July 2013 Issue of AALL Spectrum

The July 2013 issue of AALL Spectrum, a monthly publication of the American Association of Law Libraries, is available.

Among this month's selection of articles:

• Cooking Lessons and Legal Research
  Creating and integrating instructional videos into legal research training 
• Innovative Displays in Law Libraries
  Showcase your collections and your talent with displays that capture the creative spirit of your law library 
• A Day in the Life
  Congratulations to our 2013 photo contest winners 

Updated Canadian Law Blogs Search Engine

The Canadian Law Blogs Search Engine, a Google custom search engine on the Slaw.ca website that queries Canadian law blogs, has been updated and now searches 461 blogs.

All of the blogs indexed are from B.C.-based Stem Legal's Lawblogs.ca list.

There are blogs in dozens of categories, from aboriginal law to wills and estates, as well as many blogs in French.

Law Commission of England Consultation on Reform of Hate Laws

The English Law Commission is launching a consultation process on whether hate crime provisions of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 should be extended to cover disability, sexual orientation or gender identity:

"In this consultation, we analyse the case for reforming the existing offences to bring greater coherence and protection for all five groups.  We ask:

• Do existing criminal offences provide adequate protection against the types of wrongdoing occurring against members of the protected groups?
• Do the Courts’ existing sentencing powers provide a sufficient response in all cases?
• Would extending the offences create uncertainty or have other unintended consequences?"

 The Commissions has released:

• a consultation paper
• material on hate crimes and freedom of expression at the European Court of Human Rights
• a history of hate crime legislation in British law
• a provisional assessment of the impact of the Commission's proposals for reform

Canadian Library Association Launches Advocacy Newsletter

The Canadian Library Association (CLA) has just published the first issue of The National Voice, a newsletter devoted to the association's national advocacy activities.

The first issue provides an overview of our activities for January to May 2013.

New Supreme Court of Canada Library Website and Catalogue

As of this evening, the Supreme Court of Canada Library website and catalogue will have a new look and new URLs.

This modification is due to the launch of the new court website to be in compliance with the Treasury Board Secretariat Web Standard on Usability.

The new addresses are:

http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/lib-bib/index-eng.aspx

http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/lib-bib/index-fra.aspx

http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/lib-bib/catalogue-eng.aspx

http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/lib-bib/catalogue-fra.aspx

Statistics Canada Report on Family Violence in Canada

Statistics Canada today released a report on Family violence in Canada: A statistical profile, 2011: 

"Family violence accounted for 26% of all police-reported violent crime in 2011, a proportion similar to 2010. About half (49%) of the nearly 95,000 victims of family violence were in a current or previous spousal relationship with the accused, including both common-law and legally married partnerships.
An additional 18% of victims were children of the accused, 13% were extended family members, 11% were siblings and 9% were parents, often in their senior years."

"Similar to overall police-reported crime trends, police-reported violence against family members appears to be declining, with decreases seen in both homicides and assaults. In 2011, the rate of family homicides per million was 47% lower than in 1981. More recently, rates of physical assault against family members have fallen by 6% since 2009 and sexual assault by 5%."

"The most frequent type of family violence offence reported to police in 2011 remained common assault, which includes pushing, slapping and punching, without serious physical injury. The next most frequently reported offence was major assault, which involves a weapon or results in bodily harm, followed by the offence of uttering threats."

"As in previous years, the majority of victims of family violence were females. They represented 80% of spousal victims, 63% of parents victimized, 58% of extended family members victimized, 57% of child victims and 57% of sibling victims."

Search Syntax for CanLII Beta

The new beta search interface of CanLII, the Canadian Legal Information Institute, has been available for a little while now.

Catherine Best, the creator of the Best Guide to Canadian Legal Research, has written a text on CanLII, connectors, and CAPITALS about some of the changes to search syntax in the beta version.

Best has compiled a series of very useful "cheat sheets" on her website about the search syntax for various databases and legal sites:

• Search syntax for Quicklaw, Westlaw and CanLII 
• Search syntax for BAILII and AUSTLII 
• Search syntax for Hein Online, Irwin eBrary and Folio View Infobases 
• Search syntax for court websites

Roundup of Coverage on Library and Archives Canada Heritage Digitization Plan

This is a follow-up to the Library Boy post of June 17, 2013 entitled Library Associations Support Canadiana.org/Library and Archives Canada Digitization Project.

