Legal Research

ACJNet Transformed Into Three New LawNet Portals

By Connie Crosby

ACJNet from the Legal Resource Centre Alberta has long been a mainstay for Canadian legal researchers. This resource has now been relaunched as three new portals for the public and those who work with the public:

• LawNet Canada
• LawNet Français
• LawNet Alberta

The press release from the Legal Resource Centre:

LAWNET IS NOW AVAILABLE!

Friday, January 7, 2011

The Legal Resource Centre is pleased to announce the launch of LawNet, three web portals that will help you find the legal-related information you need: LawNet Alberta, LawNet Canada, and LawNet Français.

What can LawNet do for you?

LawNet connects you to resources that will help you understand the legal system so that you know what to expect when dealing with a legal problem.

The structure of LawNet Alberta has been completely modified from that of its ancestor, ACJNet Alberta.

• Find the legal issue you want to know more about in the section ?Learn about Your Legal Problems? or check out the list of ?legal topics.?
• If you are interested in learning more about the laws that apply to your situation, see the section ?Know the Laws.?
• Connect to organizations that provide services for Albertans in the section ?Where to Find Help.?
• Go to the ?Resources for?? section to see if any of the groupings of resources created for specific audiences apply to you.
• See the ?Preparing for Court? section to learn more about court procedures and what to expect if you find yourself in court.

On LawNet Canada and LawNet Français:

• a keyword search or Recherche par mot clé will lead you to the resources relevant to your selection and you are free to choose how the results display.
• Site sections will lead you to resources that provide insight into the legal system and how it impacts you.

We welcome your feedback as we continue to refine and improve LawNet further.

Thank you to the Alberta Law Foundation for funding this project to transform ACJNet into LawNet.

These portals pull together resources from a number of original sources as well as CanLII. The audience is described in the “About” pages:

LawNet Canada is a portal or collection of links to law-related information and educational resources on justice and legal issues of interest to Canadians. Our purpose is to create an educated public who understands their rights and responsibilities under the law, and who knows where to go for legal help and referral.

LawNet Canada is geared towards the general public and for those who work with the public. All of the links to information and organizations are chosen and evaluated by librarians, and abstracts contain information pulled directly (where available) from the organizations? own websites. You can learn about how we select the links for LawNet by reading our selection criteria.

LawNet Canada is a program of the Legal Resource Centre of Alberta Ltd, a non-profit and registered charity working in association with the Faculty of Extension, University of Alberta. It is supported by funding from the Alberta Law Foundation.

Full post as published by Slaw.ca on January 10, 2011 (boomark / email).