Each Thursday we present a significant excerpt, usually from a recently published book or journal article. In every case the proper permissions have been obtained. If you are a publisher who would like to participate in this feature, please let us know via the site’s contact form.

A Different Question of Open Access: Is There a Public Access Right to Academic Libraries in the United States and Canada?

Amy Kaufman, Head of William R. Lederman Law Library, Queen’s University, and co-author of the newly published Out of Practice: Exploring Legal Careers Paths in Canada

Law Library Journal, Vol. 103:3, . . . [more]

“Records management law” will be a necessary area of specialization because electronic records are as important to daily living as are motor vehicles, and are now the most frequently used kind of evidence. Electronic records management is a complex technology, which makes current legal infrastructure of statutes, guidelines, and case law that controls the use of electronic records as evidence very inadequate because it ignores these facts: (1) electronic records technology, and pre-electronic paper records technology are very different technologies—each requires its own unique legal infrastructure; (2) the many serious defects frequently found in electronic records management systems (ERMS’s), and . . . [more]

Ontario Privacy Commissioner Brian Beamish just released his first annual report.

It is an interesting read for anyone interested in access and privacy issues.

Topics include details on some noteworthy access and privacy decisions, open government, police body cameras, sharing of CPIC information with US border officials, contents of police record checks, and comments on personal health privacy.

It also contains stats on complaints and appeals. . . . [more]

Why is the idea of asking service users what they need in terms of access to justice so challenging to those working in the justice system?

This is the question that I was asking myself as I participated a recent workshop on enhancing access to justice in the area of family law, coordinated by the Manitoba Law Foundation and facilitated by John Paul Boyd.

Participants represented a range of justice system service providers and included some community voices as well. Working in small groups, we brainstormed the obstacles to access to justice and ways to provide better supports to those . . . [more]

Each Wednesday we tell you which three English-language cases and which French-language case have been the most viewed* on CanLII and we give you a small sense of what the cases are about.

For this last week:

1. R. v. St-Cloud, 2015 SCC 27

[1] The repute of our criminal justice system rests on the deeply held belief of Canadians that the right to liberty and the presumption of innocence are fundamental values of our society that require protection. However, that repute also depends on the confidence citizens have that persons charged with serious crimes will not be able . . . [more]

One of my pet peeves is when people throw around the word “technology” as a catch all to mean anything that can or will involve a computer. A common pattern is “In X number of years, this task will be replaced by TECHNOLOGY.” The speakers very rarely get into specifics as to when technology they mean. Personally, I like to amuse myself by replacing “technology” in these statements with “magic fairies.” Actually, I think fairies are more likely to exist than some technology that is universally adopted and solves myriad problems.

If you’re like me, you probably feel like the . . . [more]

Online courses, webinars and other digital media open up a wide range of convenient, cost-effective training options for busy professionals. But there are a lot of options. Myriad combinations of technology, platforms, content and classrooms sometimes make the selection of a course as challenging as learning new subject matter.

How can you tell which choice is right for you? I interviewed e-learning strategist Holly MacDonald to find out. Macdonald is the driving force behind Canadian e-learning innovation consultancy Spark + Co, where she creates strategies and program development for clients including Fortune 100 corporations, technology firms, public institutions and . . . [more]

Alberta has new government. 21 days post-election, this is not news, but I am certain that there are Slawyers who are wondering what a new government in Alberta actually means. From the news release post swearing in of Premier Notley and her cabinet:

The new Cabinet is lean and efficient, and is firmly focused on solving the challenges that face Alberta. The newly sworn-in Ministers will partner with Alberta’s job creators – in energy, forestry, agriculture, high-tech, tourism and small business – to grow and diversify our economy.

I am delighted that Premier Notley did not significantly amalgamate or restructure . . . [more]

Here are excerpts from the most recent tips on SlawTips, the site that each week offers up useful advice, short and to the point, on technology, research and practice.

Technology

Stop Inappropriate Gmail Messages From Going Out With Undo Send
Dan Pinnington

Many of us have sent angry or nasty comments in a Gmail email, only to regret it moments after hitting Send – or you remember that you didn’t attach the attachment you referenced in the email (hate with that happens!). …

Research

Don’t Assume Too Much
Shaunna Mireau

A post from the daily blog from Harvard Law . . . [more]

I did it. I read a hundred books (#100Books) on my sabbatical. The whole list can be found here. Why did I do it? I set off to read 100 books because I felt I could and I should.

As lawyers, we spend so much of our time reading but so little time reading books. I can remember years when I’m not sure if I read a single book outside of work. Even as a law professor, I would only read two or three books of fiction a year. As a law student, I took a course called “Law . . . [more]

With such a large amount of claims prevention information available in LAWPRO Magazine articles and practicePRO resources, we had the idea to create simple fact sheets to help lawyers in their day-to-day practice and as well as CPD providers, who could use them developing their program material or as handouts. The latest in our series of “malpractice claims fact sheets” covers wills & estates law.

The sheets includes quick claims facts, the main causes of claims against lawyers, hot topics in the particular areas of law, tips for avoiding claims and links to practicePRO resources.

We are also developing . . . [more]

I probably won’t be making it to the Chicago Bar Association’s CLE on “How To… Get the Most Out of Twitter” tomorrow. But that’s not to say that I wouldn’t have been choked to miss Catherine Reach’s tweet mentioning it. Mostly that’s because there was something else she linked to which caught my attention: Kevin O’Keefe’s post from last Thursday heralding that “Twitter is teaming up with Google to bring Twitter’s real-time content to Google’s search results.”

So there it is. Google and Twitter are getting friendly (once more). And just when you thought Mobilegeddon was . . . [more]