Advocacy 101 for Law Libraries

As the role of law libraries continues to expand and grow, it is essential to have the knowledge and ability to advocate on behalf of the library and effectively communicate the valuable range of skills offered by information professionals. Wendy Newman, former President of the Canadian Library Association and the Canadian Association of Public Libraries, has taught advocacy to the library community for a number of years, both through training programs for librarians and at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information, where she is a Senior Fellow and Lecturer.

Advocacy 101 for Law Librarians will provide participants with the knowledge needed to understand the advocacy process and exercise professional leadership. Such advocacy may relate to policy, funds, support, or partnership, and may be directed to internal or external decision-makers. This session includes the nature of advocacy, the relationship of advocacy to promotion and marketing, decision-makers' environments and their perceptions of libraries, and the identification and engagement of the right stakeholders with the right message at the right time.

Speaker
Wendy Newman, MLS, Lecturer and Senior Fellow, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto

Hosted by
The Courthouse and Law Society Libraries Special Interest Group 
 

Sunday, May 6, 2012
7:30 am - 3:00 pm
Business Meetings for CALL SIGs and Committees - Detailed Schedule 

Sunday, May 6, 2012
12:00 noon
Grand Opening of Exhibit Hall 

Sunday, May 6, 2012
1:00  pm - 4:00  pm
Vendor Demos
 

Sunday, May 6, 2012
4:30 pm - 5:30 pm
Annual General Meeting CALL/ACBD Part 1 

Helping Your Organization Manage Its Reputation

Librarians aligning themselves with their organizations provide a variety of support.  Professor Powers will explain the challenge organizations face in managing their reputations and how libraries can contribute to that important business challenge.

Speaker
Rick Powers, Professor, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

Evaluating Government Web Sites

Speaker
Stephanie Poce, User Experience Strategist, Thrillworks, Inc.

Moderator
Jennifer McNenly, Knowledge Systems Project Architect, Osler
 

Speakers
Janet Moss, Head Law Librarian, Gerard V. LaForest Law Library
Iain Sinclair, Knowledge Manager, Stewart McKelvey
Rhonda O'Neill,  Assistant Director, Alberta Law Libraries

Moderator
Anne Bowers, Librarian, Northumberland Law Association Library

Behind the Numbers: Statistics for Librarians

Does looking at a statistical table make you dizzy? Does the thought of opening Microsoft Excel make you want to turn off your computer? Whether you realize it or not, statistics and research studies are a huge part of our everyday lives and the lives of our libraries. Most importantly, they can be used as a positive force to enhance your library's services and measure its value. In this session, we will explore statistics and quantiative research methods to get "behind the numbers". Once we see how easy it is to understand statistics, we'll discuss how they can be used to make you and your library shine!

Speaker
Professor Nicole Doyle,  Prof. Nicole Doyle, School of Justice and Emergency Services, Durham College

Hosted by
Committee to Promote Research

Knowledge Management in Law Libraries: The Role for Legal Information Professionals

Knowledge management is an important part of legal practice to ensure that lawyers are being effective and efficient, following best practices, and sharing their knowledge with colleagues to better serve clients.

Members of CALL/ACBD have important roles to play in developing knowledge management within their organizations but may be underutilized or not sufficiently promoting their abilities.

This session will provide a brief overview of knowledge management and then focus at an intermediate level to outline the different roles that legal information professionals can play and provide practice examples of knowledge management deployment in law-related organizations.

Speakers
Stephen Lastres, Director of Library & Knowledge Management, Debevoise & Plimpton 
Ted Tjaden, National Director of Knowledge Management, McMillan LLP

Moderator
Karen Sawatzky, Librarian, Tapper Cuddy LLP

Co-Sponsors
KM-SIS and PLL-SIS

The Challenges of Legal Research Training for Foreign Trained Lawyers and Law Students

Does your law school have a number of foreign trained law students? Has your law firm recently recruited foreign trained lawyers? What have you done to assist the understanding of the nuances of the Canadian legal system for these foreign trained law students and lawyers? This session discusses the challenges faced in training foreign trained law students and lawyers in the Canadian legal system and explores some effective teaching strategies and resources. There is potential for a dialogue at the end of the session.

Participants will:

• Better understand the existing challenges faced in teaching international students and foreign lawyers; 
• Better understand the research needs of international law students and foreign lawyers; 
• Understand requirements for internationally-educated lawyers who wish to practice law in Canada.

