Making the Connection in the Caribbean… to the Rest of the World

Lyonette Louis-Jacques University of Chicago Law Library ACURIL, San Juan, Puerto Rico, June 4, 2003

How to Make the Connection WebsitesDatabases Reference ToolsPeople Sources

Criteria for Deciding What to Connect to (or Whom!) Trustworthy? Well-organized? Useful content? Has or knows stuff you need? Convenient? Known/familiar? Updated regularly? Annotated? Evaluated? Aesthetically pleasing?

Websites: Start with Your Own or Make Your Own You know where things are in it You know what’s in it (who’s on your team) You know what its strengths are or what the game plan is You can trust it

Lyo’s Personal Page for International Legal Research

Bill Schwesig’s D’Angelo Law Library International Page

University of the West Indies Law Library

UWI’s CariLaw (Caribbean Law Project)

UWI’s QUICKLAW Subscription

UWI’s Legal Resources Links Page

Connect to the Best Information: Go Straight to the Source

Remember that Agencies Are on Your Team (Domestic, Foreign, and International) UK & U.S. United Nations Other Inter-Governmental Organizations (IGOs) Regional Organizations Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) Foreign Governments

Connect to Your Local Team (Local Government Agencies)

And Don’t Forget Your Foreign Team!

Precisa (Mexican government on the Net)

Legifrance (French laws)

HMSO (UK Legislation Page)

THOMAS (Access to U.S. bills and laws)

LC’s Global Legal Information Network (GLIN)

U.S. Dep’t of State: Country Reports, Trade, Commerce, and International Law

Canada’s DFAIT/AECI

Connect to IGO Websites: They’ve Got Everything; They’re the Best!

United Nations Treaty Collection

Really Current Status of Multilateral Treaties!

United Nations Documentation Centre

OAS’ Legal Information Search Page

OAS’ Foreign Trade Information System (SICE)

World Bank’s Law and Justice Page

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM)

EUR-Lex: European Union Law Webpage

The Universe of Legal Information Is in the Caribbean Right At Your Fingertips! (Miss Universe participants at Trinidad and Tobago)

If You’re Not Sure Where to Begin… Check to see what’s in your own library first Think globally, act locally…first

Presenting… Major Websites for Foreign and International Legal Research

Cornell’s Legal Information Institute: International Law in a Nutshell Cornell’s Legal Information Institute: International Law in a Nutshell Law about…(by topic/subject) Foreign Relations Law of the U.S. International Law International Trade Law by source or jurisdiction Recommended readings!

Cornell’s Legal Information Institute (LII)

LLRX.com (UK law guides and more)

LLRX.com’s Foreign Law Research Guides

LawLinks: Legal Information on the Internet

BAILII (British and Irish Legal Information Institute)

Inner Temple Library’s AccessToLaw Page

eagle-i (e-access to global legal information)

Treaties U.S. Marci Hoffman’s Guide Marci Hoffman’s Guide Other Stefanie Weigman’s Guide Stefanie Weigman’s Guide

ASIL’s E-Resource Guide for International Legal Researchers (and “Joe Public”) Direct links to treaty texts Human Rights International Economic Law Treaties International Commercial Arbitration, and more!

ASIL’ Guide to IL Research on the Net

NYU: Focus on Foreign Law Databases, and More! Annotated links to databases of primary law Evaluated, selected by Foreign Law Librarian Updated frequently On target contents Codes, legislation, treaties, constitutions

New York University’s FCIL Research Page

Harvard’s Research Guides

National Laws By Subject (Harvard)

Australian Treaties Library (Multilaterals from 1856)

The Avalon Project’s Major Collections

Online Databases LexisNexis Especially for Martindale-Hubbell International Law Digest, Matthew- Bender treatises, foreign law CariLaw QUICKLAW WESTLAW Especially for international tribunal decisions, UK law journals, Sweet & Maxwell publications, & int’l law journals

Online Public Access Catalogs (OPACs) Union catalogs Find foreign law Find treaties Verify information Tables of contents Browse call #s Links to e-articles

