What do legal researchers really want?

From technology, I mean. We spend a bit of time here at Slaw fielding the news about this and that technical development initiated by others and helping each other cope with change that if not forced on us then certainly is, like the weather, happening without our informed consent. But if we had our druthers, what would our druthers be?

I know we want others to get beyond email. The wish has been expressed here more than once, for example, that legal publishers should wake up and smell the RSSes, so to speak. Ordinary . . . [more]

I’m interested in finding out how current awareness services are evolving in other organizations. Most of our clients have indicated a preference for “push” services, but I’m told that the company is moving toward a “pull” environment. What are your organizations doing?

Thank you,

Martha . . . [more]

The long awaited Legal Services Bill is to be introduced into Parliament today and the draft bill is summarised in the latest edition of The Lawyer . There are big changes proposed for the way the profession operates here, many of which are already in place in other countries, but some are quite adventurous. . . . [more]

A week or two ago Connie posted a question, which I was not then able to address a comment to, about how we keep up with Web 2.0. A suggestion is Stephen’s Lighthouse, Stephen Abram’s blog. I always find him to be a great source of information on this and other new developments generally (as he is VP of Innovation at SirsiDynix). And, by virtue of being Stephen Abram, he is always fun to read/listen to; I’ve seen him at SLA and CLA events a number of times. He frequently does informative presentations on various topics including . . . [more]

The lead story in the May 2006 issue of LJN Internet Law & Strategy is titled “Wikipedia Creates Concerns Aplenty About the Web’s Reliability”. Notwithstanding the title, the author (Shari Claire Lewis) discusses the broader issue of lawyers and web-based research.

Apparently, at least one U.S. Bar Association has taken the trouble to opine that lawyers doing web-based research are required to “take care to assure that the information obtained is reliable”. In fairness, this ruling dates from 1998 – which is perhaps why the ruling seems startling today. Could anyone presume that internet-based research is magical and not subject . . . [more]

Last week when I was at the joint Canadian Association of Research Libraries/American Association of Research Libraries I heard and interesting talk by Lynne Brindley, CEO of the British Library, on the international dimensions of digital science and scholarship. I was amazed at the rapid strides being taken in this area and some of the SLAWers, like me, may not have known of some of the relevant sites:

European Library

A result of EU investment in digital libaries, this site is a portal giving access to the combined resources of the national collections of the 15 EU nations, the 7 . . . [more]

Check out our very own star of stage, screen and multimedia.

Well done Connie . . . [more]

One of the more difficult sets of issues in both offline and online worlds involves identity: how do I know who you are? how do you tell me who you are? who are you willing to be when you’re dealing with me? and so forth.

As Canadians know at the moment, proof of citizens’ identity has become a critical matter in our dealings with the United States. Must we have, are we prepared to submit, fingerprints, or iris scans in order to travel across the border? And then there is the near regression to absurdity of identity itself: identity with . . . [more]

I’d like to find out who else from Slaw is going to the KM Conference for the Legal Profession June 13-14 in Toronto, and any comments about the Arc Group if you’ve had experience with them. . . . [more]

Check out a new blog on research and legal writing. Susan McDonald is a Tennessee attorney, and a graduate of Vanderbilt University and Ole Miss Law School. She practices solo as a legal research and writing specialist, and on her Research & Writing Blog, offers tips and information to help other lawyers improve their writing.

Early in April Slaw, together with the CBA, posted a survey inquiring about public access to Supreme Court of Canada factums. Recently the results of that survey were analyzed and presented to the Court.

PUBLIC ACCESS TO SUPREME COURT OF CANADA FACTUMS
SUMMARY OF A SLAW SURVEY

The Canadian Legal Research and Legal Technology Collaborative Blog, known as https://www.slaw.ca launched a web-based survey of views on the issue of public access to SCC factums. This report summarizes both postings to a discussion of the issue and responses to a web-based survey that was distributed across Canada. Just under sixty responses . . . [more]

Hi Simon,

Looks like I’m going to miss this week’s Slaw post. Here’s my excuse. :-)

See you next week,
Steve . . . [more]