Blog

You can read outgoing CALL President George Tsiakos' last From the President's Desk column on our website.

In it, George outlines some of the CALL Board's many recent accomplishments:

"One of the Board highlights of the past year has been supporting the organization of the first in-person annual conference in four years (...) With so many members expressing their eagerness to come together in person once again, I am thrilled that we are able to provide this opportunity (...)"

"Another Board accomplishment I am particularly proud of is the initiation of a strategic planning process. This process aims to develop a new plan that will guide the Executive Board's work over the coming years. By engaging in this activity, we are ensuring that the Association remains responsive to the needs of our community. We are currently in the final drafting stages and will soon unveil a comprehensive plan that outlines our goals and objectives for the future."

"With the help of National Office, we have also been working hard on developing an online member’s chat forum, which will be released to members in the coming weeks. This forum will provide a virtual space for members to connect, share resources, and engage with one another outside of our in-person events. We recognize that our members have diverse interests and needs, and we want to provide a platform that fosters meaningful interactions and connections."

Sur note site web, vous pouvez trouver le dernier Mot du président du président sortant de l'ACBD , George Tsiakos.

George y décrit quelques-unes des réalisations récentes du conseil d'administration de l'association:

"Un des éléments les plus positifs que je retiens de la dernière année est le soutien apporté à l’organisation du premier congrès annuel en présentiel depuis quatre ans (...) Les membres étaient nombreux à exprimer un grand enthousiasme à l’idée de se retrouver en personne, et je suis ravi que nous soyons en mesure de leur offrir cette occasion (...)"

"Une autre réalisation du conseil dont je suis particulièrement fier est le lancement d’un processus de planification stratégique. Cette démarche vise à élaborer un nouveau plan qui orientera les travaux du conseil exécutif au cours des prochaines années. Elle permet aussi de nous assurer que l’association tient compte des besoins de notre communauté. Nous sommes aux dernières étapes de la rédaction de l’ébauche et nous dévoilerons bientôt un plan complet qui définira nos buts et nos objectifs pour l’avenir."

"Grâce à l’aide du bureau national, nous avons également travaillé très fort à l’élaboration d’un forum de discussion en ligne pour les membres, qui sera mis à la disposition de ceux-ci au cours des prochaines semaines. Ce forum constituera un espace virtuel où les membres pourront rester en contact, partager des ressources et échanger entre eux en dehors de nos événements en personne. Nous sommes conscients que nos membres ont des intérêts et des besoins divers, et nous voulons leur offrir une plateforme qui favorise des interactions et des liens enrichissants."

The AI Index Report developed at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence at Stanford University in California is an interesting resource to help track developments in the field.

It tracks worldwide trends in private AI investments, the number of incidents related to the ethical misuse of AI, as well as the state of AI regulation and legislation across the world.

Chapter 6 on Policy and Governance shows that there has been an explosive increase in the level of attention that legislators are paying to issues relating to AI:

"An AI Index analysis of the legislative records of 127 countries shows that the number of bills containing 'artificial intelligence' that were passed into law grew from just 1 in 2016 to 37 in 2022. An analysis of  the parliamentary records on AI in 81 countries likewise shows that mentions of AI in global legislative proceedings have increased nearly 6.5 times since 2016."

There has been a rapid growth in commentary on artificial intelligence and its impact on sectors such as law.

It can be hard to follow the trends but legal tech blogs and websites and podcasts are a good source of information.

Sources to check out include:

• the Legal Tech column in the Canadian Bar Association's National Magazine
• the 3 Geeks and a Law Blog podcast co-hosted by Greg Lambert, former president of the American Association of Law Libraries who has spoken in the past at CALL
•  various university research centres such as the University of Ottawa's Centre for Law, Technology and Society, among others
• the AALL Spectrum published an article on Keeping Up With AI & Other New Tech Advancements in its May/June 2023 issue (pp. 48-50)

The Law Commission of Ontario also currently has an ongoing multiyear project looking into the issues related to AI. As part of its work, the Commission has published many reports and papers.

