The US federal government has been in partial shutdown since just before Christmas 2018.

There has been a lot of well deserved focus on how the shutdown is affecting the hundreds of thousands of US federal employees who are not being paid. Or air travel. Or the poorly housed. The list goes on.

Many observers are now starting to worry about how this will impact access to various kinds of government and legal information south of the border.

The American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) issued an eBriefing today on the Impact of the Partial Federal Government . . . [more]

Several times each month, we are pleased to republish a recent book review from the Canadian Law Library Review (CLLR). CLLR is the official journal of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD), and its reviews cover both practice-oriented and academic publications related to the law.

Incitement on Trial: Prosecuting International Speech Crimes. By Richard Ashby Wilson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017. xii, 356 p. Includes bibliography and index. ISBN 978-1-107-10310-8 (hardbound) $92.00; ISBN 978-1-107-50126-3 (paperback) $34.00.

Reviewed by David Hurren
Hurren and Gibson, Fort Erie, ON
In CLLR 43:2

Incitement on Trial by Richard Ashby . . . [more]

Several times each month, we are pleased to republish a recent book review from the Canadian Law Library Review (CLLR). CLLR is the official journal of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD), and its reviews cover both practice-oriented and academic publications related to the law.

Responding to Human Trafficking: Dispossession, Colonial Violence, and Resistance among Indigenous and Racialized Women. By Julie Kaye. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2017. xxii, 279 p. Includes appendices, endnotes, bibliographic references, and index. ISBN 978-1-4875-2161-5 (softcover) $29.95.

Reviewed by Angela Gibson
Library Support Assistant
Bora Laskin Law Library, University of . . . [more]

Several times each month, we are pleased to republish a recent book review from the Canadian Law Library Review (CLLR). CLLR is the official journal of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD), and its reviews cover both practice-oriented and academic publications related to the law.

The Globalization of Adoption: Individuals, States, and Agencies Across Borders. By Becca McBride. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016. xiii, 203 p. Includes graphs and tables. ISBN 978-1316604182 (paperback) $37.95.

Reviewed by Allison Harrison
Team Leader, Systems
Defence Research and Development Canada Library
In CLLR 43:4

The Globalization of Adoption: Individuals, States, . . . [more]

Colleagues from the Ontario Courthouse Libraries Association have developed a wonderful web app to help lawyers plan their visit to the courthouses and courthouse libraries around the province.

Information includes details such as :

• location of the library in the court building
• contact info
• hours of service
• wi-fi availability
• electronic resources & databases lawyers can use
• printing and copying costs
• robing room
• after hour access

Several times each month, we are pleased to republish a recent book review from the Canadian Law Library Review (CLLR). CLLR is the official journal of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD), and its reviews cover both practice-oriented and academic publications related to the law.

The Law and Practice of Workplace Investigations. By Gillian Shearer. Toronto: Emond, 2016. xvii, 169 p. ISBN: 9781772551082 (softcover) $99.00.

Reviewed by Heather Wylie
Law Librarian
Alberta Law Libraries
In CLLR 43:1

The Law and Practice of Workplace Investigations is a welcome addition to the Emond Professional Employment Law Series, . . . [more]

Several times each month, we are pleased to republish a recent book review from the Canadian Law Library Review (CLLR). CLLR is the official journal of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD), and its reviews cover both practice-oriented and academic publications related to the law.

Family Law Litigation Handbook (Ontario). By Gary S Joseph. Toronto: Thomson Reuters, 2017. 280 p. ISBN 978-0-7798-8011-9 (softcover) $119.00.

Reviewed by Joanna Kozakiewicz
Manager, Library Reference Services
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
In CLLR 43:1

The second edition of Family Law Litigation Handbook (Ontario) is described by the author as . . . [more]

Starting Nov 1 2018 PIPEDA requires businesses to notify the Privacy Commissioner and affected individuals of any privacy breach that poses “a real risk of significant harm”.

It also requires businesses to keep a record of all breaches of security safeguards that involve personal information, even if there is no risk of harm. It must include details of why a breach does not pass the reporting threshold.

So simply dealing with a potentially harmful privacy breach when and if it happens is not sufficient compliance.

The Commissioner can ask to see that breach record at any time. Failure to comply . . . [more]

Is there one right way to research the law?

No.

Do most of us know the best? the most? or even a handful of useful search strategies? Almost certainly not, according to a few recent studies. As one of those studies highlight, even those who do probably aren’t sharing strategies in any event. These studies paint the picture of a profession that plops a few words into a single search engine, relies heavily on the machine to sort the results returns, and then stops looking within a few minutes having grabbed a few documents that look useful.

There are valuable . . . [more]

The cohort of students currently in law school and the junior ranks of firms are often described as “digital natives.” Wherever possible, we prefer to access information online instead of going to the library for books or other secondary sources. Our preference for online research is reinforced as we learn to engage with legal information. In our first year of law school, we are directed primarily to online platforms like CanLII, Quicklaw, Westlaw, and SSRN, and are encouraged to develop our skills in operating those services.

My generation of law students not only grew up with technology, but with the . . . [more]

The Western Journal of Legal Studies, a “student-run, online, open access law review focusing on contributions to Canadian law and international law” has put out a call for submissions:

Do you have an “A” level law paper? The Western Journal of Legal Studies is seeking academic research papers, white papers, opinion-editorials, and book reviews. All submissions received by Friday, September 28th will be considered for publication in our Fall issue. We assess submissions using a two-part blind peer review, and as such, all submissions will remain entirely anonymous throughout the process. Submissions received after this date will be considered

The Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family, an independent organization affiliated with the University of Calgary, closed on 31 August 2018. The closure of the Institute is somewhat of a national tragedy, given that it was one of the very few organizations conducting empirical research on family law, justice processes and access to justice in Canada, and was the inevitable result of today’s singularly infelicitous funding climate.

The Institute has conducted some remarkable, innovative and often ground-breaking work over the 31 years of its existence. Highlights include some of the first work on the financial consequences of . . . [more]