Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Throne Speech Highlights of Interest to the Library and IM Community

The website Librarianship.ca has published a post with highlights of interest to the Canadian library and information management community from yesterday's federal Throne Speech that outlined the government's agenda for the First Session of the Forty-Fourth Parliament of Canada.

The highlights are broken down into the following topics:

  • Anti-Racism
  • Child Care
  • Digital
  • Reconciliation
On the subject of Throne Speeches, the website of the Canadian Parliament has a complete collection going all the way back to the first session of Parliament in 1867:
"The Speech from the Throne imparts the causes of summoning Parliament, prior to which neither House can embark on any public business. It marks the first occasion, after a general election, or a prorogation, that Parliament meets in an assembly of its three constituent parts: the House of Commons, the Senate and the Sovereign, or the Sovereign’s representative."

"The Speech from the Throne usually sets forth in some detail the government’s view of the condition of the country and provides an indication of what legislation it intends to bring forward. Source: House of Commons Procedure and Practice, Second Edition, 2009."


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posted by Michel-Adrien at 7:38 pm 0 comments

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Supreme Court of Canada Calendar of Upcoming Hearings

The Supreme Court of Canada has published its calendar of upcoming appeals that will be heard from November 29 to December 10, 2021.

To find out more about any particular case, click on the docket number in parentheses next to each case name to find docket information, case summaries as well as facta from the parties.

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 5:40 pm 0 comments

Call for Proposals for 2022 Annual Conference of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries

People have until Friday, December 3, 2021 to propose topics for the next annual conference of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries.

The conference will take place in person in May 28, 2022 – June 1, 2022 in Montreal:

"The 2022 Conference Planning Committee seeks English or French proposals on topics that reflect our theme, including, but not limited to:

  • • Innovation and creativity
  • • HR considerations and developments – Teams, people and organizations
  • • Space Management (including impact on services)
  • • EDI – Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
  • • AI and Future Lawyers – Training, client solutions, practice tools
  • • New Service Delivery Models
  • • Access to information
  • • Reconciliation initiatives, Indigenous and Aboriginal law
  • • Collaboration and strategic partnerships with information service providers
  • • Open Science
  • • Competitive Intelligence"


 


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posted by Michel-Adrien at 5:36 pm 0 comments

Thursday, November 18, 2021

Most Recent Issue of Law Library Journal

The Summer 2021 issue of Law Library Journal, a publication of the American Association of Law Libraries, is available online.


One of the feature articles in this issue is "Comparing the United States Code Annotated and the United States Code Service Using Inferential Statistics: Are Their Annotations Equal?". 

Both are heavily annotated versions of the US Code, the massive consolidation of valid federal legislation in the United States. 

The annotated codes contain the text of U.S. federal laws, plus amendment history, related case law and references to other research materials such as encyclopedias, journal articles etc.

"There are two choices for annotated versions of the United States Code in print. The version published by West Publishing is the United States Code Annotated, or U.S.C.A., and the version published by Lexis Publishing is the United States Code Service, or U.S.C.S. Many law libraries, especially academic ones, carry copies of each, historically because they are thought to have different annotations. But which set should the researcher choose? Should the researcher use both? Should libraries continue to subscribe to both? (from the introduction)"

"(...) we can say that the case annotations given are significantly different from each other. Put differently, there is a significant amount of non-overlap between the case annotations offered by one set and those offered by the other."

"Law libraries often buy both sets of annotated codes because law librarians have historically thought the two sets different. This study confirms that. However, it is still surprising that the percentages of unique annotations were so high: 76 percent of annotations being unique to the U.S.C.A. and 70.5 percent being unique to the U.S.C.S. is much higher than I expected it to be. Given such a high percentage of diversity between the two, a researcher may be well served by examining both sets when starting research. Libraries should continue to buy both sets despite the cost burden, if possible. (from the conclusion)"

This lack of overlap between research platforms should not surprise law librarians. 

My experience is that many researchers become used to searching in one or maybe two online tools when looking for commentary or caselaw, forgetting that no platform provides anything close to comprehensive coverage. And results can be quite different depending on which database one is searching.


 

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 7:41 pm 0 comments

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Victoria Law Reform Commission Report on Improving the Justice System Response to Sexual Offences

Last week, the Law Reform Commission in the Australian state of Victoria released its report on Improving the Justice System Response to Sexual Offences


The report makes numerous recommendations. 

