You've likely seen a few references now to an upcoming free online course offered by Google: Power Searching with Google. The tagline is "…a short course on becoming a great internet searcher." For this post, I'll leave aside speculation about how one becomes a "great internet searcher" using, presumably, one suite of products.

Some discussion I've seen refers to this as Google's MOOC – massive open online course. I'd like to engage in a bit of pedantry for a moment and question whether that's an appropriate characterization of Google's offering. A course that requires use of a Google account . . . [more]

Others have talked about their contributions to lawTechCamp 2012 held in Toronto in May. I am sharing the slide decks from the presentation I did with fellow consultant Stephanie Barnes and the six minute demo I did the same day.

The first talk here is an introduction to Law Firm Knowledge Management. Included are some images developed by Stephanie, and some we have developed together, as well as content from other sources. . . . [more]

Since Sunday I've been at the Canadian Association of Law Libraries annual meeting, which wrapped up moments ago. I'm a new member of the organization and this was my first CALL conference. I'm pleased to have put so many faces to names, avatars, and handles. I also enjoyed reconnecting with many people I've worked with over the years in several domains all over the country.

The conference presented much enriching content, and also highlighted that many involved in different legal libraries, in different sectors, share many concerns and challenges. This knowledge came to light during networking times and in sessions. . . . [more]

This Saturday, the University of Toronto Law is hosting the second annual lawTechCamp. The schedule is available here, and it's no surprise that you'll see many familiar law bloggers, including a significant presence of Slaw contributors.

You can read reviews of last year's event on Slaw here and here, and background on what this kind of tech camp is about here.

One significant difference with the event this year is that there are a number of sessions which are CPD accredited. Considering the cost of attending is still free, the event promises to be well-attended and . . . [more]

Jim Calloway on the Future of #Law Practice . . . [more]

I too am at the ABA TECHSHOW 2012 in Chicago organized by the American Bar Association's Law Practice Management Section. This has been my first time at this conference. A few things struck me immediately:

• this is a very different law conference; and
• everyone is extremely friendly.

I arrived on Wednesday evening during a reception before the LexThink.1 event that Jason Wilson wrote up for us yesterday.

I noticed that there was a group of people huddled around an easel and announcements about making guesses about the weight of a food truck. Huh? What were they doing? . . . [more]

Many SLAW readers will already be familiar with the excellent video legal research tutorials that the Courthouse Libraries BC have put together. If you are not I encourage you to check them out. The videos look great and really demonstrate the power of the medium as a teaching tool.

The tutorials provide the novice researcher with an excellent introduction on how to approach researching legislation and case law. For those of use who are librarians or lawyers working with students, the tutorials are a wonderful resource for supplementing and reinforcing our instruction and giving students something short and engaging to refer to when . . . [more]

Many readers will already know that Toronto is hosting the annual conference and general meeting of CALL/ACBD in May. This gathering is a high point in the association’s calendar, and this year is even more special, as we are marking the start of our 50th anniversary.

The program is relevant to a wide audience – no matter your level of experience or expertise, you should find something to pique your interest. The exhibit hall will offer opportunities to learn about new developments in legal information, and the social program will give you a chance to meet new colleagues, catch up . . . [more]

The Association for Chinese Canadian Lawyers in Ontario (ACCLO) hosted a CLE session on September 17, 2011, on "Tips and Tricks from the Trade," featuring Sean Zhang of Blakes, Jeffrey Lem of Davies, Roslyn Tsao of Epstein Cole LLP, and Madam Justice W. Low of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

Notes from the sessions follow. . . . [more]

This weekend I stopped by the Vegetarian Food Festival in Toronto to try out some new food products. The last thing I expected to see was a lawyer group. But there, prominently situated between food sample tables and advocacy groups was the Lawyers for Animal Welfare  booth.

University of Toronto law student Camille Labchuk and lawyer Nick Wright were staffing the booth, making members of the public aware of the group and a number of law-related animal welfare issues. I learned that Lawyers for Animal Welfare (LAW) is a registered charity dedicated to advancing public knowledge of animal practices and . . . [more]

I just received this information from the CALL webinar committee, and thought the SLAW community would be interested. I work with Rick – he has incredible knowledge of legislation and a wicked sense of humour. Caroline is not unknown to the CALL community – she has spoken at annual conferences before, and has always impressed me with her skill as a speaker and her encyclopedic knowledge.

This is a session not to be missed!

Thursday September 15, 2011
1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EDT 

Join two legislation experts in the first of a series of webinars that will share

. . . [more]

My sense is the the inaugural New Law Librarians' Institute last week in London, Ontario, sponsored by the Canadian Association of Law Libraries/L'Association canadienne des bibliothèques de droit (CALL/ACBD), was very successful.

It was a 5-day event, with sessions on substantive law led by various University of Western Ontario law professors, combined with sessions by various law librarians, including me.

Sessions included, for example, a Thursday morning session by Professor Sam Trosow on property law for law librarians (including a session on copyright law), followed by a session by UWO Law Librarian John Sadler on researching secondary legal literature. There . . . [more]