Clicklaw Training Presentation

Clicklaw presentation with sample notes and tips

This is an outline for trainers/presenters who want to give a presentation on Clicklaw. It provides you with notes, tips and examples that you can adapt for your audience. DRAFT May 2014

Presentation objectives

By the end of the presentation, participants will be able to describe different ways to search for legal info and help on Clicklaw and HelpMap. Know how to contact Clicklaw with any feedback/questions

Clicklaw & HelpMap

http://www.clicklaw.bc.ca Website that provides access to hundreds of public legal education and information resources in BC. Contributor model – PLEI producers collaborated on the concept development for the site, and provide information about their own resources on the site. Why it’s a good place to start – trusted, current content, kept up to date by contributors and Clicklaw editors.

Tip: Highlight examples of contributors that resonate with audience

Examples:

5 ways to search for legal information using Clicklaw

1. Keyword search
2. By topic
3. Using the common questions
4. By language
5. By location (on the HelpMap)

Acknowledge that everyone is different, people have different search preferences for online information.

Tip: Before your presentation, test out some examples that resonate with your audience. If you’re not seeing the search results that you’d expect during your test, contact editor@clicklaw.bc.ca and we can work together to improve the findability of the resources for your example.

Examples:

Keyword search

• Searches the resource details page (not the actual resource – we’re good, but we’re not that good… yet.)
• Good if you already have a particular term in mind

Browsing by topic

• Taxonomy/terminology developed collaboratively by contributors
• Language that the public would use to describe their legal issue, rather than language that lawyers would use
• Select a topic, and you can further narrow your search using sub-topics
• Ability to select more than one topic

Common questions

• From home page, or from search results teaser
• Resonates with many users – provides a very brief overview of the legal topic, and suggests good starting points. Helps to knit together the resources produced by multiple contributors, and provide a pathway to the information.
• Remind your audience that we welcome suggestions for more common questions – if there’s a question you get all the time, let us know!

By language

• Many PLEI resources and some services are available in other languages.
• Access the languages via the header, filter on the search results page, or in the resource/service description
• Resource description page provides direct link to material in other language
• Includes a link to English version too so you can review the information you’re giving to your client.

By location

• For the HelpMap service, you can see what’s available in a particular community.
• Especially useful if you’re helping a client from another community
• Also good to see what’s in your own community

How to contact us

If something’s missing, let us know! Contact us on the website.

Recap Trusted, current legal information and services that you can find through Clicklaw. Information is maintained by contributor organizations and Clicklaw editorial team.

Clicklaw Wikibooks

[link to clicklaw wikibooks about page?] Clicklaw Wikibooks are collaboratively developed, plain language legal publications that are wiki-born and can also be printed. Built on the same platform as Wikipedia Contributors are vetted – you can’t just go in and change the content (need to be part of the Clicklaw Wikibook contributor community). Content is digital – all content can be searched (improvement on Clicklaw content as just the detail listing can be searched – not the external content). Single digital source is the base for the print/ebook formats. As the information on the wikiplatform changes, the pdf/ebook versions are automatically updated every 2 hours, so you’re getting the most current version. Makes it easy to have multiple formats from a single digital source.

LawMatters

Every single public library in BC has a legal collection, developed with assistance from Courthouse Libraries BC. Each collection is unique, based on community needs. They include print copies of many (all?) of the Clicklaw Wikibook titles.

Examples of books in your local public library Other ways LawMatters supports communities – training for public librarians, community forums, etc.

Courthouse Libraries BC services

At locations, services include:

• Public access computers
• Access to subscription databases that are free
• Access to collection – public can use during hours that we’re open (but can’t borrow…)

Our goal is to get you started in a good direction and help you use tools and our collection to find legal information that will help you with your legal issue.

Wrap up Now you can

• Describe different ways to search for legal info and help on Clicklaw and HelpMap
• Know how to contact Clicklaw with feedback/comments.

Tip: One way to do this is by asking people to tell you what they’ve learned. Who can name one way to search for legal information on Clicklaw?

Tip: Invite questions and feedback – if you can’t find the answer or don’t know the answer, just say that and ask if we can follow up with them.