As I wrote yesterday on Slaw.ca:

"The so-called Héritage Project, a 10-year initiative, involves the digitization of approximately 60 million pages of primary-source documents from the 1600s to the mid-1900s and will include making digital copies of such material as: immigration records, church records, land records, family histories and papers, voters’ lists; documents relating to Canada’s First Nations, Métis and Inuit; key early documents from core departments such as Indian Affairs, Immigration, Health, Agriculture, Railways and Canals, Fisheries and Natural Resources; military history records; and papers from prominent Canadians, such as Prime Ministers, Governors General, premiers, cabinet ministers, explorers, scientists, entrepreneurs, writers and artists. "

"During the recent controversy, there were fears expressed that Canadiana.org would be granted a 10-year exclusive license to sell access to many of the materials that are part of Canada's heritage. There were reports that Canadian material already belonging to Canadian citizens and paid for through tax dollars could be hidden behind a 'paywall'. "

There are 2 places to get an overview of what the discussion - pro and con - is all about:

• The American site Infodocket has compiled a Roundup of Press and Public Statements: Library and Archives Canada Heritage Digitization Plan.
• The CLA Government Library and Information Management Professionals Network, part of the Canadian Library Association, has published a page on Coverage of Library and Archives Canada/Canadiana.org Heritage Project with press coverage, commentary, statements from library and other associations and Hansard excerpts.

Intervenor Factums on the Supreme Court of Canada Website

I totally overlooked this little news item.

It came up last week at a meeting here at work and I just forgot to post about it: intervenor factums in Supreme Court of Canada appeals have been made available for free on the court's website since April 2013.

Appellants’ and respondents’ factums have been available electronically since February 2009.

Supreme Court of Canada: New Library Titles

The list of new library titles added to the Supreme Court of Canada collection for the period of June 1-15, 2013 is now available on the Court website.

The web page explains: "The Supreme Court of Canada Library does not lend materials from this list, which is provided for information only."

But, once the material goes into the general collection, after about a month, the works do become available for inter-library loan to authorized libraries.

It is possible to subscribe via e-mail to receive the list.

Pro Bono Quebec Launches Legal Resource Site

Pro Bono Quebec has launched Votre Boussole Juridique ("Your Legal Compass"), an online search tool to help Quebecers find free or low cost legal information.

For the launch, Pro Bon Quebec has compiled some 300 legal resources including public legal information sites and services, lawyer referral services, and legal aid services.

Users can search for resources by geographical regiojn or by topic (e.g. youth, consumer protection, family, etc.).

Pro Bono Quebec is a network of Quebec lawyers who provide free volunteer legal services to the population.

Older Law Society of Upper Canada Continuing Education Materials Free of Charge

It is now possible to download without charge any articles older than 18 months from the Law Society of Upper Canada’s Continuing Legal Education (CLE) collection.

The articles are offered through the Law Society’s AccessCLE service, a database that provides electronic access to a few thousand papers and materials from continuing education events since 2004.

The 18 month window is a rolling period. More recent content is available on a pay-per-view. basi.

[Source: Shaunna Mireau, editor of SlawTips]

Library Associations Support Canadiana.org/Library and Archives Canada Digitization Project

Last week, a controversy erupted over a proposed deal between Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and Canadiana.org, a not-for-profit partnership, to digitize the LAC's vast collections of material.

The fear seems to be that Canadiana.org would be granted a 10-year exclusive license to sell access to many of the materials that are part of Canada's heritage.

The Canadian Library Association (CLA) and the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) have come out in support of the project and provided more detail about what it involves. What they describe leaves a very different, much more positive impression about the project.

In a letter to Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore, CLA writes:

"CLA strongly supports the organizations selected to work with LAC on this project. Canadiana .org , as a not - for profit organization created and supported by the library community, is a solid partner in this initiative . CRKN [a research library consortium] has con siderable experience in successfully negotiating complex agreements in the interest of their users. CLA congratulates the academic community in developing a partnership model which will provide access to material of national significance, and of great val ue to a variety of user communities."

