For the Love of Indexes!

Like many seasoned researchers, we at the Great Library are strong advocates of the use of indexes. A good index is like a GPS: you can get where you’re going without it but it’s probable that you’ll take several unnecessary twists and turns along the way. In this blog post we share some reasons why indexes still matter, why we love them, and most importantly, why they are not just another table of contents.

Research methods have changed greatly over time, but the level of specificity in legal indexes is still one of the *the* best tools for efficiently finding “on point” information.

While databases are incredible in their information retrieval power, whether it be through generative or extractive AI, it’s well known that more is not always best when it comes to legal research. In fact, surfacing content that matches text, or identifies legal concepts/principles based on keyword searching, can easily become nebulous. This is especially true for someone unfamiliar with an area of law.

Checking indexes is crucial when trying to learn about how legal information is connected. Understanding connections between commonly used terms that apply to a legal issue is extremely helpful when you need to search across multiple commercial or open-source databases, since they all contain different content and have varying levels of coverage.

Make no mistake, keyword searching (and post-search filtering) is great, but no matter how seasoned the researcher, Boolean logic or AI assisted searches alone may create more work rather than reducing it. For example, cross-references in an index let you know, “the word you looked up is ok, but SEE ALSO: THIS WORD too”. This is an imperative function of a good index: to keep you on track, build your vocabulary, and help you see relationships between terms.

It’s no surprise that researchers need to check more than one source for comprehensiveness. To maximize your coverage and save time, conduct your research using both indexes (in monographs or otherwise) and databases.

Given the volume of information researchers face, what are some indexes that can help save time?

The Great Library librarians ruminated on this question and below you will find a few of our favourites. Some are well known, some underrated, and some entirely neglected:

O’Brien’s Encyclopedia of Forms Division – Master Subject Index, available in print and online – view catalogue record
Beloved amongst staff and patrons alike, the Master Subject Index is helpfully detailed. While forms, sample clauses, commentary and checklists are often buried in individual chapters of books or databases, this index makes quick work of helping researchers locate material on a wide array of topics.

Index to Canadian Legal Literature (ICLL), available in print and online – view catalogue record. (The print edition of this index covers earlier content, 1985-2015.)
An oldie but a goodie. Without adequate indexing, periodicals would be overwhelming. ICLL is the most comprehensive index of Canadian legal journal and newsletter articles and case commentaries. Available online on both Westlaw and Lexis+™ Canada, it covers content since 1985. Because indexes categorize content by subject it quickly allows you to determine what has been written on a topic. This type of source is particularly useful when the topic you are researching may be too new or too narrow to be the subject of a legal text or loose-leaf service.

House Hansard Index, available in print and online – look to our blog post Finding Hansard Online: Canada and Ontario for details.
Legislative indexes make the Hansard of the Parliament/Legislature searchable by Bill, topic, or house speaker. Ideal for legislative intent research, Hansard indexes will give you a more complete and clearer picture of your research path. Page numbers in online versions are also typically direct links into the full-text of Hansard.

Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations – available online
When searching for case law, it is important to understand what those letters and numbers in the citation mean, especially since they help to indicate the reporter or jurisdiction the case is from. The Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations database, produced by UK’s Cardiff University, allows you to search for the meaning of abbreviations for English language legal publications, both nationally and internationally. The database mainly covers law reports and law periodicals, but some other legal publications are also included.

The CLASSIC: legal text or loose-leaf
Not only do most legal texts contain a useful subject index they also may include specialized indexes, such as tables of cases and statutory materials. These are invaluable timesaving finding tools.

The next time you open a text or loose-leaf, take a moment to flip to the back and appreciate the time, effort and expertise that go into creating these extensive indexes! Not only are they beautiful works of organizational art, we all but guarantee that they will improve both the efficiency and thoroughness of your research.