1600-1926 (The) This link opens in a new windowThe Making of Modern Law: Trials, 1600–1926 is the world's most comprehensive full-text collection of documents from Anglo-American trials. In addition to works pertaining to English-speaking jurisdictions such as the United States, Britain, Ireland, and Canada, this digital archive also contains English-language titles about trials in other jurisdictions, such as France. Users will find published trial transcripts; popular printed accounts of sensational trials for murder, adultery, and other scandalous crimes; unofficially published accounts of trials, briefs, arguments, and other trial documents that were printed as separate publications; official records of legislative proceedings, administrative proceedings, and arbitration sessions (domestic and international); and books encompassing multiple trials as well as books and pamphlets about a single trial. Scholars will find this collection of over 10,000 works from the law libraries of Harvard University, Yale University, and the Library of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York invaluable for its coverage of such topics as adultery, commercial law, constitutional law, dueling, elections, impeachment, international law, land use and ownerships, military offenses, murder, sexuality, slavery, torts, treason, and wills. The collection also supports studies in government, psychology, critical theory, theater and performance, gender studies, race studies, and journalism.
- Official document system of the United Nations This link opens in a new windowThe United Nations Official Documents System (ODS) is the electronic repository for official documents published by the United Nations. Comprehensive, though not complete, coverage of all types of publicly-available UN documentation starting in the early to mid-1990s. Categories of documents included are: Resolutions going back to 1946 (Security Council, General Assembly, Economic and Social Council and Trusteeship Council); Selected Security Council and General Assembly documents going back to 1985; Meeting records; Daily journals; and bulletins. Not included in ODS: UN sales publications; UN public information materials; UN press releases and briefings; UN Treaty Series; documents that are not publicly released.
- Alberta Law CollectionAll of the Statutes up to 1990, Legislative Assembly Bills, Debates and Journals, the Alberta Gazette and the Ordinances of the Northwest Territories prior to the birth of Alberta.
- Revised statutes of Canada This link opens in a new windowThis database includes over 48,000 pages of Canadian statutory law, covering all six revisions from the official printed volumes. These volumes are organized by edition and year. The Revised Statutes of Canada set is the consolidation of the Statutes of Canada incorporating amendments and acts that have been added since the last revision.
- Provincial Statutes of Canada This link opens in a new windowContains public and private acts passed by Canadian provincial governments. Current, revised, and historical content is available for Alberta, British Colombia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Ontario. Historical and revised content only is available for Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan.
- Statutes of the Realm This link opens in a new windowThe Statutes of the Realm is an authoritative collection of Acts of the Parliament of England from the earliest times to the Union of the Parliaments in 1707, and Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain passed up to the death of Queen Anne in 1714.
- U.S. Federal Legislative History Library This link opens in a new windowThis database contains more than 2,400 titles from a number of sources, including the Government Printing Office, Arnold and Porter, Covington and Burling, Kirkland and Ellis, and more. William S. Hein & Co., Inc. also has contracted with legal experts to compile and publish legislative histories on major public laws in-house. These compilations are composed of the text of the final public law, House and Senate bill variations, Congressional hearings, House and Senate reports, and more. Research legislative intent behind major public laws and follow the progression of a bill from its introduction to its passage. All titles are indexed to the document level and are full searchable. Also includes a unique finding aid based on Nancy Johnson's award-winning work, Sources of Compiled Legislative Histories.
- U.S. Statutes At Large This link opens in a new windowSearchable database which includes United States Statutes at large, and other U.S. codes and statutes.
- U.S. Supreme Court Library This link opens in a new windowSearchable database which contains complete coverage of the official U.S. Reports bound volumes as well as preliminary prints, slip opinions, and books and periodicals related to the U.S. Supreme Court.
- United Nations Law Collection This link opens in a new windowThe United Nations Law Collection presents exact reproductions of major United Nations legal publications, including the complete collection of the United Nations Treaty Series.
This collection contains various finding aids to help you quickly locate United Nations materials. You can search for a United Nations Treaty by treaty/registration number, date, parties involved, Kavass subject, and more. Or, you can pull up the full text of a United Nations Treaty by inserting the UNTS citation. Once you have located a specific United Nations Treaty, we have included a link to retrieve law review articles that cite that specific treaty. This allows you to not only find relevant articles that cite the treaty, but also to further link to documents such as U.S. Statutes, which are sometimes cited with the UNTS citation. We have also included an International Agreements by Popular Name index that will allow you to quickly jump to a treaty or treaties relevant to a popular treaty name. - VLexJustis This link opens in a new windowTo access database right click title and select 'open link in (in)private or incognito window'VLexJustis comprises full text documents and meta data of legislation, case law, books & journals, draft bills, news, blogs, and more. Content can be filtered by jurisdictions. Broad jurisdictions include: North America, South America, Central America & Caribbean, Europe, Oceania, Asia, Rest of the World, and International Law. There are four ways to search: from the search bar (ideal for broad searches); browse (suitable for narrowing a broad search); advanced search (for more focused, detailed and complex searches); and Vincent (a virtual legal assistant that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to discover legal citations, cited authorities and relevant legal concepts). Quickly identify related authorities and see if your case is still considered good law using the Precedent Map.
- HeinOnline This link opens in a new windowContains the full text of numerous legal journals and monographs, U.S. government documents, foreign and international law materials, legal classics, world trials and more.
Law review articles and textbooks are not tracked for use by citation in the same way as many other disciplines. Here is a list of common citation sources, along with the main legal databases that can be used to track citations.