We are reassured that Canadians will not be denied access to this content, and that it is not going to be restricted by a 'paywall', as reported in the media. Digitized images will be available for free on the Canadiana.org website, making them more accessible than they are in their current format. Those who provide financial support to this project will have the added value of access to the metadata being created to support the images; and even that metadata will gradually be made publicly available so that, after 10 years, all elements of this project will be freely accessible to all.

CARL also wrote to Moore in support of the project:

"(...) while LAC does some digitization in - house, it will absolutely need to rely on partnerships with the library community to make substantial progress. You will be aware, Minister, that LAC, together with Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) and CARL, formed such a partnership organization in 2008 to do just that. This organization, Canadiana.org, was formed from an earlier Canadiana (set up in 1978 by Canadian research libraries with some initial SSHRC funding) that microfilmed and eventually digitized several important Canadian historical collections and from Alouette Canada, which was a later initiative of Canadian research libraries to provide a portal to digital collections being developed at member libraries. For many years, LAC has supported the work of Canadiana by giving it direct access to its collections for its microfilming and digitization work. LAC has provided funding as a Canadiana.org member and has provided board members, as have BAnQ, CARL and many of a long list of university and public library members and researchers. In short, LAC has formed a very appropriate and effective partnership with the wider Canadian library community precisely to accomplish the digitization of our historical documents — exactly what Canadian Heritage would and should expect it to do."

"The Héritage Project, which has come to the recent attention of the media, is our best chance in Canada to achieve the availability online to Canadians of tens of millions of pages of historical documents. This arrangement between LAC and Canadiana.org will see materials that are currently only available in analogue format in Ottawa become fully available al so digitally to Canadians everywhere (and to the rest of the world) as soon as they are digitized with no cost at all to the end - user (...)"

"Beyond this, however, the research value of this scanned collection can be hugely increased with the addition of text indexing, whereby the current text — most of it in handwriting — is transcribed such that it can be searched by a computer, and with the addition of detailed metadata that will fully describe each document in the collection, information that simply does not yet exist as such . It will take a long time and a considerable amount of money to develop this indexing and metadata, and this is where the community that wants to contribute to this cause can do so in exchange for the resulting enhanced - quality access to the content. Moreover, each year over the decade of the arrangement, an additional 10% of the fully - described collection will be released to Canadians and the world at large at no charge under a Creative Commons license, so that at the end of the project, 100% of the fully - described content will openly available to all forever. We again emphasize, Minister, that 100% of the content (without detailed description) will already be 'open access' online immediately as soon as it is scanned."

Canadiana.org itself has explained that the project will involve no "paywall".

An article in yesterday's Ottawa Citizen explains some of the challenges LAC faces when it comes to digitizing and preserving its massive collections.

Earlier Library Boy posts about Canadiana.org include:

• Digitization of Early Canadian Government Documents Continues (November 21, 2005)
• Two Major Canadian Digitization Projects Merge (April 7, 2008)
• Profile of Canadiana.org Digitization Initiative (June 17, 2008)
• Full Collection of Digitized Federal Hansards by 2015? (March 21, 2013)

CLA Government Library Network Interview With Eileen Lewis, Legislative Assembly of Ontario

For the past few months, the CLA Government Library and Information Management Professionals Network, part of the Canadian Library Association (CLA), has been publishing 13 Questions With..., a series on its website that profiles a member of the Canadian library and IM community every week.

This week's interview is with Eileen Lewis, Research Librarian, Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

She was a member of the organizing committee that planned the 2012 annual conference of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries in Toronto.

Excerpt:

"How do you stay current in your field?
I’m really lucky to have a fantastic network around me. Being surrounded by so many inspiring librarians through work, professional associations, and in social circles is a great way to stay tuned into the issues and broader discussions in our field, as well as to challenge yourself to engage. Of course, there’s a fantastic wealth of professional literature out there, and I try to stay current with that, but for me the best way to keep up is to keep up with my network. I’m a textbook extrovert, so to really get thinking critically, I need to get talking first."