Standard Tools (Books) Reynolds & Flores PIL Nutshell CIA World Factbook Treaty indexes (TIF)TIF Martindale-Hubbell’s Law Digest The Bluebook Encyclopedia of Public International Law International Legal Materials (ILM)

Reynolds & Flores

Standard Tools (Cont’d) Restatement of the Law, The Foreign Relations of the United States Parry and Grant Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law International Law: Selected Documents Yearbook of the United Nations Matthew-Bender and Sweet & Maxwell Legal research guides

How to Stay Connected Read the basic international legal research guides Read international news sources (see Harvard’s page and the ASIL ERG (so you’re prepared for requests for hot documents in the news)Harvard’s pageASIL ERG Monitor listservs such as INT-LAW and EURO- LEX (where you can also ask for help) Attend conferences (see the IJLI “International Calendar” for dates) and get to know the foreign and international law specialists. Network!International Calendar Bookmark & try new links right away!

People Sources (Specialists in FCIL Research) Foreign Law Librarians Professors Documentalists/ IGO Librarians Lawyers

Libraries with Strong FCIL Collections in the Caribbean and Beyond University of the West Indies (UWI) Faculty of Law Library (Barbados) University of Puerto Rico Law Library U.S. libraries (Chicago, Columbia, Harvard, Berkeley, Tarlton (University of Texas at Austin), Los Angeles County Law Library, etc.) UK libraries (IALS, e.g.)

International Labor Organization: Caribbean Information Services

Caribbean Association of Law Libraries (CARALL)

The Archives of the INT-LAW List

How to Subscribe to INT-LAW Send an message to: With only the following text in the body: subscribe int-law

LIS-LAW (UK Law Librarians List)

How to subscribe to LIS-LAW Subscribe to LIS-LAW via: Or send to with only the following text in the body: subscribe lis-law Your Name

International Calendar for Legal Information Events

SEAALL (Southeastern Chapter, American Association of Law Libraries)

Checklist of Connections to Make Check websites… Check databases… Check standard tools.. Research guides OPACs Indexes Check people sources… IGOs, NGOs, embassies Listservs

Work It!

Question #1: Does the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation have a Web page? Yes, at (there is a link to it from the NAFTA Secretariat page) Secretariat Also NYU has a link from its International Environment Law page; ditto with the ASIL ERG for International Environmental LawInternational Environment Law ASIL ERG for International Environmental Law

Question #2: What does “RIDC” stand for? Revue internationale de droit comparé! (using Sarah Carter’s wonderful “LawLinks” page of abbreviations)LawLinks Alternative sources include searching in a full text journal articles database, searching in an online catalogue, or an Internet search engine such as Google

Question #3: Where can I find the text of the 1958 New York Convention? It’s old, but it’s on the Net! The ASIL ERG has a link to it. The Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards is also at the AustLII Treaties Library (ATS 1975 No. 25)ASIL ERGlinkATS 1975 No. 25 It also available via other official and unofficial sources such as UNCITRALand InternationalADRUNCITRAL InternationalADR

Question #4: Where can I find English and Spanish translations of French legal codes? From the French government’s Legifrance web at aduits/liste.htm See also Reynolds & Flores’ Foreign Law.

Question #5: Where can you find an English translation of the French Vienot Report on Corporate Governance? My current favorite Internet search engine, Google, is great for this type of question – a document with a popular name on a hot topic. Google The European Corporate Governance Network has a link to Vienot I and Vienot II in English from the Mouvement des Entreprises de France (MEDEF)European Corporate Governance NetworkMEDEF

Google Search Results for: “Vienot Report” English

See What a Little “Eksperyans” Can Do?

How to Stay Connected…Continued Attend workshops, seminars, and training courses (both substantive and bibliographic) Attend specialized database sessions Maintain a personal or institutional web page READ, READ, READ research guides and substantive international law articles Do you feel the burn?

You know you’re ready to move up to the next level when... You take less time to find the right anwers Someone asks a question on a listserv and you know you can answer that You no longer feel the burn…

Touchdown! You’re Connected to the World!

FIN

We’re done! See y’all on the Net!