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new windowRemember to use the link from the library’s website to enable access to the library’s resources without being charged.A subset of Google that only indexes academic journals. Pros: searching is very easy - just like for regular Google. Covers journals in many disciplines. Cons: Limited functionality for filtering results. May include some journals of dubious quality.
- HeinOnline This link opens in a new windowEnables tracking citations from primary source and journals libraries.Contains the full text of numerous legal journals and monographs, U.S. government documents, foreign and international law materials, legal classics, world trials and more.
- Scopus (Elsevier) This link opens in a new windowScopus, an abstract and citation database, includes peer-reviewed titles from international publishers, Open Access journals, conference proceedings, trade publications, quality web sources.
- Web of science This link opens in a new window
- If API is needed, see APIs for Scholarly Resources: Web of Science API Lite
Web of Science indexes core journal articles, conference proceedings, data sets, and other resources in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. Includes:
- BIOSIS Previews (1980-present)
- KCI-Korean Journal Database (1980-present)
- MEDLINE® (1950-present)
- Preprint Citation Index (1991-present)
- SciELO Citation Index (2002-present) - Lexis Advance Quicklaw This link opens in a new windowLexis Advances Quicklaw provides access to an extensive database of over 2 million cases, jurisdictional sources, including exclusive sources like Halsbury's Laws of Canada and Canadian Tort Law. This database includes QuickCite, which ensures decisions are based on good authority by cases. Lexis Advance QuickLaw provides access to Canadian law (legislation, jurisprudence, and doctrine) as well as law sources from the United States, United Kingdom, France, Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong.
- Lexis+ AI Canada This link opens in a new window
- Available to Faculty of Law students only
- Password access only
Content includes Canadian, US, UK, international and foreign legal materials, and Practical Guidance. - Westlaw Canada This link opens in a new window
- Access to subscribed content only
Platform for database products published by Thomas Reuters Canada. Includes primary sources, commentary, court documents, forms and precedents, and finding tools. Full text source for Canadian law resources. Includes the Canadian Abridgement Digests and Canadian Encyclopedic Digest; cases (reported and unreported), commentary, legislations, journal articles covering the areas of general law, family law and criminal law. - Westlaw Edge (UofC Law School only) This link opens in a new windowFaculty of Law students and faculty may obtain an individual password.Westlaw Edge is a full text and indexing database that provides access to a variety of law and finding tools. It includes Canadian statutes and regulations, reported decisions from Canadian courts and tribunals, Canadian law journals and law reviews. Westlaw includes nearly 15,000 databases covering most US primary and secondary legal materials and legal research tools. It also includes over 700 full text law reviews and has legal material from the UK, Australia and the EU.
Here are some useful links to help you with legal citation using the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (McGill Guide):
- Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation This link opens in a new windowThe Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (McGill Guide) from Westlaw Canada allows users to quickly search for information, easily link between information in the chapters and the corresponding information in the appendices, and annotate and highlight your electronic copy. The 9th edition provides an enhanced focus on citing online resources, including instruction on: archiving internet sources; parallel citations to online resources; digital object identifiers; citing materials from online databases; citing other types of online materials, such as PDF documents, podcasts, blog posts, online video; and citing social media posts. This edition also elaborates on citation of various parliamentary papers, including debates, order papers, sessional papers, and reports, and expands the coverage on how to cite international materials including regulations, directives and decisions of the European Union, as well as Talmudic Law.
Search Tips
Primo can help determine the correct interdisciplinary database to use for your research.
Many resources from library webpages and guides are available to help with your research. The best places to start looking for resources available to you:
- Search Tips PowerPoint SlidesBooks, Periodicals, Theses, and Other Commentary - Search Tips PowerPoint
28 September 2022
- Legal DatabasesA list of legal databases available at the University of Calgary.
Using databases – check the individual database’s help or tips for details.
- Basic keyword searching is for “quick and dirty” searches whereas advanced search templates give the ability to use Boolean searching:
- Use drop-down options to help structure your search query
- Extra database functionality is sometimes done through “advanced search” options
- Use AND, OR, NOT, and/or /n (within a specified number of words) to help narrow or broaden your search results
- Use NOT very carefully
- For general databases:
- Use the database tools to help narrow or broaden your search once your query is run and you have results
- You may want to add “law OR legal OR legislat* OR regulat*” as a search term to help focus your search query
Wildcard characters exist for single and multiple letters. These wildcards will vary across databases.
Type of truncation | Interdisciplinary Databases | Legal Databases |
---|---|---|
Multiple letters at end of word |
Canad* Geolog* |
Canad! Geolog! |
Single letter in a word |
Labo?r Organi?ation |
Labo*r organi*ation |
Word within “n” words of a word | varies | Carbon /5 capture |
It is a good idea to use databases to help focus your searches through subject headings, thesaurus, and other controlled vocabulary options. This way you can determine whether to use “climate change” or “climatic changes” in the specific resource.
From Topic to Search Terms
Handout consists of pages 9:8 - 9:11 and A:4-A:5 of The Comprehensive Guide to Legal Research, Writing & Analysis, 3rd Edition.
- From Topic to Search Terms PowerPoint5 October 2022
- The comprehensive guide to legal research, writing & analysisCall Number: KF240 .M337 2019ISBN: 9781772555356Publication Date: 2019
Government & International
- General & PowerPoint
- Canadian Federal Websites
- Canadian Government Databases
- International Websites
- International Databases
It is always best to start with the library catalogue in your research. When looking for government publications, search for the department as an “author.” For further information, many online resources and databases for government information may be found in the following library resources:
- Government Publications & International Resources PowerPoint12 October 2022
- GOVINFO: Canadian Federal Government InformationThis guide focuses on Canadian federal government publications and documents and includes information about the collection at the University of Calgary Library, finding tools, etc.
