Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Library of Congress Now Publishing Congressional Research Service Reports

The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. has started publishing reports from the Congressional Research Service.

From the FAQ:
"This collection provides the public with access to research products produced by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) for the United States Congress. By law, CRS works exclusively for Congress, providing timely, objective, and authoritative research and analysis to committees and Members of both the House and Senate, regardless of political party affiliation. As a legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, CRS has been a valued and respected resource on Capitol Hill for more than a century."

"The products in this collection were created for the sole purpose of supporting Congress in its legislative, oversight, and representational duties. New products are regularly produced to anticipate and respond to issues of interest to Congress on a timely basis. As these issues develop, so do our products, which may be updated to reflect new information, developments, and emergent needs of Congress. The products are not designed to provide comprehensive coverage of the academic literature or address issues that are outside the scope of congressional deliberations." (...)

"In 2018, Congress passed a law directing the creation of this site and ending the legal requirement prohibiting CRS from providing its products to the public."
The Library reports that all new or updated reports will be added to the website as they are made available to Congress. The Library is also working to make available the back catalog of previously published reports as expeditiously as possible.

The Law Library of Congress is the world’s largest law library, with a collection of over 2.65 million volumes from all ages of history and virtually every jurisdiction in the world. 

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 7:59 pm 0 comments

Understanding Gender and Sexual Diversity Terminology

The Library of Parliament has published an article on Understanding Gender and Sexual Diversity Terminology to coincide with Gender Equality Week 2018 (23 to 29 September).

It tries to explain some of the vocabulary around gender and sexual identity. It describes terms such as sex, gender identity, transgender, etc.

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 7:52 pm 0 comments

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Cornell’s Legal Information Institute Publishes Enhanced US Constitution Annotated

The Legal Information Institute (LII) at Cornell University has published the Enhanced Constitution Annotated, a web version of the non-partisan Congressional Research Service’s Constitution Annotated (a document that is in the hundreds of pages).

As per an explanatory note:
"The content of the U.S. Constitution Annotated was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) at the Library of Congress, and published electronically in plaintext and PDF by the Government Printing Office. Dating back to 1911, the initial online annotations were published in 1992."
"This edition is a hypertext interpretation of the CRS text, updated to the currently published version. It links to Supreme Court opinions, the U.S. Code, and the Code of Federal Regulations, as well as enhancing navigation through linked footnotes and tables of contents."
LII, based at the Cornell Law School in Ithaca, New York, was founded in 1992 with the goal of making American legal materials freely available on the Internet.

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 12:38 pm 0 comments

Monday, September 17, 2018

Supreme Court of Canada: New Library Titles

The list of new library titles added to the Supreme Court of Canada collection from September 1st to 15th, 2018 is now available on the Court website.

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

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 5:59 pm 0 comments

Sunday, September 16, 2018

September 2018 Issue of Governance and Recordkeeping Around the World

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

The September 2018 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 and Web 2.0
  • listings of papers and readings (white papers, presentations, reports)

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 5:54 pm 0 comments

Thursday, September 13, 2018

University Affairs Article on Rise of Aboriginal Law in Canada

University Affairs, the journal of the organization Universities Canada (formerly the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada), published an article last week on The rise of Aboriginal law.

It describes how Canada's law schools are quickly revamping their programs to introduce more courses on Indigenous issue and legal traditions:
"... a string of Supreme Court challenges, land claims disputes and clashes over billion-dollar resource developments have vaulted Indigenous issues into the spotlight and transformed Aboriginal law into the fastest-growing sector of the legal landscape. Most major legal firms in Canada now employ an Aboriginal law group and there are dozens of smaller boutique firms that focus solely on the topic (...)"

"In reaction to this rapidly evolving legal landscape, and in response to the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action, law schools have not only bolstered their Aboriginal law offerings but are also introducing new courses aimed at enhancing students’ understanding of Indigenous issues and legal traditions (...) "

"One of the TRC’s list of 94 recommendations is aimed directly at law schools. Number 28 requires that all law students take a mandatory course in Aboriginal people and the law, which 'includes the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal–Crown relations. This will require skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights and anti-racism'. "

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 7:28 pm 0 comments

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

University of Virginia School of Law Launches Brett Kavanaugh Project Website

The University of Virginia School of Law has launched the Brett Kavanaugh Project Website about the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.

It assembles all of Kavanaugh’s written opinions, as well as concurrences and dissents he either wrote or joined as a judge for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Earlier Library Boy posts about Kavanaugh:

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 6:46 pm 0 comments

Citation Requirements of Canada Courts

Susannah Tredwell published a tip on Slaw.ca this week  on Citing Case Law and Legislation.

Her tip mentions the 9th edition of the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (AKA "The McGill Guide").

The Guide is often seen as the default for Canadian citation practice, but Tredwell lists a series of Canadian courts with "slightly different citation requirements".

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 6:35 pm 0 comments

Monday, September 10, 2018

Most Recent Issue of LawNow: #MeToo Movement

The most recent issue of LawNow is available online.

The magazine is published by the Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta.

The issue features a series of articles on the #MeToo Movement.

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 6:48 pm 0 comments

Performance & Learning Month at Librarianship.ca

The website Librarianship.ca will be highlighting continuing professional education resources during the month of September which is Performance & Learning Month.

