LibWorm.com provides a librarian RSS filtering service. Over 1500 RSS librarian sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest headlines from journals and sites in the Uncategorized Feeds category. http://www.libworm.com/rss/index.php/Uncategorized-Feeds/28/ Fri, 05 Aug 2011 01:30:08 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://blogs.cetis.ac.uk/pah1/2010/02/11/are-we-crawlers-walkers-or-runners-when-it-comes-to-business-intelligence-in-higher-education/ I was pleased to attend with JISC colleagues the recent UCISA Business Intelligence event in Bristol In the context of current CETIS work in the support and synthesis project for Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Student Life-cycle support project. There were a variety of speakers at the event and a great deal consistency of issues [...] (Source: JISC CETIS News) Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:00:00 +0100 818357 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/63004 From an ALA Announcement: On Jan. 7, 2011 the American Library Association (ALA) will unveil video PSAs produced by ALA’s “Our Authors, Our Advocates,” a national library advocacy public awareness campaign. Library advocates will be able to download audio and video PSAs from ilovelibraries.org, from such best-selling authors as Sharon Draper, Brad [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Fri, 31 Dec 2010 17:24:00 +0100 895820 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/63003 From an Internet Archive Forum Post by Chris Stockwell: The Montana State Library (MSL) last year moved a copy of its collection of 3000 born digital state publications to the Internet Archive (IA). Since MSL will be continuing to upload and integrate born digital publications to the Internet Archive, we encourage constructive [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Fri, 31 Dec 2010 17:16:00 +0100 895821 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/63001 The announcement from Lake Superior State University, that's dated tomorrow, is available here. It begins with the following five paragraphs that use each of the words on the 2011 list: It may have been word of the year in some wheelhouses, but "refudiate" wasn't looked upon favorably by many who sent [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Fri, 31 Dec 2010 16:05:00 +0100 895822 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/63000 Helping Libraries Thrive: Keeping Our Eyes on the Strategic Objectives PDF Tom Sanville 181-182 Scholarly Articles Return on Investment for Collaborative Collection Development: A Cost-Benefit Evaluation of Consortia Purchasing Abstract PDF Denise Pan, Yem [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 30 Dec 2010 22:32:00 +0100 895769 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62999 We're not suprised to read the following OverDrive blog post. Why? Here are four reasons. 1. If you follow the OverDrive Twitter stream you might have noticed several tweets from users about the service being slow. The company noted that downloads were booming and they're working to add more bandwidth. 2. In [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 30 Dec 2010 21:28:00 +0100 895770 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62991 + How To Lend Kindle Books (via Amazon.com) + "Amazon now lets you “Lend your Kindle books to others" (by Martin Bryant, The Next Web) + "Amazon’s new lending feature is probably going to anger some publishers" (by Chris Walters, TeleRead) + "How Many Kindle Books Can Be Shared?" (by Jason Boog, GalleyCat) [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 30 Dec 2010 17:50:00 +0100 895720 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62990 NOAA Launches Website Housing Previously Released Public Information from the Deepwater Horizon Response NOAA today unveiled a web archive of the maps, wildlife reports, scientific reports and other previously released public information used by emergency responders, fishermen, mariners and local officials during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The NOAA Deepwater Horizon Library [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 30 Dec 2010 17:46:00 +0100 895721 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62986 From a Pew Internet & American Life Project Report by Jim Jannsen: Nearly two-thirds of internet users – 65% – have paid to download or access some kind of online content from the internet, ranging from music to games to news articles to adult material. Music, software, and apps are the most [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 30 Dec 2010 17:24:00 +0100 895722 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62985 Yesterday, we posted that Bob Tapella , Public Printer of the of the United States, had resigned his position, effective immediately. This morning, the White House announced that President Obama intends, "to recess appoint six nominees to fill key administration posts that have been left vacant for an extended period of time." [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 30 Dec 2010 16:29:00 +0100 895723 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62984 Matt McGee reports on some new numbers from Expedia Hitwise showing that Facebook was the most popular website of 2010 outpacing Google. However, that's not all for news involving Zuckerberg and company.  "Facebook" was also the most popular search term of 2010 across all search engines. Other popular terms on the Top 10 list [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 30 Dec 2010 00:55:00 +0100 895614 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62983 From a News Corp. Announcement: The Wall Street Journal reported an analysis of the news it published in 2010 reveals an array of words and terms that starred in this year's coverage – many of which rarely appeared in 2009, if at all. The Wall Street Journal "Words of the Year" highlights [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 30 Dec 2010 00:25:00 +0100 895615 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62982 Impressive, interesting, and useful. Direct to Interactive Calendar from Box Office Mojo + U.S. Release Dates View by Date (Data for 2012 and Beyond Now Available) Also available, view entries: + Alphabetically + By Distributior + By New Dates/Changed Dates + By Title Changes + By MPAA Ratings [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Wed, 29 Dec 2010 23:56:00 +0100 895616 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62981 From a Discovery News Report: Capping the UN's International Year of Biodiversity, botanists in Britain and the United States on Wednesday unveiled a library of plant names aimed at helping conservationists, drug designers and agriculture researchers. The database, accessible at The Plant List, identifies 1.25 million names for plants, ranging from [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Wed, 29 Dec 2010 23:30:00 +0100 895617 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62980 From a GPO News Release (PDF): Public Printer of the United States Bob Tapella announces his resignation as head of the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). Tapella has led the men and women of the 150-year-old agency the last three years.  