Thursday, January 30, 2014

Deadline Approaching for Diana M. Priestly Memorial Scholarship

The deadline for the Canadian Association of Law Libraries' (CALL) Diana M. Priestly Memorial Scholarship is March 1, 2014:

Established in honour of the late Diana M. Priestly, a distinguished Canadian law librarian, and in recognition of her distinctive contribution to Law Librarianship, the Scholarship is intended to support professional development in the field and is awarded to a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant:
  • who has previous law library experience and will be enrolled in an accredited Canadian Library School during the next academic term/year; or 
  • who has a degree from or is currently enrolled in an accredited Canadian Library School and will be enrolled in an approved Canadian Law School during the next academic term/year; or
  • who has a degree from or is currently enrolled in an approved Canadian Law School and will be enrolled in an accredited Canadian Library School during the next academic term/year;
  • or who will be concurrently enrolled in an approved Canadian Law School and an accredited Canadian Library School during the next academic term/year.
The amount awarded is $2,500.


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posted by Michel-Adrien at 8:50 pm 0 comments

Deadline for Applications for James D. Lang Memorial Scholarship Fund

Members of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) have until March 15, 2014 to apply to the James D. Lang Memorial Scholarship fund.

The scholarship is designed to support attendance at a continuing education program, be it a workshop, certificate program or other similar activity deemed appropriate by the CALL/ACBD Scholarships and Awards Committee.

More details are available on the CALL website.

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 8:40 pm 0 comments

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Canadian Forum on Civil Justice January 2014 Access to Justice Newsletter

The non-profit Canadian Forum on Access to Justice (CFCJ) has been publishing a monthly newsletter about Access to Justice since early 2013.

This month's newsletter includes:
  • an article on integrating access to justice into the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDG) post-2015
  • a profile of one of the members of the Cost of Justice Research Alliance 
  • and a number of "stories from the road" (participation of CFCJ members in events and activities in different parts of Canada)

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 8:11 pm 0 comments

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Seeking Nominations for the 2014 Hugh Lawford Award for Excellence in Legal Publishing

The Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) is accepting nominations for the 2014 Hugh Lawford Award for Excellence in Legal Publishing.

It 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 e-product that makes a significant contribution to legal research and scholarship.

Members as well as non-members of CALL can make nominations.

Nominations can be submitted to Cyndi Murphy, past president of CALL [cmurphy AT stewartmckelvey DOT com], before February 15, 2014.

The award honours Hugh Lawford (1933-2009), Professor of Law at Queens’ University and the founder of Quicklaw.

The award will be presented to the recipient at a reception during the 2014 CALL Annual Meeting in Winnipeg.

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 3:46 pm 0 comments

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Bibliography on Self-Represented Litigants

The National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP) has published an annotated bibliography.

 The NSRLP , directed by Dr. Julie Macfarlane, Faculty of Law of the University of Windsor, describes itself as a clearinghouse for resources, research data, new initiatives, training materials and other information that affects and reflects the SRL phenomenon.

From the Resources page:
"The bibliography includes writing in academic journals, newsprint and on the web as well as government reports on the SRL Phenomenon. This edition builds on the bibliography we produced for participants at the Dialogue Event in May 2013 and has been significantly updated and expanded." 
"The bibliography has two sections: Section A includes material from Canada and Section B from the US and other jurisdictions. Each entry is kited in an initial table of contents and is summarized in a few short paragraphs. Of course the bibliography is searchable by key words and terms." 

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 2:02 pm 0 comments

Monday, January 20, 2014

CALL for Nominations for Denis Marshall Memorial Award for Excellence in Law Librarianship

The Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) is seeking nominations for the Denis Marshall Memorial Award for Excellence in Law Librarianship:
"This award is an honour bestowed upon a current member of CALL/ACBD who has provided outstanding service to the Association AND/OR enhanced the profession of law librarianship in the recent past. The specific contributions may reflect the qualities engendered by Denis Marshall [CALL President 1985-1987]
  • a continued commitment to excellence in law librarianship;
  • a strong service ethic;
  • a commitment to continuous learning;
  • a significant contribution to the scholarship of the library profession;
  • mentoring and encouraging those who seek a profession in law librarianship;
  • the pursuit of innovation and/or innovative solutions;
  • and/or a contribution to leadership in the law library profession."
The name of the nominated person must be accompanied by two signed letters from colleagues in support of the nominee, with names and signatures of three additional CALL members supporting the nomination.

This is a confidential process, so the nominee should not be made aware that they are being nominated.

The Scholarships and Awards Committee will begin to consider applications after February 15.

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 6:29 pm 0 comments

Friday, January 17, 2014

AALL 2014 Day in the Life Photo Contest

The 2014 Day in the Life Contest lasts until February 28, 2014. This is an annual photography contest organized by the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL).

It is open to AALL members only.

Photos can be submitted in the following categories:
  • Librarians as Information Evaluators and Managers
  • Librarians as Teachers and Trainers
  • The Artistry of Librarianship
  • Most Humorous
  • Best Altered Image/Use of Special Effects
  • NEW! Best Video
  • NEW! Student Services
Winners from the 2013 contest were featured in the July 2013 Issue of AALL Spectrum, a monthly publication of the Association.

