Most Recent Issue of the Canadian Law Library Review

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

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

Check out the feature article "Unmasking Identities: A Diversity Survey of CALL/ACBD" (starts p. 10):

"To better understand the membership of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries / L’Association  canadienne des bibliothèques de droit (CALL/ACBD), the Diversity, Inclusion, and Decolonization Committee (DIDC) conducted a diversity survey. This survey provides representative data on membership location and citizenship, education, employment, age, gender and sexual orientation, language, race and ethnicity, religious symbols, ability and accommodations, and caregiving needs.  Through quantitative and qualitative survey data analysis, this survey report includes a discussion of law librarianship employment trends, the future of the profession in relation to worker age and career status, the ability and accommodation needs of members, and comparisons to other major diversity surveys that situate law librarianship within the larger profession of librarianship in Canada."

Canadian Association of Law Libraries Survey on Legal Research Competencies

A working group of members of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) is compiling a list of legal research competencies that will describe the skills, knowledge and competencies that are required to be excellent legal researchers. 

The idea is that the list will assist Canadian law librarians, legal researchers, legal research teachers, library schools and legal professionals.

The working group has put together a very short survey.

It will be available until Friday December 13, 2024. 

CanLII Survey on AI-Generated Case Summaries

CanLII, the Canadian Legal Information Institute that provides free access to Canadian caselaw, legislation and commentary, has been offering case summaries generated by artificial intelligence over the past year.

It is now running a survey to find out how those summaries are being received by CanLII users:

"The primary survey will take approximately 7 minutes to complete and is being conducted in English. It is open to all users of CanLII who are at least 18 years of age. The survey targets users across all jurisdictions in Canada and is designed to gather insights from both the legal community and the general public. There is also a secondary survey which will involve in-depth, 45 minute-long video interviews with 16 selected participants who will receive monetary compensation for their contribution."

"The survey was launched on October 1st, 2024, and will be open until November 15th, 2024."

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.

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.

Survey of Plans for Law Library Print Materials Collection

Primary Research Group, a New York-based publisher of research reports and surveys about libraries, is surveying law librarians about their plans for their print materials collections. 

Earlier editions of the same survey include:

• Survey of Law Library Plans for the Print Materials Collection, 2018 Edition: "Just a few of this 84-page report’s many findings are that: For smaller law firm libraries in the sample the change in overall mean print spending from 2016 to 2018 was a cumulative drop of $25,249 or 12%.   This was a lower decrease than for many other types of law library in the sample; Primary legal works accounted for a mean of 25.78% of the sampled libraries print materials budget with a median of 30% and a range of 0 to 70%; Non-law firm corporate and government libraries cull an annual mean of 7.29% of their book collections; Most of the print subscription volume was in larger law libraries with more than 3 full time equivalent librarians, though it should be noted that many of these were not university law libraries; Data in the report is broken out for US and Canadian libraries, and by library size and type, i.e., university law library, courthouse law library, other government/corporate law library, and for two categories of law firm library, those serving fewer than and more than 150 lawyers."
• Survey of Law Library Plans for the Print Materials Collection, 2020 Edition: "Just a few of the report’s many findings are that: The government law libraries in the sample spent a mean of $774,000 on print materials in the past year; Canadian law libraries in the sample culled a mean of 6.38% of the book collections in the past year; Large law libraries with 5 or more librarians reduced the number of print subscriptions to law journals that they maintain by nearly 19% in 2019; Small and medium-sized law firm libraries expect to increase their spending significantly on print editions of newspapers and magazines in 2020; Primary legal works accounted for a mean of 34.21% of the print materials budget for the organizations sampled."
• Survey of Law Library Plans for the Print Materials Collection, 2022 Edition: "Just a few of the 111-page report’s many findings are that: The Canadian law libraries in the sample vastly outspent the US ones on print materials; Libraries headed by individuals under age 60 spent far less on print materials than those headed by individuals over age 60; Collection culling of print materials was slightly higher in the USA than in Canada; For law school libraries, print materials accounted for 33.67% of the print materials budget; Spending on print directories by the libraries sampled is expected to fall by 15% in 2022."

