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The spring meeting of the New Professionals SIG was held on April 15. The business portion of the meeting included a reminder for people to subscribe to the member forum and that we'll be holding our business meeting in June.

The SIG is also looking for a new chair or co-chairs for the 2024/2025 year. Both current co-chairs have finished their terms. 

We welcomed Hannah Rosborough as our guest speaker to share her experience in the LLM program at York Osgoode School of Law.

As a life-long learner, Hannah provided insight into how she arrived at the decision to enroll in the program, and talked about course content, long term implications, career development and her research with AI tools. 

The New Professionals SIG aims to support student members and new professionals as well as to promote law librarianship and CALL/ACBD to new library and information professionals across Canada.

The SIG began as the Student SIG in 2012 and evolved into the New Professionals SIG in May 2016 at the annual conference in Vancouver.

Amanda Irvine, Library Technician, Law Society of Saskatchewan (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)

The website Librarianship.ca has published an overview of the 2024 federal budget that was tabled earlier this week in the House of Commons.

The post presents highlights of interest to the Canadian library and information management community in areas such as:

• artificial intelligence
• arts and culture institutions
• cybersecurity
• digital economy
• DEI
• government information
• and more

The website of the International Federation of Library Associations recently published an interview with Andrea Cecchetto, the new chair of the Canadian Federation of Library Associations (CFLA).

The CFLA is a Canada-wide federation of provincial and territorial as well as sectoral associations, including the Canadian Association of Law Libraries.

In the interview Cecchetto addresses many topics, including the Federation's recently adopted strategic plan:

"Our new strategic plan also focuses strongly on advocacy. When we were developing this plan last year, we reached out to members and ‘advocacy’ was by far the most common priority identified as a strategic goal. We have objectives around formal government relations work with the federal government, but also goals to collaborate with other national associations and agencies on joint issues. To give a couple of examples, CFLA-FCAB has a very active Copyright committee that pulls together expertise from both academic and public sector knowledge specialists (...)"

For more information, the CFLA has published an update about its recent activities in areas that may be of interest to members of CALL/ACBD, such as governance, intellectual freedom, copyright, climate action, Indigenous matters, and more.

Le français suit.

We are writing to you on behalf of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries AI Working Group (WG).

The WG is responsible for developing guidance on the use of artificial intelligence in legal technologies, including both commercial and non-commercial databases.

The databases anticipated to be covered would be those that use legal information sources (statutes, regulations, cases, commentary, and other sources) as their primary data source.

At this time, we are soliciting feedback from the legal profession.

Your feedback is important to the process, and will be used to help frame our final document.

The survey will take approximately 5 minutes of your time to complete.

To access the survey using Microsoft Forms, please click here: https://forms.office.com/r/Wswb1G7cPn

OR 

To access the survey using Google Forms, please click here: https://forms.gle/kgpKW2BMeYXix2bB7

Please complete the survey prior to  Friday March 15, 2024.

For questions about this survey, or the project generally, please contact:

Annette L. Demers | Reference Librarian 
University of Windsor | Faculty of Law 
email: ademers@uwindsor.ca

or

Sandy Hervieux | Head Librarian
Nahum Gelber Law Library | McGill
email:  sandy.hervieux@mcgill.ca

We thank you for your time!

Sincerely,

The CALL AI Working Group

Bonjour chères collègues,

Nous vous écrivons au nom du groupe de travail sur l'intelligence artificielle de l'Association canadienne des bibliothèques de droit.

Le groupe de travail est chargé d'élaborer des lignes directrices sur l'utilisation de l'intelligence artificielle dans les technologies juridiques, y compris les bases de données commerciales et non commerciales.

Les bases de données visées sont celles qui utilisent des sources d'information juridique (lois, règlements, affaires, commentaires et autres sources) comme source principale de données.

À l'heure actuelle, nous sollicitons les réactions de divers utilisateurs potentiels et actuels de l'IA.

Vos commentaires sont importants pour le processus et seront utilisés pour élaborer le document final.

Il vous faudra environ 5 minutes pour répondre à l'enquête.

Pour accéder à l'enquête à l'aide de Microsoft Forms, veuillez cliquer ici : https://forms.office.com/r/dmQ1GxKQcJ

OU 

Pour accéder à l'enquête à l'aide de Google Forms, veuillez cliquer ici : https://forms.gle/GgDoFXdrBxamHhmX6

Veuillez remplir le sondage avant le vendredi 15 mars 2024. 