The Visible Minority Librarians of Canada Mentorship Program is now accepting applications for the 2023 session that will run from May 1st to June 30th, 2023.

Applications will close on April 21, 2023:

"The Visible Minority Librarians of Canada (ViMLoC) recognizes the need to help visible minority librarians, especially early career and new immigrant librarians, develop their professional careers, as well as the need to encourage and guide visible minority library students with career planning. Lack of mentorship is often cited as a challenge among visible minority librarians, and through our mentorship program, we found that small acts of mentorship were able to make an impact on our mentees. Applying for this program will help create a larger network of visible minority librarians and increase our representation in the library profession. The 2023 ViMLoC mentoring program will recruit experienced visible minority librarians as potential mentors, as well as facilitate the matching of potential mentors to mentees. ViMLoC membership is NOT required to participate in this program."

The CALL New-Professionals Special Interest Group (NP-SIG) is hosting a Speed Networking event at the 2023 CALL Conference in Hamilton on May 28 from 4:00-5:00pm. 

Do you like networking in a fun environment? Are you interested in connecting with legal professionals across a variety of disciplines? Are you a newbie with lots of questions, or a veteran who wants to broaden your knowledge?

Then, this session is for you!

Our goal is to encourage connections and dialogue between experienced Legal Information Professionals and students, graduates, and new professionals; however, we welcome anyone who would like to speed network to join us. 

Attendees will rotate through tables at regular intervals, with the chance to learn from our Coaches. We’ll provide some icebreaker questions to get discussions started. 

Our Legal Information coaches will share things like what a workday looks like for them, what research is interesting and ongoing, or any projects they are working on. 

If you are a Legal Professional interested in being a Coach please sign up by Wednesday April 19th, 2023 by filling out this form.  

Keep your eyes peeled for instructions on how to register as a Speed Networking attendee coming the end of April/ beginning of May.  

If you have any question about the event please contact NP-SIG co-chair Amanda Irvine at amanda.irvine@lawsociety.sk.ca. 

Le français suit plus bas.

Legal research skills are considered a core competency of law graduates as identified by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada.  Law Library and legal information services are an important part of legal research skills training for law students.

University libraries in Canada have been impacted by budgetary constraints. Some academic libraries have responded to external pressures by reorganizing library functions. The impacts of reorganization on law library services have not been studied yet.

This study will survey University Librarians and management, law librarians and staff to identify current law library reporting structures, budgets, human resources, and services, and to identify and evaluate changes to services that occur because of reorganization. The survey includes questions about reorganization decision-making, consultation, implementation, and follow-up.

Law Faculty members will also be surveyed, using qualitative questions to assess their use of library services. Use of library services prior to and after reorganization, as well as the level of faculty consultation in the reorganization decision-making process, will also be surveyed.

This study is intended to identify law library services that support legal education. It will also identify and articulate the impact of library reorganization on law library services It is designed to identify library reorganization decision-making and associated drivers to ascertain whether such decisions are made in alignment with the requirements of law faculties, or for other reasons. 

The goals of this survey include the following: 

1. To gauge the importance of law library services in meeting the needs of law faculties.
2. To articulate current standards and best practices for law library operations and services.
3. To assess organizational decision making and its alignment with the core requirements of the faculties being served.

To fulfill this, any librarian or staff member who works in a law library, law administrators and law faculty members will be asked to complete the survey. All law library employees will be invited to participate, regardless of whether the institution has engaged in reorganization or not, to allow for comparisons to be made.  The intention is to invite survey participants from around the globe, as academic law librarians are well-networked, and standards are shared among jurisdictions. 

This study is intended to help identify and articulate the importance of law library services to legal education.  Additionally, it is designed to assess the impact of library reorganization on law library service to law faculties. Its findings could help to inform law library services, service standards and library reorganization planning in future.

This survey may take 10 - 15 minutes of your time. We encourage you to forward this invitation to any law faculty members, employees or librarians who work in the law library in your organization as well. Retirees are invited to participate.

