Law Library

This was an important year in the evolution of the Library at the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law. Debra Gold continued as the half-time Law Librarian until the end of 2017. On January 1, 2018, Courtney Dicke began as the full-time Law Librarian. Courtney has an MSc in Library Science and a J.D. from Osgoode Hall.

The collection continues to expand, as would be expected for a relatively new library. A barcoding project is currently underway, in order to obtain an accurate view of the collection, and to make items easier to locate. The first inventory will take place over the summer.

Mandate Stickers

Last year the Library and Technology Committee prioritized accomplishing the Dean’s plan to classify library items within the mandates of the school (Sole Practice, Indigenous, and Environmental Law.) The committee settled on a two-part system, with items being searchable via an online catalogue Subject Heading search, and using different stickers to identify items on the shelf. Changes to both the digital and physical items are complete, and new items are included as appropriate. Increased usage of books related to the mandates has been noted.

Digital Resources

The library, via resources and subscriptions often shared with the main campus, continues to emphasize digital resources available to students. This primarily consists of training for legal databases and the library's catalogue.

This year, many online books purchased through a PDA pilot project by the main library were on law, especially Indigenous and Environmental Law, two of the Faculty’s mandates. This indicates to us an increasing use of online resources by law students.

In addition, the library subscribes to Kanopy.com, Lynda.com, and the National Film Board’s Indigenous Cinema platform. The courses and documentaries on technology, the environment, and human rights are particularly useful to law students.

Library Floor Plan

The Library is currently transforming a back storage area into a Reading Room for students. This will address an increased need for student space, as well as provide a better location for one of our special collections, and some antique books. The new area already has built-in shelving, and will have seating areas made up of club chairs and couches, and a few tables.

A group table from the quiet zone on the upper level was moved to the main level. To accommodate this, two low bookcases near the front were moved together to create the “reference island”. The larger surface will be a place to put reference books while using them, and to advertise new books.

The area that held the group table upstairs now has a display of art books and materials donated by vendors for the students to use to de-stress. Ideally this area will eventually be fitted with 2 new study carrels.