Legal Studies

This page provides tips and resources for your research assignment in LEGL 420. For additional support, you can schedule an appointment with your subject librarian, Martina King.

General Tips:

• Use the Library Search box on our homepage.
• Search for: "intellectual property" [subtopic] or copyright [subtopic] or ("fair dealing" OR "fair use") [subtopic]
  • Example:
    • "intellectual property" cannabis
    • copyright parody
    • copyright "moral rights"
    • ("fair dealing" OR "fair use") YouTube
• To find physical books in MacEwan's collections: limit Locations to John L. Haar Library

Subtopic Help:

• Use the Library Search box on our homepage.
• Start your search very broad
  • Example:
    • Copyright
    • Intellectual Property
• Look for the "Subjects" box on the left side of your results list
• Browse the list of subjects in the list to find subtopics of interest to you.
  • clicking on a subject will limit your results to items on that subtopic
  • The image below shows the subject box after searching "intellectual property"

Browse Journals Feature:

• On the library's homepage, locate the Browse Journals Button under the search bar
• Use the Ejournals box to start your search.
• Search for: a specific journal title
  • Examples:
    • "Journal of Intellectual Property Law"
    • "Intellectual Property: Patent Law"
• Search for: journal titles containing relevant terms
  • ​Examples:
    • ​intellectual property
    • patents
    • copyright

Journal Ranking Sites:

• There are a few sties that use varying criteria to rank journals in a specific field. These can be helpful in finding popular or highly-revered journals. NOTE: Because ranking systems are so varied, always evaluate the articles you want to use for credibility and quality.
  • Examples:
    • Google Scholar Top Publications - Law
    • Scimago Institutions Rankings - Law

• Copyright Act, RSC 1985 c. C-42: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-42/index.html
• Patent Act, RSC 1985 c. P-4: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/P-4/index.html
• Trademarks Act, RDC 1985 c. T-13: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/T-13/index.html
• Industrial Design Act, RDC 1985 c. I-9: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/i-9/index.html

Additional legislation can be found through Justice Laws and CanLII

As MacEwan students, you have access to all of our library's databases and our physical collection of materials, but you also have access to many other libraries! While access can be limited, it can still be possible to borrow articles and books from other libraries. Make sure you take into account that this process does take time, so leave a few days for items to reach you.

Books

To borrow books from other libraries, you can use our standard search bar on the home page of the library website. Any physical book with a status "Available at a partner library" can be borrowed. Simply log in to place a hold and have it send to our library John L. Haar. An email will be sent to your mymacewan email address when the book is ready to be picked up.

Articles

Sometimes articles that appear in your search results are not available thorough any of our databases.

To double check that we don't have access:

• Click the "Find It" button first. 
• If you land on a page that doesn't provide you with access (as shown below), you can request the article using the "Request Item" link on that page or by logging into our Interlibrary Loans Request Page

Citation management tools can help you keep track of your sources for assignments. Both options listed below link with Word to create your in-text citations and a reference list. The Library provides support for Zotero and we have additional resources on our Zotero Help page. There are many helpful tutorial videos on YouTube to get you started with both these tools as well.