Is anyone as dismayed as I by the very recent changes to the CanLII site? Has it, in fact, made finding cases any easier? I miss the ability to go straight to the alphabetical list of cases. The changes made in the way one finds legislation seem to be far less drastic. . . . [more]

I received an unsolicited email newsletter from a group called Linex Legal. I have never heard of them, but from the website they claim to offer a mulitjurisdictional service that gives updates taken from government and law firm client publications and websites.

Does anybody know more about this service? It may be useful to get access to some of the law firm publications, but I’m always skeptical when I get something unsolicited. . . . [more]

Reading both the Guardian’s blog Comment is Free on WebCameron and today’s accounts of the use of collaborative technologies by Senators Obama and Clinton, makes one wonder why Canadian politicians use of the new technologies has been so lame.

You wouldn’t think from the offerings of Dumont, Boisclair and Charest, that candidates elsewhere had more passionately embraced the technology, or that Monday’s vote might be moved by spontaneity.

On this continent, you can browse the video offerings of the declared candidates at Youtube. But don’t expect Canadian equivalents – Stephen Harper is way behind Nicolas Sarkozy and . . . [more]

beSpacific points us to a U.S. Library of Congress site about the problem of digital preservation. Well worth a visit by anyone who creates or stores digital records, not only librarians.

One of the things that interested me was the statistic that the “average” website lasts somewhere between 44 and 100 days — yet another reason to crow that Slaw is not your average website. The LOC says, in that regard, “Fortunately, the Library is now collecting political Web sites as part of its digital preservation program.” Note the bias that “politics” is the most important matter. Why not . . . [more]

Good helpful article in the American Lawyer today, with practical tips on how librarians can persuade partners and management of their value: read on for exegesis of the following six practical pointers.

Bill for your time.

Document cost savings.

Get involved in marketing.

Help lawyers keep on top of client activities.

Be a technology booster.

Prepare an annual report. . . . [more]

I sat in on the hearing of Kerr v. Danier Leather at the Supreme Court today and suprised myself by thoroughly enjoying it even though it had to do with securities law, something distant from my heart (and head). The quality of argument ranged from decent to very good; all of the justices had questions; and I learned once again that the sorts of things I taught my students to think important are in fact important at the top court, at least.

The law apart, three things having to do with IT came to my attention.

First, an intermittent noise . . . [more]

L’Office de la langue française m’en excusera peut-être, mais je ne sais comment traduire cette forme possible de contrat en ligne. Une forme dont je viens de prendre connaissance sur le blogue d’Eric Goldman, précisément un billet de John Ottaviani, faisant état d’une décision de première instance d’un tribunal du Colorado, l’affaire Internet Archive v. Shell (No. 06-cv-01726-LTB-CBS (D.Col. 2/13/2007).

Cette forme de contrat, parlons-en. Il s’agit d’un jugement déclaratoire relatif à un site Internet qui dispose d’un encart juridique avec la clause suivante:

«“IF YOU COPY OR DISTRIBUTE ANYTHING ON THIS SITE – YOU
ARE ENTERING

I’m on the train to Ottawa, going to listen tomorrow to the Supreme Court hearing in Kerr v. Danier Leather along with the student editors of The CourtSee Simon Archer’s excellent summary of the facts and issues on The Court. — a “school outing” of the grown-up sort. A man behind me begins talking on his cell phone in that kind of projecting voice one uses for people far away even though they’re as close as your own ears in reality virtuality. I can’t help eavesdropping. Besides I’m curious because of some half caught words. Gradually it becomes clear . . . [more]

I have just posted Carnival of the Infosciences #67 which I am hosting over at my personal blog. Can you find the subtle link back here to Slaw?

On a related note, I will be hosting the Blawg Review (the law blog carnival) on April 23, 2007 in honour of World Book and Copyright Day.

What is a carnival, you ask? It is a review of the best blog posts from the previous week (or, in the case of the Infosciences, two weeks). Hosting of the carnival moves around from blog to blog, much like the carnivals that move . . . [more]

GrandCentral is offering a service that supplies a single phone number that consolidates all of your current phone numbers — cell, work, home, cottage, your other cell… A person trying to reach you dials your new number (just try to get people to change their contact info) and all of your phones sound off, as though some UFO has woken all electrical devices within half a mile.

This might be useful for some — those, perhaps, who don’t regularly duck and hide behind phone A from callers to phone B. And those who believe that a Web 2.0 company is . . . [more]

I’m reviewing a recent law-text published in English and aimed first at the English-speaking Commonwealth legal market, though also the bilingual (French and English) French-speaking market. It’s a comparative law look at how a number of Commonwealth jurisdictions and France – so common law and civil law – deal with some issues common to tort and delict. 

The text contains French-language quotations, some of which make significant points, which are not translated (nor always summarized), though generally the author’s lead-up provides context. Some of the untranslated passages contain information one won’t get from the surrounding English portions.

I concede that . . . [more]

Here’s the story in the Times-Colonist. A snip:

The B.C. legislature library is closing down indefinitely for a seismic upgrade, and there is widespread concern it won’t reopen.

And here’s a gem from Joan Barton, former head of the library:

“There is no such thing as ‘everything is on the Internet.’ When you say that to a librarian, they’re too polite to say so, but their first thought is: ‘I’m dealing with an idiot.’”