Advance Legal Research Tips
Maryvon Côté
Acting Head Librarian
Nahum Gelber Law Library
maryvon.cote@mcgill.ca
Outline
 Services at the Law Library
 Primary Sources: What is new?, Major Changes, and Useful Tips:
 Canadian Law
 Foreign Common Law
 Foreign Civil Law
 International Law
 Historical Legal Sources
 Tips for Searching Secondary Sources:
 Keeping Informed:
Services at the Law Library
 Gelber Law Library Building schedule
 As of October 18, open 24 hours Monday to Thursday, and Sunday from 10am.
 Open until midnight on Friday and Saturday
 Law Subject Guides
 New Spirit Scanner (main floor)
 Request Books from other McGill Branch Libraries
 Via the Library Catalogue
Primary Sources: Canadian Law
 New Resources:
 Canadian Acts of the Parliament (via HeinOnline)
 Major interface changes:
 SOQUIJ Recherche Juridique (SOQUIJ)
 La Reference (Quebec)
 TaxNet.pro
 Useful tips:
 McGill Guide via WLNC
 Encyclopedic Digest (e.g., Halsbury’s Laws of Canada via QL and CED via WLNC)
 Canada Digest (via QL) or Canadian Abridgment (via WLNC)
 CAIJ
Primary Sources : Foreign Common Law
 New resources:
 University Press Scholarship Online 2015; Oxford Scholarship Online 2015 ebooks
 Women and the Law (Peggy); Israel Law Reports via HeinOnline
 And more e-books collection by publisher…
 Major interface changes:
 WestLawNext Canada
 HeinOnline
 Useful tips :
 LexisNexis QuickLaw
 Restatements & Principles of the Law via WLNC
 Foreign Law Guide (Brill)
 JustCite
Primary Sources: Foreign Civil Law
 New Resources:
 Strada lex (full-text journal regarding Belgium and the EU)
 Useful tips :
 Legal commentaries and Legal opinion by Jurisis (Secondary Sources)
 France:
 Helenia (French Festschriften and mélanges)
 Dalloz.fr (France)
 Jurisclasseur via QuickLaw
 Other:
 Vlex
 WorldLII (free)
Primary Sources: International Law
 New resources:
 Oxford Scholarly Authorities on International Law ebooks
 World Treaty Library via HeinOnline
 United Nations Law Collection via HeinOnline
 Brill International Law 2015 ebooks
 Brill Human Rights and Humanitarian Law 2015 ebooks
 Useful tips :
 Hague Academy of International Law. Collected Course Online (Brill)
 Oxford Reports on International Law
Primary Sources: Historical Legal Sources
 New resources:
 Oxford Historical Treaties
 Making of Modern Law Foreign Sources
 History of International Law via HeinOnline
 Scottish Legal History: Featuring Publications of the Stair Society via HeinOnline
 Selden Society Publications and the History of Early English Law via HeinOnline
 Useful tips:
 From the Law Subject Guide
 click: Law e-books collections
 click the Historical collections tab
Tips for Searching Secondary Sources
 Scholarly articles by jurists/legal experts:
 Full-Text Journal Searches
 Periodical Indexes
 Legal Treatises/Scholarly Monographs available in the Library:
 Worldcat Local
 Classic Catalogue
 E-books
 Useful Tip:
 Use Connectors in full-text searching (/p, /s, /5)
 Why is it not possible to get online access to some journal articles? (e.g., The
Supreme Court Law Review)
Keeping informed
 Vendors Presentations at the Law Library this Fall
 WestLawNext Canada
 LexisNexis QuickLaw
 SOQUIJ Recherche Juridique
 Quid Novi Newsletter
 Gelber Law Library Blog
 Twitter / Facebook