This research has received clearance from the University of Windsor’s Research Ethics Board.

The deadline for participation has been extended and will close on Wednesday March 15, 2023.

Annette Demers, University of Windsor, Faculty of Law

Yemisi Dina, Osgoode Hall Law School

Gian Medves, University of Toronto Law School

La Fédération des ordres professionnels de juristes du Canada considère que la recherche juridique est une compétence clé que doivent acquérir les diplômés en droit. Les bibliothèques de droit et les services d’information juridique représentent un élément important de la formation en recherche juridique pour les étudiants en droit.  

Les bibliothèques universitaires au Canada ont été touchées par des contraintes budgétaires. Certaines de ces bibliothèques ont réagi aux pressions externes en réorganisant les fonctions de la bibliothèque. Les impacts de la réorganisation sur les services des bibliothèques de droit n’ont pas encore été étudiés.  

La présente étude vise à sonder les bibliothécaires en chef et la direction de même que les bibliothécaires de droit et le personnel afin de déterminer les structures hiérarchiques, les budgets, les ressources humaines et les services actuels dans les bibliothèques de droit ainsi que pour cerner et évaluer les changements apportés aux services en raison de la restructuration. Le sondage comprend des questions portant sur la prise de décisions, les consultations, la mise en œuvre et le suivi de la réorganisation.  

Les membres du corps enseignant des facultés de droit seront également sondés à l’aide de questions qualitatives afin d’évaluer leur utilisation des services de bibliothèque. Le questionnaire permettra aussi de sonder l’utilisation des services de la bibliothèque avant et après la réorganisation de même que le niveau de consultation auprès de la faculté dans le cadre du processus de prise de décisions de la réorganisation.  

Cette étude vise à identifier les services offerts par les bibliothèques de droit qui soutiennent les programmes d’enseignement en droit. Elle permettra aussi de déterminer et de préciser l’impact de la réorganisation des bibliothèques sur les services des bibliothèques de droit. Elle est conçue pour identifier la prise de décisions en matière de réorganisation des bibliothèques et les facteurs connexes afin de déterminer si ces décisions sont prises conformément aux exigences des facultés de droit ou pour d’autres raisons.   

Les objectifs de ce sondage sont les suivants:   

1. Mesurer l’importance des services des bibliothèques de droit pour répondre aux besoins des facultés de droit; 
2. Établir les normes et les meilleures pratiques actuelles en matière de fonctionnement et de services des bibliothèques de droit; 
3. Évaluer la prise de décision organisationnelle et sa pertinence par rapport aux exigences fondamentales des facultés desservies.  

Pour parvenir à ces objectifs, nous inviterons les bibliothécaires et le personnel des bibliothèques de droit ainsi que les administrateurs et les membres du corps enseignant des facultés de droit à remplir le sondage. Tous les employés des bibliothèques de droit seront invités à participer, que l’établissement se soit engagé dans une réorganisation ou non, afin de pouvoir établir des comparaisons. Nous souhaitons inviter des participantes au sondage de partout dans le monde puisque les bibliothécaires de droit en milieu universitaire ont des réseaux très bien établis et que les normes sont partagées entre les divers établissements.  

Cette étude a pour but d’aider à déterminer et à mettre en lumière l’importance des services offerts par les bibliothèques de droit à l’égard des programmes d’enseignement en droit. Elle vise aussi à évaluer l’impact de la réorganisation des bibliothèques sur les services offerts par les bibliothèques de droit auprès des facultés de droit. Les résultats pourraient contribuer à éclairer les services des bibliothèques de droit, les normes de service et la planification de la réorganisation des bibliothèques à venir. 

Vous aurez besoin d’environ 10 à 15 minutes pour remplir le sondage. Nous vous prions de transmettre cette invitation aux professeurs de droit, employés et aux bibliothécaires qui travaillent à la bibliothèque de droit de votre établissement. Les retraités sont invités à participer. 

Cette recherche a été approuvée par le comité d’éthique de la recherche de l’Université de Windsor. 

La date limite de participation a été prolongée et se terminera le mercredi 15 mars 2023.

