Author: Clicklaw Editor

Clicklaw Wikibook Author Cliff Thorstenson Visits the Merritt Public Library

New on Clicklaw, The broader context
Clicklaw Wikibook author Cliff Thorstenson and Merritt Branch Librarian Deborha Merrick
Clicklaw Wikibook author Cliff Thorstenson and Merritt Branch Librarian Deborha Merrick

Continuing the tradition of Clicklaw Wikibook authors visiting their local public libraries, Legal Help for British Columbians author Cliff Thorstenson recently visited the Merritt Branch of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District Library System. Local librarian Deborha Merrick told Cliff that she was pleased to add the latest edition of this very popular legal guide to her library’s legal information collection.

Written in plain language, the guide includes over 40 common legal problems faced by low income people, and outlines the first steps your client can take to address the problem. An annotated listing of over 60 referral resources is also included. The 2013 edition features updated information in family, welfare, employment insurance, and immigration law.

Cliff published the first edition of Legal Help for Rural British Columbians; A guide to help non-legal professionals make legal referrals for their clients in 2008. Recognizing that this guide would be a helpful addition to public library collections and training, the LawMatters program worked with Cliff and a team of volunteer editors to update the 2009, 2011 and 2013 editions. Since 2012, the guide has also been available in a wikibook format. This innovative format makes the online guide easy to search, easy to update by the author and editors, and easy for readers to download and print a recently updated version of a page, chapter, or the whole guide.

For readers who would like their own copy, both wikibooks Legal Help for British Columbians and JP Boyd on Family Law are now available as an e-pub for e-readers and mobile devices. Just look for the e-pub download information on the right hand side of the main page of each wikibook. We are planning to have an information page available soon that will explain how e-pubs work, and how they compare to a PDF version.

Tell us about your experience using Clicklaw!

How we can improve Clicklaw

 

pop up window for blog postWe want to make sure that Clicklaw is helping you find the legal information you need. Over the next few months, when you visit our site you’ll be invited to take this very short survey after your visit to Clicklaw. We want to learn more about who’s using Clicklaw, why people are coming to our site, and whether or not you can find the legal information you need. We also want to learn more about what works well on our site, and what challenges you may have had using Clicklaw.

For those who find some useful legal information on Clicklaw, we ask if we can send you a link to a short follow up survey a few weeks after your visit. The ideal is to give you time to read and digest the legal information found through Clicklaw. We want to see if it has helped you to better understand your legal issue, and if you were able to take next steps with your legal issue. When you complete the second survey, you will be invited to enter your name in a draw for a Kobo-Glo e-reader.

The surveys are very short and take only a few moments to complete. So we would really appreciate it if you could take a moment to provide your feedback! And if you refer friends or clients to the Clicklaw website, please encourage them to do the same. We’ll report back on what we learn, and use the information we gather to make improvements to Clicklaw.

Thank you!