International Interlibrary Loan Survey by American Library Association

The Reference & User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association, recently released the results of its fifth International Interlibrary Loan Survey.

"The survey was first undertaken in 2007 ... The 2023 survey was distributed globally in collaboration with the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) Document Delivery and Resource Sharing Section (DDRS), and was the first  survey to be made available in all seven official IFLA languages (i.e., Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Russian, and Spanish) ..."

"The survey was distributed via listservs, library contact information gleaned from the International ILL  Toolkit, and social media to institutions in over 85 countries. The survey was open for twelve weeks from June 14, 2023 to September 10, 2023."

Questions included:

•  Does your library borrow internationally?
• What type of materials does your library borrow internationally?
• Which types of materials are hard to obtain from international collections?
• Charging local patrons for international ILL borrowing requests?
• What type of requests will your library supply internationally?
• Does your library fill more or fewer international interlibrary loan requests now than five years ago? What has the change been?
• Do copyright restrictions prevent your library from supplying non-returnables to international borrowers?
• Do licensing restrictions prevent your library from supplying non-returnables to international borrowers?
• etc.

There were 269 respondents. with 143 responses (53%) from North America.

On nearly every continent, a plurality of respondents worked in academic libraries. The exception was Australia and Oceania where more medical/health libraries responded than other library types (43% medical/health, 29% academic).

Canadian Association of Law Libraries Diversity Survey

The Diversity, Inclusion, and Decolonization Committee of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) is asking members to fill out a diversity survey to get a better understanding of the demographics of the association:

"Your privacy is important to us! No identifying information will be shared. A report will be created from this data in the aggregate. Individual comments may be shared, but only with any identifying information removed. The final report will be available on the CALL/ACBD website."

Organizers estimate it should take 7 minutes to fill out.

The deadline is July 31, 2024.

Association of Research Libraries Report on Evolving AI Strategies in US and Canadian University Libraries

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has published a new report on Evolving AI Strategies in Libraries: Insights from Two Polls of ARL Member Representatives over Nine Months.

The ARL is an organization of more than 100 research libraries at major universities in Canada and the United States.

Close to half the member institutions completed the surveys conducted by the Association. A first survey was conducted in April 2023 and a second one in December 2023.

"The survey was designed to elicit both structured and open-ended responses, allowing members to share their perspectives on key aspects concerning AI in libraries (...) The primary areas of focus include their views on the potential impact of AI on library services, the extent of current AI exploration and implementation within their libraries, and the identification of potential AI applications that they find most relevant. The survey instrument did not change significantly between the April and December survey periods. We did add a few answer choices to reflect new uses of AI in library infrastructure and services. Overall, this methodological approach offers a nuanced understanding of the research libraries’ views, enabling a comprehensive analysis of their attitudes, strategies, and anticipations regarding AI integration in the library environment."

Canadian Association of Law Libraries AI Working Group Seeks Feedback

The Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) set up a working group on artificial intelligence in 2023.

Its raison d'être is to develop guidance on the use of AI in legal databases.

As announced on the website Slaw.ca last week, the working group is seeking input from the legal profession.

People can fill out a simple form listed in the Slaw.ca article to share their opinions.

As the form explains, the purposes of the survey are:

1. To gather information about user needs and preference pertaining to these standards.
2. To raise awareness of this standards initiative.
3. To build consensus about user requirements.

Law Library Benchmarks, 2024-25

Primary Research Group, a New York-based publisher of research reports and surveys about higher education libraries, has published the report Law Library Benchmarks, 2024-25 ($168US):

"This report presents detailed data from 44 law libraries in the USA and Canada with data broken out separately by size of library and for law firm libraries, university law libraries, courthouse libraries, and all other."

"The study gives its readers detailed benchmarking data on current and future spending plans, with specific data sets for the overall budget, payroll, salaries, overall materials spending, online information, print information, reporters, legal and other scholarly journals, books (eBook and print) purchased from Amazon, books purchased from all other sources, subscription blogs, seminars and professional development and more.  The study also looks at spending plans on particular suppliers of legal information."