Répondez au sondage maintenant.

Annette Demers, Faculté de droit, Université de Windsor

Yemisi Dina, Osgoode Hall Law School

Gian Medves, Faculté de droit, Université de Toronto

The Copyright Committee and the Private Law Library Special Interest Group met February 13 to discuss the issues private law firms have when dealing with copyright.

A number of academic librarians also joined the discussion, which provided a wonderful overview of how having a copyright or access librarian can often save the day!

The main concerns from the law firms were how to deal with requests for copies of more than 10% of a text, and how to deal with scanning conference proceedings for access in-firm when managing space constraints.

With more questions than answers at the end of the session, it was determined that additional meetings of the two groups would be helpful.

We asked for, and received, a volunteer from each group to work on creating follow up sessions.

Please see the respective Basecamp sites for the Copyright Committee or the PLL-SIG for the full report from this meeting, and future meetings will be announced on the CALL-L listserv.

People interested in joining a Basecamp site should contact the CALL National Office.

Le texte français suit.

The Salary Survey is used to determine employment remuneration received by members of the Toronto Association of Law Libraries and CALL/ACBD. 

The findings of this survey will serve as a benchmark of members’ employment compensation during this period. By completing this survey, members will have access to current and relevant compensation data.

Information on salary and benefits is instrumental in helping both employees and employers, including individuals seeking employment and organizations trying to set a competitive salary.

The survey should take approximately 15 minutes to complete. Please note that responses will be anonymous and confidential, and the tabulated results will be available later in 2023.

The survey will remain open until February 27, 2023.

Participation Bonus! Participants have the option of entering a draw for ten $25 gift certificates from giftcards.ca.

To enter the draw, you will be prompted to provide your email address via a link to a second survey. This will ensure that your contact information is not linked to your other responses.

Please go to the following web address to respond to the survey:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2GT6YYR

If you have any questions, please contact the Committee Chair, Erica Friesen (e-mail: erica.friesen AT queensu.ca).

Thank you for your participation!

The TALL – CALL/ACBD Salary Survey Committee

Ce sondage sur les salaires vise à déterminer le salaire gagné par les membres de la Toronto Association of Law Libraries et de l'ACBD.

Les résultats du sondage serviront d’outil de référence quant à la rémunération de ces membres pendant cette période. En remplissant ce sondage, les membres auront accès à des données récentes et pertinentes sur les salaires.

Les renseignements sur les salaires et les avantages sociaux contribuent à aider les employés et les employeurs, notamment les personnes à la recherche d’un emploi et les organisations qui veulent offrir des salaires concurrentiels.

Il vous faudra environ 15 minutes pour répondre aux questions. Veuillez noter que vos réponses demeureront anonymes et confidentielles et que les résultats compilés seront disponibles plus tard en 2023.

Le sondage sera ouvert jusqu’au 27 février 2023.

Prix en guise de remerciement! Tous les répondants au sondage peuvent s’inscrire au concours pour gagner l’une des dix cartes-cadeaux de 25 $ échangeables chez giftcards.ca

Pour vous inscrire au concours, vous serez invité à fournir votre adresse de courriel par le biais d’un lien vers un deuxième questionnaire. Cette démarche permet de garantir que vos coordonnées ne seront pas liées à vos autres réponses.

Veuillez vous rendre à l’adresse Web suivante pour répondre au sondage :

https://fr.surveymonkey.com/r/SDMD2HY

Pour toute question, n’hésitez pas à contacter la présidente du comité, Erica Friesen (courriel: erica.friesen AT queensu.ca).

Merci de votre participation!

Comité du Sondage sur les salaires de TALL et de l'ACBD

The Diversity, Inclusion & Decolonization Committee (DIDC) just held its winter meeting to update members on our activities. If anyone is interested in joining, let us know – this is a great opportunity to share and learn from one another in a safe and friendly environment. 

Notably, the Diversity Survey has been completed. The survey is designed to measure the diversity of our profession in Canada and to get an idea of what CALL/ACBD can do to better support all of its members.