Pour toute question concernant cette enquête ou le projet en général, veuillez contacter

Annette L. Demers | Bibliothécaire de référenceUniversité de Windsor | Faculté de droit
Courriel : ademers@uwindsor.ca

ou

Sandy Hervieux | Bibliothécaire en chef
Bibliothèque de droit Nahum Gelber | McGill
Courriel : sandy.hervieux@mcgill.ca

Nous vous remercions pour le temps que vous nous avez consacré!

Cordialement,

Le groupe de travail sur l'IA de l'ACBD

Le texte français suit.

The winners of the 2023 Canadian Law Blog Awards (known as the Clawbies) were announced on New Year's Eve.

The Clawbies exist to reward the best and most innovative Canadian blogs, podcasts, videos, legal newsletters, and other forms of online commentary. 

The Canadian Law Libraries Review, the journal of our association, was selected as one of the best newsletters!

In their synopsis, the organizers of the competition highlighted some of the significant features of the publication and our work as legal information professionals: "…voice of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD), sharing news happenings, expertise and book reviews (...) An invaluable contribution to the Canadian legal infosphere!”

Les lauréats des Prix des meilleurs blogues juridiques canadiens de 2023 (connus sous le nom des Clawbies) furent annoncés la veille du Jour de l'An.

Les Clawbies existent pour reconnaître et célébrer les meilleurs blogues, balados, vidéos, infolettres et autres formes de commentaire en ligne dans le domaine juridique au Canada.

La Revue canadienne des bibliothèques de droit, la revue de notre association, fut reconnue comme une des meilleures publications dans la catégorie des infolettres.

Dans le résumé publié, les organisateurs ont souligné certaines caractéristiques clés de la revue et de notre travail à titre de professionnels de l’information juridique: « ... [la revue] est la voix de l’Association canadienne des bibliothèques de droit (CALL/ACBD), qui partage des nouvelles, de l’expertise et des comptes rendus de livres. Elle apporte une contribution inestimable à l’infosphère juridique au Canada! »

Le texte français suit.

The Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD) is accepting nominations for the 2024 Hugh Lawford Award for Excellence in Legal Publishing.

CALL/ACBD has long had an annual award for excellent legal publishing.

Some years ago, we renamed the award we present after Queens University Professor Hugh Lawford (1933-2009) to recognize his contributions to legal publishing in Canada. 

As a group of legal information specialists, our work depends on being able to access and share high-quality legal knowledge. We value innovation and this award is open to legal content in all information formats.

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.

Members and non-members of CALL/ACBD are welcome to make nominations. Information about the process is available on our website.

Please send your nomination to National Office by January 31, 2024.

The award will be presented to the recipient during the 2024 CALL/ACBD Annual Conference, which will be held in Montreal June 25 - 28, 2024.

L’Association canadienne des bibliothèques (ACBD/CALL) accepte les mises en candidature pour le Prix d’excellence Hugh Lawford en édition juridique 2024.

L’ACBD/CALL décerne depuis de nombreuses années un prix annuel pour souligner l’excellence en édition juridique. Depuis quelques années, nous avons renommé le prix que nous décernons en l’honneur du professeur Hugh Lawford de l’Université Queen’s (1933-2009) afin de reconnaître ses contributions à l’édition juridique au Canada.

En tant que groupe de spécialistes de l’information juridique, notre travail repose sur notre capacité à accéder à des connaissances juridiques de haute qualité et à les partager. Nous avons à cœur l’innovation, et ce prix est ouvert au contenu juridique dans tous les formats d’information.

Le prix est décerné à un éditeur (à but lucratif ou non, société ou autre) qui a fait preuve d’excellence en publiant un ouvrage, une série de textes, un site Web ou un produit électronique qui apporte une contribution importante à la recherche et l’aide juridiques.

Les membres et les non-membres de l’ACBD/CALL sont invités à proposer des candidatures. Des renseignements sur le processus sont disponibles sur notre site Web.

Envoyez les mises en candidature au bureau national avant le 31 janvier 2024.

Le prix sera remis à la personne lauréate lors du Congrès annuel 2024 de l’ACBD/CALL, qui se tiendra à Montréal du 25 au 28 juin 2024. 

The Canadian Association of Research Libraries and the Canadian Federation of Library Associations (CFLA) have been working on a Crown Copyright Code of Best Practices for Libraries.

The Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD) is a member of the CFLA and has argued for reform of Crown Copyright.

The draft code is now available for comment. 

The review period ends January 15, 2024.

As the draft explains:

"The current legal provision related to Crown copyright in Canada is found in Section 12 of the Copyright Act. It is extremely comprehensive in scope, granting the Crown copyright to any work that has been 'prepared or published under the direction or control of Her Majesty or any government department.' It also preserves the ancient royal prerogative or privilege that predates copyright law and it is silent about term length for unpublished works, leading to the assumption that these works are protected by copyright in perpetuity. These anomalies provide governments with expansive rights that could be used to withhold, censor or control government information to the detriment of the public good."

