For Law Students

This page sets out the services that the Bora Laskin Law Library provides to law students enrolled at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Law, including JD, LLM, SJD, NCA, transfer, exchange, and letter of permission students.

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 most campus libraries. TCards are issued to you during Orientation. 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.

NCA students can get their reader/limited access card from the Reader Registration Desk, Room 2054A, 2nd Floor, Robarts Library. Bring your admissions document, your offer letter and a valid photo ID. 

What are my borrowing privileges?

JD students may borrow items from our Stacks for two weeks; LLM and SJD students may borrow items from our Stacks for 3 months. Items in our Course Reserves and Short-Term Loan area may be borrowed for 3 hours. More information on borrowing privileges at U of T Libraries.

How much are library fines?

Regular loans

0.50/day per book

Short-term loans / Course reserves

0.50/hour

Recalled books

$2.00/day per book

Replacement charge

$145.00 

More information on library fines.

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 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, you will receive an email notification.

How do 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 the book is not held by the University of Toronto or is missing, U of T students can place an inter-library loan request through RACER.

If the matter is urgent, you may want to check the York University Library catalogue (4700 Keele St.) or the Great Library catalogue (130 Queen St. West, 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, print, and scan?

Copying 10 cents per page. Printing is 10 cents per page. A TCard is required to copy or print. Print jobs can be sent from library computers or from personal laptops. See below for instructions on how to set up wireless printing. Scanning to paper is 10 cents per page. We have two scanners and scanning to a USB key is free. Our copier/printer/scanner and book scanner are located on Level 2 near the washrooms.

Wireless Printing

Instructions on setting up wireless printing from your laptop. If you have problems with this, please stop by the IT Desk, which is located at the end of the Library Services desk at the entrance to the library.

Where do I get reference and research help?

The Reference desk is staffed from Monday to Friday, 10 am to 4 pm. The desk is located on Level 2 of the library to the left of the main doors as you walk in. 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 or email us at law.ref@utoronto.ca.

What legal research training do you offer?

There are numerous legal research training opportunities throughout your law school career at the University of Toronto, most notably the first-year Legal Research and Writing course. We also provide legal research training sessions in small group classes, to graduate student orientation, student journals, clinics, amongst many others.
 
We can also provide one-on-one training to students when they have specific questions. Students are therefore encouraged to drop in at anytime to arrange a one-one-one training session or simply e-mail one of the reference staff (please see our staff directory or email us at law.ref@utoronto.ca).

How do I get Lexis Advance Quicklaw and Westlaw Edge Canada passwords ?

Law students currently registered at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, are eligible for passwords to Lexis Advance Quicklaw and Westlaw Edge Canada for academic research. Passwords for first-year students are distributed in LRW. Passwords for graduate students are distributed in Orientation. If you are a transfer student, please ask at the Reference Desk or email us at law.ref@utoronto.ca

How do I connect to the wireless network?

There are many wireless networks available on campus. The Help Desk provides support for 2 networks (U of T and eduroam).

The U of T 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 stop by the IT Desk, which is located at the end of the Library Services desk at the entrance to the library.

The eduroam network at U of T 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 U of T credentials.

For more information about the wireless network and eduroam, see the Law IT help page.

Are there computers I can use in the library?

The library provides a number of desktop computers for use by students. They are located across from the Library Services Desk at the entrance to the library. You can log into the computers using your UTORid and the computers print to the main printer/copier/scanner located by the washrooms on Level 2.