DIDC members have tested it out and sent us feedback; the survey subcommittee will make the necessary adjustments and then seek approval from the Executive. Next steps are to get it translated and then sent out!

We have submitted a number of proposals for the next CALL/ACBD Conference, including sessions on land acknowledgments and pronouns, a keynote session by a notable Indigenous leader, as well as a Blanket Exercise. Hopefully some of these will be picked up by the Conference Planning Committee!

We are also assisting in organizing a webinar for this spring related to Nadine Hoffman’s ongoing work on Indigenous subject headings.

The Glossary of Terms update: definitions from different sources have been accumulated. This bank of definitions is intended for the work of DIDC and CALL/ACBD to help everyone better understand unfamiliar EDI terms, and to work with a shared understanding of those terms.

Next steps include drafting definitions specific for CALL/ACBD. If anyone is interested in helping us with this, please let us know! 

DIDC is still looking for a new Co-Chair. It’s a great way to get involved and meet other legal information professionals across the country. Please contact Vicki Jay Leung (vicki.jayleung@uwindsor.ca) or Andrea Black (andrea.black@dentons.com) for information or to express your interest.

Le français suit plus bas.

The website Librarianship.ca has published a 2022 Honour Roll listing all the members of the Canadian librarianship community who were recognized with awards last year for their contributions to the profession.

A few CALL members made the list:

• Yemisi Dina (York University): Daniel L. Wade Outstanding Service Award, American Association of Law Libraries - Foreign, Comparative and International Law Special Interest Section
  
• Sooin Kim (University of Toronto): Arbor Award, University of Toronto
• Anne C. Matthewman (Dalhousie University): AALL Hall of Fame Award, American Association of Law Libraries
  
• Shaunna Mireau (Alexsei; ex-CALL President): Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal, Government of Alberta
• Hannah Steeves (Dalhousie University): Nancy McCormack Emerging Leader Award, Canadian Association of Law Libraries
  

Les site web Librarianship.ca a publié un tableau d'honneur de l'année 2022 incluant tous les membres de la communauté des bibliothécaires au Canada dont les contributions à la profession ont été reconnues l'année dernière par différents prix.

Il y a plusieurs membres de l'ACBD qui figurent sur la liste:

• Yemisi Dina (Unversité York, Toronto): Daniel L. Wade Outstanding Service Award, American Association of Law Libraries Foreign, Comparative and International Law Special Interest Section
  
• Sooin Kim (Université de Toronto): Arbor Award, University of Toronto
• Anne C. Matthewman (Université Dalhousie, Halifax): AALL Hall of Fame Award, American Association of Law Libraries
  
• Shaunna Mireau (Alexsei; ancienne présidente de l'ACBD): Médaille du jubilé de platine de la Reine Elizabeth II, Gouvernement de l'Alberta
  
• Hannah Steeves (Université Dalhousie, Halifax): Prix Nancy McCormack pour leader émergent, Association canadienne des bibliothèques de droit
  
  

Félicitations à toutes les lauréates!

The team at Stem Legal,a firm of web strategists for the legal profession, is seeking nominations for the 2022 annual Clawbies awards, which celebrate the best of Canadian online legal content!

"Each year, we ask colleagues in the Canadian legal community to share their favourite blogs, social media accounts, podcasts, newsletters and more, and every year they deliver. Every year, we delight in seeing the genuine admiration and appreciation that authors and readers have for each other. And every year, we discover new publications and are honoured to help boost their profiles, just as we add more lions of Canadian legal commentary to our Clawbies Hall of Fame."

People can submit up to 3 nominations for what they consider the best Canadian podcasts, legal Twitter accounts, Youtube channels, blogs, or other open access publications or projects.

Nominations ca be made via blog post or tweets (using the hashtag #clawbies2022). 

A complete list of all past winners is available. There have been numerous winners from the legal research and law librarian community (including a few CALL members).

But hurry up. You have until end of day Friday, Dec 16 to send your nominations.

Winners are announced on New Year’s Eve.