Improve your results with search tips from HeinOnline and CanLII

How to search the catalog

Tip of the Week: How to Search the Catalog

HeinOnline has a large collection with multiple ways of searching so it can sometimes be difficult to know if your search is getting the results you are looking for. This tip explains how users can search the actual catalog records for a thorough result. Searching the catalog is a little different that doing a broad search as it uses the Machine Readable Coding used to identify each item.

Check the tip to see simple one-box search methods, or dive deeper into advanced searches. You can even take a look at the Catalog Subjects tool to browse through subject headings.

A guide to using search filters on CanLII

CanLII Pro Tip: A Guide to Using Search Filters on CanLII

CanLII is another resource with a large database. Typing in a simple keyword or phrase can bring up thousands of results. One method to narrow that down is to use filters. This tip gives a great overview of how to limit results for cases, legislation, and commentary by using filters like jurisdiction, dates, and subjects.

Still can’t find what you are looking for? Email us at library@lawsociety.mb.ca and we can help you with using these resources or track down what you’re looking for.

Adding Foreign Content to your Legal Research

When should you consider reviewing decisions from foreign jurisdictions when conducting legal research? Does it depend on the issue – is it so localized that only Manitoba decisions will be persuasive? Or is it national in scope, so looking at other Canadian jurisdictions is helpful? Or, do you need to go even further, to international common law jurisdictions?

The authors of A Global Community of Courts? Modelling the Use of Persuasive Authority as a Complex Network examined the contents of the vLex database (available to you behind the Members Portal) “to quantify the flow of jurisprudence across the countries in our corpus and to explore the factors that may influence a judge’s selection of foreign jurisprudence.”

If judges are looking at it, shouldn’t you? Our subscription to vLex includes Canadian, U.S. and U.K. decisions. If you need help using it, review our guide or view the introductory webinar available after signing in to the members portal.

There is a growing discussion in the legal literature of an emerging global community of courts composed of a network of increasing judicial dialogue across national borders. We investigate the use of foreign persuasive authority in common law countries by analyzing the network of citations to case law in a corpus of over 1.5 million judgments given by the senior courts of twenty-six common law countries.

A Global Community of Courts? Modelling the Use of Persuasive Authority as a Complex Network

Tracking down Court Records

Court records or docket information aren’t always the easiest things to find. When you do find them it can be another step trying to access them. Then it gets even harder when you are dealing with other provinces and jurisdictions.

Luckily there is a great resource from the University of Windsor Paul Martin Law Library to help navigate court systems Canada wide. Click below to take a look.

Canadian Court Records/Dockets

The table has information from all provinces and territories, as well as the Supreme court and Federal Courts. Here, you can find information like decisions, dockets, registries, policies, and fees.

This helpful table was put together by Sarah Richmond and with help from CALL/ACBD members across Canada.

Library Reopening

With the decrease in COVID-19 cases and low test positivity rate, the library will be opening in a fuller capacity starting July 20th.

Our hours are Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The doors will be open and no you will no longer need to call for access. There will be no after-hours access at this time however.

Attendees will be asked to check in at the front desk to provide their name and contact information for contact tracing.

Anyone using the library will still be required to wear masks when in shared workspaces. We’re looking forward to welcoming more of you back soon.

Manitoba Legal Blog Round-Up

A collected list of legal blog posts from around the Manitoba legal community during May and June.

Clarke Immigration Law

Matthew Gould Blog (Criminal Law)

MLT Aikins

Pitblado Law Blog

Robson Crim Legal Blog

Taylor McCaffrey

TDS law

Together a collaborative family law blog

The library will be remote-access only the morning of Thursday, June 5th 2025.  Regular library service and access will resume in the afternoon at 1 p.m.