Reference Sources
Legal encyclopedias contain narrative summaries of the law supported by references to case law and statutes. They are often the best place to start to gain a general understanding of the law in a particular area.
There are two main legal encyclopedias in law: the Canadian Encyclopedic Digest (CED) and Halsbury's Laws of Canada (Halsbury's). CED covers federal, western, and Ontario jurisdictions, and Halsbury's covers all provincial and federal jurisdictions. Both are available in print in the Law Library in the reference section on the first floor.
Electronically, CED is available in WestlawNext Canada, while Halsbury's is available in Lexis Advance Quicklaw.
Canadian Encyclopedic Digest
In print and electronically, the CED has Internet Law titles available (title 88 in vol 34 in print).
Please make sure you check the currency of these titles in WestlawNext Canada, as some of the CED titles can be years out of date.
Halsbury's Laws of Canada
Both in print and electronically, there is a Technology and Internet title available. The title code for the volume is HTE.
Please check the currency of these titles. This resource provides information from each province in Canada, as well as federally.
Journal Articles & Databases
If you already know the journal title, year, volume number and page number for an article, you may be able to access it electronically by searching for the journal's title in the UNB e-journals database. If we have the journal electronically or in print, it will be listed. You can also look up the journal title in UNB WorldCat.
Keep in mind that it can be best to start with an index rather than a full-text journal search. An index is a systematic listing of journal articles by topic. A few indexes in law are listed below, followed by key legal databases.
Law Databases:
- Index to Canadian Legal Literature (via WestlawNext Canada and Lexis Advance Quicklaw for UNB Law students and faculty)
- Index to Canadian Legal Literature (via campus-wide version of Quicklaw for UNB non-law and STU students: type "Index to Canadian Legal Literature" in search box and add as a search filter)
- Index to Legal Periodicals & Books Full Text
- Index to Legal Periodicals Retrospective
- LegalTrac
- Lexis Advance Quicklaw (UNB Law faculty and students only)
- WestlawNext Canada (UNB Law faculty and students only)
- HeinOnline
There are other indexes available in print and electronically, as well as more full-text journal databases. Contact a law librarian for assistance.
Books
To search for books at UNB Libraries, use UNB WorldCat, the library's catalogue. UNB WorldCat contains records of materials held at all of UNB's libraries (including UNB Saint John).

Items shown as LAW-RESERVE may be requested at the circulation desk on the first floor of the Law Library. Items shown as LAW-STACKS are on the second floor, and LAW-REF materials are on the first floor in the reference section.
The following books may be useful in your research:
- Cybercrime in Canadian Criminal Law (LAW-RESERVE KF390.5 .C6 S69 2015)
- International Guide to Cyber Security (LAW-STACKS TK5105.59 .I58 2004)
- Virtual Economies and Financial Crime: Money Laundering in Cyberspace (LAW-STACKS K564 .C6 C415 2012)
- Cyber Security: Law and Practice (LAW-STACKS KF2765 .C93 2017)
- Principles of Cybercrime (LAW-STACKS: KF390.5 .C6 C56 2010)
- New Perspectives on Cybercrime (LAW-STACKS HV6773 .N49 2017)
- Sookman Computer, Internet, and Electronic Commerce Law (LAW-RESERVE KF390.5 .C6 S66 1989; 4 vols)
Cases & Legislation
Key Resources
The following databases and websites provide access to federal and provincial cases and legislation.
- Lexis Advance Quicklaw (law students only)
- Quicklaw (campus-wide version for UNB non-law and STU students and faculty)
- WestlawNext Canada (law students only)
- CanLII
- Justice Laws (Government of Canada federal legislation)
- New Brunswick Legislation (Attorney General)
Statutes
Search the databases above for applicable legislation.
Cases and Decisions
Along with searching the databases above, one can use other products to find case law:
- Canadian Abridgment Digests
A digest service that indexes cases by subject. This is an extremely useful resource. There are Information Technology volumes in print (vol 54) and electronically in WestlawNext Canada (UNB Law students and faculty only). Be sure to also check the Criminal Law volume electronically and in print (vols 28A–28D6).
- Canada Digest
A digest service similar to the Canadian Abridgment. Useful titles include Canada Information Technology Digest and Canada Criminal Digest. It is available electronically through Quicklaw (campus-wide version available to all UNB and STU students and faculty) and Lexis Advance Quicklaw (UNB Law students and faculty only).
- Case Reporters
If you wish to browse the print reporters, there are topical law reports on the second floor. Note: much of this content is retrospective. For current cases/decisions, please use electronic databases (i.e.: WestlawNext Canada, Lexis Advance Quicklaw) when available.
Government Documents
Government departments and agencies publish a great deal of important law-related information. The Law Library's collection of printed government documents is located on the library's third floor. Use UNB WorldCat to search, or ask a library staff member for help.
The Harriet Irving Library also has government documents, which can be located through UNB WorldCat.
For government documents that are available online, try using UNB Libraries' Google Custom Search.
Note: if you include site:gc.ca and filetype:pdf in a Google search, you will retrieve PDF documents from Government of Canada websites. This is a good way to find government reports, as they are usually in PDF format.
The following sites might be useful:
- Government of Canada Publications Search
Federal search engine for government publications.
- Canadian Centre for Cyber Security
The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre) is Canada's authority on cyber security. Site includes alerts and advisories, reports and publications, glossary, a learning and innovation hub, and more.
- Statistics Canada: Cyber Security and Cybercrime in Canada, 2017
Data from the 2017 Canadian Survey of Cyber Security and Cybercrime. The series of graphs show statistics on cyber security measures and the impact of cybercrime on Canadian businesses in 23 sectors.
Websites & Blogs
The following websites may be helpful for your research:
There are many blogs maintained by lawyers and law firms, and you can find many of them at lawblogs.ca. There are several blogs listed in the Internet, Technology, and Criminal categories that may be helpful.
More Information More Information
- Nikki Tanner (Profile)
- Reference/Instruction Librarian
- UNB Fredericton
- Nikki.Tanner@unb.ca