Goal
The Law Society of Upper Canada’s Great Library provides access to legal information to support legal research essential to the competent practice of law in Ontario. We select and provide access to a diverse range of current and historical resources to fulfill our role as a leading practitioner’s library for the Law Society’s members.

Scope
The collection consists of in-depth holdings of Canadian primary and secondary materials. It is supplemented with resources from other common law jurisdictions and a small selection of foreign and international law resources.

Selection Criteria
The Great Library’s collection supports the general practice areas and information needs of Law Society members. Materials will be acquired based on a variety of criteria, including:

• Use
  • Volume of usage;
  • Ease of use
• Relevance
  • Practice-orientation
  • Areas of law that are new or rapidly changing, or where there is a scarcity of materials, are given special consideration
• Persuasiveness
  • Authority or reputation of source
  • Persuasiveness or citation in Canadian legal system
• Currency
  • When originally published
  • How frequently updated
• Cost
  • Acquisition, maintenance, and renewal
  • Indirect costs
• Format
  • Duplication in same or different formats
  • Licensing conditions
  • Ability of Law Society members to access
  • Durability of physical materials and longevity of access to electronic materials
    

Legal theory, legal history, and scholarly materials will be collected only to address emerging law or other legal areas that receive scarce coverage.

Format and Retention
The Great Library provides access to information in the formats most likely to meet member needs. When materials are available in both print and electronic formats, the decision to select one or both formats will depend, among other things, on cost, usage, and preservation. Electronic "born digital" resources will be kept in their original, electronic format unless they are to be preserved permanently.

Canadian Legislation

• Canadian statutes, regulations, and Gazettes will be acquired and retained in print.
• Electronic licences to Canadian legislation will be maintained for as comprehensive coverage as possible.
  

Canadian Law Reports

• Two copies of the Ontario Reports, Supreme Court Reports, Federal Court Reports, and one copy of a selection of Federal and Provincial law reports will be acquired and retained in print.
• Selected topical law reports will be acquired in print.
• Electronic licences to Canadian reported and unreported decisions will be maintained for as comprehensive coverage as possible.

Canadian Secondary Materials

• Federal, Ontario, and national texts, including forms and precedents, will be acquired in print and retained in most cases. Other provincial materials will be acquired in print on a selective basis.
• Canadian law journals will be acquired and retained in print.
• Duplicate print copies will be acquired selectively, especially when resources have already been acquired in both print and electronic formats. In most cases, only one copy of superseded editions will be retained.
• Electronic licences to Canadian secondary resources and tools will be maintained to complement the print collection.

United States Legislation and Law Reports

• Access to U.S. reported and unreported decisions and legislation will be provided in electronic formats only.

Commonwealth Legislation

• Major United Kingdom legislative sets, including finding aids and consolidations, will be acquired and retained in print. Access to Commonwealth legislation will be provided in electronic formats only.
• Electronic licences to Commonwealth legislation will be maintained for as comprehensive coverage as possible.

Commonwealth Law Reports

• Major Commonwealth law reports will be acquired in print where electronic access is unavailable or cost-prohibitive.
• Electronic licenses to reported and unreported Commonwealth decisions will be maintained for as comprehensive coverage as possible.

Commonwealth Secondary Materials

• Select texts from Commonwealth jurisdictions will be acquired and retained in print.
• Law journals will be primarily collected in electronic formats.

Foreign and International Materials

• A selective, small collection of current foreign legal materials will be acquired.
• International law materials will be acquired and retained on a selective basis.

Resource Sharing
The Law Society of Upper Canada participates in a national resource sharing agreement with the other provincial and territorial law society libraries. The Great Library works closely with Ontario’s law association libraries, providing expertise and research assistance, and lending materials through those libraries to Law Society members around the province. The print and electronic collections of our partners will be considered during selection and weeding of the Great Library’s collection, as will the Great Library’s role as an archival resource to Ontario’s law association libraries.

Donations
Donations will be accepted so long as they are unrestricted and fit within the parameters of this collection development policy and other applicable Law Society policies. The Great Library retains the right to discard donated items.