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Archive for September, 2006

Dealing With the “Meta Menace”

The most recent issue of The Lawyer’s Weekly (vol. 26, no. 17) has an article entitled The meta menace: what you can’t see could come back to haunt you which discusses the many problems that can arise when legal professionals forget to clean up the metadata embedded into computer files before distributing documents.

Metadata can include changes made, names of previous document authors, document revisions and versions, and hidden text.

“Problems can arise if law firms send files to clients or opposing counsel that still contains markup. It may as well be hard copy full of sticky notes. Consequences may . . . [more]

Posted in: Miscellaneous

Resource Guide on International Health Law

GlobaLex, an electronic legal collection run by the Hauser Global Law School Program at New York University School of Law, recently published a Research Guide on International Health Law.

“While globalization has facilitated world trade and economic growth, it has also enabled regional epidemics to spread at unprecedented speed worldwide. A chilling example is the SARS epidemic, which started in China and quickly spread to two dozen countries. This research guide provides information about the general trends in global diseases and legal efforts against them, effects on trade and human rights law, and legal research in the new field . . . [more]

Posted in: Miscellaneous

GL and the National Library of Education (US)

An interesting note on GL and Libraries…

NLE ON BOARD AS AN ASSOCIATE MEMBER OF GREYNET AND CURRENT GL8 SPONSOR
GreyNet, 6 September 2006

The National Library of Education, a subsidiary of the U.S. Department of Education has become an Associate Member of GreyNet http://www.greynet.org and in so doing has returned to the GL-Conference Series as one of its main Sponsors. http://www.textrelease.com/textreleasehome/gl8sponsors.html.

. . . [more]
Posted in: Legal Information

German Law Journal

I was at an orientation for law students at Osgoode today where the faculty’s accomplishments were featured, and I realized that we’ve never mentioned the German Law Journal here on Slaw. A creation of Osgoode prof Peer Zumbansen, it’s a monthly online peer-reviewed journal in English publishing articles about German constitutional law among other subjects. From the Journal’s description of its ambit:

The German Law Journal serves an international audience as the first and only on-line, English-language report on developments in German and European jurisprudence. With regard to both Public Law and Private Law in Germany, as well as

. . . [more]
Posted in: Miscellaneous

Google Provides Access to News Archives

I just read that today Google unveiled a new service, Google Archive Search, whereby it provides accessibility – i.e. search function – to various online news archives. I gather Google will serve the function of the traditional search index/abstract tool for the various news databases whose content has been made available to Google, and Google will direct searchers to those news sites. The news sites of course may (or likely will) charge for access to the full text of any selected articles. Searches will be free to the user. The archive search interface offers various ways of limiting searches . . . [more]

Posted in: Miscellaneous

E-Book Formats

I’ve lately been the demise of the CD to family and friends. This is only my interpretation, but it is difficult to find and purchase classical or jazz CD’s in Victoria. So I’ve been thinking of moving over to IPOD technology and downloading music as well as e-books. But a colleague sent me an article reminding me of how complicated e-books are to use and the prolems with the different formats. I did a quick search and couldn’t find e-books on the Barnes & Noble site (it appears they no longer support ebooks), amazon.ca had strange results, and Foyles, God . . . [more]

Posted in: Miscellaneous

Délocalisation Et Protection Des Renseignements Personnels

L’ennemi numéro un d’Internet, c’est assurément la peur. Un nouvel exemple provient de ce titre choc du Observer selon lequel “New data theft scandal rocks subcontinent’s call centres“. Il est vrai que la standardiste Quitte à être manichéiste, autant que ce soit une femme. indienne, «voleuse de job», remplit bien ce rôle de «générateur de craintes»: et la «standardiste indienne» est pour les nords-américains ce que le «plombier polonais» est pour les européens de l’ouest. Dans le cas qui nous intéresse, c’est loin, c’est méconnu, et maintenant, ça vole nos données personnelles.

L’article est un tantinet irritant car, . . . [more]

Posted in: Miscellaneous

The Globally Shrinking Law Library

Two items in today’s papers show that there appears to be a global trend towards smaller libraries, with the justification being that it’s all available online anyway.
In Bangor Maine, users will be moved out of the main library room into three small upper rooms, as the librarians pack up 750 boxes of the collection. We can say that it’s all on the online services, but losing 15,000 books has to have an impact.
And on the other side of the world, a story from the SMH as profs at the UNSW discovered the library‘s collection of international law . . . [more]

Posted in: Miscellaneous

The Friday Fillip

Because I’m an academic, September will always be the new year for me. I get a kind of excitement when the first threads of coolness enter the air, and part of that excitement has to do with beginnings, new beginnings, if that isn’t redundant. There’s something liberating about fresh starts. Too, these are often associated for me with having moved to a new town or country and taking up life there as an unknown person. I used to consider becoming someone other as I stepped of the plane, so to speak…. maybe hair slicked back and sunglasses, with a derring-do . . . [more]

Posted in: Miscellaneous

Infobits by Phone

I don’t have a Black Berry — deadly admission, I know, revealing a distinct lack of social status, because, rather like visits to Tokyo, you can’t manage it unless it’s a corporate expense, which necessitates the presence of an interested and able corporation, that source of all power in today’s world.

But I do have a cell phone and, moreover, one that can do text messaging, painfully because there’s not keyboard per se (have I mentioned that I don’t have a Black Berry?). Text messaging is a feature that I’d never used until today, Bcz IDK any1 LS who Duz . . . [more]

Posted in: Miscellaneous

Twain on Law

Not having much time as I prepare for the new school year which will dawn next week, hahahahaha (that is an uneasy laugh). I just want to present you with some quotes from Mark Twain (one of my favourite authors) on Law and Lawyers, which remain particularly insightful today.

From Twainquotes.com I find this site a great resource for quotes when writing papers and reports.

  • Twain on Law
  • Twain on Lawyers
  • Okay, here is Twain on Libraries too.
  • . . . [more]
    Posted in: Miscellaneous