The Library of Parliament in Ottawa, which has been undergoing four years of extensive restoration, rehabilitation and upgrading, finally reopened today. See the press release. According to news reports, books and staff are just now about to move back in. See also the CBC News article and audio/video report by James Cudmore for CBC-TV [run time 2:18; requires RealPlayer].

The public will have its first peak at the changes on June 3 and 4 during Doors Open Ottawa. Regular Parliament Building tours will again include the Library starting June 5.

The Library of Parliament was opened in . . . [more]

There are few things in this version of Current Cites that might interest Slawyers:

M. Moffatt, “Marketing’ with Metadata – How Metadata Can Increase Exposure and Visibility of Online Content”

This isn’t quite as commercial as it sounds and so might not be the tool to get the firm to buy into the metadata markup thing. Still, might be useful. “Simple explanations on how to expose metadata via harvesting, distributed searching, and syndication (i.e., RSS) are covered.”

M. Breeding, “Web Services and the Service-Oriented Architecture”

Part of the Web 2.0 picture. “Thankfully, ALA nabbed someone with impeccable credentials and the

. . . [more]

Congratulations to David Fraser, recipient of the 2006 Outstanding Young Canadian Award in the category of Leadership, given by the Junior Chamber of Commerce International, Halifax Chapter.

David, as many of you know, is one of Canada’s most dedicated law bloggers, and is a great example of how blogs should be used to develop a lawyer’s online profile. In his post responding to this award, titled I’d like to thank the academy. And my blog…, David describes some of the perks that have come with the blogger territory – notably, speaking invitations and high profile articles. David’s . . . [more]

I received a flyer last week from BIALL (British and Irish Association of Law Librarians) announcing a course on “Parliamentary Debates on Legislation: how to do ‘Pepper v. Hart’ research.

The session will be taught by Guy Holborn, of Lincoln Inn’s Library, and the flyer indicates it will cover the following three topics:

• Background on statutory interpretation, the rule in Pepper v Hart (1993 HL) that allows citation of Hansard in court, and developments since it was decided in 1992.
• Parliamentary procedure, including recent developments affecting Pepper v Hart research.
• Bills, Hansard and other parliamentary materials: how . . . [more]

I am currently writing an article which basically looks at and updates a piece I published five years ago on the future of academic law libraries. The central thrust of the piece is the continuing print vs online debate. I give a few examples of print serials and talk about the pros and cons of cancellation in favour of online access and it would help me if I could get some reactions and counter-arguments. In the article I refer to, inter alia, the Harvard Law Review and Ontario Statutes (supposing that the E-Laws version is given authorized status). I use . . . [more]

Pairing my award-winning KM blog with editor Sean Hocking's acclaimed Law Librarian News, the semi-monthly “Law Librarian News & excited utterances” will deliver direct-to-desktop news-you-can-use -- by, for and about the global legal information and knowledge management market.While excited utterances will continue to deliver the same reliable online coverage of legal KM that its readers have come to rely upon, our new combined publication creates the perfect vehicle for legal knowledge managers and law librarians who want to understand the machinations of the current market.excited utterancesIt's by subscription.

I will be attending a “thematic meeting” organized by Library and Archives Canada in Vancouver on Wednesday in connection with LAC’s development of a Canadian Digital Information Strategy.

This is pretty important stuff that is being discussed and the outcome may effect government policy, as I understand it.

More information and background documents can be found at the LAC site. . . . [more]

A new book called Sorcerers’ Apprentices focusses on the role played within the US Supreme Court by law clerks. You can read the first chapter online

Written by two acedemics, Artemus Ward and David L. Weiden, the book is built upon Supreme Court archives, the personal papers of justices and other figures at the Supreme Court, and interviews and written surveys with 150 former clerks.

Sorcerers Apprentices is a rare behind-the-scenes look at the life of law clerks, and their role in agenda setting, opinion writing, and decision making. The authors suggest that seemingly unrelated institutional changes such as circulating . . . [more]

The Slaw Hall of Fame

This is the first obituary in Slaw, but it’s a tribute to a figure whom many Slaw readers may not have known but who was very significant in the development of a distinct Canadian legal culture. Dr. Peter Oliver of York University was not a lawyer, but his work catalyzed the production of a corpus of Canadian legal history.

Peter died of cancer two weeks back, after a tough illness. He was a History Professor at York University, author of five books, Editor-in-Chief of The Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History, and Associate Editor of . . . [more]

I stumbled on a page constructed by Susan Law dedicated to the architecture and design of Osgoode Hall. If Slaw readers have never had the treat of visiting the great library, this site will whet your appetite.

Nothing to do with the Ministry of the Attorney General or the Law Society of Upper Canada.

The one thing it can’t capture is the fine – and cheap – food available in the Dining Room.

But it’s a nicely done site, and it would be good to have similar guides to the county court houses which are often such dignified additions . . . [more]

Seems that web publishing company O'Reilly and CMP are claiming that “Web 2.0” is their trademark.

In a recent decision, the Sixth District Court of Appeals (California) has afforded bloggers the same kind of protection usually reserved to journalists. Here is an extract from the judgment:

The trial court denied the motion on the ground that the publishers had involved themselves in the unlawful misappropriation of a trade secret. We hold that this was error because (1) the subpoena to the email service provider cannot be enforced consistent with the plain terms of the federal Stored Communications Act (18 U.S.C. §§ 2701-2712); (2) any subpoenas seeking unpublished information from petitioners would be unenforceable through contempt

. . . [more]