University of Alberta Edmonton, Canada 10 January 1997

Dispensing justice information on the Web

U of A site considered by many to be the definitive source for Canadian law and justice information on the internet

By Michael Robb

Scott McLennan is an RCMP officer in a small community in British Columbia. He doesn't always have access to the latest rulings and journals dealing with justice issues. However, he has found a new source of information he values a great deal: Access to Justice Net, a U of A web site for Canadian justice and legal information and services.

"Great site you have going. This helps me get the latest rulings, since we may not deal with some of the issues all the time," he says. And from Melissa Green in Alaska: "I find your site to be remarkably good; I have used it frequently and continue to use it to locate Canadian sources of justice and information for the Justice Centre Web Site."

Green and McLennan are two of over 7,000 every day who use the site, operated and maintained by the Legal Studies Program in the Faculty of Extension. And late last year, the site had had over one million "hits". People from over 40 countries have used the site so far. It's no accident. The site's popularity can be attributed to one reason: it's useful.

"If you build a site with information people need, they'll use it," says San San Sy, the ACJNet national facilitator. "It's mission is to be the one-stop Canadian virtual place for Canadian justice and legal information. It's really bigger than the sum of its parts."

The site opens doors to legislation, people and organizations, publications, databases and discussion forums on justice and legal issues. The resources are organized under subject headings such as aboriginal issues, crime prevention, plain language, women and youth. A calendar of events across Canada is also maintained.

During the development of ACJNet, its developers kept two things in mind: the quality of the information must be top-notch and, second, its development must be consistent with the Faculty's commitment to providing solid legal information in terms people can understand.

During the early '90s, a small feasibility study was conducted to determine whether this kind of site would be possible. The Federal Government realized that the Legal Studies Program was a leader in providing public legal education to people in Canada, explains Sy. The Federal Department of Justice contracts the Legal Studies Program to maintain the site.

"ACJNet is expanding as we take advantage of new technology and developments on the internet," says Sy. "The access to justice community has come a long way in only a few years. Before ACJNet we used to get most of our information from books and papers and we used to communicate with mail and telephone, and more recently courier and fax. ACJNet then gave us text-based electronic conferences, electronic documents, e-mail and databases. Now, thanks to the world wide web, we can use developments such as a graphic interface and hypertext links to make our communication much richer and our quest for information more successful."

What's behind it all, Sy reminds us, is people's desire to get legal information.

The world wide web site is at: http://www.acjnet.org/acjnet/

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