8. Libraries
 

Advice for law library staff from one member of a focus group:

Given that law students are required to spend an inordinate amount of time conducting case research and completing assignments that require reference to readings held on reserve, they can expect to spend countless hours in the law library. Two important factors for students with disabilities to consider with regard to library use are the physical accessibility of the building and materials, and the availability of materials in alternate format. Inadequate attention to either of these factors can have an adverse effect on a student’s academic performance and further exacerbate disadvantage.

Many law libraries are housed in quaint old edifices or in badly designed new buildings. Even when modified, they may not be entirely equipped for easy access. In addition, materials may be stored in locations (such as basements) that do not facilitate access for those with mobility or visual impairments. Commonly, materials may be stored on high shelves or in narrow stacks. Some libraries have elevators and doors that need keys, or students may be required to buzz for staff assistance. For example, a respondent reported that at one law library in Eastern Canada, wheelchair access after six p.m. is attainable only with an advance phone call. (Prior to six p.m., it is accessible through an adjacent building). For the student who must spend time in the library after class in the evening, this is obviously inconvenient and problematic. A respondent observed that access to the upper floor of one law school library in Ontario would be much enhanced if students with mobility disabilities were entrusted with a key enabling them to take the elevator to the upper floor without assistance. (Taking the elevator to the top floor necessitates use of a key, because this transfer between floors would bypass the security desk.)

Reserve materials can pose a problem. Reserve materials are generally those in high demand, usually as required course readings. Most reserve materials can be signed out by a student for a limited time (two hours at the University of Ottawa law library, for example). By special arrangement at different law faculties, students with special needs may be permitted to remove these materials for extended periods to have them photocopied, or perhaps will have access to a service through which library staff or others do regular size or enlarged photocopying for the student.

Officially at some universities, all members of library staff are "expected to assume a positive attitude and offer assistance without hesitation", as is prescribed in the University of Ottawa Policy Statement on Access and Equity in Education for Students with Disabilities. Most survey respondents reported that library staff are normally very accommodating and will readily help to locate, retrieve and photocopy materials and provide reference assistance. But if the appropriate aid is not forthcoming when needed, it can be frustrating. In many situations and places, special staff assistance is available only with advance notice. Unlike the majority of law students, those with disabilities cannot always expect to receive on demand the individual’s required level and type of accommodated assistance.

Many law library catalogues and periodical indexes can be accessed via the Internet by registered users, which enables students to conduct research from home.

The use of certain adaptive technologies, however, may not be permitted for use inside the library. One survey respondent who has a learning disability noted that he was not permitted to use his voice dictation system while in the library, presumably because it might disturb other students. The lack of library materials in alternative format (audiotape, large print, Braille) is also a problem. While required course reading materials may be translated into alternate format with relative ease (given sufficient time), not so for most library materials. As a result, information for assignments and papers could be critically limited, with the result, for example, that an essay cannot be adequately researched (with a resultant impact on the student’s mark). As many law courses require students to submit at least one major research paper that may comprise most or all of a course grade (in addition to smaller required research papers), this is a serious potential concern.

One student respondent to our survey recommended that a law library staff member should be specifically designated to provide services for users who have disabilities.

Most libraries offer adaptive equipment for student use (such as computers, print enlargers, and dictating systems). To benefit from these, students must usually register first with the Special Needs Office/Disability Services Office. Often, availability of equipment will exceed demand.

An increasing proportion of legal research is done online and law school libraries now tend to have a computer room set aside for student use. The entrance, aisles and other features may not be properly accessible, however. One student suggested that some of the desks/tables should be electronically adjustable, so that they could be rasied to adapt to wheelchair height. Library managers and university computer services specialists do not always seem to pay attention to whether the collection of software available on these computers is compatible for students with varying disabilities.

Online legal research database services, notably Quicklaw and Westlaw, give students a cost exemption and provide some accommodations, such as Quicklaw for DOS. The problem is that there is no additional exemption for students with disabilities. One focus group student had been cut off while using a database. The database service did not allow for the fact that some students need to take more time using it. Only two hours per session was free of charge to a student.

Part 6.5 mentioned a few sources through which students and instructors can learn a great deal about optional technologies for gaining access to printed and online materials. Central adaptive technology "laboratories" or rooms (some better equipped than others) are provided on all university campuses, often administered by library personnel. The law school’s own library may also offer adaptive technology services on the law faculty premises. Such is the situation, for instance, at Queen’s University. A central Adaptive Technology Lab is operated by the Special Readers’ Programme in one of the central libraries. The law library also administers access to some adaptive technologies in the law building.

In Chapter 12 of the current Guide, part 12.9.2, which is titled "Access to Libraries, Technical Centres and Adaptive Technologies", notes details of many kinds of adaptive technologies and services available for library users at Québec universities. Similar amenities are available at law schools and universities elsewhere in Canada, so it is worthwhile for students in other provinces to review that segment of the chapter on Québec.

In the mid-1990’s, a few law students at the University of Ottawa inaugurated the Online Library Information System (OLLIS). This was available on the website of the University of Ottawa Law School. Law book publishers cooperated by providing publications in electronic form. Students needed a password to gain access. In 1999 administration of OLLIS was transferred to the Centre for Special Services of the University of Ottawa. Any student or other person with medical proof of a print disability may obtain a password and gain Internet access (free of charge) to this database of textbooks, casebooks, and other materials. OLLIS users who have the correct technology on their computers can directly access data compatible for Braiile, large print or voice access formats. Law book publishers as well as several law schools provide materials to OLLIS on a regular basis. For more information, visit the website at http://ollis.uottawa.ca.

A number of law schools and universities have established their own cooperative arrangements with law publishers to assist students at their law faculties. Whether this involves the student buying an electronic version of a book, or someone scanning the print version, this sort of service involves considerable work. All erroneous computer and style codes and odd symbols must be "stripped out" of the electronic document, in order to make the text reasonably usable in alternate formats. In situations that the writer is aware of, this time consuming task has been done by support staff of the law school or by staff of the university’s adaptive technology centre. For OLLIS, this work is carried out by staff of the University of Ottawa’s Centre for Special Services.

The following recollections and recommendations by law students and lawyers with disabilities were gathered from surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions across Canada in 1999-2000.

"In a library, it is sometimes tough for the staff to move one book at a time off the shelf for a student with a disability to examine, so that the kind of browsing that other students can do is not available."

"One difficulty is the excessive security consciousness of librarians. Even taking books out to scan them in a room just off the library was considered to be a big deal."

"Although a central library may offer assistance such as scanning, they may have a quota for the amount of help they can give the student. This quota may not allow enough time for reformatting the text and editing out errors created by the scanning process."

One student reports that there is a special programme at her faculty that identifies her as someone whom library staff are supposed to assist. None has ever offered to do so in her two years at the law school.

"An important accommodation that a law library can provide is a service that does the photocopying for the student with special needs."

One thing that can really benefit a student with a severe visual disability is having space in or near the library to house a scanner and a computer. At Dalhousie Law School, one student said he was provided with a table next to the audio-visual room and this facilitated things for him considerably. (Reserved library spaces are also made available to students with a disability by the University of Ottawa Common Law Section, and no doubt by other law schools as well.)

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