The first resource is a new journal called Emerging Library & Information Perspectives:
"Emerging Library & Information Perspectives (ELIP), published by the FIMS Graduate Library at Western University and hosted by Western Libraries, published its inaugural issue this year! The scope of the journal includes contributions related to the field of library and information science, broadly construed. The journal accepts submissions from current Western University MLIS students in the form of research articles, critical essays, reviews, interviews, pieces written practically for the field, and pieces written from experiences working in the field."

"ELIP breaks through barriers in scholarly communication by being freely accessible and available online to people inside or outside the field of library and information science. The journal encourages perspectives on all different types of librarianship or information work, and also accepts multimodal content such as audio, video and images."

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 6:46 pm 0 comments

Thursday, September 06, 2018

Opportunity for Input on Future of Library and Archives Canada

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is seeking input from Canadians on what they think the institution's priorities should be over the next three years in its 2019–2022 plan:
"We are asking Canadians to share their ideas and suggestions by email and on PlaceSpeak, an online engagement platform as we prepare our 2019–2022 three-year plan. We have held a series of meetings with our stakeholders and employees, for reflection and exchange and now we wish to broaden our consultation."

"Your feedback will help us develop a plan to guide us for the next three years. The plan will be made public in winter 2019."

"To maintain consistency and continuity in our operations, commitments and stakeholder relationships, we will draw on the main priorities in the 2016–2019 plan. You can read the environmental scan summary prepared by our Strategic Research and Policy team for these consultations."
LACis interested in people's thoughts on the following questions:
  • What do you expect from your national library and national archives?
  • What trends (social, technological, demographic or other) should influence our planning for the next three to five years? Why?
  • What activities should we focus on, and why?
The deadline is September 14, 2014.

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 9:37 pm 0 comments

Lightning Talks on Canadian Digital Preservation Initiatives

The Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) is organizing @Risk North 2: Digital Collections, a one-day forum to be held in Montreal on November 9, 2018.

As part of that forum,  Canadian institutions are being invited to submit proposals for 5-minute lightning talks describing major current digital preservation initiatives:
"Academic libraries, public libraries, national libraries, museums, archives, and any other organizations involved in the digital preservation of cultural and documentary heritage are welcome to submit. Presentations will be selected to reflect a diverse selection of initiatives that are building significant technical, organizational or policy capacity for the preservation of one or more types of digital content."
The deadline is September 20, 2018.

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 9:32 pm 0 comments

Wednesday, September 05, 2018

U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings Begin for Supreme Court Nominee Kavanaugh

Hearings on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court began this week in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C.

There are many sources to follow.

Here are two of them:
Earlier Library Boy posts about Kavanaugh:

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 6:40 pm 0 comments

New Concordia University Library Featured in 2018 Library Design Showcase

The journal American Libraries has published its 2018 Library Design Showcase, an "annual celebration of new and renovated libraries".

One of the libraries featured in the slideshow accompanying the article is Concordia University's Webster Library in Montreal. There was an article in Canadian Architect back in the spring when the library opened.

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

Tuesday, September 04, 2018

September 2018 Issue of In Session - E-Newsletter of Canadian Association of Law Libraries

The September 2018 issue of In Session is available online.

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.

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 7:34 pm 0 comments

Monday, September 03, 2018

New South Wales Law Reform Commission Consultation on Digital Assets after Death

The Law Reform Commission in New South Wales, Australia has released a consultation paper on laws that affect access to a person's digital assets after they die or become incapacitated.

As a background document explains:
"In general, a person's digital property and electronic communications are referred to as 'digital assets'. These can include photographs, videos, emails, online banking accounts, cryptocurrency, domain names, blogs and online gaming accounts."

"Digital assets can have significant personal, sentimental and even financial value. Permitting access to these assets after the person's death or incapacity is therefore essential. However, family members and fiduciaries can encounter significant barriers in acquiring access, largely due to the terms of service agreements between users and service providers."

"In response to these barriers, there is an emerging trend of overseas litigation involving grieving families seeking access to their deceased relative's digital assets. Australian courts appear to have not yet considered these issues."

"The NSW Law Reform Commission has been asked to review and report on access to digital assets upon death or incapacity. Our review will consider the current state of the law, developments that have occurred in other jurisdictions, and whether NSW should enact legislation to address the difficulties in accessing the digital assets of a deceased or incapacitated person."
The consultation document looks at the situation in the United States, Canada, and the European Union.

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 4:44 pm 0 comments

New Guide on Marrakesh Treaty for People With Print Disabilities

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) has published a guide for librarians on Getting Started with the Marrakesh Treaty:
"The Marrakesh Treaty entered into force in September 2016, faster than any other international copyright text in the last 40 years. It promises to remove some of the key barriers to access to information by people with print disabilities."

"Yet the Treaty will only be effective, where it has been incorporated into national law, when libraries and others are using it. Yet not all librarians feel confident in dealing with copyright law, potentially leaving users without the access they need."

"This guide, edited by Victoria Owen, and with the wecome support of the World Blind Union, the Canadian Association of Research LIbraries, and the Unviersity of Toronto, offers answers to frequently asked questions. It can also be adapted by national actors to their own laws - IFLA encourages this, in order to get the largest possible number of libraries involved."

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 4:32 pm 0 comments

Supreme Court of Canada: New Library Titles

The list of new library titles added to the Supreme Court of Canada collection from August 16 to 31, 2018 is now available on the Court website.

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

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posted by Michel-Adrien at 4:26 pm 0 comments