There are many government bodies such as departments and tribunals that may assist with your research.
- Government of Canada Publications (formerly E-Collection)A collection of Government of Canada electronic publications.Formerly Depository Services Program, the Government of Canada Publications (formerly E-collection) includes over 120,000 freely accessible titles. Currently, about 500-600 titles are added every month. These publications are produced by departments and agencies across the Government of Canada.
- LEGISinfoFrom the Library of Parliament, "This tool provides electronic access to a wide range of information about individual bills, such as:
- the text of the bill at various stages;
- government press releases and backgrounders (for government bills);
- legislative summaries from the Parliamentary Research
- important speeches at second reading;
- votes; and
- coming into force data."
- Canadian Research Index This link opens in a new windowCanadian Research Index focuses on periodicals covering Canada and Canadian issues in general reference arts, business, humanities, health, social sciences, sciences and current affairs. This index consists of depository publications of research value issued by federal, provincial , and territorial governments. Also includes hard-to-find non-depository publications; scientific and technical reports; policy, social economic and political reports; Statistics Canada monographs and serials.
- Ebook central This link opens in a new windowCovered in the Commentary classes.Ebooks are offered from trusted publishers in all academic subject areas along with powerful research tools, such as Bookshelf. Titles from the former ebrary Academic Complete collection are included.
- Canadian business & current affairs database This link opens in a new windowCanadian Business & Current Affairs Database combines full text and indexed content from all four subsets (Business, Current Events, Education, and Reference). Content comes from a broad range of Canadian sources and includes millions of full-text articles and records from 1933 to current, providing an ideal research environment for those interested in Canadian current events, business, science and technology, medical, humanities and the arts, and hundreds of topics.
- Canada Commons This link opens in a new windowTrojman Corporation and Coherent Digital have developed a new version of Canadian Electronic Library with more content and a new platform - Canada Commons. Canada Commons brings rare, hard-to-find content from Canada that's relevant to a wide range of studies including sociology, anthropology, business and economics. Canada Commons offers extensive coverage of Canadian materials with 25,000 ebooks from scholarly and independent publishers; 180, 000 public policy papers; over 200,000 titles; and a 4,000 entry directory of Canadian research and government organizations. Content was previously available on the dèsLibris platform and is now exclusively on the Canada Commons platform.
- Canadian Newsstream This link opens in a new windowCanadian Newsstream provides users with unmatched access to current Canadian news content with archives as far back as the 1970s, from over 360 news sources.
- Coverage is selectively from 1985 to the present.
- Includes fulltext of articles.
- Factiva This link opens in a new windowProvides worldwide full text coverage of local and regional newspapers, trade publications, business newswires, press release wires, media transcripts, news photos, business-rich Web sites, investment analyst reports, market research reports, country and regional profiles, company profiles, historical market data.
- Due to license restrictions, access is limited to 6 simultaneous users.
- Interface in English, German, French or Chinese; contents in 22 languages.
This list is not exhaustive for intergovernmental or non-governmental organizations that may assist you with your research. You are best to check for additional websites in your research by using Google or Google Scholar.
- HeinOnline This link opens in a new windowContains the full text of numerous legal journals and monographs, U.S. government documents, foreign and international law materials, legal classics, world trials and more.
- Foreign & International Law Resources Database This link opens in a new windowIncludes international yearbooks and international tribunal decisions.Covers publications from the American Society of International Law and yearbooks and serials from around the world, as well as the Hague Permanent Court of International Justice series. Includes U.S. law digests, international tribunals and judicial decisions and other significant works relating to foreign and international law. Individual title coverage varies.
- Harvard Research in International Law This link opens in a new windowComprised of The Harvard Research in International Law: Contemporary Analysis and Appraisal and Original Materials with links to articles and treaties.The collection includes access to the reprint of The Harvard Research in International Law: Contemporary Analysis and Appraisal and Original Materials. It also includes hundreds of links to journal articles and treaties, as well as hundreds of footnotes to connect you to other sites inside HeinOnline.
- History of International Law This link opens in a new windowIncludes subjects such as war and peace, Nuremberg Trials, Law of the Sea, international arbitration, and Hague Conferences and Conventions since 1690.This collection contains more than 825 titles and 660,000 pages dating back to 1690 on subjects such as: war and peace, Nuremberg Trials, Law of the Sea, international arbitration, and Hague Conferences and Conventions and much more.
- World Treaty Library This link opens in a new windowComprehensive access to world treaties and treaty-related publications from 1648. It includes United Nations Treaty Publications and U.S. Treaties & Agreements.Brings together Rohn, Dumont, Bevans, Martens, League of Nations, United States, and United Nations treaties into one easy-to-use and fully searchable database. Search a comprehensive treaty index by keywords, title, parties, sign date or citation. Also included are hundreds of related treaty publications, scholarly articles chosen by our editors, and a bibliography of related publications--Provided by publisher. Includes a link to US Treaties & Agreements.
- International Studies Encyclopedia This link opens in a new window'The International Studies Encyclopedia', published in association with the International Studies Association (ISA), is the most comprehensive reference work of its kind for the fields of international studies and international relations. It brings together specially commissioned, peer reviewed essays, written and edited by an international team of the world's best scholars and teachers.
