Alberta Law Libraries - Access to Legal Information for all Albertans

By: Alberta Law Libraries

Alberta Law Libraries (ALL) is a provincial network of libraries that provide support and information services to all Albertans. The libraries, located in ten Alberta courthouses, help Law Society of Alberta members, the judiciary, self-represented litigants and the public find appropriate legal resources in print, online, or as referrals to other organizations.

Library staff at each location can help individuals locate the materials they need to understand their legal issues. We receive daily inquiries from the public through Ask a Law Librarian, email or in person. On average, we answered 300-400 questions a week from members of the public in 2021-22, which increased to 500+ a week in the second quarter of 2022. We are expecting numbers to continue to rise as the COVID situation improves.

We can:

• direct clients to sources of law, including statutes and cases
• refer clients to books containing forms and court rules
• suggest search strategies for the catalogue, databases or the internet
• refer clients to sources of information outside the libraries
• refer clients to other agencies that can help with their legal issue

Alberta Law Libraries subscribes to a selection of online legal research resources that support provincial, federal and international legal research. Our resources, accessible from the ALL webpage, include Research Guides and Navigating Legal Information help. Anyone can use our computers to access online legal information not available for free on the internet as well as to fill out court forms and print or email them. NEW to Alberta Law Libraries, Albertans can now access a few of our paying databases remotely. This includes temporary access to Westlaw, VLex Justis books, Emond’s Criminal Law Series and Rangefindr. The library can help set up the registrations and navigate the materials.