Project Indexers ready for the task of adding cases to CariLaw
Over 5000 judgments produced from courts around the region last year will soon be added to the 36,000 plus records currently in the Caribbean Law Online (CariLaw) database with funding from the Government of Canada.
Five attorneys started their training as CariLaw Project Indexers, under the tutelage of staff from Improved Access to Justice in the Caribbean (IMPACT Justice) project, as they prepare for the task of editing and adding the outstanding judgments to the online database.
Professor Velma Newton, regional project director, IMPACT Justice, noted that this training is one of the initial activities in the six month CariLaw database expansion and upgrade programme which the Project is overseeing.
“As these trainees already operate within the legal profession, they are ideal candidates for legal indexing. This training supplements their knowledge and prepares them for the task of assisting the Faculty of Law Library in providing speedy access to recent court decisions,” she said.
“This programme is about improving access to legal information for those in the legal profession and other researchers with an interest in the law.”
The training sessions focus on law reporting, the basics of how to select catchwords and the preparation of legal headnotes. It also includes practical exercises where the participants are required to index cases from a Court of Appeal collection.
By April, the 3,062 CariLaw subscribers will be able to access 41,000 plus case judgments specific to the Caribbean.
During the second phase of the CariLaw project, Canadian based archival software company, Andornot, will revamp the design of the CariLaw website.
“Since its establishment in 2003, changes have been made to the original CariLaw website design. It is now in need of an overhaul to make the site more user-friendly and boost the search engine’s speed and cross-referencing capabilities,” Newton explained. “This scope of work is scheduled to begin in February.”