- Official document system of the United Nations This link opens in a new windowThe United Nations Official Documents System (ODS) is the electronic repository for official documents published by the United Nations. Comprehensive, though not complete, coverage of all types of publicly-available UN documentation starting in the early to mid-1990s. Categories of documents included are: Resolutions going back to 1946 (Security Council, General Assembly, Economic and Social Council and Trusteeship Council); Selected Security Council and General Assembly documents going back to 1985; Meeting records; Daily journals; and bulletins. Not included in ODS: UN sales publications; UN public information materials; UN press releases and briefings; UN Treaty Series; documents that are not publicly released.
- OECD iLibrary This link opens in a new windowThe OECD iLibrary, the new platform giving seamless and comprehensive access to statistical data, books, journals and working papers, is now available. It replaces SourceOECD... OECD iLibrary contains all the publications and datasets released by OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), International Energy Agency (IEA), Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), OECD Development Centre, PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), and International Transport Forum (ITF) since 1998.
- PAIS Index This link opens in a new windowCovered in the Commentary classes.PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) Index includes PAIS International and PAIS Archive. PAIS International database contains continually updated records for over half a million journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference papers, web content, and more. PAIS Archive is a retrospective conversion of the PAIS Annual Cumulated Bulletin, and covers monographs, periodical articles, notes and announcements, and analytics.
Interdisciplinary NREEL
- Interdisciplinary Legal PowerPoint slides19 October 2022
- Environment Complete This link opens in a new windowEnvironment Complete contains more than 2.4 million records from more than 2,200 domestic and international titles going back to 1888 (including over 1,350 active core titles) as well as more than 190 monographs. The database also contains full text for more than 920 journals.
- Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN)Includes the Legal Scholarship Network (LSN).
- FNREL (formerly Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation) This link opens in a new windowThe Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law publishes books and manuals in conjunction with its Annual and Special Institutes, as well as a number of original articles in its biannual journal. These original, scholarly, and practical publications dealing with all aspects of natural resources law.
- ScienceDirect This link opens in a new window
- Access to subscribed content only
ScienceDirect is a database of peer-reviewed scholarly literature containing over 3,800 journals and more than 35,000 books. Disciplines covered include physical sciences and engineering, life sciences, health sciences, and social sciences and humanities.
- Canada Energy Law Service (KF2120 .A6 C352)
- Canadian Environmental Law (KF3775 .A6 .F73 1991)
- Canadian Oil and Gas Service (KF1846.5 .C32 1991)
- The Electricity Industry in Canada (KF2125 .E44)
- Kuntz Law of Oil & Gas (KF1849 .K84)
- Summers Oil & Gas (KF1849 .S9 1938)
- United Kingdom Oil & Gas Law (KF1849 .M26)
- Williams & Meyers Oil and Gas Law (KF1849 .W542) – Manual of Oil & Gas Terms in Volume 8
From the Class Exercise:
- What were your search terms? Did you feel your search terms were effective?
- What types of materials did you find (e.g., articles, books, conference proceedings)?
- How much full-text did you find? Did you need to link to full-text?
- Were you surprised by what you found?
Canadian Statutory Research
- Statutes PowerPoint slides26 October 2022
Traditionally, official versions to be used in court are the printed, bound copies. Federally, this changed in 2009 to be the PDF version from Justice Canada’s website. (Office consolidations or loose-leaf versions are not considered official by courts).
How a Bill becomes a Statute:
- Introduced as a Bill (public/government or private members)
- Debated in House of Commons, Senate or legislature
- Committee reviews Bill and may issue report(s) on its effectiveness and purpose
- Representatives vote on the Bill
- Federally – goes to the other chamber for the same process
- Received Royal Assent
- “Comes into Force” (CIF)
Regulations are subordinate legislation to an Act. These are created by the Minister or Governor-in-Council (or Lieutenant-Governor-in-Council for provinces).
Important parts of the Act to keep in mind:
- Definitions
- Content (including relevant section numbers)
- Powers of the Minister
- CIF information
- Amendments
- Federal use Table of Public Statutes and Responsible Ministers
- Pending Bills
- Official for federal – use Canada Gazette, Part I
- Pending regulation
- Official for federal – use Canada Gazette, Part I
- Point-in-time search options are available in some electronic resources
Commentary
- Persuasive only (not as persuasive as cases)
- Found through secondary research
- Annotated and consolidated acts can be found as textbooks (e.g., Canadian Environmental Assessment Act– on Thomson Reuters ProView)
Cases
- What courts have said about the Act
- Judicial definition in words & phrases
Legislative History
- Helps determine the legislative intent behind the Act
- Information found through documents produced at various stages of the legislative process
- Debates/Hansard for speeches
- Legislative Summary
- Reports, transcripts, and/or hearings (if any)
- Committee
- Department
- Outside government (e.g., Alberta Law Reform Institute)
- Search library catalogue for name or author of report, may be available in print
Regulations (including Orders-in-Council and Statutory Instruments)
- Details on how the Act will be applied and enforced
- Easiest way to find is through the name of the Act – use the Consolidated Index to Statutory Instruments for federal
- CanLII This link opens in a new windowCanLII, is a non-profit organization managed by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada to provide Open Access, freely accessible primary legal material, including court judgments, tribunal decisions, statutes and regulations from all Canadian jurisdictions.
- Department of Justice - Justice LawsOnline source of the consolidated Acts and regulations of Canada. The consolidations are generally updated on a weekly basis
- Alberta King's PrinterProvincial government website that contains an alphabetical listing of statutes. Also includes Alberta Gazette.Official source of Alberta government laws and publications since 1906.
- LEGISinfoFrom the Library of Parliament, "This tool provides electronic access to a wide range of information about individual bills, such as:
- the text of the bill at various stages;
- government press releases and backgrounders (for government bills);
- legislative summaries from the Parliamentary Research
- important speeches at second reading;
- votes; and
- coming into force data."