Some of the key ones are that:

  • The state should assist victim survivors to take civil action against those who assaulted them.
  • It should be easier for victim survivors to get financial assistance and acknowledgement of what happened to them.
  • A ‘victim advocate’ should walk with victims on their path through the justice system, providing counselling, emotional support, advice and advocacy.
  • A Commission for Sexual Safety should be established in Victoria to provide leadership, raise public awareness, and deliver reforms across the whole system.
  • Everyone who works on sexual offence matters, including judges, magistrates and barristers, should be specialists.
  • Juries need to be given better directions, and more expert evidence, so they do not fall for myths about sexual offending.
  • There should be an enforceable duty on employers and others, such as universities, to eliminate sexual violence and harassment.
  • The law should require a person to take steps to find out if there is sexual consent.
  • The law needs stronger laws on stealthing and image-based abuse.
  • There should be a central gateway to information and support for people who want to report sexual offending.
  • People should be able to report sexual offending confidentially online.

The state of Victoria is in south-eastern Australia and its capital is Melbourne. The report was delivered to the Attorney-General of Victoria in September and was published on November 12, 2021.


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posted by Michel-Adrien at 7:52 pm 0 comments

New Issue of IFLA Journal on Indigenous Librarianship

The most recent issue of the IFLA Journal, published by the International Federation Of Library Associations, is devoted to Indigenous librarianship issues:

"The IFLA Journal special issue on Indigenous Librarianship strives to position libraries and librarianship through an indigenous worldview and ways of knowing. Each article takes is own perspective on the topic, exploring issues such as colonization, reconciliation, representation and imagery, digital access, and resource management. The issue is the result of collaboration with IFLA Journal and the Indigenous Matters Section of IFLA."

Among the articles are:

  • Indigenous librarianship: Theory, practices, and means of social action
  • Transformation of library and information management: Decolonization or Indigenization?
  • Are we there yet? Visualizing Indigenous culture in today’s library
  • Library services and indigenous peoples in Latin America: Reviewing concepts, gathering experiences
  • Indigenous resource management systems as models for librarianship: I waiwai ka ‘āina
  • The dangers of libraries and archives for Indigenous Australian workers: Investigating the question of Indigenous cultural safety
  • Reconciliation in Australia: The academic library empowering the Indigenous community
  • Indigenous knowledge in Sudan: Perceptions among Sudanese librarians
  • A framework for the integration of indigenous knowledge into libraries in South Africa
  • Sharing stories: The Saskatchewan Aboriginal Storytelling project



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posted by Michel-Adrien at 7:38 pm 0 comments

November 2021 Issue of In Session E-Bulletin of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries

The November 2021 issue of In Session is available online. 


It is the monthly e-newsletter of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) and contains news from CALL committees and special interest groups, member updates and events.


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posted by Michel-Adrien at 7:29 pm 0 comments

Wednesday, November 03, 2021

Best Practices for Creating LibGuides

The RIPS Law Librarian Blog has published an article about Best Practices for Creating LibGuides



LibGuides is a content management system used by thousands of libraries around the world including my place of work.

The post is by Julie Tedjeske Crane:
"I previously reviewed two programs on LibGuides and UX principles. Although these programs were helpful, they didn’t answer some basic questions I had about creating LibGuides."

"After doing some follow-up research, I came up with my own list of best practices. I don’t intend for this list to be comprehensive. For example, I don’t discuss accessibility because that would require a separate post."

"I also recognize that opinions vary on some topics. And of course, there can be instances when particular guidance is not applicable. Think of this list as a few key ideas that I found helpful enough to share."

Crane breaks down her text into categories on purpose of guides, tone and language, headings, layout, look and feel, and editing and reviewing.

There are also links to guides on best practices, style guides for the web, presentations, and checklists/tip sheets.

The blog is published by the Research, Instruction, and Patron Services Special Interest Section (RIPS-SIS) of the American Association of Law Libraries. 







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posted by Michel-Adrien at 6:24 pm 0 comments

Tuesday, November 02, 2021

Roundup on Canadian Law Reform Agencies

The blog of the Federation of Law Reform Agencies of Canada (FOLRAC) regularly publishes a roundup of what its member agencies have been up to.


The latest post has news from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Québec.

I have always looked to law reform commissions as important sources because their reports often provide background analysis, a comparison of the realities of different jurisdictions, and history of important legal issues.

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 7:11 pm 0 comments