Among the major findings in the report:

• Survey respondents were spending a mean of about 27% of their overall work time working from home.
• Courthouse libraries in the sample accounted for almost all spending on print reporters.
• More than 46% of university law librarians in the sample say that use of artificial intelligence has made them more productive.

Primary Research Group has published many law library-related surveys in the past.

Survey for Law Library Benchmarks, 2024-25

New York-based Primary Research Group will soon publish a new edition of Law Library Benchmarks, a survey of law libraries.

US and Canadian law libraries that contribute through a survey will receive a free copy of Law Library Benchmarks, 2024-25 Edition.

Primary Research Group has published many law library-related surveys in the past.

OCLC Global Survey on the Library in the Future

The international library technology and research organization OCLC conducted a global survey recently to see how libraries were approaching planning for the future.

There were respondents from dozens of countries, the top five being the US, France, Germany, Spain and Italy.

Among the major findings:

• Libraries will increasingly play the role of “space providers”
• Demand for open access in academic libraries will intensify
• Resource sharing through consortia will increase
• Partnerships with non-profit and government agencies will increase for public libraries
• Academic librarians expect increased partnerships with consortia and other libraries
• Library workers may see more flexible working options and access to mental health care
• Additional need for data analytics is expected

Just over half of respondents are from academic (or education) libraries. Nearly a third (30%) are from public libraries and 18% are from other library types, such as government and special libraries. 

 

Policy Options Article on Canadians' Confidence in the Judicial System

Policy Options, a publication of the research organization Institute for Research on Public Policy, has published an article on the possible reasons why Canadians' confidence in the country's judicial system might be growing a little shakier, though the overall situation is still quite good:

"Not surprisingly, Canadian citizens have expressed greater confidence than Americans in their respective supreme courts. The Canadian judiciary lacks the overt American partisanship in its appointment process, sparing it much of the acrimony that plagues the careers of U.S. justices."

"Furthermore, despite some general assessments of the ideological bent of Canadian judges, there is little evidence that the Canadian bench is politically or ideologically polarized in the same way that the U.S. Supreme Court is."

"Still, many features of Canada’s judicial system are far from satisfactory. The legal process has long been assessed (by the chief justice, no less) as being costly, inefficient and lengthy (...)"

"Could the combination of costs, inaccessibility and the influence of the headlines about courts south of the border culminate in a decline in support for Canadian courts?"

The article looks at differences in attitudes according to factors such as education, contact with the court system, gender, voting behaviour and general political value outlook.

On a quite positive note, the article does conclude:

"It’s not all bad news for Canada’s courts. When faced with the decision about whom they trust more on rights-based matters, Canadians appear to hold the courts in higher regard than the government."  

"Data from the Canadian Election study shows relative durability in support for the courts having the final say on matters concerning the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Consistently over time, 60 per cent or more declared a preference for the courts."

Study on Copyright Anxiety in the Canadian Higher Education Sector

Amanda Wakaruk, Copyright and Scholarly Communications Librarian at the University of Alberta, is helping to lead a study on the topic of Copyright Anxiety in the Canadian Higher Education Sector.

To participate, people can access an online survey. The survey closes on August 11, 2023:

"The aim of this research is to explore levels of copyright anxiety across the Canadian higher education sector, and determine the extent to which copyright law inhibits innovative research and teaching practice. The research will compare Canadian responses with those in the United Kingdom to investigate the extent to which legal and cultural differences impact copyright anxiety as a phenomenon."

"By completing this 26-question survey, you are consenting to participate in this study. This should take about 5-10 minutes. At any time during the study you can withdraw by simply closing the form before submitting your responses.  Submission of this survey will indicate your consent."

The research is being conducted in collaboration with City University of London and the University of Oxford.

There is more information available on the project website.