- Lexis+ AI Canada This link opens in a new window
- Available to Faculty of Law students only
- Password access only
Content includes Canadian, US, UK, international and foreign legal materials, and Practical Guidance. - KP source professional This link opens in a new windowKP Source Professional is a fully searchable database of the current text of Alberta's statutes and regulations, Registrar's Periodical, and Spring and Fall Sitting legislation. It also includes Rules of Court and Practice Notes, the Alberta Gazette (1996 to present) and Orders-in-Council (1967 to present), as well as a variety of other legislative related publications.
- Alberta Law Collection This link opens in a new windowHistorical legal documents from the Legislative Assembly of Alberta plus retrospective and current Bylaws from a selection of Alberta Municipalities. The Assembly documents include Statutes and Revised Statutes, Ordinances of the Northwest Territories, Bills, Debates (Hansard), Journals of the Alberta Legislature and the Alberta Gazette. This collection is freely available to all Albertans, Canadians and viewers worldwide.
- Westlaw Edge (UofC Law School only) This link opens in a new windowFaculty of Law students and faculty may obtain an individual password.Westlaw Edge is a full text and indexing database that provides access to a variety of law and finding tools. It includes Canadian statutes and regulations, reported decisions from Canadian courts and tribunals, Canadian law journals and law reviews. Westlaw includes nearly 15,000 databases covering most US primary and secondary legal materials and legal research tools. It also includes over 700 full text law reviews and has legal material from the UK, Australia and the EU.
Canadian Case Law Research
- Case Law PowerPoint Slides2 November 2022
Background Information
- Only 20% of cases are reported
- Reporter editors choose based on interest and points of law as opposed to notoriety
- Secondary sources will often offer case commentaries for important cases
Secondary Sources
Canadian Abridgment* – KF173 .C423 & Westlaw Canada
Canadian Encyclopedic Digest (CED) – KE173 .C54 1978 & Westlaw Canada
Halsbury's Laws of Canada – KF385 .ZA2 H35 & Lexis
The Canada Digest* – Lexis
Words & Phrases* (part of Canadian Abridgment) – KE173 .C438 & Westlaw Canada
- Alberta Energy RegulatorIncludes prior information from the Energy Utilities Board and the Energy Resources Conservation Board.
- Alberta Utilities CommissionIncludes prior information from the Energy Utilities Board.
- Canada Energy Regulator(formerly the National Energy Board/NEB)
- CanLII This link opens in a new windowCanLII, is a non-profit organization managed by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada to provide Open Access, freely accessible primary legal material, including court judgments, tribunal decisions, statutes and regulations from all Canadian jurisdictions.
- EuropaOfficial website of the European Union.
- Lexis+ AI Canada This link opens in a new window
- Available to Faculty of Law students only
- Password access only
Content includes Canadian, US, UK, international and foreign legal materials, and Practical Guidance. - Westlaw Edge (UofC Law School only) This link opens in a new windowIncludes CED & Canadian Abridgment for Canada; International tab includes US and some foreign.Westlaw Edge is a full text and indexing database that provides access to a variety of law and finding tools. It includes Canadian statutes and regulations, reported decisions from Canadian courts and tribunals, Canadian law journals and law reviews. Westlaw includes nearly 15,000 databases covering most US primary and secondary legal materials and legal research tools. It also includes over 700 full text law reviews and has legal material from the UK, Australia and the EU.
Westlaw
- General & PowerPoint
- LawSource & Other Source Tabs
- Thomson Reuters Westlaw (US & International)
- Features
- Training Materials & Support
Westlaw Next Canada provides access to Canadian materials. Foreign material such as from the United States are accessible through the International tab. For extra functionality, use the law school's password version.
- Westlaw16 November 2022
- Westlaw Edge (UofC Law School only) This link opens in a new windowFaculty of Law students and faculty may obtain an individual password.Westlaw Edge is a full text and indexing database that provides access to a variety of law and finding tools. It includes Canadian statutes and regulations, reported decisions from Canadian courts and tribunals, Canadian law journals and law reviews. Westlaw includes nearly 15,000 databases covering most US primary and secondary legal materials and legal research tools. It also includes over 700 full text law reviews and has legal material from the UK, Australia and the EU.
- Westlaw Canada This link opens in a new window
- Access to subscribed content only
Platform for database products published by Thomas Reuters Canada. Includes primary sources, commentary, court documents, forms and precedents, and finding tools. Full text source for Canadian law resources. Includes the Canadian Abridgement Digests and Canadian Encyclopedic Digest; cases (reported and unreported), commentary, legislations, journal articles covering the areas of general law, family law and criminal law.
Reminders from Prior Classes
- Canadian Encyclopedic Digest (CED) – a legal encyclopedia with comprehensive statements on legal topics for Canada (over 200 subjects)
- Canadian Abridgment (Case Digests) – a place to look for digests of Canadian cases, organized by subject
- Index to Canadian Legal Literature – the main index for Canadian legal periodicals
- Words & Phrases – judicial definitions
Other Source tabs (Canadian)
- Student access includes: Environmental Offences Sentencing Quantum Service, Criminal, Family, Insolvency, Securities, Intellectual Property, and Estates & Trusts. These can be used for more focused research and include some additional textbooks not included in the campus-wide subscription.
Use for non-Canadian materials such as foreign jurisdictions.
- Click on “International” tab, then choose type of source or jurisdiction
- Energy & Environmental is a topic
- Need to search broadly, then narrow
- Largely from a U.S. perspective
- Databases contain documents from law reviews, texts, American Jurisprudence 2d, CLE course materials, bar journals and legal practice-oriented periodicals.
