Clicklaw Wikibooks

Clicklaw wikibooks feature a free, accessible online resource (the wiki version of the publication) that is also used to produce a printed book. Clicklaw wikibooks are an attempt to produce legal information in a way that is:

• highly accessible both online and in print
• accurate and up-to-date
• affordable to produce

Clicklaw wikibooks are an attempt to solve two central problems with publishing legal information:

• The law is changing all the time. It is very cumbersome and time consuming to keep a legal publication up-to-date using the traditional model – that is, updating a word processing or page layout file; emailing versions back and forth between author, editor and reviewer; sending a printable PDF off to the printer.
• Most legal publications are optimized for printing, and are not that easy to use online. The way most legal publications are produced is to format for printing, then create a PDF of the printed version, and put the PDF on the Internet. The resulting PDFs aren't easy to navigate around, to view on the screen, or to find for that matter.

Clicklaw wikibooks try to solve these problems:

• They can be updated over the Internet, by multiple contributors. The wiki platform has a great version history and comparison feature, and changes made are instantly available to readers.
• They offer a highly accessible, easy to use online experience. As the wiki version is powered by the open source software Mediawiki, the software that powers the hugely popular Wikipedia, it offers a familiar, easy to read experience for anyone who has used Wikipedia.
• They offer up an online and print version from the same source. The wiki platform can be used to generate a print version of a publication that is a professional, good quality bound publication.

Try out our Clicklaw wikibooks:

• Jpboyd.gif

  JP Boyd on Family Law, from JP Boyd and Courthouse Libraries BC

• 

  Legal Help for British Columbians, from Cliff Thorstenson and Courthouse Libraries BC

• Deathinyourfamilycover.png

  A Death in Your Family, from People's Law School