I have posted my recently completed LL.M. thesis online for those who might be interested. It is entitled Access to Law-Related Information in Canada in the Digital Age and is available in its entirety or in the following chapter headings on a separate page on SLAW:
During some recent web surfing, I only just realized that the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) has its own XML feed, for those interested. The CBA also has a technology resources page. Some of the recent articles are on topics of technologies for solo, home and mobile lawyers and effective computer presentations for lawyers. The site also links to articles from practicepro.ca and provides “feeds of the week” and links to other legal technology sites. . . . [more]
This from Law Librarian Blog (in turn from the editor of House of Butter):
. . . [more]Infolaw, “the longest-standing UK legal portal”, has opened up its entire Lawfinder database to free browse access. Lawfinder provides structured access to over 100,000 UK legal documents and resources, plus alerting and referencing tools.
Our firm is on the verge of rolling out its SharePoint portal. Akin to renovating one’s home, it is difficult to resist the urge to tackle one more project “while you’re at it”. Project managers warned me about scope creep but that didn’t stop my inclination to completely overhaul the desktop.
This background is intended to give some context to our decision to voluntarily remove the QL “classic” direct connection from our network tonight. From tomorrow onwards, all of our core Canadian online legal research services will be delivered through browser interfaces.
As the head of our portal project, I . . . [more]
Customers have been pushing the legal publishers of annual publication editions and online services to create “archival” versions of the publications. The first one I have seen is
Martin’s Archival Criminal Code from Canada Law Book.
From the description:
Martin’s Archival Criminal Code is a unique and convenient online resource that offers you easy access to fifty years of the Criminal Code and commentary in one place. This archival collection from 1955 to the present will enable you to access the Criminal Code at a specific point in time.
It looks like a good idea, and I am interested . . . [more]
The WebLog 2005 Awards have closed nominations for the best web logs, and now we can vote. The blogs are put into categories, including law blogs, and international (including Best Canadian blogs). Here’s the link to the top 15 law blogs you can vote on: http://weblogawards.org/2005/12/best_law_blog.php. And, for voting on the best Canadian blog (none of which appear to be blawgs): http://weblogawards.org/2005/12/best_canadian_blog.php. . . . [more]
A couple of weeks back Simon Chester referred to the value of the Oxford Companion to Law, which I endorsed in a comment, but it occurs to me that it is worth highlighting on the ‘main’ page. A copy of this wonderful book sits very close to me at all times. I answered my first reference question from it, way back sometime in the early 1980s – one that’s always stuck in my memory. Someone wanted to know when Jack the Ripper
did his horrible deeds. Sure enough the Oxford Companion has an entry that gives the details. Now of . . . [more]
In my earlier posts, I mentioned the contribution that lawyers have made to libraries and to our understanding of the law. Speaking of a personal library, the prime example must be the Ess Collection, which was the largest individual contribution to the Harvard Collection. There is a delightful essay by Ess which describes the library of a Sixteenth Century English Lawyer at .
Ess was an interesting chap – I found it fascinating that his collection was largely stored at Sullivan and Cromwell – see http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/martin/ess_bio.htm
And there is a nice summary of Ess’ place among Harvard benefactors at http://hul.harvard.edu/publications/letters011119.pdf . . . [more]
This reporter had no axe to grind. Thought this was a nice piece on the next generation of law students, who are tomorrow’s practitioners. You need to read the full article.
I quote without comment
. . . [more]A component of Pitt Law’s foundations of legal research class sends first-year students flipping through the wood pulp for legal information. Called “scavenger hunts” or “search and destroy” for their effect on the library stacks, this exercise requires law students to learn cross-referencing methods in the profession’s most antiquated medium.
First-year student Yvonne Messeih added, “If you are working for someone who is old-fashioned,
The debate is on. Should search engines be regulated?
Yale Law School hosted a conference yesterday on the subject (Regulating Search: A Symposium on Search Engines, Law, and Public Policy). Several of the papers presented can be found at the bottom of the Symposium’s web page — just follow the link to the Position Papers on the right side. . . . [more]
Bring out the trumpets and the drums!
While we are all out there rushing around dealing with our regular day to day rush, Microsoft Windows is celebrating its twentieth birthday. Can you imagine that. I can recall having staff playing with early versions (1.0 and 2.0) before the product took off with version 3.
Eweek devoted much of a recent issue to reflections on the last twenty years and prognostications for the future. The real questions are: have we really progressed? does the MS Windows standard encourage or stifle innovation? . . . [more]
This project has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada | Ce projet a été rendu possible en partie grâce au gouvernement du Canada