- Energy & Environmental Law – Law Reviews, Texts & Bar Journals
- Secondary Sources (formerly TP-ALL) – Journals & Law Reviews (JLR) more specific
- Source examples
- Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum (DUKELPF)
- Energy Law Journal (ENERGYLJ)
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrative Materials
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Decisions (FEN-FERC)
- Gower Federal Service (GFS)
- Journal of Environmental Law and Practice (JELP-CAN) – Canadian
- Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation (RMMLF-INST)
Features
- “big search box” also known as "federated searching"
- Searches across most Canadian collections (see exceptions noted at the bottom of the screen)
- Like Google & library search box
- Limiting your search through facets
- Templates available for some
- Can search all or just desired type of material
- Find and KeyCite by Name (Statutes and Cases)
- Functionality
- Browse Legal Topics* or Practice Areas* allows for topical searching
- Save the databases you use the most to your Favourites*
- Create Folders* for individual projects to save and organize your research
- Add an Annotation* to the top of your case, statute or article to remind you about the key aspect(s) of the document
- Add Notes throughout document
- New coloured ‘Search within results’ terms
- Multi-coloured Highlighting
- The improved History* allows you to re-run old search queries
- Limit results to “viewed” or “not viewed”
- Create Folders for individual projects to save and organize your research Set your Preferences
- Email, print or download your results
Database Items to Note
- Need to select type of resource after jurisdiction
- Foreign content is under the International tab
- Alerts – covered in the Interdisciplinary NREEL class
- Search History – kept for 1 year
- Source information
- Places for help/additional database information
- Remember if you find something in an index on Westlaw, you need to check the library catalogue and other resources (e.g., Lexis) to see if the library has the item if it is not already in Westlaw.
- For tutorials on using Westlaw, go to https://store.thomsonreuters.ca/learning/
Available Tutorials
- General page (includes Westlaw Canada and Westlaw Edge Canada): https://store1.thomsonreuters.ca/learning/
- “International” Subscription Content: https://store.thomsonreuters.ca/learning/westlawnextcanada/international
Thomson Reuters
- Phone: 1-800-387-5164
- Reference Assistance: researchsupport.legaltaxcanada@tr.com
- Technical Assistance (passwords, etc.): techsupport.legaltaxcanada@tr.com
Lexis Advance Quicklaw
Lexis+ and Lexis Advance Quicklaw provides access to Canadian materials. Foreign material such as from the United States are accessible through Lexis+ and Lexis Advance Quicklaw at the present time.
- Lexis+ Fall 202223 November 2022
- Lexis Advance Quicklaw24 November 2021
Content
- Search or Browse for a Source* (Canadian and other)
- Area of Law
- Environmental Law – selected sources
- Alberta Environmental Appeal Board Decisions from September 1, 1993
- Environmental Law Reporter News & Analysis from January 1971 (US)
- Duke Environmental Law and Policy Forum from 1995 (US)
- Natural Resources, Energy & Utilities Law
- Alberta Energy Regulator Decisions
- Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board from 2008
- Alberta Energy and Utilities Board from 2002 – 2007
- Alberta Utilities Commission Decisions from 2008
- Canada National Energy Board Decisions from January 1999
- Energy Law Journal from 1993
- EPA Administrative Materials Combined from 1972, depending on the source (US)
- Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law from 2008 (US)
- Environmental Law – selected sources
- Lexis+ AI Canada This link opens in a new window
- Available to Faculty of Law students only
- Password access only
Content includes Canadian, US, UK, international and foreign legal materials, and Practical Guidance.
- General Search screen* – multiple options to search quickly
- Halsbury’s Laws of Canada*
- Index to Canadian Legal Literature – the main index for Canadian legal periodicals (covered in Commentary classes)
- Canadian Words & Phrases – largely legislative (covered in Statutes class)
- Search Templates – note most templates default to Canadian content to search
- Court Cases – includes The Canada Digest (covered in Cases class)
- Note up with QuickCITE (covered in Cases class)
- Tribunal Cases (covered in Cases class)
- Legislation (covered in Statutes class)
- Commentary (covered in Commentary classes)
- Journals
- Best to start with general databases first when developing thesis or paper topics (not done when practicing due to pricing)
- Can search for current Canadian journals
- Non-Canadian content is still on Quicklaw. See reference staff for access.
- International – default sources are US – browse the Source Directory
- Journals
- Best to start with general databases first when developing thesis or paper topics (not done when practicing due to pricing)
- Can easily search for current US, UK, and international journals
- Can combine separate databases for each country
Features
- “big search box” also known as "federated searching"
- Searches across most Canadian collections (see exceptions noted at the bottom of the screen)
- Like Google & library search box
- Can search all or just desired type of material through pre-filtering
- Limit search results through post-filtering
- Functionality
- Research Map
- Annotate to create a note, save databases to Favourites, create Folders to save documents
- Highlighting of Case Summary in Result List
- Note-up Graphical View
- Shows viewed before
Database Items to Note
- Includes many LexisNexis sources
- Legal Topics & Practice Area Pages
- Moving through terms & documents; Narrow search
- Printing/e-mailing - remember to disable your pop-up blocker to print
- History & Alerts
- Point-in-time available for statutes, by section and sub-section
- Source information
- Favourites & Folders
- Lexis for Microsoft Office
- Copy (Advanced) allows for copying with a citation linked back to the document
- Help – where to find tutorials and Quick Reference Guides
- Remember if you find something in an index, you need to check the library search box and other resources to see if the library has the item if it’s not already linked
Available Tutorials
- Watch the Lexis+ tutorials at https://www.lexisnexis.ca/en-ca/training/product/lexis-plus.page
- Lexis Advance Quicklaw: http://www.lexisnexis.ca/en-ca/training/training-resources.page
- Specific tutorials were developed for the University of Calgary for LAQ and Practical https://www.lexisnexis.ca/en-ca/training/org/University-of-Calgary.page
LexisNexis
- Phone: 1-800-387-0899
- E-mail: service@lexisnexis.ca
Foreign Materials
- General & PowerPoint
- Secondary Resources
- Other Library Resources
- Legislation
- Cases & Court Information
Foreign law is the domestic, national or internal law of a country or jurisdiction.It does not include international law and treaties.
