I just set up my desk in the main part of my library to give a presentation. It has me thinking about where I work. There has been some discussion this spring about the law library as a service vs a place or space. For examples, see:

• For each library, a librarian. Preferably in it.
• “Climbing the Value Ladder: Rethinking the Law Library on the Road to 2020” Discussed by Jordan Furlong Keynote Speaker at PLL Summit
• The 3 Foot Radius of the Law Library

Today, I have a projector and portable screen attached to a virtual machine with a . . . [more]

The Canadian Judicial Council has launched a sleek new website. Over the years, the Council has put more and more information online. For some time, there have been links to previous inquiry committee decisions, annual reports and news releases. There is a publications section which is a treasure-trove of information including an interesting Reference Guide for Judges Appointed to Commissions of Inquiry. I’m not sure if the site is just more user-friendly and I discovered hidden information or the CJC has actually posted new material. Either way, one can now find a sample of complaints (anonymized) . . . [more]

Has everyone recovered from the CALL/ACBD 2012 conference yet? Toronto is gearing up now for another major law librarian conference — the International Association of Law Libraries. This will be the 31st annual conference which takes place in a different country each year (2011 was in Malaysia).

The theme of the conference is Canada: The Cultural Mosaic and International Law. Topics reflect Canada’s unique perspectives on international and domestic issues. Speakers at the sessions include top Canadian legal academics, scholars, legal practitioners and law librarians. A preliminary programme is available from the website – http://iall.org/iall2012/ .

The . . . [more]

We came across this recently in the 1959 Canadian Law List: The Law Library of the Future!

Let’s compare the concerns of 1959 with 2012: Economy (the new tech costs less), Space saving (we all have better uses for space), Convenience (a.k.a. ease of access, dare I say on your desktop?), No binding costs or problems (a thing of the past), No bookshelves (see space). Does this sound familiar?

I do note that this new technology wasn’t cheap. Using the Bank of Canada inflation calculator: The SCRs that cost $118 in 1959 would cost $941.69 in 2012; this represents . . . [more]

In a previous Slaw post, we indicated that Quebec’s Minister of Justice and Attorney General Jean-Marc Fournier announced the filing of a draft regulation aimed at making the Gazette officielle du Québec available free of charge on the Internet. Well now it’s official.

This regulation is now in force and allows free access to parts 1 and 2 of the Gazette officielle du Québec published on Publications du Québec website.

The regulation also modifies the price of the paper based annual subscription as well as fees for notices, advertisements and documents published in Parts 1 and 2 of . . . [more]

Following the inspiring lead of Connie Crosby and Shaunna Mireau, I’m sharing a summer project list. I have quite a long summer project list, and it has had to face regular trimming. Summer rarely seems to offer the generous spare time foreseen during the hectic days of the late spring term.

My summer project list contains standard mundane tasks like reorganizing files – physical and electronic – as well as institutional projects difficult to achieve during the academic term, and taking a bird’s-eye view of library collections and services. I won’t bore anyone with those.

Some of the invigorating . . . [more]

July has brought some relief to my workload. A few major projects have moved to the done list and there are only 5 items on my July projects list. Connie’s Summer Reading List is a great idea, but I can’t copy it, so I have decided to create a Summer Writing List.

My writing list has been rattling the cage for some time now. It consists of material that is frequently requested by lawyers in my office and will be crafted for use by my law firm. Can you guess what it is?

A hint: there are not enough annotated . . . [more]

I’ve seen other summer reading lists lately and thought it would be fun to put together my own list of books currently or recently on my nightstand. There’s quite a range here–management/leadership type titles, geek girl titles, and some challenging fiction. I’m not really one for light reading! And, there’s probably no way I can get through all of these in the summer, but I can certainly try. And of course in putting this list together I found even more new books, so I better get reading.

What is on your summer reading list?

Here is the list (with no . . . [more]

As Slaw readers know, the Canadian Legal Information Institute – best known by its acronym CanLII – is Canada’s paramount portal for free access to Canadian legal information. It’s administered by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada and funded by a levy on individual lawyers through the Barreau and the provincial and territorial law societies. As I continually tell legal audiences it’s the best bargain that lawyers get for their fees.

Now Canlii wants our help. Colin Lachance and his colleagues are engaged in a strategic planning exercise and have asked CorbinPartners Inc. to conduct an online survey to . . . [more]

On June 15, our friends at Eagan published a brilliant and in some ways strange book that should be in every law library, since it is (as my headline says) the most important book on statutes this millennium: Reading Law, The Interpretation of Legal Texts. Its strangeness is due to the identity of its authors – the fiercely intelligent and challenging Justice Antonin Scalia the senior justice of the US Supreme Court , and the leading legal lexicographer of our time, Bryan Garner of LawProse in Texas. . . . [more]

The most recent annual report of the Law Commission of England is now available.

The report includes highlights of the past year’s work. In particular, the Commission saw two pieces of legislation that derive from its work reach the statute book: the Estates of Deceased Persons (Forfeiture Rule and Law of Succession) Act 2011 and the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012.

A number of other reports are awaiting implementation in the areas of trust, marriage breakdown, conspiracy, business partnerships, renting homes, etc.

Part 4 of the report is entitled “Measuring Success” and provides interesting stats about the . . . [more]

The Ecojustice Clinic at the University of Ottawa has established the online Ecojustice Environmental Hansard.

According to its website description, the site is “an easy-to-use collection of all House of Commons discussions and debates about Canada’s environment.”

The site suggests 4 different ways to access information:

1.Use the homepage to review featured topic summaries and debates from the previous sitting week.

2.Use the search box to query by topic, content or MPs involved in a debate or exchange in the House of Commons.

3.Browse debates by date or look for ones relating to specific categories.

4.Read topic summaries that