UBC's Law Library Reference Blog

The Law Library at University of British Columbia has a blog for its reference staff: Law Library Reference Blog. I like how they have categorized postings in an "Archives by Category" feature on the left of the screen. In addition to great links, they also post some of their own research tools. Very useful.

Course on blogging and RSS

WorkingFaster.com is putting on a course called Getting Started on Weblogs and RSS. Instructor is Amanda Etches-Johnson of McMaster University. It runs six weeks starting October 12, 2004. It is a web course, with readings and exercises sent weekly by e-mail, a discussion via bulletinboard (the original blog software! Long live BBS!) and one teleconference. WorkingFaster.com has lots of other great courses as well, including Internet and search engine topics.

Parliamentary Website - Main Page Redesigned

The main page of the Parliament of Canada website has been redesigned--just in time for the new session! It seems to have a more 'current awareness' focus with links to the site's new additions. Colour scheme has changed with more orange. Why orange? So far it looks very functional, however.

WSIB Operational Policy Manual - Ontario

The Ontario Workplace Safety & Insurance Board will be putting its Operational Policy Manual onto its website later this fall. It will be free, unlike the paper subscription we currently carry. We plan to switch to the website once available. To be notified when it is available on the website, send an e-mail to OPMreminder@wsib.on.ca .

Speeches on video

C-SPAN has speeches and other important news items on video "archived" on their website. For example, British Prime Minister Tony Blair speaking on Iraq in a number of venues. Content is primarily U.S. sources and issues. For example, the Kerry/Bush debates are currently featured on the front page. Thanks to Vanessa for pointing out this great site!

The Future of Integrated Library Systems

This Library Journal article was sent to me by a colleague earlier this year:The Future of Integrated Library Systems: An LJ Round Table. I haven't had a chance to read it yet so won't comment now, but am putting it here for my future reference.

Client experience - lessons from Starbucks

Today I cleaned out a pile of old e-mail, about 4,000 messages or so (you think I'm kidding, don't you?). Came across a few interesting tidbits to share. I will put them here under separate cover.

See this article: The Starbucks Experience. I've long felt the trend for Libraries is toward becoming more like the trendy bookstores (Chapters, Indigo, Borders). Being more like Starbucks is a similar concept.

"Cyber-Librarians" at University of Toronto

This story from University of Toronto's on-campus paper, The Varsity: "Cyber-Librarians" to take over . I have successfully used a similar service offered jointly by York University, University of Guelph, and Ryerson University and found it useful.

Article on Associates' Exodus

There is an excellent article in the inaugural issue of magazine The Bay Street Bull. It is called "The Mid-Year Itch: Mid-level associates are stepping up their exodus from Bay Street law firms. This time, it's not about the money" by Janice Zima, pages 23-25. Unfortunately this article is not on their website, but you can request a free sample copy of the first issue.

Canadian blawg - privacy law

I have just come across this "blawg" from lawyer David T.S Fraser: PIPEDA and Canadian Privacy Law. Great use of a blog for a specific legal topic. Hey, and check out whose blog is at the top if his blogroll on the right side! Looks like he has good taste also. 8-)

Bloggers beware: don't trash your boss

Stories are emerging about bloggers being dismissed from their jobs for blog content. This story by Graeme Smith on the front page of today's Globe & Mail (Toronto edition):
"Bloggers learn lesson: Don't trash your boss" about a woman working in Iqaluit (the capital of Nunavut, one of Canada's territories in the north) as an agent for Nunavut Tourism. Seemingly benign comments were seen to be negative and she was dismissed without warning. Quoted from the article:

"The general rule is you can get fired if your off-duty conduct reflects badly on the employer," said Howard Levitt, lawyer and author of Law of Dismissal in Canada. "Her case is really close to the line."

Other rules of thumb: don't name names, and always assume your blog is publicly available, no matter how private you intend it to be. See these comments about a Toronto Starbucks employee who recently was dismissed for blog postings that were not so benign, courtesy of BlogCritics:

The original story: Employee fired by Starbucks over Blog

A rebuttal: Starbucks' blogging barista fired fairly.

Finally, Blogger has this article: How Not to Get Fired
Because of Your Blog.