- Foreign Materials PowerPoint30 November 2022
“Foreign” primarily means from countries outside Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom for this session (N.B. many research guides and resources define “foreign” as outside the United States)
Availability of Foreign Materials:
- The amount available will depend on the country.
- Not everything is on the Internet.
- Not everything is written in English. Translations may not be official.
- Many countries put their statutes on the Internet free of charge. Some governments may provide websites with bills, statutes and regulations.
- Case law is generally jurisdiction specific.
- Many countries have court websites on the Internet. The amount available will depend on the country.
- Not every case gets published so not every case is searchable.
Government websites are good sources to find information about a country. Country-specific information can be found through many sources, including:
- Foreign Law Guide This link opens in a new windowForeign Law Guide (FLG) is an essential database offering relevant information on sources of foreign law, including complete bibliographic citations to legislation, the existence of English translations and selected references to secondary sources in one virtual destination. Broad in content and global in scope, the FLG is an indispensable resource for comparative law research and a fundamental tool for developing a foreign and comparative law collection. Approximately 190 jurisdictions are systemically covered and updated by a global team of experts.
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new windowTo set up Google Scholar to detect UofC subscribed resources, refer to Google Scholar setup (in the Natural Sciences Programme LibGuide)A subset of Google that only indexes academic journals. Pros: searching is very easy - just like for regular Google. Covers journals in many disciplines. Cons: Limited functionality for filtering results. May include some journals of dubious quality.
- Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals This link opens in a new windowThe Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals, produced by The American Association of Law Libraries, provides access to legal literature worldwide, covering all forms of foreign (non-Anglo-American) law. This includes comparative law and legal systems, such as Islamic law; socialist law; public and private international law; and transnational commercial law. The data is not limited by country of publication, but rather type of publication. Thus, while publications concerning British and American law are not included, British and American publications concerning foreign law are included. Coverage begins with 1985, digitized version of print edition available back to 1960.
- Global Gateway: World Culture & ResourcesFrom the Library of Congress with archived information.
- Legal Information InstituteLII from Cornell - Listing by Federal or State Jurisdiction
- govinfoIncludes US Code, Code of Federal Regulations, & Federal Register from the US Government Printing Office. Previously known as Federal Digital System (FDSys) and GPO Access.
- HeinOnline This link opens in a new windowContains the full text of numerous legal journals and monographs, U.S. government documents, foreign and international law materials, legal classics, world trials and more.
- British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII)Contain British and Irish case law, legislation and other materials (e.g. Law Commission Reports), and European case law
- legislation.gov.ukGovernment website.
- Political Risk Yearbook(Via Business Source Complete database)
To access these reports, go the the Business Source Complete database and enter the country name and add the term "political risk yearbook". Scroll through the list of results to find the latest issue or change the "Relevance" sort to "Date descending".
Electronic country reports for many countries; each report expertly assesses potential political, financial, and economic risks to business investments and trade. - Doing Business(World Bank Group)
(Open Access)
Information on business regulations and other information essential to starting a business in over 190 economies around the world. Search by geographic region or topic.
Several databases and indexes covered in prior sessions are useful for your foreign materials research.
- HeinOnline This link opens in a new windowContains the full text of numerous legal journals and monographs, U.S. government documents, foreign and international law materials, legal classics, world trials and more.
- Foreign & International Law Resources Database This link opens in a new windowCovers publications from the American Society of International Law and yearbooks and serials from around the world, as well as the Hague Permanent Court of International Justice series. Includes U.S. law digests, international tribunals and judicial decisions and other significant works relating to foreign and international law. Individual title coverage varies.
- World constitutions illustrated This link opens in a new windowWorld Constitutions Illustrated contains thousands of contemporary and historical documents, as well as many features to enable one to browse and search across constitutional law of more than 190 countries. This is a picture of what is included: Current constitution of every country.
Constitutional histories of several countries including the United Kingdom, France, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Mexico, Italy, South Africa, and El Salvador (among others).
Thousands of books on constitutional law, with specific chapters tied to specific countries.
Thousands of articles about constitutional development.
Links to online resources related to political development.
Bibliographies of constitutional monographs. - International Political Science Abstracts This link opens in a new windowInternational Political Science Abstracts (IPSA), produced by the International Political Science Association, includes current indexing and abstracts of the world's leading journals in political science. This database covers over 1,000 journals published from 1951 to the present.
- OECD iLibrary This link opens in a new windowThe OECD iLibrary, the new platform giving seamless and comprehensive access to statistical data, books, journals and working papers, is now available. It replaces SourceOECD... OECD iLibrary contains all the publications and datasets released by OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), International Energy Agency (IEA), Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), OECD Development Centre, PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), and International Transport Forum (ITF) since 1998.
