Searching for journal articles

John Papadopoulos, a new contributor to Slaw.ca recently wrote a great reminder about the ability to find Canadian Law Journals on Commercial Databases. In speaking about the unique collections that each of the commercial publishers offer and the dearth of crossover, John reminds us:

if you are doing journal research and want to know what has been written on a specific topic use an index - full-text searching is (still) not enough.

In addition to journal indexes, I want to remind you of the Custom Google search that Ted Tjaden created. By visiting this search site, you can search Canadian law firm websites, blogs & journals.

Remember to look everywhere - or delegate to the library staff to search for you.

Silence reduced

Oh poor blog, I have neglected you.

It has been a very busy and exciting time at the Field Law Libraries this spring and summer. Research projects, summer and articling student arrival, a OneLog research tracking software rollout, email software upgrades, preparing for more software upgrades, new rules of court amendments, knowledge management projects and so on, and so on, and so on.

I have also been diligently working on the Slaw Tips blog. It is my job to collect and post a research tip every Wednesday. Feel free to help me out with this task by suggesting a research tip. An example of a research tip:

Today’s Tip: Learn what you have access to.
This pity statement could be read a couple of different ways in the context of legal research.

One meaning is to remember to search your library catalog – in your firm, at your local courthouse or law society library, at your nearest public library, at your local law school. Even law librarians who help fill the shelves should remember to look in the catalog. Favorite sources are great, but other sources should not be overlooked. Searching a library catalog will remind you that there are additional sources to refer to.

Another meaning is to remember to look at the database content of your electronic resources. If you don’t know that a particular source stopped being added to in 2009, you may think that you are finding everything when there is a great big gaping hole in your gathering strategy.

What do you think of when you read the phrase “learn what you have access to”?

For the Field readers, link to our library catalogue. And don't forget the Alberta Law Libraries collection and the University of Alberta J. Weir Law Library

Happy discovering.