Statistics Canada Article on Adult Criminal Court Statistics in Canada, 2011/2012

The Statistics Canada publication Juristat has published a new article entitled Adult criminal court statistics in Canada, 2011/2012.

Among the highlights:

• In 2011/2012, about 386,500 cases involving almost 1.2 million Criminal Code and other federal statute offences were completed in Canadian adult criminal courts, representing a 6% decrease from the previous year.
• All provinces and territories reported a decrease in the number of cases completed, except Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec. The largest declines in 2011/2012 occurred in the Northwest Territories (-17%), Prince Edward Island (-13%) and Yukon (-10%).
• In 2011/2012, there were fewer cases completed involving almost all types of offences. Cases involving impaired driving saw the largest decline in the number of cases completed, down about 7,500 from the previous year (-15%). The main exceptions were unlawfully at large cases and drug possession cases, which each increased by 2% from 2010/2011.
• Slightly more than three-quarters (76%) of cases completed in adult criminal courts in 2011/2012 involved offences that were non-violent in nature. Cases for impaired driving, theft, common assault and failure to comply with an order continued to be the most common types of cases in adult court.
• In 2011/2012, about 8 in 10 cases completed involved a male accused, a finding that held true regardless of the age group.
• Adult criminal court cases continued to involve a disproportionate number of young adults. In 2011/2012, 30% of cases involved an accused person between the age of 18 and 24 years, yet this age group represented 12% of the adult population.
• Similar to previous years, just under two-thirds (64%) of all cases completed in 2011/2012 resulted in an outcome of guilt. Guilty outcomes varied by province and territory, with Prince Edward Island reporting the highest proportion of guilty cases (78%), followed closely by Newfoundland and Labrador (77%), New Brunswick (77%) and Quebec (76%). The proportion of guilty outcomes also varied by the type of case, with those for impaired driving resulting in an outcome of guilt most frequently (83%).
• Probation continued to be the most commonly imposed sentence for adults found guilty in 2011/2012. Overall, the use of probation remained stable from 2010/2011 and was imposed in 45% of guilty cases. The median length of probation for 2011/2012 was 365 days.
• Custody was the second most frequently imposed sentence in 2011/2012, with approximately one-third (35%) of guilty cases receiving a custodial sentence. The use of custody in Prince Edward Island (67%) continued to be the highest and was almost double the national average (35%). Overall, a sentence of custody was most frequently imposed for accused persons found guilty of being unlawfully at large (85%).
• The median length of custodial sentences imposed by adult criminal courts in 2011/2012 remained consistent with previous years at 30 days.

Statistics Canada Article on Youth Court Statistics in Canada, 2011/2012

The Statistics Canada publication Juristat has published an article on Youth court statistics in Canada, 2011/2012 that shows a decline for the third straight year in the number of cases in Canada's youth justice system:

"In Canada, the youth justice system has operated separately from that for adults for over a century. From the inception of the Juvenile Delinquents Act in 1908, to the Young Offenders Act in 1984 and the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) in 2003, it has long been recognized that the principles that govern the adult criminal justice system are not necessarily suitable for young people accused of crime."

"The YCJA legislation currently in place applies to young persons aged 12-to-17 years and emphasizes the principles of the protection of society, crime prevention, rehabilitation and reintegration, meaningful consequences and timely interventions. In this regard, emphasis is placed upon diverting youth who commit crime away from the traditional justice system and reserving the most serious sentences for the most serious types of crime. That said, although the number of youth court cases has dropped substantially under the YCJA, many cases continue to be processed through the courts."

"Using data from the Integrated Criminal Court Survey, this article presents information on youth court cases completed in Canada in 2011/2012.1 It discusses short and long-term trends in the number and types of cases, the characteristics of youth who appear in court, case decisions, sentencing outcomes and the length of time taken to complete youth court cases ..."

"In 2011/2012, Canada’s youth courts completed just over 48,000 cases involving about 166,000 Criminal Code and other federal statute offences, such as those contrary to the Youth Criminal Justice Act ... This number represented a 10% drop from the previous year (almost 5,300 fewer cases) and the third consecutive annual decline. The 2011/2012 decrease reflects the lowest number of completed youth court cases since these data were first collected by Statistics Canada in 1991/1992 ..."

