Webinar on e-resources held at UILS

Chandigarh: University Institute of Legal Studies, Panjab University conducted a Webinar on the topic E-Resources for Legal Research for the law students,  today. Prof. Raj Kumar, Vice Chancellor,  in his address,  said that with the advent of the Web and the proliferation of electronic information, law librarians are more frequently confronted with questions from their administrators and patrons on the present and future value of the printed book and moreover, the current pandemic situation has also compelled us to look towards e-resources for continuous learning and research. He complemented the law faculty for making mark in the latest National Indian Ranking Framework (NIRF) Ranking – 2020 and congratulated the organizing team of webinar for advancing the concept of research through e-resources.
The keynote speaker for the session, Dr. Neeraj Kumar Singh, Deputy Librarian, Panjab University said that the information support is of great importance in every profession and legal profession is no exception. The legal information is vital because law depends primarily on its flow. There are different kinds of resources in law and legal research for example, case law, acts, ordinance, rules/regulations, notifications, circulars, parliamentary debates, commentaries, speeches, videos-audios, research articles, legal news, book reviews, legal forms, parliamentary bills, treaties, trade notices and press releases, etc. and it is vital to know which type of legal resources is required by the law students and legal community. The lecture also focused on the various e-resources available in the field of legal research. An overview of e-resources subscribed by the A.C. Joshi Library specifically in the field of law was provided to the participants. Further, Dr. Neeraj said that, the open access legal information system gives us an opportunity to access the contents through World Wide Web (www). Open-access resources are available free of cost on the internet. Dr. Neeraj also devolved upon where and how legal researchers can find as much relevant information as possible when they mostly rely on open-access sources.  The lecture focused on free full-text access to legal resources and a live demo of various open access databases was provided to the students for searching free online books, free online journals, e-theses and dissertations, and other useful information in the field of legal research.
Earlier, Prof. Rajinder Kaur, Director, UILS in her address said that law and legal research are strongest pillars of democracy. We are in the era where society is facing the challenges of Covid-19 and through the digital platform and use of e-resources the impetus can be given to legal research and learning.
The event was coordinated by Shourya Mehra, Omesh Garg, Divya Singla and Ketan Garg, law students of UILS.