Recent Government of Canada Publications from the Weekly Acquisitions List

The Government of Canada's Weekly Acquisitions List can be a great way to discover new research reports published by various public bodies and agencies of the federal government. 

It is a record of all publications catalogued in the previous week.

The most recent list had a few documents that attracted my attention:

• Applying R v Gladue : the use of Gladue reports and principles: "In 1996, section 718.2(e) was added to the Criminal Code, which introduced the principle of restraint in the use of imprisonment during sentencing with particular attention to the circumstances of Indigenous offenders ... The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC), in 1999, first interpreted section 718.2(e) in R v Gladue.⁠ Through this case, the SCC clarified that judges need to consider the unique systemic factors which may have played a part in bringing an Indigenous offender before the courts. To support courts in applying what are now considered Gladue sentencing principles in their decision-making, judges require relevant information about the Indigenous offender before the court. This information can be provided through comprehensive Gladue reports, which include information about an Indigenous person’s background and experiences with colonization, intergenerational trauma, racism, and discrimination ...This study was undertaken by the Department of Justice Canada to better understand how Gladue reports are being prepared across the country and how they and Gladue principles are being considered by the courts."
• National risk profile : a national emergency preparedness and awareness tool: "The National Risk Profile (NRP) is Canada’s first strategic, national-level risk assessment. This report is based on input and evidence from whole-of-society stakeholders across Canada, and provides a foundation for understanding disaster risk from the three costliest hazards facing Canadians: earthquakes, wildland fire, and floods. It aims to broaden public awareness of disaster risk, identify gaps in the Canadian emergency management system at a national-level and provide evidence to support existing federal risk assessment and climate change adaptation efforts."
• Canada Centre 2023 conference on countering radicalization to violence : what to measure, how to prevent: "At a time of converging drivers and vulnerabilities that are propelling extreme, grievancefueled forms of violence, Public Safety's Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence (Canada Centre) designed its fourth international conference on countering radicalization to violence (CRV) around the theme of ‘What to measure, how to prevent.’ The idea was to emphasize the importance of research, evaluation, and knowledge exchange between experts and practitioners for adapting prevention to this complex environment.  What follows are select highlights, with further detail about particular sessions and presentations available from the Canada Centre upon request."
• ArriveCAN : independent auditor's report: "Overall, the Canada Border Services Agency, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and Public Services and Procurement Canada repeatedly failed to follow good management practices in the contracting, development, and implementation of the ArriveCAN application. As a result of the many gaps and weaknesses we found in the project’s design, oversight, and accountability, it did not deliver the best value for taxpayer dollars spent. The enduring benefit of the ArriveCAN application is that it remains available for customs and immigration declarations. As of October 2022, ArriveCAN is no longer used to collect travellers’ contact and health information."

Recent Justice-Related Documents from the Government of Canada

The Government of Canada's Weekly Acquisitions List can be a great way to discover new research reports published by various public bodies and agencies of the federal government.It is a record of all publications catalogued in the previous week.

Here are two publications from the most recent list:

• Annual report of the Courts Administration Service (the Service provides registry and administrative services to the Federal Court of Appeal, the Federal Court, the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada and the Tax Court of Canada)
• State of the Criminal Justice System: Impact of COVID-19 on the Criminal Justice System (Justice Canada): "This edition of the State of the Criminal Justice System (SOCJS) report focuses on monitoring key changes that occurred within the criminal justice system (CJS) since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It compares indicators of performance prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to those indicators up to two years into the pandemic, where data have been collected and made available. The following presents key findings from the report organized by the nine expected outcomes from the State of the Criminal Justice System Performance Monitoring Framework."

New and Updated Research Guides from GlobaLex

GlobaLex, a very good electronic collection created by the Hauser Global Law School Program at the New York University School of Law, has  published or updated a number of research guides recently:

