275D Middlesex College
661-2111 x88498
27 Law Building
661-2111 x82282
Prof. Samuel E. Trosow
strosow@uwo.ca
Office:
275D Middlesex College
661-2111
x88498
27 Law Building
661-2111 x82282
Winter 2002 Office Hours:
Middlesex: Thursday 2-4 p.m.
Law: tba
and by appointment
Students who complete this course will be able to:1. identify needs of users of legal information and develop collections and services to meet these needs (from Goal 2, Obj. 1d);
2. identify, select, organize and provide access to legal information in a variety of formats (from Goal 2, Obj.1c);
3. demonstrate an awareness of the professional values and standards appropriate to the dissemination of legal information (from Goal 2, Obj. 1a);
4. apply general principles of library and information science in institutions providing legal information (from Goal 2, Obj. 1g).
From the Calandar:
"Legal Information Sources and Services. Characteristics and needs of users of legal information. Libraries and other
resource centres providing legal information, including law
libraries. Organization of legal materials. Sources of legal
information and their use. The role of the librarian in disseminating legal information."
Extended description:
This course will cover the sources of legal information, techniques for finding the law, and the role of the law library/law librarian. After a general canvass of the Canadian legal system, we will turn to sources of primary (statutes, regulations, bills and cases) and secondary (journal articles, treatises, and encyclopedia) Canadian legal materials. This will be followed by an overview of American, English and international legal materials. Both print based and electronic sources will be examined. Other topics will include an introduction to the law library related professional associations, trends in the legal publishing industry, the delivery of legal information to the public, ethical and legal issues faced by law librarians, as well as other emerging issues of concern.
The course will be delivered through a combination of readings, lectures, hands-on
training sessions, practical finding exercises, research and writing projects
and class discussions on emerging issues. Students will learn the general
techniques any law librarian should know, (including
how to locate particular cases, search for the law by subject, find and update legislation and retrieve
commentaries on the law). Students will also become
familiar with the general issues of concern to the contemporary law librarian in the areas of
public services, technical services, public policy and
law library management.
1. To analyze the characteristics and needs of users of legal
information.
2. To study the various types of institution providing legal
information.
3. To examine methods of organizing legal materials.
4. To develop an awareness of the sources of legal
information.