I'm a Printability Loser!

Apparently I have a printability problem, according to Walt Crawford in his recent column Cites & Insights 5:6 - disContent Perspective: Printability (see bottom of article). Who knew? I guess the good news is that he's somehow reading this column despite my lack of printability.

I purposely try to keep only a few day's worth of postings on the first screen to reduce the need to scroll, but the problem likely lies with the Blogger formatting. Something to think about for future blog changes. I think it would have to be resolved by going to a different blog host. I noticed when recently printing out one of my pages that the colours come out completely different in the print--like a whole different format. To get the same look I had to take screen shots and paste them into Word or PowerPoint instead.

Anyway, this article is a good review of what makes a web page printable, and why webmasters should take this issue seriously.

David Duchovny Blog

This isn't specifically regarding law, but it is interesting: David Duchovny blog. He is directing a new film, House of D, and has been blogging the experience since February. He includes text, audio and video. The design of the site is particularly good for a commercial site--not too much advertising. Lots of good linkage.

Checking out j's scratchpad

Steve Matthews' blog today mentions j's scratchpad as the blog to read. I hadn't seen it before so was just reading it. Looks interesting, so am linking to it here for later reference.

One of these days I should create a little blogroll over in the right column.....

CLE Programmes from PLI - Now in Downloadable MP3s

U.S.-based Practising Law Institute is now offering audio programs in downloadable MP3 format. See the list PLI - Downloadable MP3s.

Their e-mail announcement states:

Now you can download PLI MP3 programs direct to your home or office PC. Download the MP3 audio files and play them on your computer, transfer them to your portable MP3 player or copy them to a compact disc, it's up to you! You can listen to them whenever you want, wherever you are. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. At the gym, in your car, on the bus or train…in the office. Anywhere, anytime.

The future is here!

Lexis Web Seminar Series

Lexis out of the U.S. have a free monthly web seminar series: LexisNexis InfoPro - Professional Development - Web Seminar Series. Each session is an hour via the Internet. Looks quite good. Upcoming sessions include Adult Learning Styles with Gayle Lynn-Nelson and Priscilla Stultz (May 19/05) and Marketing the Library (Oct. 20/05).

New Blogging Presentation by Sabrina Pacifici

Sabrina Pacifici has posted a new presentation on blogging to LLRX.com: Blogs...Got Content! [Note: this is a PowerPoint file]. As I am just working on my little 5 minute presentation for CALL about blogging, she comes along and blows me away with a full-blown amazing presentation. Lots of updated information and tons of links to excellent web resources. And many things I didn't already know. This will be going into my webliography for sure!

Things I've Been Obsessing About Lately

• how I am going to get both a PowerPoint presentation and poster presentation ready for the upcoming CALL conference. I have it mostly worked out in my head, but every time I sit down to create something, a small glitch gets in the way. Last weekend it was the colour cartridge in my home printer running out.
  



• my firm's website
  



• how I can get my firm to take the leap into a full intranet
  



• whether I will have time to blog the CALL conference, preferably with pictures
  



• whether, after all this, I would have time to learn how to podcast so I can do interviews with people and get a few sound bites or full discussions onto my blog during the CALL conference
  



• when I am going to sleep during the CALL conference
  



• the NE2007 conference, especially what our logo will look like and what our theme will be
  



• what my report to TALL on VDX Host will look like exactly. I have an idea of content, but I'm not sure how to format it to make it a useful document.
  

The good news is staffing here at the office is now in a stable position, and it has been a bit quieter this week, so I am in a position to get 'unclogged' on a number of fronts. The key, I think, will be to just be focussed and not fritter my time away on less important things.

CLA: Tsunami Relief Fund created

I found this notice today from the Canadian Library Association: CLA Raising Funds for Tsunami-Affected Libraries. CLA is allocating $10,000 toward relief and will be taking charitable donations to add to the fund. They will be doing a fundraising drive at the CLA Annual Conference, June 15-18 in Calgary.