- PAIS Index This link opens in a new windowPAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) Index includes PAIS International and PAIS Archive. PAIS International database contains continually updated records for over half a million journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference papers, web content, and more. PAIS Archive is a retrospective conversion of the PAIS Annual Cumulated Bulletin, and covers monographs, periodical articles, notes and announcements, and analytics.
- Lexis+ AI Canada This link opens in a new window
- Available to Faculty of Law students only
- Password access only
Content includes Canadian, US, UK, international and foreign legal materials, and Practical Guidance. - Westlaw Edge (UofC Law School only) This link opens in a new windowUse the "International" tab for non-Canadian content.Westlaw Edge is a full text and indexing database that provides access to a variety of law and finding tools. It includes Canadian statutes and regulations, reported decisions from Canadian courts and tribunals, Canadian law journals and law reviews. Westlaw includes nearly 15,000 databases covering most US primary and secondary legal materials and legal research tools. It also includes over 700 full text law reviews and has legal material from the UK, Australia and the EU.
You can find many resources through the library catalogue and other resources covered in the commentary sessions earlier in the term. Electronic books can also help with country-specific information. Use Inter-library loans if the library does not have what you are looking for.
- CRL library catalog This link opens in a new window
- Access digitized content directly through CRL online catalog request other material through UofC Interlibrary Loans
Membership in Center for Research Libraries provides access to a wide range of uncommon materials, with a focus on news, law and government, finance, the history of science, technology and engineering, and the history and economics of agriculture. The approximately five million newspapers, journals, books, pamphlets, dissertations, archives, government publications, and other resources held by CRL support original research and teaching. CRL holdings include materials from all world regions: Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Central, South and Southeast Asia, North America, and Europe. While these shared collections are largely paper and microform, CRL provides online access to a continually expanding body of digital materials. CRL digital collections of primary source materials support research and teaching in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences. - Hathi Trust Digital Library This link opens in a new windowAs a digital repository for the nation's great research libraries, HathiTrust brings together the immense collections of partner institutions. It was initially conceived as a collaboration of the thirteen universities of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, the University of California system, and the University of Virginia to establish a repository for those universities to archive and share their digitized collections, and quickly expanded to include additional partners with fast growing treasure of digitized collections.
Helpful library guides include the following:
Government websites and secondary literature can help you find foreign legislation. The following resources may also help.
- World Legal Information Institute (WorldLII)Free, independent and non-profit access to worldwide law
- Congress.govThe legislative information website developed and maintained by the Library of Congress that provides access to U.S. Congressional bills, Public Laws, and legislative history documents. This site supersedes THOMAS.
- govinfoIncludes US Code, Code of Federal Regulations, & Federal Register from the US Government Printing Office. Previously known as Federal Digital System (FDSys) and GPO Access.
- LLMC digital This link opens in a new windowFull text, image-based searchable database of primary and secondary legal publications. Collections include: U.S. federal, state, and territories government documents; case reporters, legal periodicals and treatises; foreign government, multi-jurisdictional, and international law documents; canon law, Native American law, and legal philosophy.
- CRL library catalog This link opens in a new window
- Access digitized content directly through CRL online catalog request other material through UofC Interlibrary Loans
Membership in Center for Research Libraries provides access to a wide range of uncommon materials, with a focus on news, law and government, finance, the history of science, technology and engineering, and the history and economics of agriculture. The approximately five million newspapers, journals, books, pamphlets, dissertations, archives, government publications, and other resources held by CRL support original research and teaching. CRL holdings include materials from all world regions: Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Central, South and Southeast Asia, North America, and Europe. While these shared collections are largely paper and microform, CRL provides online access to a continually expanding body of digital materials. CRL digital collections of primary source materials support research and teaching in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences. - HeinOnline This link opens in a new windowContains the full text of numerous legal journals and monographs, U.S. government documents, foreign and international law materials, legal classics, world trials and more.
- Lexis+ AI Canada This link opens in a new window
- Available to Faculty of Law students only
- Password access only
Content includes Canadian, US, UK, international and foreign legal materials, and Practical Guidance. - Westlaw Edge (UofC Law School only) This link opens in a new windowFaculty of Law students and faculty may obtain an individual password.Westlaw Edge is a full text and indexing database that provides access to a variety of law and finding tools. It includes Canadian statutes and regulations, reported decisions from Canadian courts and tribunals, Canadian law journals and law reviews. Westlaw includes nearly 15,000 databases covering most US primary and secondary legal materials and legal research tools. It also includes over 700 full text law reviews and has legal material from the UK, Australia and the EU.
Individual court and tribunal websites will help you to find foreign cases and court information.
- World Legal Information Institute (WorldLII)Free, independent and non-profit access to worldwide law
- HeinOnline This link opens in a new windowContains the full text of numerous legal journals and monographs, U.S. government documents, foreign and international law materials, legal classics, world trials and more.
- Lexis+ AI Canada This link opens in a new window
- Available to Faculty of Law students only
- Password access only
Content includes Canadian, US, UK, international and foreign legal materials, and Practical Guidance. - Westlaw Edge (UofC Law School only) This link opens in a new windowFaculty of Law students and faculty may obtain an individual password.Westlaw Edge is a full text and indexing database that provides access to a variety of law and finding tools. It includes Canadian statutes and regulations, reported decisions from Canadian courts and tribunals, Canadian law journals and law reviews. Westlaw includes nearly 15,000 databases covering most US primary and secondary legal materials and legal research tools. It also includes over 700 full text law reviews and has legal material from the UK, Australia and the EU.
- Last Updated: Oct 7, 2024 11:42 AM
- URL: https://libguides.ucalgary.ca/guides/LLM
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