He was nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Wed, 29 Dec 2010 22:16:00 +0100 895618 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62971 From an Oneida Daily Dispatch Article: As the Nation prepares to observe the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the New York State Military History Museum and Veterans Research Center is making capsule histories of 360,000 New York Civil War Soldiers available online. The entire roster of New Yorkers who served [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Wed, 29 Dec 2010 15:13:00 +0100 895619 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62970 About the Catalog and Database: The IT History Society (ITHS) is a world-wide group of over 500 members working together to assist in and promote the documentation, preservation, cataloging, and researching of Information Technology (IT) history. We offer a place where individuals, academicians, corporate archivists, curators of public institutions, and hobbyists alike [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Wed, 29 Dec 2010 14:58:00 +0100 895525 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62969 From an LA Times Article by Nathaniel Popper: The advantages of digital technology "are so weighted toward collaboration that people will tear down the existing structures and build something new," Stein said while sitting among the jammed but now rarely touched bookshelves in his Brooklyn home. Head of the ambitiously named Institute [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Wed, 29 Dec 2010 01:09:00 +0100 895432 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62968 David Bindle, the Special Collections Librarian at the University of Saskatchewan Library in Saskatoon, is profiled. From an Article by Hannah Scissons in The Star Phoenix: David Bindle pulls on a pair of white gloves and lifts up a manuscript leaf that's hundreds of years old. "I [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Wed, 29 Dec 2010 00:33:00 +0100 895433 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62967 From an Ontario Ministry of Government Services Announcement: Ethan has been the most popular name for baby boys for the third year in a row, while Olivia overtook Emma in the top spot for girls' names. The top ten names also include: Jacob, Matthew, Nathan and Joshua for boys and Emma, Ava, [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 23:48:00 +0100 895434 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62966 Earlier today we posted that 25 films had been added to the National Film Registry at the Library Of Congress had been announcend. From a Washington Post Article: This year's films will eventually be accessible for researchers at the Library of Congress's Capitol Hill facility and for the public through various [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 22:50:00 +0100 895435 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62962 We first mentioned these interactive graphics/widget about two weeks ago. It features population change, population density, and apportionment numbers from every census back 1910. Since our first mention, it has been updated with Census 2000 numbers. You can view the graphics, access the code to embed the widget, and download the raw data files [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 22:31:00 +0100 895436 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62959 Small Town, Big Word, Major Issue LITTLE FALLS, N.Y. — This small city up the hill from the Erie Canal is known for manufacturing paper and tea, for rooting on its Mounties at high school football games, for deposits of quartz that glint like diamonds and for the Victorian mansion that houses [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 21:37:00 +0100 895437 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62957 1. "Barnes & Noble fails to end Nook lawsuit" (by Jonathan Stempel, Reuters) 2. "Kobo Gains Instapaper Support" (by Chris Hall 148 Apps) 3. "KOBO Breaks E-Book Records This Holiday Season" 4. "Helpful advice for new Kindle owners" (by Chris Walters, TeleRead) 5. "iFlow ebook reader for iPad launches " [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 19:00:00 +0100 895438 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62951 UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics (PDF) From press release : The UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics provides essential data for analyzing and measuring world trade, investment, international financial flows and development. Reliable statistical information is often considered as the first step during the preparation of making recommendations or taking decisions that countries will [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 18:34:00 +0100 895439 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62949 The "Why Books?"Conference took place on October 28-29, 2010 at the Radcliffe Institute  for Advanced Study, Harvard University.  "Why Books?" probes the form and function of the book in a rapidly changing media ecology. Speakers from a variety of disciplines—literature and history to sociology and computer science—will discuss the public-policy implications of new [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 16:33:00 +0100 895440 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62948 Access the Complete Article Michael Oliveira at the Canadian Press has put together an interesting and useful compilation of statistics about how Canadians use the Internet and social media.  