"Section 12 also sets out the duration of copyright controls for government works it covers. For published government works, the duration of the term of copyright is 50 years after the year of publication. In addition, and by virtue of Subsection 13(3) of the Copyright Act, the Crown, like any private sector employer, owns copyright in original work authored by its employees in the course of their employment. This copyright lasts until the end of the 70th year past the death of the author. Both Sections 12 and 13(3) may be modified by agreement but such agreements are relatively rare. Both apply to all works of the federal and provincial government and the territories and neither provides for compulsory licensing. In practice, government works are generally assumed to be protected by Crown copyright unless a personal author is named on the title page and the copyright statement does not clearly state that Crown copyright applies (e.g., © Government of Canada)."

(...)

"Confusion about the appropriate interpretation of the Act, and its hampering impact on the efforts of libraries attempting to serve as stewards of government works, was described in numerous submissions and testimonies presented to the Parliamentary Committee responsible for the Copyright Act review of 2018/2019, summarized by librarian Amanda Wakaruk and described in the Committee’s final report. Put briefly, this confusion, compounded by copyright anxiety and related legal chill, has impeded the work of libraries, which has resulted in the loss of innumerable government works, including both born digital files and legacy print materials."

"At the time of writing, the Government of Canada has yet to address the concerns of those that participated in the most recent legislative review or the near-continuous requests for review and reform made by Canadian library associations and the Canadian Association of University Teachers. Nor has it addressed the comments of the Supreme Court of Canada, that Section 12 be revisited by Parliament."

The issue was discussed earlier in December at one of the sessions at the Government Information Day(s) 2023.

Past CALL/ACBD statements on copyright reform including Crown copyright include:

• Evidence Presented to House of Commons five-year statutory review of the Copyright Act (May 11, 2018)
• Statement For Members on 2018 Copyright Act Review
• 2018 Statutory Review of the Copyright Act, Brief 1 – Multiple Issues
• 2018 Statutory Review of the Copyright Act, Brief 2 – Primary Law
• CALL factum in the Supreme Court of Canada case Keatley Surveying Ltd. v. Teranet Inc. (2019 SCC 43)

Le texte français suit.

CALL/ACBD is pleased to share the results of the 2023 CALL-TALL Salary Survey.

This is a joint salary survey report from 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 is to determine benchmark employment remuneration received by members. This survey reports data collected in February/March 2023. The previous survey was conducted in 2018.

This analysis is based on 204 survey responses. Respondents were able to skip questions, which results in different “totals” for individual questions throughout this report.

.............................................................................................

Nous sommes heureux de vous transmettre les résultats du Sondage sur les salaires 2023 de la TALL et de la CALL/ACBD.

Il s’agit d’un rapport conjoint de la Toronto Association of Law Libraries (TALL) et de la Canadian Association of Law Libraries / Association canadienne des bibliothèques de droit (CALL/ACBD) portant sur l’enquête salariale.

Ce sondage visait à établir une référence quant à la rémunération des membres.

Les données du sondage ont été recueillies en février et mars 2023. Le sondage précédent avait été réalisé en 2018. L’analyse est basée sur 204 réponses.

Étant donné que les répondants pouvaient sauter des questions, cela explique les différents « totaux » pour les questions individuelles dans le rapport.

On October 25, the Private Law Library and Academic Law Library Special Interest Groups jointly held a session about AI and the student experience.

Gathering to learn more about what students are learning and using in the school and firm environments, the groups had a lively conversation and left with a better understanding of how we can support students as they start seeing more AI resources during their school and articling careers.

We had 3 academic speakers sharing their perspectives, which ranged from "not touching on it at all" in lower-year legal research and writing classes to using the "cool mom approach": we know students will use AI, so let’s teach them to use it safely.

Each speaker stressed the importance of teaching students to question data sets and results, try multiple approaches, and not rely solely on AI for their research.

Our 3 firm speakers touched on the role and scope of internal AI committees setting policies and guidance for responsible AI use. Firms are also using research sessions to remind students to learn the limitations of AI tools and understand how to evaluate results for accuracy and authority.

While articling, students must also consider how client privacy requirements might influence how and when they would incorporate AI tools into their work.

Ending with a roundtable, the groups agreed that we have an important role in building AI skills, becoming experts in using AI tools for research efficiency, identifying training and development gaps, shaping use policy, and piloting new tools.

The AI landscape is still rapidly shifting, and we concluded with a recognition that academic and firm librarians will all succeed more effectively in this space if we continue to meet and share our experiences.