Ireland Law Reform Commission Report on Mandatory Sentences

The Law Reform Commission of Ireland this week published a Report on Mandatory Sentences.

From the press release:

"The Commission’s Report discusses in detail: (1) the specific aims of criminal sanctions, which include deterrence, punishment, reform and rehabilitation, reparation, and incapacitation; and (2) the key principles in sentencing of consistency and proportionality. The Report contains a detailed analysis of sentencing guidance given by Irish courts in recent years, which have included: (a) the points of departure in the sentencing of certain serious offences, such as manslaughter, rape and robbery; (b) sentencing ranges for serious offences; and (c) factors that aggravate and mitigate the gravity of an offence and severity of a sentence. These key principles of sentencing law form the basis for the Commission’s responses to the Attorney General’s request."

"The Commission notes that the only completely mandatory sentence in Ireland is the life sentence for murder – judges have no discretion here and must impose a life sentence. They do not even have the power to suggest any specific minimum sentence, unlike the position in other jurisdictions..."

"The Commission also examined other 'presumptive' mandatory sentences, such as those introduced in 1999 for certain drugs offences and in 2006 for certain firearms offences. The drugs offence law states that 10 years should be imposed where the 'street value' is over €13,000, but also allows for a lesser sentence in exceptional and specific circumstances. The Commission also examined other mandatory sentences law which require judges to impose higher or consecutive sentences where the convicted person is, for example, a repeat offender."

Among the recommendations: 

• the Commission recommends that the presumptive sentencing regime that applies to certain drugs and firearms offences should be repealed and should not be extended to any other offences. The Report notes that the presumptive drugs offences regime has had the following results: the adaptation of the illegal drugs trade to the sentencing regime by using expendable couriers to hold and transport drugs; that these relatively low-level offenders, rather than those at the top of the illegal drugs trade, are being apprehended and dealt with under the presumptive regime; a high level of guilty pleas in order to avoid the presumptive minimum sentence; and a consequent increase in the prison system comprising low-level drugs offenders. The Commission also recommends that a more structured, guidance-based sentencing system (as envisaged in the first recommendation mentioned above) would provide an appropriate alternative to these provisions. In the context of drug-related crime, the Commission also considers that law enforcement efforts may be beneficially supplemented by other initiatives, such as those highlighted in the research conducted by the Health Research Board and the Misuse of Drugs work sector of the British-Irish Council. 
• the Commission recommends that the existing legislation concerning mandatory sentences (and, where relevant, presumptive sentences) that applies in the case of second and subsequent offences should also be repealed and should not be extended to any other offences. The Commission also recommends that the more structured, guidance-based sentencing system (as envisaged in the Report) would provide an appropriate alternative to these provisions.

The report examines the situation in other jurisdictions, including Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand.

Federal Government Announces Members of Panel to Select New Supreme Court of Canada Justice

The Canadian government announced this week which Members of Parliament will sit on the panel to advise on filling the vacancy at the Supreme Court of Canada that comes as the result of the resignation of the Honourable Mr. Justice Morris Fish.

The members of the panel are:

• Mr. Jacques Gourde, Conservative Party of Canada
• Ms. Shelly Glover, Conservative Party of Canada
• Mr. Robert Goguen, Conservative Party of Canada
• Ms. Françoise Boivin, New Democratic Party of Canada
• Hon. Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal Party of Canada

According to the government:

"The selection process will proceed as follows:

• The members of the Selection Panel will meet to review the résumés provided by each candidate as well as a number of reported judgments and publications.
  
• The members of the Selection Panel will also consult with the Chief Justice of Canada, the Chief Justice of Quebec, the Attorney General of Quebec, the Barreau du Québec, the Canadian Bar Association and, at their discretion, other prominent members or organizations of the legal community.
  
• All deliberations by panel members and consultations with third parties will be confidential.
  
• The Selection Panel will provide an unranked list of three qualified candidates to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice for their consideration.
  
• The Prime Minister and Minister of Justice will select a nominee from that list.
  
