September 2024 Issue of In Session E-Bulletin of Canadian Association of Law Libraries

The September 2024 issue of In Session has been published. 

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.

Recent Justice Canada Publications from the Government of Canada Weekly Acquisitions List

The Government of Canada's Weekly Acquisitions List is a list of publications by various public bodies and agencies of the federal government that were catalogued in the previous week. 

Some of the documents in the most recent list include the following material from Justice Canada:

• Justice in Official Languages - Newsletter (Summer 2024): "The year 2024 is in the midst of a transitional period for official languages in Canada. Since the new Action Plan for Official Languages was unveiled on April 26, 2023, and the Act to Amend the Official Languages Act (OLA) was given Royal Assent on June 20, 2023, the justice in Official Languages sector has had to adapt and innovate more than ever. We hope this issue of the Newsletter will shed some light on this period of change and help you discover the sector trends driving our work. We would also like to recognize the efforts of all of those who are working so hard to make access to justice more equitable for members of official language minority communities (OLMCs). Their efforts are not going unnoticed. This issue begins with an article summarizing the new priorities of the Access to Justice in Both Official Languages Support Fund (Support Fund) for the five-year period from 2023 to 2028. In particular, you will learn about the new investment priorities, which focus on two main areas: supporting OLMCs and supporting the justice system. These priorities are designed to meet the needs identified by OLMCs and other justice sector stakeholders."
• Developing an Indigenous Justice Strategy: A compilation of thought papers by Indigenous legal experts: "In 2021, Justice Canada received funding to support First Nations-, Inuit- and Métis-led engagements (2022– 2024) to gain insight from communities and organizations on how to address systemic barriers in the criminal justice system. In addition, Justice Canada led a series of distinctions-based and regional engagement sessions (2022–2023) to identify concrete actions that could be undertaken in the areas of crime prevention, policing and diversion, courts, corrections, and reintegration (...) In addition to supporting community engagements, Justice Canada commissioned a series of thought papers written by Indigenous legal experts, to help identify what an Indigenous Justice Strategy in Canada could and should include. The authors were asked to provide aspirational visions for the future—a path forward, using strength-based approaches to complement and expand previous work by researchers, inquiries, and commissions that have documented challenges and problems with the justice system. The purpose of these papers was to help facilitate a decolonizing approach to informing an Indigenous Justice Strategy, by providing a space for diverse Indigenous perspectives that respects Indigenous values, philosophies and knowledge."
• Out-of-court dispute resolution for families experiencing separation or divorce in Canada: "In the area of family justice, using the courts to resolve disputes upon separation or divorce for such issues as each parent’s decision-making responsibilities and time with their children, child and spousal support and division of property has proven to be expensive, lengthy and difficult for the parties. As such, governments have long tried to encourage the use of mediation or conciliation – dispute resolution outside of the courts – to resolve issues (...) In 2023 the Department of Justice Canada contracted with Catherine Tait Consulting to research government-funded out-of-court dispute resolution services provided in Canada that assist families experiencing separation and divorce (...) This report outlines the research findings. The two next sections describe the research scope and methodology. This is followed by a summary of the commonalities and differences among programs, focussing on the programs’ scope, service delivery model, response to and impacts of the pandemic, other recent changes impacting the programs and their service volumes, success indicators and data collection. "

Canadian Prison Law Conference: Rights, Remedies and Decarceration

The Canadian Prison Law Association is partnering with the Peter A. Allard School of Law to organize the Canadian Prison Law Conference: Rights, Remedies and Decarceration in Vancouver on October 4-6, 2024.

The event will include topics such as "Indigenous self-determination and Indigenous justice practices, life sentences, solitary confinement in its many forms, enforcing human rights in places of detention, abolitionist legal strategies, constitutional rights and remedial possibilities, prison law and legal education, and more."

The conference program can be found online.

Journal Article: Library Terms that Users (Don’t) Understand

The journal College & Research Libraries has published an article entitled Library Terms that Users (Don’t) Understand: A Review of the Literature from 2012-2021:

"This paper compares website usability—specifically library users’ understanding of library terms—for fifty-one original research studies between 2012-2021, with the findings of John Kupersmith’s 2011 white paper 'Library Terms That Users Understand. Studies reported approximately twice as many terms that users didn’t understand than terms users did understand, with some terms appearing in both categories. Analysis of the findings suggests a majority of Kupersmith’s guidelines remain applicable to today’s online environment, with some adjustments related to technology advances (...)"

"John Kupersmith iteratively revised and published a white paper summarizing best practices for using library terms, originally gleaned from findings of library usability research published between 1997 to 2008. He later included studies published from 2009 to 2011. His paper presented seven best practices:

1. Test to see what users do and don’t understand and what terms they most strongly relate to.
2. Avoid—or use with caution—terms that users often misunderstand.
3. Use natural language equivalents on top-level pages.
4. Enhance or explain potentially confusing terms.
5. Provide intermediate choices when a top-level menu choice presents ambiguities that can’t be resolved in the space available.
6. Provide alternative paths where users are likely to make predictable “wrong” choices.
7. Be consistent to reduce cognitive dissonance and encourage learning through repetition."