Speakers
Deborah Wolfe, Managing Director, National Committee on Accreditation (NCA)
Johanne Blenkin, Executive Director, BC Courthouse Libraries
Wendy Bellack-Viner, Legal Research & Writing Instructor, Internationally Trained Lawyers Program, University of Toronto

Moderators
Nadine Hoffman, Natural Resources, Energy & Environmental Law Librarian, University of Calgary
Sharon Wang, Reference Librarian, Osgoode Hall School of Law

Hosted by
Academic SIG

Library Systems Migrations: If Your Staff Want to Retire, You're Doing it Wrong

This session will be a brief discussion of the process of carrying out a data migration aimed at library staff who are not specialized in technical services. It will not be overly technical and will make the assumption that consultants or vendor staff will be managing the technical part of the migration; instead it will focus on a high level understanding of the process and issues to consider.

It will start with a discussion on selecting an integrated library system (ILS) based on institutional needs, some of the added client focused aspects of the newer systems, and some of the simplest systems for the case where little functionality is needed. An overview of the technical process of migrating systems will follow with a discussion of some pitfalls that can happen from project and library management points of view. Finally, we will briefly discuss the staff management issues involved in a data migration, including the need for ongoing communication and a strong suggestion that work processes be reviewed as part of the process, as anachronistic procedures are often preserved which lead to inefficiencies.

Handouts for this session will be provided with some documentation on a generic migration project.

Speaker
Sarah Sutherland, Manager, Library Services - McMillan LLP
 

Tuesday May 8 2012
 

Professional Growth

Librarians face many challenges and it it hard to determine where to begin. This plenary will focus on practical advice and examples for how libraries can position themselves to grow professionally.

Speaker
Professor Joe Janes, University of Washington Information School

11:30 am - 12:00 noon 
Members' Open Forum

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Vendor Liaison Open Forum
 

Lessons from the Flat Track: How Being a Roller Girl Has Helped Me to be a Better Librarian

By now, it’s common knowledge that the stereotype of a stuffy patron shushing, book pushing librarian in sensible shoes is not the librarian of the future. Even still, how many clients are likely to expect that tucked under the reference desk are a pair of roller skates in place of those orthopedic shoes? Surprisingly (or perhaps not so), there’s small but growing contingency of librarians skating up and hitting the flat track to participate in a roller derby revival. Gone are the theatrics and staged outcomes of Roller Derby games of the past (though the punny names remain). Modern Roller Derby is a complicated game; the rules are complicated, it moves quickly and it leaves real bruises – not unlike modern librarianship.

Speaker
Eileen Lewis, Research Librarian, Legislative Library of Ontario

Developing Law Librarians

In the specialized and ever-evolving field of law librarianship, and in the face of rapid advancements in technology, we must continuously learn, update and acquire new knowledge and skills in order to remain competent and relevant.   This session will examine the current realities of professional development for law librarians and a few of the challenges we face.  Some uncertainties related to the appropriate academic qualifications of law librarians, competency requirements, and the importance of legal subject knowledge will be discussed.  Professional development of law librarians is a shared responsibility; the role individuals, employers, professional associations, and library and information science programs play both before and after entry into the workforce will be considered. In today’s information age, a professional development activity does not simply mean attending a conference, lecture or workshop where we passively sit and listen to the instructor. Some innovative, creative (and even economical) ways to learn and grow professionally will be explored and shared.

Speaker
Sooin Kim, Faculty Services Librarian, Bora Laskin Law Library, University of Toronto

RDA: Coming to a Law Library Near You

RDA (Resources Description and Access) is a new way to support resource discovery focusing on user tasks in the digital age. RDA, the new cataloguing guidelines have been developed, tested and are set to be implemented in January 2013. As we shift away from AACR2 preparation for training is underway and cataloguing records created using the new rules will start to appear in your library catalogues. F. Tim Knight and Darren Furey will guide you through the changes you can expect to see including an overview of FRBR (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records) the conceptual model that underlies the structure of RDA.

Speakers
F. Tim Knight, Head of Technical Services, Osgoode Hall School of Law
Darren Furey, Technical Services Librarian, Gerard V. La Forest Law Library

Hosted by
Access Services & Resource Sharing SIG

Library in Their Pocket: Using Technology to Meet Your Patrons Halfway

Smartphones, eReaders, Tablet computers...ownership of handheld technology is becoming more and more common. There are several technological options for libraries that want to connect with their patrons using these gadgets. There are two benefits to these skills: (1) They allow libraries to provide services that they haven’t been able to before (or to provide them in an easier way), and (2) With the increasing utilization and exploitation of these technologies by business/commerce, patrons will start to expect institutions like libraries to use them as well.