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 6:45 pm 0 comments

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Supreme Court of Canada: New Library Titles

The list of new library titles added to the Supreme Court of Canada collection for the period of January 1-15, 2014 is now available on the Court website.

 The web page explains: "The Supreme Court of Canada Library lends materials from all but the most recent New Library Titles list in accordance with its Interlibrary Loan Policy."

It is possible to subscribe via e-mail to receive the list.

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 6:33 pm 0 comments

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Charging for Reasonable Legal Research Costs

Shaunna Mireau has written a post on Slaw.ca called Sources Consulted and Legal Research Costs that describes recent court decisions relating to the kinds of legal research costs law firms can legitimately charge clients:
"There are some recent decisions of the Federal Court that acknowledge the necessity of using online legal research sources and seem positioned to allow law firms to charge reasonable disbursements for them. The basis for having computer research costs allowed appears to be the ability to justify both the amount claimed, how it is calculated and the relevance and necessity of the research performed."

"The key to costs happiness will lie in how legal researchers keep track of their work. A researcher in a costs argument will have to explain that the disbursements for billed research on Westlaw or Quicklaw was both relevant and necessary to the file and reasonably calculated. Consider how handy it would be if your research output documented both the method and sources used and a notation about what the disbursement is for that particular piece of work. Documentation on how the disbursement is calculated in your organization should also be readily available."
Mireau is the Director of Knowledge Management and Libraries at Field Law in Edmonton, Alberta.

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 6:16 pm 1 comments

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Finding Unreported Oral Court Decisions

Susannah Tredwell has written a post on Slaw.ca on Unreported Decisions: A New Challenge on the difficulties of tracking down oral decisions:
"However I would propose that there is a new category of “unreported decision”: those judgments that the courts do not make easily available. Although they cannot be easily obtained online they are still cited in court judgments or in secondary materials, and as a result lawyers expect to be able to find them."

"Oral decisions often fall into this category; for example, in British Columbia even if an oral decision is transcribed, the judge or master involved has the final say over whether it is added to the website. If consent is not given, the decision will not be made available."

"In Ontario, all court decisions are automatically assigned a neutral citation. However the existence of this neutral citation does not mean that the decision has been published in CanLII. The only way for a librarian to distinguish between the two types of decisions is by putting the neutral citation into a database and seeing if anything comes up."

"So how do you find this kind of unreported decision? The two most effective ways are contacting the registry or contacting one of the lawyers involved, although neither technique is foolproof."

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 8:05 pm 0 comments

Organized Crime Research Highlights from Public Safety Canada

The most recent issue of the Weekly Checklist of Canadian Government Publications  has a link to the most recent issue of Organized Crime Research Highlights published by Public Safety Canada.

It contains summaries of recent sponsored research reports on:
  • Anonymous Online Marketplace for Illicit Goods
  • Victim-Offender Mediation and Organized Crime
  • Locating the Source of Diffusion in Large-Scale Networks
  • Drug Market Disruption and Violence
  • Quebec’s Synthetic Drug Market
The Weekly Checklist includes a listing of titles made available by the Parliament of Canada, federal departments, and Statistics Canada to the Depository Services Program for distribution to a network of Depository Libraries in Canada and abroad.

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 8:02 pm 0 comments

Monday, January 13, 2014

Canadian Association of Law Libraries Upcoming Google Search Webinar

The Canadian Association of Law Libraries is hosting a webinar on January 28, 2013 on Google: Search Below the Surface:
"Generally the world of 'Googling' is not one closely associated with finding credible legal information. But Google has built in advanced techniques for searching that allow you to shine a light on even the most cumbersome platforms and reveal legal documents, commentary and guides with impressive precision. In this session, Meghan will take you through her top tips for harnessing the power of Google to find legislation, cases and commentary in a practical way."
The speaker is Meghan Maddigan , liaison lawyer who heads the training division at Courthouse Libraries BC.

The event is beat 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. EST. The cost is $45.20 for CALL members, and $67.80 for non-members.

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 6:36 pm 0 comments

Canadian Library Association 2014 Webinars

The Canadian Library Association (CLA) is hosting a series of professional development webinars in 2014.

These include:
  • Service Lifecycle Management:Pruning Gives Other Services Room to Grow (January 22)
  • So what do you do – and why do I need you – exactly? Tips on Branding for Information Professionals (February 13)
  • "Good Enough" Information: Threat or Opportunity? (March 5)
  • Leading from the Centre: Using Basic Project Management Tools to Support Innovation (March 11)
  • Herding Cats: Leading Teams Over Whom You Have No Formal Authority (March 13)
  • Becoming Indispensable: The Value Proposition (April 10)
  • Digital Scholarship from the Bottom Up: The Library’s Role in Open Access Student Journals (April 16)
  • Transferable Competencies: Opportunities for LIS Graduates in Non-Librarian Positions (April 22)
  • Mother Said There’d Be Days Like These: Dealing Professionally & Elegantly With the Unforeseen at Work (May 8)
Equipment requirements, registration costs as well as an online registration form are available on the CLA website.

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 6:30 pm 0 comments