News from the law library
Welcome back to a new semester!
While the first two weeks of classes are online, the law library is open! Until January 24th, the law library has reduced hours:
Mon-Fri: 8:00am – 6:00pm
Sat-Sun: 10:00am – 5:30pm
The research help desk is closed until the 24th, but the law librarians are still here to help! You can email lawref@uvic.ca for reference help, or to set up an in person or Zoom appointment. You can also drop by the law librarian offices.
Stay safe and healthy!
Join us on Friday for a workshop on Finding Scholarly Research!
When: Friday December 3, 1:30-2:30pm
Where: FRA 192/Library computer lab
Who: focused on grad students, but open to everyone
This workshop covers how to identify and evaluate scholarly resources (both in law and across other disciplines), as well as demonstrates various different search strategies to find scholarly sources in the library collection. This session will also provide a brief introduction to researching indigenous legal orders.
Join us for a workshop on citation management with Zotero!
When: Friday November 19, 1:30-2:30pm:
Where: FRA 192/Computer Lab in the Law Library
Who: Focused on law graduate students, but open to everyone.
This workshop provides a hands-on introduction to citation management with Zotero, a powerful open-source tool to simplify your research and writing. Using Zotero you can collect, organize, and annotate citations from online and print sources, collaborate with research groups, and automatically format bibliographies in the McGill Guide and others styles.
Our Law Library Information Assistant positions are open to all law students who are eligible for Student Awards and Financial Aid (SAFA) work study positions. Check your eligibility on the SAFA website.
These are great opportunities to earn extra $ with flexible hours. As an extra bonus you can learn a little more about our resources and activities, working on projects with the law librarians.
We have two positions available. The position descriptions can be found here:
LIBR4 – Law library information assistant 1
LIBR5 – Law library information assistant 2
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. To apply, please email your resume and cover letter to lawref@uvic.ca
To new UVic Law students, welcome, and to returning students, welcome back!
We are excited to work with you to facilitate your learning and research in 2021-2022.
Our regular fall term hours begin on Tuesday September 7th.
The law library’s fall term regular hours are:
Monday – Thursday 8:00am – 10:00pm
Friday: 8:00am – 6:00pm
Saturday-Sunday: 10:00am – 5:30pm
For full details on Law’s orientation for new students, visit UVic Law’s orientation for new students page.
For UVic return to campus information: https://www.uvic.ca/return-to-campus/
Tours
The Law Librarians will be providing tours of the law library for 1L, 2L, new upper year and new graduate students. Details will be included with your orientation materials.
For 2L students, tours are on Monday Sept 13 and Tuesday Sept 14 at 12:45-1:00pm and 1:00-1:15pm. Please go to the following link to sign up for a tour time: https://libcal.uvic.ca/calendar/lawlibrary
Research Help Desk
The Research Help desk will be opening on Monday September 20th, with the following hours:
| Monday – Thursday | 11:30 am – 1:30 pm | and 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm |
| Friday | By appointment | lawref@uvic.ca |
| Saturday & Sunday | closed |
When the desk isn’t open, you can still get law research help by contacting lawref@uvic.ca, or by calling 250-472-5023. One-to-one appointments with a law librarian can be scheduled via those contacts.
A new archive of the Canada Gazette from 1841-1997 is now available online on the new Library and Archives search platform. The previous version “A Nation’s Chronicle” has been unavailable for the past few months and has now migrated onto the new platform. The issues of the Gazette are available as PDFs. More current issues of the Canada Gazette (1998-present) are available on the Canada Gazette website.
The Canada Gazette (from 1947 onwards) is split into three parts. Part 1 contains public notices, official appointments and proposed regulations. Part 2 contains newly enacted regulations, government proclamations and orders in council. Part 3 contains public Acts of Parliament, and proclamations and orders in council related to those acts. Prior to 1947, all of those types of notices were published together. Having access to the digitized Canada Gazette archives is very useful when doing historical legislative research.
To search specifically in the Canada Gazette, click on “Advanced Search” in Collection Search, and click on “Additional search options”. Under database, select “Canada Gazette 1841-1997”. The other search options are similar to the previous search interface, including narrowing the search by series i.e. 1841-1869 (Province of Canada) or Part II (1947-1997), by specific date or date range, volume, issue number or issue type. Keyword searching is also available in the “all these words” field at the top of the search page.
UVic Law Library has a series of tutorial videos on Legislative research, which includes how to use the Canada Gazette.
If you have any questions on using the Canada Gazette or doing historical legislative research, please contact the law librarians at lawref@uvic.ca.
Dr. Val Napoleon has been awarded the 2021 Law and Justice Indspire Award. Indspire Awards recognize Indigenous achievement in a number of different areas, and “represents the highest honour the Indigenous community bestows upon it’s own people”.
The award recognizes Val’s lifelong work as a leader in Indigenous law, including establishing the Indigenous Law Research Unit and co-founding the JD/JID program, and her work as the director of both initiatives, as well as her position as the Law Foundation Chair of Indigenous Justice and Governance at UVic.
A recording of the 2021 Indspire Awards will be available on CBC Gem, along with recordings of past years’ award ceremonies.
Here is a selection of Val Napoleon’s publications accessible through the library:
Congratulations Val!
The Law Librarians are offering one-on-one virtual library sessions with the summer research assistants.
The appointments are available throughout the month of May. Go to the following link to book your appointment: https://libcal.uvic.ca/appointments/lawref
Please remember to fill in the topic information, as this is helpful in tailoring the session.
If none of the appointments work for you, please email lawref@uvic.ca and we will set up an alternate time.
The legal community is mourning the loss of renowned lawyer and former judge and politician Tom Berger QC OC OBC, who passed away last week at the age of 88. CBC News has published an obituary highlighting his many achievements, including his work on Indigenous land claims. Below are some excellent resources to explore more about his life and work:
A tribute website has been created by Theatre of Fire, Gwich’in Tribal Council and the Fort Simpson Heritage Centre. https://theatreoffire.org/
A biography from 1987 of Tom Berger’s life “Hard Choices: a life of Tom Berger” by Carolyn Swayze (FC3828.1 B47S93) is available in the law library.
Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre hosts an online archive of the Berger Inquiry (Royal Commission on MacKenzie Valley Pipeline 1975), which includes audio recordings, transcripts of the Dehcho community hearings, and documentary videos https://www.pwnhc.ca/exhibitions/berger/