This presentation will cover:

• The considerations that one must take when creating mobile or gadget-ready tools;
• Basic web site creation using WordPress (including the plugins and themes that one would need to optimize their experience;
• An explanation of QR Codes, how to create them and best practices to use them and;
• eBook formats and easy ways to create them.

Speaker
Sarah Glassmeyer, Director of Content Development, Center for Computer Assisted Legal Instruction/CALI

Legal Research and Writing Best Practices for Educating Law Students and Lawyers

The Federation of Law Societies of Canada has indicated in its Task Force on the Canadian Common Law Degree report of October, 2009 and its implementation report of August 2011, that new lawyers admitted to the bar must demonstrate competence in conducting legal research. The bar has now been set, and, as always, librarians will be key to ensuring this skill is taught both in law school and in law firms.

This session builds on previous discussions at CALL about the implications of these reports and the challenges we face in teaching legal research. The purpose of this session is to have a dialogue about best practices for teaching legal research. Recognizing this dialogue involves law librarians in law schools, librarians working in government, courthouses and law firms, and law faculty, it is evident there are different perspectives to be explored. Learning more about how our colleagues approach teaching can be invaluable for helping us to hone our own approaches to teaching legal research.

Participants will be guided through round-table discussions designed to help us learn more about how our colleagues are teaching legal research in their particular environment.

As part of this session, a new work developed by the Moira McCarney, Ruth Kuras and Annette Demers of the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law, with contributions from experts in the field, will be noted. This book, to be released by Emond Montgomery in 2013, sets out detailed steps which lawyers and law students can use to conduct sophisticated legal research, and to develop their legal writing and analysis skills in the context of an ethical, efficient and organized practice.

  Facilitators
Ruth Kuras BSc, BA, LLB, LLM, Legal Research and Writing Lecturer and Director of the Academic Success Program, Faculty of Law, University of Windsor
Annette L. Demers BA, LLB, MLIS, Acting Law Librarian and Lecturer, Paul Martin Law Library, University of Windsor
Nadine Hoffman BA, MLIS, Natural Resources, Energy & Environmental Law Librarian, Bennett Jones Law Library, University of Calgary
Sharon Wang, LLB, LLM, MLIS,  Assistant Librarian, Osgoode Hall Law School of York University
Maryvon Côté,  BA, MLIS,Liaison Librarian, Nahum Gelber Law Library at McGill University
Catherine Cotter, BA (Hons) LLB MLIS, Reference/Instruction Librarian at Gerard V La Forest Law Library,  University of New Brunswick  

Primary Authors of the Emond text not in attendance
Moira McCarney BA, M Ed, LLB, Legal Research and Writing Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Windsor
Shelley Kierstead LLB (UNB), LLM (Toronto), PhD (Osgoode), Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Windsor

  Co-Hosted by
Private Law Libraries and Academic Law Libraries SIGs
 

Background - Check! Conducting Better Due Diligence

This program will introduce participants to the tools and research methods of conducting thorough background research on both companies and individuals. Attendees will learn how to use the many commercial, government, and web-based resources that facilitate systematic background research, while also learning practical strategies for addressing common challenges and effectively presenting research with colleagues or clients.

The program’s goals are to:

• Learn to develop an effective background research strategy;
• Identify and use appropriate resources to research individuals and both public and private companies;
• Explore common challenges in conducting background researching and learn how to resolve them;
• Learn to present research results so that end users can act on the findings.

The presentation will focus primarily on Canadian resources, but will also look at a selection of US and international equivalents.

Learning outcomes:

• Participants will leave the session with a comprehensive list of recommended resources, search tips, and the know-how to carry out an effective background research plan.
• Participants will learn how to locate identity, professional, corporate, legal, regulatory, financial, and reputational information.

Speaker
Carolyn Petrie, Manager, InfoAction, Vancouver Public Library
 

Future Trends in Legal Information and Law Libraries - Presentation

Law libraries are adapting to new formats, new resources, and changing research demands. Nigel Holloway will give us insight into trends impacting law firms and legal publishing and what we might expect based on survey research his organization performs.

Speaker
Nigel Holloway, Founder and CEO, Holloway Forums