• The Execution of the International Public Contract during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comparative Perspective: "Many questions arose about the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on contracts and legal agreements. Additionally, the legislator is responsible, on the one hand, to insert explicit provisions that can deal with those cases in the national legislation, and on the other hand, there is also a responsibility on the contractual parties to include in contracts some articles which could deal with disaster and Force Majeure cases, and other articles to define the rights and obligations of each party in these cases. In all cases, the political considerations and the circumstances surrounding each contract must be considered separately. Therefore, it becomes necessary to clarify the effect of the pandemic on the execution of the international administrative contract. Is it a Force Majeure? What are the rights of each party during the period of the pandemic?"
• UPDATE: Researching the United Nations: Finding the Organization's Internal Resource Trails: "The United Nations is such a massive organization that its wide array of processes and products require enough reference sources to warrant a map and compass for navigation. As a map, here are suggested search techniques for several standard types of queries and, as a compass, here are the U.N.'s many diverse search tools organized into resource types."
• UPDATE: An Introduction to International Fisheries Law Research: "International fisheries law, a subfield of the law of the sea, is an emerging area of public international law that seeks to regulate fisheries management in areas within and beyond national jurisdictions. This body of law touches upon some other areas of international law, for example, international environmental law, international marine environmental law, natural resources law, sustainable development law, international trade law, etc. International fisheries law is also interdisciplinary as it often draws on other disciplines, such as, fisheries and marine science, oceanography, marine resource management, fisheries economics, fisheries statistics etc. Although international fisheries law is primarily based on international and regional treaties and customs, other elements, such as, decisions of international courts and tribunals on fisheries matters, practices of States and regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs), and scholarly writings and publications by leading experts have also contributed to shaping up this evolving area of international law."
• UPDATE: Researching the Inter-American System of Human Rights: "The purpose of this research guide is twofold. The first purpose is to serve as a document that will give the reader a basic understanding of the Inter-American System of Human Rights by presenting a brief history of the Inter-American System of Human Rights, the institutional organs through which the System functions and the enabling instruments of the System. The second purpose is to serve as a point of departure for in-depth research. My comments will be limited to the mission, the internal structure, the administrative organization, and the research materials available at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights website."

Public Health Crisis Management Playbook for Archives, Libraries, and Museums

The REopening Archives, Libraries, and Museums (REALM) Project has published a Public Health Crisis Management Playbook for Archives, Libraries, and Museums.

REALM is a collaboration between OCLC, an international library services cooperative, the US government agency Institute of Museum and Library Services, and Battelle.

The document outlines processes, resources, and tools to aid cultural heritage institutions when planning for, navigating through, and recovering from a significant public health emergency. 

It covers the following topics:

• Crisis leadership - Provides starting points for crisis management and communications planning
• Facilities and operations - Offers considerations for determining processes for decision-making about collections management, space configuration, building systems, and safety protocols
• Crisis decision-making and risk management - Overviews risk assessment, information gathering, and decision-making during uncertain times
• Resource networks - Shares strategies for identifying partners and maintaining collaborative relationships, including a tool for visualizing an institution’s potential partners during a crisis
• Resources for more information - Provides all resources used to develop the playbook, as well as additional materials that can be used in developing a public health crisis management plan

International Federation of Library Associations Report on Copyright Challenges During COVID-19

The International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) has published a summary of its research report on copyright-related challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic:

"The report involved a survey of 114 libraries worldwide and 28 interviews during February and March 2022. Respondents were from 29 countries. The report was conducted with Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL)."

"83% of responding library professionals said they had copyright-related challenges providing materials during pandemic-related facility closures. These intersected with ongoing challenges predating the pandemic, including budget pressures, external financial crises, difficult negotiations with publishers, and demand for eBooks that outpaces publisher offerings."

"While many publishers offered expanded access to services and content during the early months of the pandemic, these offers usually did not last for sufficient time for libraries to meaningfully integrate them into teaching and research activities. 69% of respondents who had challenges said these included issues providing access to textbooks, and 52% of libraries that had copyright challenges indicated challenges with providing access internationally, as students and faculty returned to their home countries. To access content digitally, some libraries made use of programs such as the HathiTrust’s Emergency Temporary Access project and ‘Resource-Sharing during COVID’ (RSCVD) (...)"

"Laws often leave gray zones which create uncertainty about how content can be shared. This points to the need for clarified legal protections for libraries and the services they offer."

 

New Issue of IFLA Journal on COVID and Libraries

The most recent issue of the IFLA Journal, published by the International Federation Of Library Associations, is devoted to how the COVID-19 pandemic brought about innovation in libraries.

There are feature articles from around the world on issues ranging from national and parliamentary libraries, to school and academic libraries, and from onboarding of new employees during the pandemic to how libraries dealt with COVID disinformation.

Remote Work Proves the Firm Library Is More Than a Physical Space

Marshall Voizard, Reference Supervisor at the US law firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP, has published an article Remote Work Proves the Firm Library Is More Than a Physical Space on the blog On Firmer Ground.

It is run by the Private Law Librarians & Information Professionals Special Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries.

The article is fairly bullish about how the profession has weathered the COVID-19 pandemic.

