Supreme Court of Canada to Celebrate its 150th Anniversary in 2025

The Supreme Court of Canada will turn 150 next year and has announced a series of initiatives and events to mark the occasion.

These include:

• visits by the Court to 5 Canadian cities
• a major legal conference
• an essay competition for law students
• an art competition for young people
• a reunion of current and former Supreme Court judicial law clerks
• a ceremonial ‘Opening of the Judicial Year’ on October 6, 2025

The Court has created a special anniversary website where more announcements will be published.

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."

International Federation of Library Associations Publishes Trend Report 2024

The International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) has released its Trend Report 2024.

"The IFLA Trend Report 2024 is the first major update of this publication since the 2013 original, and represents a key pillar of our work to support the library field to be ready to face the future. Through building the reflex and ability to integrate the future into our planning today, libraries can be more resilient and so more sustainable. This, in turn, brings benefits to the communities that libraries serve, be they the population of a local area, the students and faculty of a university, or a country as a whole in the case of national libraries."

"The report is made up of two major elements – a set of trends identified on the basis of a comprehensive review of the literature review, and then a set of scenarios which explore the different sorts of future that we could face."

The trends analyzed in the report are:

1.  Knowledge practices are changing
2. AI and other technologies are transforming society
3. Trust is being renegotiated
4. Skills and abilities are becoming more complex
5. Digital technologies are unevenly distributed
6. Information systems are using more resources
7. People are seeking community connection

September 2024 Issue of Governance and Recordkeeping Around the World

The Governance and Recordkeeping Around the World newsletter, published by Library and Archives Canada, highlights issues pertaining to government and recordkeeping practices in the public and private sectors around the world.

The September 2024 issue has just been published. 

It includes:

• news items from Canada and around the world
• announcements of upcoming Canadian and international events (meetings, conferences, seminars)
• project and product news in areas such as digitization, archives, open source, e-government, access to information etc.
• listings of papers and readings (white papers, presentations, reports)

CanLII's Commitment to Honouring Truth and Reconciliation Day

Today is Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a day to mark the legacy of the country's Indian residential schools where multiple generations of Indigenous children were subjected to forms of physical and psychological violence to assimilate them.

CanLII, the Canadian Legal Information Institute, has a number of initiatives to share information about Indigenous legal issues and promote Indiegenous voices:

"As part of this commitment, we have recently published the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) on CanLII. The TRC report, a landmark document, sheds light on the systemic abuses Indigenous peoples suffered in Canada’s residential school system. It also provides a clear call to action for individuals, institutions, and governments across Canada to work toward reconciliation. By making this report widely available on our platform, we hope to contribute to the ongoing education and awareness necessary to foster meaningful change."

"We are also working on a project to expand our collection of Aboriginal law through our recent acquisition of the Canadian Native Law Cases (CNLC). Published by the University of Saskatchewan’s Indigenous Law Centre, the CNLC encompasses a large number of court decisions involving Indigenous peoples issued between 1763 and 1978. This project is a significant step in ensuring that the history of Indigenous peoples’ interactions with the Canadian legal system is better documented, more comprehensive, and freely available to all on CanLII."

Supreme Court of Canada Calendar of October 2024 Hearings

he Supreme Court of Canada has published its calendar of upcoming appeals that will be heard in October.

To find out more about any particular case, click on a case number in parentheses to find docket information, case summaries as well as factums from the parties and any interveners.

Call for Submissions for Government Information Day(s), 2024

The Ontario Council of University Libraries - Government Information Community is organizing the Government Information Day(s), 2024 in the 3rd week of December 2024 (exact dates to be determined).

For that purpose, it has sent out a call for proposals for talks.

Talks can be about any topic relating to government information, on any topic from any jurisdiction. 

Presentations can be in the form of lightning talks, panel discussions, workshops, training sessions, etc.

Programs from earlier years are available on the organizers' website under "More".

September/October 2024 Issue of AALL Spectrum

The September/October 2024 issue of AALL Spectrum is now available online.

It is a publication of the American Association of Law Libraries, one of the sister associations of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries.

Serials Price Projection Report for 2025

Library services provider EBSCO Information Services has just published its  2025 Serials Price Projection Report.

"Each year, we conduct an extensive survey of publishers and analyze incoming pricing data to provide informed serials price projections. These insights are designed to assist libraries and publishers for the upcoming renewal season, offering a view of the financial landscape ahead."

"While our forecasts are grounded in analysis, we advise our partners to understand that these are estimates, and while insightful, are subject to change."

"As of this report’s publication, we anticipate that the overall effective publisher price increases for 2025 will fall within the ranges presented in the table before any currency impact."

The report estimates that the price increases are expected to be (before any currency impact) in the range of 4 to 5 percent for individual e-journal titles, 3.5 to 4.5 percent for e-journal packages and 5 to 6 percent for print titles.

On the impact of currency fluctuations, the report states:

"For customers in the U.K. and Eurozone countries, generally 50 to 60 percent of content spend is priced by publishers in their local currencies. Libraries in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, South Africa, and other countries generally have much higher ratios of spend allocated to titles priced in other currencies and therefore can expect currency fluctuations to have a more significant impact on their budgets."

"As always, and depending on library location geographically, EBSCO recommends customers add an additional 2 to 4 percent to the estimated price increases when budgeting to protect themselves from a possible shift in currency in which they are invoiced between now and the time subscription payments are made."

Nominations for the Next Hugh Lawford Award for Excellence in Legal Publishing

The Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) is accepting nominations for the next Hugh Lawford Award for Excellence in Legal Publishing.

The award honours a publisher (whether for-profit or not-for profit, corporate or non-corporate) that has demonstrated excellence by publishing a work, series, website, or electronic product that makes a significant contribution to legal research and scholarship. Legal content in all information formats is welcome.

Members and non-members of CALL are welcome to make nominations. 

Please send your nomination to the CALL National Office by January 31, 2025.

Canadian Federation of Library Associations Support for Prisoners’ Right to Read

The Canadian Federation of Library Associations (CFLA) recently published a statement on reading and access to information for people incarcerated in Canadian correctional institutions:

"Prison libraries must be given the space necessary to provide access to collections and library programs that meet incarcerated people’s recreational, cultural, educational, and other information needs. As supporters of intellectual freedom and access to information, prison libraries must provide people who are incarcerated with the widest variety of relevant and current materials possible, including access to legal materials. Materials should be provided in universally accessible formats, and/or libraries should have access to conversion technology in order to provide universally accessible formats. Collections and programming in prison libraries must also reflect the ethnic and cultural incarcerated population including people with disabilities. Library professionals are key to the prison library mandate including library staff dedicated to managing collections and delivering programs and services (...)"

"This statement is supported by the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules) (2015), the IFLA/UNESCO Public Library Manifesto (2022) and the IFLA Guidelines for Library Services to Prisoners (2023) as well as CFLA-FCAB’s policies on intellectual freedom."

 The Canadian Association of Law Libraries is a member of the CFLA. 

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.