• The nominee will appear at a public hearing of an ad hoc parliamentary committee, a process that was first established for the appointment of the Honourable Mr. Justice Marshall E. Rothstein in 2006 and repeated with the appointments of the Honourable Madam Justice Karakatsanis and the Honourable Mr. Justice Moldaver in 2011 and the Honourable Mr. Justice Richard Wagner in 2012."

Catherine Best's Redesign of Best Guide to Canadian Legal Research

In the past few days, Slaw.ca has had two posts about the redesign of the Best Guide to Canadian Legal Research, a website created and maintained over the past 15 years by Vancouver-based Catherine Best.

On June 6, 2013, Steven Matthews wrote in the post Newly Redesigned: Best Guide to Canadian Legal Research that the site has been "one of the most respected (and fluid) resources for introducing legal research here in Canada".

Today, Shaunna Mireau wrote in her post entitled Comparing Sources how the Edmonton Law Libraries Association has used content from the Best Guide in its annual Head Start legal research training program. She adds: "I appreciate the time and effort that Catherine has put into sharing the evaluation criteria for research tools, discussing the search interfaces, comparing the case law and legislation content, and the citators. I also appreciate the search syntax comparisons" [for Quicklaw, Westlaw, CanLII, HeinOnline, Irwin eBrary, BAILII, AUSTLII, etc.].

CLA Government Library Network Interview With Astrid Lange, Toronto Star

For the past few months, the CLA Government Library and Information Management Professionals Network, part of the Canadian Library Association (CLA), has been publishing 13 Questions With..., a series on its website that profiles a member of the Canadian library and IM community every week.

This week's interview is with Astrid Lange, Supervisor, Library and Research Services, The Toronto Star.

Excerpt:

"Career advice – what’s your top tip?
Knowledge really is power. Before applying for a job, get to know everything (or as much as you can!) about a company or organization. Once you’ve got the job, learn about as many work processes as you can, even outside your own department – it will make you invaluable. And don’t be afraid to ask questions."

May 2013 Issue of Connected Bulletin on Courts and Social Media

The May 2013 issue of Connected is available online. The bulletin covers news about the impact of new social media on US courts.

In this issue:

• Social media use in the U.S. Federal Courts
• Courts leverage social media to celebrate Law Day 2013
• Texas Appellate Court examines judge's Facebook friendship
• Connected Courts

It is published by the Virginia-based National Center for State Courts and the Conference of Court Public Information Officers.

May 2013 Campaign Update of Save Library and Archives Canada

The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) launched a campaign last year called Save Library and Archives Canada (LAC) because of its fear that recent federal budget cuts would hamper the institution's many collections and activities.

The campaign recently published a May 2013 Campaign Update.

 The Canadian Association of Law Libraries voted at its annual general meeting in May 2012 to support the campaign.

Australian Law Reform Commission Discussion Paper on Copyright Reform

The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) has released a Discussion Paper on Copyright and the Digital Economy.

Under the Terms of Reference for its study of copyright reform, the ALRC is to consider whether exceptions and statutory licences in the Copyright Act 1968 are adequate and appropriate in the digital environment and whether further exceptions should be recommended. The ALRC is seeking feedback on the proposals from stakeholders.

According to the press release:

“The reforms proposed include the introduction of a broad, flexible exception for fair use of copyright material and the consequent repeal of many of the current exceptions in the Copyright Act, so that the copyright regime becomes more flexible and adaptable. An alternative model, should fair use not be enacted, suggests the addition of new fair dealing exceptions, recognising fairness factors. Other reform proposals relate to the replacement of certain statutory licences with voluntary licensing more suited to the digital environment; the use of orphan works; provisions relating to preservation of copyright material by cultural institutions; and contracting out of the operation of copyright exceptions. Two alternative proposals relating to the scheme for the retransmission of free-to-air broadcasts are set out for comment from stakeholders, in addition to other proposals relating to broadcasting.”

CLA Government Library Network Interview With Kyle Johnson, U.S. Embassy Ottawa

For the past few months, the CLA Government Library and Information Management Professionals Network, part of the Canadian Library Association (CLA), has been publishing 13 Questions With..., a series on its website that profiles a member of the Canadian library and IM community every week.