Excerpt:

"The forced crash course for the entire legal industry in MS Teams, Zoom, video conferencing, screen sharing, and the like has been a great boon for law librarians.  So many of our resources had already migrated from print to electronic before 2020, and I remember the pain of many reference requests when I tried to describe over the phone how to construct a search string or access a database.  How much easier it is now to demonstrate through screen sharing! These technologies have also presented new capabilities that were not available in person that we’re probably still in the early stages of discovering.  For example, I personally have found success partnering with outside vendors in video trainings where we each have the capability to share our own screens at different portions of the training — something we never thought to do in person."

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LawBytes Podcast on the Legal, Ethical and Policy Implications of Vaccine Passports

 In the most recent LawBytes podcast, University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist talks to his colleague Professor Colleen Flood about the legal, ethical, privacy, and policy issues surrounding vaccine passports:

"Vaccine passports or certificates launched in Ontario last week, a development welcomed by some and strongly opposed by others. The launch raises a myriad of legal, ethical, privacy, and policy issues as jurisdictions around the world grapple with the continued global pandemic and the unusual requirements of demonstrating vaccination in order to enter some public or private spaces."

"Professor Colleen Flood, a colleague at the University of Ottawa, has been writing and thinking about these issues for many months. Later today [September 27], she will be part of a panel discussion that explores the policy challenges hosted by the University of Ottawa Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics, and the Centre for Law, Technology and Society. She joins the Law Bytes podcast with an advance preview as we discuss the legal balancing act, models from around the world, and the concerns that governments should be thinking about in this next stage of dealing with COVID-19."

New Issue of Information Technology and Libraries Available Online

The most recent issue of the quarterly journal Information Technology and Libraries is now available online.

Among the feature articles that caught my attention are:

• Expanding and Improving Our Library’s Virtual Chat Service - Discovering Best Practices when Demand Increases: "With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing shutdown of the library building for several months, there was a sudden need to adjust how the Hilton C. Buley Library at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) delivered its services. Overnight, the library’s virtual chat service went from a convenient way to reach a librarian to the primary method by which library patrons contacted the library for help. In this article, the authors will discuss what was learned during this time and how the service has been adjusted to meet user needs. Best practices and future improvements will be discussed."
• Building a Culture of Resilience in Libraries (Editorial): "We find ourselves a year and a half into the global pandemic, and libraries—just like the rest of the workforce—have been navigating through a drastic amount of change in a short amount of time with no real guideposts as to what may come next. Libraries were completely shut down, library staff displaced, and library services transformed in a short period of time like they hadn’t been before. We’ve also found that as we’ve reopened our libraries there are new patron and staff expectations. It is expected that the changes that we’ve enacted in the middle of a crisis will continue and will be folded into a new service delivery model. Patrons have different expectations of libraries; library staff have different expectations of management and of the technology that drives library services and their day-to-day work. In order to meet these new expectations, we’ve embarked on a path of implementing more flexibility into our environments and workflows. I feel however that the concept of flexibility misses the mark. Flexibility is about being open to change and reacting to it, and possibly taking different paths to solving a common problem. Flexibility though is part of a broader concept that I think we need to embrace, and that is resiliency."
• Accessibility of Tables in PDF Documents: " The retrieval of important units such as images, figures, algorithms, mathematical formulas, and tables becomes a challenge. Among these elements, tables are particularly important because they can add value to the resource description, discovery, and accessibility of documents not only on the web but also in libraries if they are made retrievable and presentable to readers. Sighted users comprehend tables for sense making using visual cues, but blind and visually impaired users must rely on assistive technologies, including text-to-speech and screen readers, to comprehend tables. However, these technologies do not pay sufficient attention to tables in order to effectively present tables to visually impaired individuals. Therefore, ways must be found to make tables in PDF documents not only retrievable but also comprehensible. Before developing such solutions, it is necessary to review the available assistive technologies, tools, and frameworks for their capabilities, strengths, and limitations from the comprehension perspective of blind and visually impaired people, along with suitable environments like digital libraries. We found no such review article that critically and analytically presents and evaluates these technologies. To fill this gap in the literature, this review paper reports on the current state of the accessibility of PDF documents, digital libraries, assistive technologies, tools, and frameworks that make PDF tables comprehensible and accessible to blind and visually impaired people."

Annotated Bibliography of COVID-19 Legal Literature on AustLII

AustLII, the open access Australasian Legal Information Institute, hosts the Annotated Bibliography of COVID-19 Legal Literature that was created by the Law School at the University of Melbourne.

The bibliography refers to literature from over 100 countries:

"Part A includes scholarship and selected professional literature. It begins with books and then other literature, which is divided into broad topics - general legal literature followed by more specific topics. Where appropriate, we have included articles under two or more topic headings. A note on the jurisdiction is included if this is not immediately obvious from the citation or abstract. We have only included literature written in English, and relevant literature in other languages is thus inevitably excluded."

