Library Services for U of Toronto Graduate Law Students (LL.M. and S.J.D.)

This page sets out the services that the Bora Laskin Law Library provides to graduate law students enrolled at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law for a Masters or Doctoral degree.

How do I get a Library Card?

The Bora Laskin Law Library uses the TCard as its library card. TCards are issued by the University and also act as your photocopying and printing card at many campus libraries. More information about library cards is available from the TCard Office at the Koffler Student Services Centre, including how to get a card and how to replace lost or damaged cards.


What are my borrowing privileges?

Graduate law students can borrow books from within the campus library system (including the Bora Laskin Law Library) for a 42 day loan period with one 42 day renewal if no holds or recalls have since been placed on the book. More information on graduate borrowing privileges is available from Robarts Library.

How much are library fines?

Regular loans

0.50/day per book

Short Term Loans

0.50/hour

Recalled books

$2.00/day per book

Replacement Charge

$145.00

 

How do I place holds or recalls?

If you wish to place a hold on a book or recall a book within the campus library system, please provide the details to the circulation desk staff at the Bora Laskin Law Library. We can only place holds on books that have been charged or signed out (i.e., if the book is available in the catalogue, we cannot place a hold on the item). When the item has been returned, and if you are next in line for the hold, the system's computer will e-mail you. You can also place holds electronically via the Library catalogue. Your hold will be processed the next week day.Graduate orientation

Every September, the Law Library offers a library orientation to all graduate students. This orientation includes an introduction to the library and the services we offer, including inter-library loan and research support.

How do I request an inter-library loan?

If a book or journal article is available on the downtown campus, you are expected to get the book or article yourself. If the book or article is only available at the Scarborough or Mississauga campus libraries, we can request that the book or article be sent to us on your behalf (see us at the circulation desk).

If you have searched the U of T catalogue and cannot find the item you need you may request the item through the inter-library loan service, RACER. Users must register first before using RACER. See the RACER page for instructions.

If the matter is urgent, you may want to check the York University Library Catalogue (4700 Keele St.) or the Great Library Catalogue (130 Queens St. E., Osgoode Subway station) to see if either of those libraries has your item. You could then go to either library to read or photocopy your material yourself.

How do I photocopy and print?

Copying and printing is 10 cents per page. Our copier accepts T Cards. The copier is located on Level 02 of the Library near the Reading Room.  

Where do I get reference and research help?

The reference desk is staffed from Monday to Friday, 10 am to 4 pm. Do not hesitate to ask any of us questions at anytime.

We also encourage our law students to e-mail us with their questions. Please see our staff directory for a list of e-mail addresses for our staff.

Legal research training

The library staff is moving towards a model of offering computer and research training on a one-to-one basis since we find it is more effective and more meaningful if students approach us with their specific research questions. So, feel free to drop in to arrange a one-on-one meeting with one of our reference staff or simply e-mail one of us with your question or request(please see our staff directory).

We will be offering specific legal research training seminars for graduate students, including such topics as conducting effective journal literature searches. These customized training sessions will be advertised on the graduate law students e-mail listserv.

Where do I find legal research guides?

We have a number of online research guides, including tutorials available from the library's home page. In addition, we keep the leading textbooks on legal research and writing in short-term loan/course reserves at the circulation desk. These books can be signed out for a 3-hour in library loan period.

How do I find books and interdisciplinary  journal articles?

Use the online U of T catalogue to look for books and electronic journal articles. There is no separate catalogue for just the Bora Laskin Law Library; the catalogue shows the listings of all campus libraries.To locate books held by our library, choose "Law Library (Bora Laskin)" from the pull down menu below the search box.

How do I find law journal articles?

See the Bora Laskin Law Library Guide to Finding Law Journals and Journal Articles. You can use various online law-related journal indexes to find articles by keyword. You can then locate journal articles on the top floor. Check our database of journals to see if the print version is available in the library or if you can get an electronic version of the article.

How do I get LexisAdvance Quicklaw and WestlawNext Canada passwords?

Law students currently registered at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto are eligible for (free) passwords to Quicklaw/LexisNexis, WestlawNext Canada, for academic research.

Quicklaw/LexisNexis:

Registration information will be handed out at your graduate student orientation session.

WestlawNextCanada:

Passwords will be handed out in your Graduate Student orientation or you can drop by and ask anyone of the librarians for a password.  

University Research Resources

There are a large number of resources at the University and at the law school; e-books, e-journals, online journal indexes and online newspapers, for example,  that are available to students both on and off campus.

When accessing these resources from off campus it is ordinarily necessary to login through UofT's "my.access" service, using either your UTORid and password or your library card barcode and PIN via the library catalogue.

Wireless Access

"There are many wireless networks available on campus. The Help Desk provides support for 2 networks (UofTand eduroam).

The UofT wireless network supports wireless b, g and n and does not require a browser-based login each time you connect. For devices capable of wireless n, it is faster and has increased range. If you have problems setting up and/or connecting to this network, please contact us at 416-978-HELP (4357).

The eduroam network at UofT is intended for visiting scholars from other participating eduroam institutions. U of T faculty and students can log in to eduroam at other universities using their UofT credentials."  

Wireless set up information and  help is available at http://help.ic.utoronto.ca/content/20/704/en/wireless-access.html.

Wireless Printing

Instructions