The notice includes a donation form in PDF if you would like to make a contribution. Use of the funds will be coordinated through IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions). IFLA has supposedly created a Relief and Development Partnership group to work in this area, helping to match international resources with areas that need assistance (both monetary and personnel/expert assistance). I had a look at the IFLA website and couldn't see anything specifically on this, so have sent an e-mail to CLA as to whether they can direct me to it.

I hope to publicize this info with TALL and CALL once I have more details.

Cheers,
Connie

Job Title Generator

I was looking for a title generator for seminars to allow me to do a little brainstorming, and happened upon this Job Title Generator for Careers in Library and Information Science. Give it a try!

Mentoring

I was looking at the professional development material on the Canadian Library Association website and found this excellent article on mentoring for librarians: "Mentor, Mentor, Who's the Best Mentor?" by Joanne Oud and Angela Madden of Wilfred Laurier University. It says that currently most librarians do not have formal mentors, and it discusses both how to find a mentor and how to be a mentor.

Over the years I have sought out individuals for various aspects of my career, but never asked someone formally to be a mentor. Finding a "coach" seems to be the bigger trend these days, especially when jobs seem to be expanding beyond traditional boundaries. I have also tried to give advice to the individuals coming up after me, but again never suggested formal mentoring to them. Will have to give this some thought.

This makes me think--what are the big differences between mentoring and coaching?

Possible Reform of Supreme Court of Canada Appointments Process

Irwin Cotler, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, has tabled a new process for Supreme Court of Canada appointments with the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice, Human Rights, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. See the News release from the Dept. of Justice website: Government of Canada Moves to Reform Supreme Court of Canada Appointments Process (April 7, 2005). From what I can see, the big change is forming an advisory committee that would review and recommend candidates for vacancies in the future.

Probably a good idea. Better than letting the PM pick his buddies I suppose. If that ever happens. Hmmm....

Who are your Law Firm Library's Customers?

Good article by Steve Matthews on his Vancouver Law Librarian Blog, called The Law Firm Library - Customers & Consumers: Who are your Law Firm Library's customers?.

Some food for thought: " your customers are not your consumers, and your consumers are not your customers". It is indeed a delicate balance. And when your consumers have demanding customers things are even more interesting....

Now Blogging From Iqaluit

Well, this entry is not about the infamous blog that was shut down after Pacific Penny's employer, Nunavut Tourism, took offence at her journal entries (see my Sept. 22/04 blog posting).

No, this is about a personal blog started by my colleague Gary called senatorhung's pad. He does cover Canadian copyright issues, and a whole lot of other stuff. Hey check out the very interesting "Seismic World Tour" linked from the right column as well. He's worked everywhere! Well, there is still time for Antarctica. 8-)

Congratulations on the blog, Gary!

Cheers,
Connie

In Honour of the April Fool

I couldn't resist writing and sending this out to our firm today. Got a few people good, too, with people asking me for maps!--

Apologies for the short notice! We will be reorganizing part of the Library this weekend. While we will try to keep materials as available as possible, things will be in somewhat of a disarray. We will try to have them back in order for Monday morning or, at latest, Tuesday.

Some of the changes we are making:

All topical case law reporters will be moved over one aisle to make way for more textbooks.
Provincial case law reporters will be moved into the new section beside the English
Reporters.
Indexes (or, "Indices", if you prefer) for all case law reporters will be moved to one
Location making it easier to do case law research from one spot.

Foreign textbooks will be separated and moved toward the end of the collection.
Oversize textbooks will be removed from the collection, and put into a separate section beside the Reference collection.
Orders and notices from the Canadian Government will be moved closer to the statutes.
Legislation will be put into a more logical sequence, with
Statutes being interfiled with their corresponding regulations.

Thanks to everyone who responded to our recent survey--these changes are a result of what you have asked to see!

Queen's Law Life - articling student blog

From a law firm librarian's perspective, the articling student blog Queen's Law Life is interesting. It gives an inside view of what an articling student experiences. I was especially interested in the March 8th posting listing all the loot received by students on Career Day (my firm gave out the Pez dispenser, which I understand had a good "coolness" factor to it).