"Part B lists selected organisations with dedicated COVID-19 legal publications sites."

"Part C lists selected websites, databases, special issues of journals, blogs and other online fora."

The blog of the International Association of Law Libraries has background on the project. 

Article on Access and Copyright Challenges for Canadian Libraries During COVID-19

The most recent issue of The Journal of Copyright in Education and Librarianship has published an article entitled Canadian Collaborations: Library Communications and Advocacy in the time of COVID-19:

"The COVID-19 pandemic forced libraries to unexpectedly and suddenly close their physical locations, necessitating a remote working environment and a greater reliance on digital and virtual services. While libraries were in a better position than most sectors due to decades of experience in licensing and acquiring digital content and offering virtual services such as chat reference, there still were some services and resources that traditionally had only been offered in a face-to-face environment, or were available in print only. There were questions in the Canadian library community about how, and if these programs could be delivered online and comply with Canadian copyright law. This article will describe the access and copyright challenges that Canadian libraries faced during the first nine months of the pandemic and will outline the collaborative efforts of the Canadian library copyright community to respond to these challenges."

Most Recent Issue of the Canadian Law Library Review

The most recent issue of the Canadian Law Library Review (CLLR) is available online.

Check out the feature articles: 

• "COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean: Experts Examining Legal Responses", p. 10
• "Anti-Black Racism Legal Resource Guide", p. 16

The CLLR is the official journal of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL). It is an open access publication.

September/October 2021 Issue of AALL Spectrum

The September/October 2021 Issue of AALL Spectrum is now available online.

It is a publication of the American Association of Law Libraries.

This issue has a series of feature articles on innovation, e-discovery tools, post-pandemic hiring and creating healthy post-COVID work environments.

Crowdsourcing COVID-19: A Brief Analysis of Librarian Posts on Reddit

The Chandos Digital Information Review recently published a book chapter (free, open access) entitled Crowdsourcing COVID-19: A Brief Analysis of Librarian Posts on Reddit by Daniella Smith of the University of North Texas:

"Initially, COVID-19 was mistaken for a cold. As time passed, the entire world was infected. It became evident that social distancing was needed to counteract the virus’s spread when the infection rate increased. Although social distancing was a viable option for many professions, it impeded the services offered by libraries. Libraries are cultural institutions that facilitate the social and educational health of their communities. Many citizens rely on libraries to obtain resources critical to their well-being. As such, libraries continued to offer their much-needed services, and librarians worldwide sought to implement the best-known practices to survive the COVID-19 disaster. This study explores how librarians responded to COVID-19 by examining their posts to the Reddit social media network. Popular discussion topics, questions posed by librarians, and the strategies used to cope with the pandemic are presented."

It is part of a book called Libraries, Digital Information, and COVID by Chandos Publishing.

Recent Articles on Adapting to COVID-19 in Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research

The features section of the most recent issue of Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research is devoted to how Canadian libraries adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Articles include:

• Lists of Opportunities: My Experience as a School Librarian During the COVID-19 Pandemic
• Data in the Time of COVID-19: How Data Library Professionals Helped Combat the Pandemic
• From Bricks and Mortar to Bits and Bytes: Examining the Changing State of Reference Services at the University of Toronto Libraries During COVID-19
• Not Virtual Enough: A Virtual Library’s Challenges During the COVID-19 Pandemic
• Manitoba Public Libraries Response to the Early Stages of COVID-19
• Library Instruction in Pandemic Times: Early Morning Webinars

Ryerson University School of Law Survey on Impact of COVID-19

The website Slaw.ca had an article the other day about The Impact of COVID-19 on Legal Services in Ontario.

It refers to a survey being conducted by researchers at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law at Ryerson University in Toronto on the impact of the pandemic on the legal community:

"The purpose of the study is to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to legal services and in particular, how the changing circumstance affected civil law firms, including their key performance indicators, revenue, costs, billing structures, and general impact on firm growth. By understanding the effect of the pandemic on the legal profession, we hope to generate insights that can help inform initiatives designed to improve access to legal services. The study is funded by the Law Foundation of Ontario."

The survey runs until May 31, 2021.