Government of Canada Publications Usability Survey

The Government of Canada Publications Directorate, in partnership with the Human-Centred Design Office, is working to improve and modernize the search experience on its website. 

At my place of work, we often search the site when looking for federal government publications on various topics.

To assist in setting a usability baseline, the Directorate has developed an anonymous short survey (a standard set of 10 questions).

The survey should take approximately 3 minutes of your time. 

Can ChatGPT Replace Traditional Research Surveys?

I came across an article entitled The Survey Is Dead; Long Live the Survey: Can ChatGPT Replace Traditional Research Surveys?

It appeared recently on the RIPS Law Librarian Blog. It is published by the Research, Instruction, and Patron Services Special Interest Section (RIPS-SIS) of the American Association of Law Libraries:

"Our library recently hosted a guest speaker, David Wingate, a professor in BYU’s computer science department who does research on large language models, for a faculty lunch and learn. The entire presentation was fascinating, but the most intriguing part for me and many of the law faculty in attendance was the idea that generative AI systems will become so good they will be able to replace human subjects in answering research surveys. How? Generative neural networks trained on huge amounts of data—terabytes and even petabytes—ingest enough information about people that they can answer survey questions as if they were members of the survey population. Researchers provide the machine with the rough profiles for the individuals they want to survey, and the AI will generate the survey responses."

"Would this really work? Can a generative AI system learn enough about a person tell us how they will think and act in the future?"

The author of the post is unsurprisingly skeptical.

2022 Corruption Perceptions Index

Recently, the government ethics watchdog group Transparency International released its 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), a survey of perceptions of public sector corruption in some 180 states. The perceptions come from experts and business leaders:

"This year’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) reveals that 124 countries have stagnant corruption levels, while the number of countries in decline is increasing. This has the most serious consequences, as global peace is deteriorating  and corruption is both a key cause and result of this."

"Corruption and conflict feed each other and threaten durable peace. On one hand, conflict creates a breeding ground for corruption. Political instability, increased pressure on resources and weakened oversight bodies create opportunities for crimes, such as bribery and embezzlement."

"Unsurprisingly, most countries at the bottom of the CPI are currently experiencing armed conflict or have recently done so."

The cleanest countries for the survey were Denmark, Finland and New Zealand. Canada came in 14th.

Internet Archive Canada Survey about Access to Canadian Government Information

Internet Archive Canada, along with various Canadian partners, is involved in an initiative designed to provide free, open and sustainable online access to the full range of government research, data and publications necessary for a continued and sound democracy.

There is more background information about the project on the Internet Archive Canada website.

Partners include the Canadian Research Knowledge Network, Library and Archives Canada, and the University of Toronto.

As part of the initiative, the Archive has developed a survey to gather thoughts on the "possible solutions to the gaps that exist and set priorities":

"These questions are a first step that will assist us to:
-create an inventory of current projects and initiatives and digital collections focusing on Canadian government information
-determine gaps in the government information that is currently available and adequately preserved for perpetual access
-identify possible solutions and establish priorities for what needs to happen and when
-gather stories that illustrate the impact of the lack of access to government information
identify specialists, practitioners and communities who can provide advice and assistance."

New Canadian Law Librarian Salary Survey

The Canadian Association of Law Libraries and the Toronto Association of Law Libraries have teamed up to create a joint salary survey: 

"The 2023 Salary Survey is a joint undertaking between the Toronto Association of Law Libraries (TALL) and the Canadian Association of Law Libraries / L'Association canadienne des bibliothèques de droit (CALL/ACBD). The purpose of the survey is to determine benchmark employment remuneration received by members of the law library and legal information profession. A final report will be made available on the CALL/ACBD and TALL websites."

"Completion of this survey is voluntary. This survey is set up to collect responses anonymously. No identifying information will be shared and data will be presented in aggregate in the survey report. Any information that may be used to determine a respondent's identity will be excluded from the report."

The survey will remain open for two weeks from February 13-February 27, 2023.

Participants also have the option of entering a draw for ten $25 gift certificates.

Tabulated results will be available later in 2023