This week's interview is with Kyle Johnson, Information Resource Center Director, U.S. Embassy Ottawa.

Excerpt:

"Career advice – what’s your top tip?
Don’t be afraid of trying new things, of saying what’s on your mind, of being wrong, of speaking up for what you believe in, of success, of failure."

Law Library Association Endorses Joint Statement on Next Library and Archives Canada Head

The Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) has endorsed the joint statement of close to 20 provincial and national library and archival associations concerning the qualifications needed by the person who will be chosen as the next head of Library and Archives Canada.

Daniel Caron resigned as head of the institution last May.

In its cover letter to Wayne Wouters, Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet, CALL President Annette Demers writes:

"A country’s national library is the cornerstone of its documentary and literary history, and Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is a valuable institution for our professional communities, with a broad mandate to fulfill. While LAC is a department of the Government of Canada, with mandated responsibilities to government, it is also, and must continue to be, a functioning library and archive in the service of all Canadians and to our democracy. " 

"In order to meet its mandate under the Library and Archives of Canada Act, the institution must have a leader who believes in the fundamental services provided by libraries and archives, and a demonstrated ability to bring these communities together in support of LAC’s mandate. This requires credibility with the national community of library and archival professionals, as well as the internal support of a management team of talented and dedicated professionals from the library and archival communities who together can lead LAC into the 21st century."

Earlier Library Boy posts about the recent changes at LAC include:

• Canadian Library Association Dismayed by Federal Budget Impact (May 2, 2012): "The Canadian Library Association (CLA) today released a statement criticizing the 2012 federal budget which it believes will hit federal libraries and Libraries and Archives Canada very hard."
• September 2012 Campaign Update of Save Library and Archives Canada (September 27, 2012): "The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) launched a campaign this year called Save Library and Archives Canada (LAC) because of its fear that recent federal budget cuts would hamper the institution's many collections and activities. The campaign has just published a September 2012 Campaign Update (...)" 
• Library and Archives Canada Terminates Inter-Library Loan Service (October 31, 2012): "The CLA Govt Library & Professionals Network, part of the Canadian Library Association, has published an announcement from Library and Archives Canada (LAC) that the institution is putting an end to its inter-library loan service in the next few weeks. The LAC's service has been an indispensable tool nationwide for researchers and libraries. "
• CLA Member Advocacy Survey: The Impact of Federal Budget Cuts on Canada’s Libraries (December 15, 2012): "The Canadian Library Association (CLA) has released the results of its survey on the impact of federal budget cuts (...) More than 400 individuals provided detailed responses to the survey questions. They overwhelmingly agreed that the cuts will impact both local and national library services, with 98% of respondents indicating concern. Areas most likely to be affected were identified, and include: access to material/information, research, interlibrary loans, Community Access Program, preservation, staffing cuts, digital issues."
• Canadian Association of Law Libraries Urges Reconsideration of LAC Code of Conduct (March 27, 2013): "Earlier this month, it was revealed that Library and Archives Canada (LAC) management was proposing a new code of conduct, a move that sparked a lot of controversy and some apprehension that information professionals were perhaps being muzzled at one of Canada's most important national cultural heritage institutions at a time when it is facing cutbacks and a change in its service mix. In particular, many objections were made to the description of traditional public engagements such as teaching and going to librarian and archivist conferences as potentially 'high risk activities' that may pose a problem under the code's provisions."

Supreme Court of Canada Hearings Calendar for June 2013

The Supreme Court of Canada has published its calendar of appeal hearings for June 2013.

To find out more about any particular case, the Court's website has a section that allows users to find docket information, case summaries as well as factums from the parties. All you need to do is click on a case name.

Supreme Court of Canada: New Library Titles

The list of new library titles added to the Supreme Court of Canada collection for the period of May 16 to 31, 2013 is now available on the Court website.

The web page explains: "The Supreme Court of Canada Library does not lend materials from this list, which is provided for information only."

But, once the material goes into the general collection, after about a month, the works do become available for inter-library loan to authorized libraries.

It is possible to subscribe via e-mail to receive the list.