Lex-Atlas Compendium of National Legal Responses to Covid-19

Lex-Atlas: Covid-19 is made up of an international network of legal scholars who have written country reports on the legislative response to COVID-19:

"The project is motivated by the need for an integrated overview of national legal responses to Covid-19, focusing on the legal response to the pandemic with attention to its socio-political context. National responses have varied considerably. Epidemiological performance is but one measure, and a difficult one to judge when transparency is doubtful. Countries have employed emergency powers differently, but understanding them requires attention to the broader constitutional structure in which they are situated.  Most countries had various forms of institutional disruption, variable social policy coverage, and different responses to the human rights needs of vulnerable groups. The aim of the Compendium is to aim for a neutral account of the principal developments, with references to further reading. It is hoped this will assist policy makers in future pandemic preparedness, to fashion ongoing responses to Covid-19, and to assist scholars and historians to come to evaluative judgments of state responses to Covid-19."

The project has produced country reports that all have the same structure to allow for easier cross-national comparisons.

Collen Flood, University of Ottawa law professor, is a member of the editorial committee.

The project has the support of the Faculty of Laws, University College London, the Dickson Poon School of Law, King's College London, and the Max Planck Institute of Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg, Germany.  

American Libraries Journal Publishes 2021 Library Systems Report

American Libraries recently published its 2021 Library Systems Report, the latest in a series of annual reports on trends in the library technology industry:

"In a year complicated by a global pandemic, the community of vendors providing technologies to libraries made important strides to meet pressing needs and make ongoing progress in their longer-term initiatives. Though the pandemic disrupted library services—as well as funding—in 2020, concerted efforts were made to fulfill the demands of users to the extent possible. Almost all vendors made sharp turns to expand access to digital collections and services in order to compensate for diminished access to physical materials."

"Only a few minor acquisitions took place in this deeply consolidated industry last year. Unlike in 2019, none of these transactions altered the overall balance of power among competitors. Vendors made extraordinary efforts to help customer libraries cope with changed services while they continued product development agendas looking beyond current circumstances."

Library vendors readily provided support during the pandemic, especially through rapid development or implementation of functionality that supported newly instituted workflows, such as online selection and checkout of materials and touchless curbside pickup. Abrupt building closures prompted a need to update policy calendars controlling due dates and notices, along with other operational changes. Almost all vendors described delivering system interventions or functional enhancements to assist their customers during this challenging period. Many of these changes will have enduring value. For some libraries, the crisis accelerated transitions to increased digital operations already under way.

"In addition to changes in system policies and operations, some vendors mentioned other specific—and unprecedented—measures offered in support of their clients during the pandemic. Biblionix not only implemented 16 features designed to help libraries adapt to changes in lending and workflow but also offered financial relief to its clients. Since many experienced reduced lending during the pandemic, Biblionix lowered the fees for Apollo ILS according to use levels, an unusual practice in the library technology industry. Innovative Interfaces made its Circa Sierra mobile app free to libraries for a year to assist with curbside services. Ex Libris launched the “Best Practices for the Ex Libris Community during COVID- 19” initiative to provide guidance on building closures and reopenings. Soutron Global developed a Pandemic Recovery Program, providing customers with an extended support package, and donated 10% of its revenue to a financial assistance fund designated for Soutron clients. OCLC supported libraries implementing curbside pickup services through specialized workflows provided through its CapiraCurbside mobile app."

The report is written by Marshall Breeding, a well-known library tech expert. He also edits the Library Technology Guides website and produces the annual International Library Automation Perceptions Surveys.

REALM Project - New Research and Resources on COVID-19 Vaccines and Variants

The REopening Archives, Libraries, and Museums (REALM) Project has been testing how long the virus that causes COVID-19 remains detectable on various library surfaces and materials.

Last week, it published updates relating to New research and resources on vaccines and variants.

It includes information on mask policies in US libraries, archives, and museums, volunteer management during a pandemic, signage templates and COVID-19 communication guides, as well as a briefing on research on vaccines and variants by R&D organization Battelle.

REALM is a collaboration between OCLC, an international library services cooperative, the US government agency Institute of Museum and Library Services, and Battelle.

Further details and results from previous tests are available on the OCLC REALM Project website.

Effect of COVID-19 on Law Libraries

An article entitled The Effect of COVID-19 on Law Libraries: Are These Changes Temporary or a Sign of the Future? was published recently on the SSRN publication portal.

It is free to create an account to download PDFs.

The article appeared in the latest issue of the Washburn Law Journal.

From the abstract:

"Due to the public health crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the traditional roles of the library were altered spontaneously. These sudden changes, coupled with the reality that libraries often struggle for relevance in an ever-changing legal education landscape, force one to ask the existential question: what will come from this crisis and what will academic law libraries look like on the other side? This Article examines the responses from academic law libraries to COVID-19-related changes and emphasizes the need for strong communication skills and effective crisis management strategies from our library leaders, and also discusses which of the changes necessitated by the pandemic should be temporary and which of the changes speak to the future of academic law libraries."