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.

Cold Case North: The Search for James Brady and Absolom Halkett. By Michael Nest, Deanna Reder & Eric Bell. Regina: University of Regina Press, 2020. 311 p. Includes illustrations, maps. ISBN 9780889777491 (softcover) $24.95; 9780889777545 (hardcover) $89.00.

Reviewed by Leslie Taylor
Research and Instruction Librarian
Lederman Law Library, Queen’s University . . . [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.

Is Law Computable?: Critical Perspectives on Law and Artificial Intelligence. Edited by Simon Deakin and Christopher Markou. Oxford; New York: Hart Publishing, 2020. xxi, 320 p. Includes bibliographic references and index. ISBN 978-1-5099-3706-6 (hardback) $130.05.

Reviewed by Tim Knight
Head of Technical Services
Osgoode Hall Law School Library, York University
In  . . . [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.

Statutory Interpretation: Pragmatics and Argumentation. By Douglas Walton, Fabrizio Macagno, and Giovanni Sartor. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2021. 331p. Includes figures, tables, and bibliographic references. ISBN 978-1-108-42934-4 (hardcover) $126.95.

Reviewed by Emily Da Silva
Research Librarian (Education, Law, Management, and Social Sciences)
University of Ottawa
In CLLR 46:3

The . . . [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 Justice Crisis: The Cost and Value of Accessing Law. Edited by Trevor CW Farrow and Lesley A Jacobs. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2020. 345 p. Includes index. ISBN 9780774863575 (hardcover) $89.95. ISBN 9780774863582 (paperback) $39.95. ISBN 9780774863599 (PDF) $39.95. ISBN 9780774863605 (EPUB) $39.95.

Reviewed by Krisandra Ivings
Reference Librarian
Supreme Court . . . [more]

The Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN) that is responsible for the Canadiana collection of digitized documentary heritage has replaced the subject heading “Indians of North America” with “Indigenous peoples.”

This will effect a little under 2,000 records.

“The content, metadata, and resource descriptions in the Canadiana collections contain language that reflects the biases, norms, and perspectives of the time in which they were created. With the guidance of CRKN’s Preservation and Access Committee (PAC), CRKN staff are replacing inappropriate language in the metadata and resource descriptions introduced during legacy cataloguing practices. The first phase of this critical three-phase project is

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.

In Your Face: Law, Justice, and Niqab-Wearing Women in Canada. By Natasha Bakht. Toronto: Irwin Law, 2020. xiii, 251 p. Includes illustrations, bibliographic references, and index. ISBN 978-1-55221-549-4 (softcover) $34.95. ISBN 978-1-55221-550-0 (e-book) $34.95. 

Reviewed by Sonia Smith
Liaison Librarian
Nahum Gelber Law Library, McGill University
In CLLR 46:3

In this . . . [more]

In Custodia Legis, the blog of the Law Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. published a fun little roundup this week about various laws relating to Santa Claus:

“Local, federal and foreign governments are doing their regulatory best to speed his mail and ease his journey across borders with foreign livestock, regardless of his nationality or the emissions his vehicle produces.”

You may have also caught the article Santa Claus in court: From bingo prizes to custody hearings by Nathan Baker earlier this week in The Lawyer’s Daily. Santa apparently managed to get himself into a spot of . . . [more]

I had the opportunity to review “Is Law Computable?: Critical Perspectives on Law and Artificial Intelligence” for the Canadian Law Library Review (46(4), 2021). This was edited by Simon Deakin and Christopher Markou and published last year by Hart Publishing (ISBN: 978-1-5099-3706-6).

This is the short version:

If you have any interest in artificial intelligence (AI), especially if it’s coupled with a desire to learn more about how developments in AI are related to law and legal technology, then this collection of papers has been compiled just for you.

…

While AI continues to seep into many areas

Primary Research Group is a New York-based publisher of research reports and surveys about universities, libraries, law firms, hospitals, museums, and other institutions and law libraries in particular could learn a lot from their publications.

The group’s reports tend to gather information from a wide variety of library types, both in the United States and Canada, and on topics such as staffing levels, the use of artificial intelligence, database licensing trends, spending on e-content, views of library services by law faculty members, and much more.

Their most recent publication is the Survey of Law Library Plans for the Print Materials . . . [more]

I am always on the lookout for innovative ways that libraries have found to create great stories about complex legal or historical issues that have many moving parts.

This one is quite remarkable: the Leddy Library at the University of Windsor has created a site that tells the story of the Missing Children of Indian Residential Schools using maps.

This intereactive visual representation of the residential school locations across Canada uses data from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report to document the experience:

“The recent discoveries of more than 1,700 unmarked graves at the sites of former residential schools in

CALL/ACBD is accepting nominations for the 2022 Hugh Lawford Award for Excellence in Legal Publishing.

The Canadian Association of Law Libraries has long had an annual award for excellent legal publishing. Some years ago, we renamed the award we present after Queens University Professor Hugh Lawford (1933-2009) to recognize his contributions to legal publishing in Canada. As a group of legal information specialists, our work depends on being able to access and share high-quality legal knowledge.

We value innovation and this award is open to legal content in all information formats. Slaw.ca was recognized with this award in 2009.

The . . . [more]

Given recent events, examining the impact of criminal law on Indigenous people should be on the agenda of every criminal lawyer in Canada. Lawyers and judges need to understand that cases involving Indigenous accused persons and victims require specific knowledge and skills. Jonathon Rudin’s “Practitioner’s Handbook on Indigenous People and the Criminal Justice System” provides both the means to understand the case law and valuable insights into representing indigenous clients.

This book should be considered to be an “essential” reference work. Mention of this book has previously been made on Slaw. The first time was when it was announced that . . . [more]