"Acknowledging the enduring usefulness of Kupersmith’s white paper, as well as the significant changes in both user interfaces and user expectations since 2011, we wished to provide updated results for library practitioners and library web developers, including a review of whether Kupersmith’s summary findings still hold true. In this paper we present an analysis of original research studies conducted between 2012-2021 with findings related to library users’ understanding of library terms, and compared these findings with Kupersmith’s work." 

Clarivate Report on Artificial Intelligence in Libraries

Library software company Clarivate has published its Pulse of the Library 2024 report based on feedback from 1,500 respondents from across the world, covering academic, national and public libraries:

According to the report:

• Most libraries have an AI plan or one in the works - Over 60% of respondents are evaluating or planning for AI integration.
• AI adoption is the top tech priority - AI-powered tools for library users and patrons top the list of technology priorities for the next 12 months, according to 43% of respondents.
• AI is advancing library missions - Key goals for those evaluating or implementing AI include supporting student learning (52%), research excellence (47%) and content discoverability (45%), aligning closely with the mission of libraries.
• Librarians see promise and pitfalls in AI adoption - 42% believe AI can automate routine tasks, freeing librarians for strategic and creative activities. Levels of optimism vary regionally. 
• AI skills gaps and tight budgets are top concerns - A lack of expertise and budget constraints are seen as greater challenges than privacy and security issues - Tight budgets: Almost half (47%) cite tight budgets as their greatest challenge. Skills gap: 52% of respondents see upskilling as AI's biggest impact on employment, yet nearly a third (32%) state that no training is available.
• Regional priorities differ - Librarians' views on other key topics such as sustainability, diversity, open access and open science show notable regional diversity.

Clarivate is the purveyor of library technologies such as Sierra, Innovative, Alma, Primo, ProQuest, Web of Science and Journal Citation Reports.

Canadian Association of Law Libraries Webinar on Social Media News, Psychological Biases, and AI

The Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) is hosting a webinar on October 7, 2024, 12:00PM - 1:30pm EDT on A Perfect Storm: Social Media News, Psychological Biases, and AI:

"In an age where news information is created by millions and consumed by billions over social media (SM) every day, issues of information biases, fake news, and echo-chambers have dominated the corridors of technology firms, news corporations, policy makers, and society."

"In this context, the speakers will:

1. Explain information bias anchoring (IBA);
2. Put IBA in the context of social media news and how it creates an information deluge leading to uncertainty;
3. Discuss how technological rationality and individual biases intersect to mitigate the uncertainty, often leading to news information biases;
4. Explore how bad actors in society might be able to manipulate IBA to achieve nefarious ends."

The speakers are  Mark Whitmore, Associate Professor at Kent State University’s Department of Management and Information Systems; Dr. Pratim "Pratt" Milton Datta, Professor of Information Systems in the College of Business at Kent State University; and Dr. Joseph K. Nwankpa, Associate Professor in the Department of Information Systems & Analytics and the Director of Cybersecurity Initiatives at the Farmer School of Business at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.

The webinar is free for CALL members. 

Cost is $50.00 for non-members and $15.00 for student non-members.

International Federation of Library Associations Trend Report 2024

The International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) has released the results of a recent survey to gather perspectives on the impacts it identified in its 2024 Trend Report Literature Review:

"The idea here was to get a sense of how optimistic respondents were about the Trends, each of which has both potential positive and negative aspects. They also aimed to stimulate thinking about the difference between the macro situation (for societies or libraries in general), and the more direct one for the respondent’s own library. By asking about the need for libraries, it aimed to understand how respondents anticipated demand for library services evolving."

"The second part looked, for each of the Trends that participants said was important, how strong was the relationship of this Trend to each of the others. This would help us identify interesting areas for defining scenarios."

The trends identified in the literature review are:

• Trend 1: Knowledge practices are changing, and the future holds both opportunities and challenges for equity in knowledge systems
• Trend 2: AI and other technologies are transforming society, and how we create, share and use information
• Trend 3: Trust is being renegotiated, especially in government and media
• Trend 4: Skills and abilities are becoming more complex, but also essential
• Trend 5: Digital technologies and their benefits are unevenly distributed
• Trend 6: Information systems are using more resources, impacting the planet
• Trend 7: People are seeking community connections – spaces to share are key

The central mission of IFLA’s Trend Report is to support libraries, library and information workers, and their associations in approaching the future in an informed, structured and confident way.

The 2024 edition of the Trend Report itself will be launched at the Information Futures Summit in Brisbane, Australia, on 30 September – 3 October.