Law Librarian quoted in Florida news

Okay, the "Law Librarian" in question is me. I was quoted by an Orlando Sentinel movie critic on assignment covering the Toronto International Film Festival. See: OrlandoSentinel.com: Movies. Never mind the poor grammar; I spoke quickly and he didn't really get my quote down perfectly onto paper. Could be worse: at least he spelled my name correctly and my quote made it in. My partner Marty's quote didn't even make it.

Canadian Inter-Corporate Ownership

Canadian Inter-Corporate Ownership is a corporate family tree product produced by the government agency Statistics Canada. It has long been considered very reliable for this type of information. Until now it has been available on FP Infomart. Those of us who use the product rarely were able to use it on a "transactional" basis under our Infomart subscriptions. It now appears to have been removed; I have heard it is because they were not able to obtain current information from StatsCan.

To obtain this information, the CD-ROM from StatsCan must be purchased. Details are on the product main page. Website indicates it is available for full subscription (quarterly) at about $1,065. Individual quarterly CDs are available for $375.

I need to think about how often we use this product, if it is worth purchasing a quarterly CD at $375 and if we can live with out of date information toward the end of the year? I suppose I could just wait until the information is needed to buy the CD, providing I could obtain it fast enough to answer the question. Or, hang on to see if Infomart reinstates it.

Hmmm...seems to be the latest fashion in vendor problems. Wonder if we could negotiate a lower subscription rate with Infomart since we have lost some content?

Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - Run for the Cure

Librarianship is a female-dominated profession and, with that, comes female-dominated issues. As in past years, I am taking part in the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Run for the Cure. In past years I have organized a team through work. This year I am walking with my sister-in-law Lyne. If you are interested in making a donation (or perhaps just seeing my photo) visit my personal donation page. I am quite impressed with how they have upgraded their technology and made donations through a webpage possible.

Thank you,
Connie

New feature - e-mail from this blog

I have now added the new Blogger feature that allows you to e-mail a posting from this blog to someone else. Just click on the little envelope under each posting.

U.K. Law Reports to reappear on LexisNexis

I thought I had posted about this earlier, but apparently not. This was reported in a few places elsewhere in blogland: U.K.-based Law Reports were removed from LexisNexis back in late July or early August during negotiations between LN and the database supplier. A little bird has told me the databases will likely be reinstated shortly, as soon as September 11th.

Technorati: Searching the World Live Web

I just discovered the weblog search tool Technorati. It appears this blog has been indexed by it (try searching "LexisNexis" and you should see posts put in here the last couple days). It appears to index this blog a lot faster than Google.

I have not signed up for a membership but it looks like you can use this tool to watch for discussions in blogs. Over 3 1/2 million blogs are tracked! I like the features "BookTalk" and "NewsTalk" which indicate which books and news topics are currently being discussed in blogs. Doubt I will ever make the "Top 100" popular blogs but it is interesting to see what has made it. Not surprisingly BoingBoing is right up there.

McLuhan 2004: Toronto International McLuhan Festival of the Future

This upcoming event caught my eye in the Toronto International Film Festival programme: McLuhan 2004: Toronto International McLuhan Festival of the Future. Includes something called "Hot & Cool", a look at interesting new technology applications. The whole programme doesn't seem fleshed out just yet. Inaugural programme takes place in October.

LexisNexis Spotlight on International Librarians - Louis Mirando

My friend and colleague Louis Mirando is currently the featured librarian in LexisNexis' Spotlight on International Librarians. Congratulations, Louis!

Quicklaw Classic Note

For anyone running Quicklaw Classic on your system, you will want to check that it is still working. It is no longer supported by LexisNexis in favour of their web version at www.lexisnexis.ca. That much I knew a while back, but it appears our Classic version stopped completely working the last day or two. My understanding is one can sign on, but searching does not work.

Apparently it is possible to download a more recent version that still works from their website. I wonder, however, how long this version will continue to work? This will be impetus for us to switch our researchers over to using the website exclusively, but it will require training. We may download the more recent software in the meantime to make the transition a little smoother.

For my own part, I have weaned myself off the Classic version and have been using the Browser version. Now it is time to help others do the same, I suppose.