Here are some highlights: Internet Usage Canadians spend more time online than users in any of the countries tracked by [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 16:03:00 +0100 895441 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62946 Direct to Audio (Look for Embedded Player at Top of Article) David Ferriero spoke to Federal News Radio about the use of social media by NARA (National Records and Archivies Administration) From a Text Summary: "We need to meet the users where they are," said U.S. Archivist David Ferriero in [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 15:26:00 +0100 895356 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62945 From a NY Times Article by Patricia Cohen: The painstakingly slow job of transcribing often hard-to-decipher handwritten documents from history’s lead players — not to mention a lack of funds — has meant that most originals are seen by a just a handful of scholars and kept out of the public’s reach [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 15:04:00 +0100 895357 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62944 From a Washington Post Article by Lisa Rein: "The Public Papers of the President 2009" will be bound at the White House's request in Duke blue, dyed with the pigment of eggplant skins in a tannery across the Atlantic Ocean. Tradition has blocked a Buy America contract until the government can find [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 14:59:00 +0100 895358 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62943 From an Article (by Paul Harris, Variety.com): With a typically eclectic mix, the Library of Congress' selection of 25 pics to join the National Film Registry runs the gamut of obscure experimental and avant-garde works to mainstream hits including "The Pink Panther," "The Exorcist," "All the President's Men," "Saturday Night Fever," "Airplane!" [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 14:22:00 +0100 895359 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62941 More Year-End Lists and Roundups ' + The 10 Biggest Consumer Product Recalls of 2010 (WalletPop) + The Biggest Media Stories Of 2010 (Huffington Post) + Ars Staff picks: our 10 favorite Android apps of 2010 (Ars Technica) + The Top 20 DMCA Cease and Desist Senders of 2010 (TorrentFreak) [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 12:49:00 +0100 895360 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62932 From a NY Times Article (by Julie Bosman via Austin American-Statesman) E-books now make up 9 to 10 percent of trade-book sales, a rate that grew hugely this year after accounting for less than half that percentage by the end of last year. Publishers are predicting that digital sales will be [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Mon, 27 Dec 2010 20:36:00 +0100 895277 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62931 The Top Trends for 2010  Lists Include:  Top 10 TV Programs – Single Telecast  Top 10 TV Programs – Regularly Scheduled  Top 10 Timeshifted Primetime TV Programs  Top 10 DVD Sales  Video Game Console Usage  Top 10 Print Book Sales – Adult Fiction  Top 10 Print Book [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Mon, 27 Dec 2010 20:09:00 +0100 895278 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62930 New Media and the Courts: The Current Status and a Look at the Future (PDF) The Conference of Court Public Information Officers report on new media and the courts finds that more than one-third of state court judges and magistrates responding to a survey use social media profile sites like Facebook, while [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Mon, 27 Dec 2010 19:59:00 +0100 895279 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62929 Direct to List Not only can you take a look at the properties but it's also a good way to learn about the large amount of real estate data that Zillow provides and aggregates from a number of sources that might be useful in many research situations.  Examples: + Aerial, Satellite [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Mon, 27 Dec 2010 17:57:00 +0100 895280 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62928 Scientific Integrity: Fueling Innovation, Building Public Trust On March 9, 2009, President Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum on Scientific Integrity emphasizing the importance of science in guiding Administration decisions and the importance of ensuring that the public trusts the science behind those decisions.  In it he highlighted six principles of scientific integrity [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Mon, 27 Dec 2010 17:53:00 +0100 895281 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62922 From an ARL Announcement: The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is pleased to announce that a website for "Value, Outcomes, and Return on Investment of Academic Libraries (Lib-Value)," a three-year project funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), is now available at  http://libvalue.cci.utk.edu/ . A [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Mon, 27 Dec 2010 17:23:00 +0100 895282 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62920 From a NARA (National Archives and Records Administration) News Release: The National Archives and Records Administration’s new Online Public Access prototype is being made available to the public today. The National Archives’ flagship initiative in our Open Government plan is to develop online services to meet the 21st century needs of the public. [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Mon, 27 Dec 2010 17:16:00 +0100 895283 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62919 BitTorrent Zeitgeist: What People Searched For in 2010 There are plenty of ways to discover new content on BitTorrent, but searching is still the preferred method for most people. What they are searching for should therefore give a good picture of what the latest trends are. Today we present the BitTorrent Zeitgeist [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Mon, 27 Dec 2010 15:54:00 +0100 895284 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62918 From an Amazon.com News Release: Amazon.com today announced that the third-generation Kindle is now the bestselling product in Amazon's history, eclipsing "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)." The company also announced that on its peak day, Nov. 29, customers ordered more than 13.7 million items worldwide across all product categories, which [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Mon, 27 Dec 2010 15:34:00 +0100 895285 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/27/lawyers-and-their-love-of-semicolons/ Came across this article and thought SLAW readers might find it useful. It was originally published in the December 2010 issue of Deadbeat, the Ontario Bar Association’s Trusts & Estates Section newsletter. Spelling and Grammar Query Susan J. Stamm* Lawyers love long and complex sentences. Lawyers love lists. Lawyers love semicolons and colons. If we are to maintain our love of semicolons, we must use them properly. Typical usage of semicolons by lawyers is in long complex sentences, or in lists. However, either way, two primary rules must be followed: You can use the semicolon to connect two independent clauses together into one sentence. You can use it as a super-comma. There are also some optional uses. To Connect Two Independent Clauses Independent clauses are series of words that could stand alone as complete sentences (i.e., they have both a subject and a verb). When you have two otherwise complete sentences that you want to connect to form one long sentence, use a semicolon between them. Example: Jane is a dependent child of the deceased; she is the applicant in these proceedings. If you put a comma where that semicolon is, you will have committed a “comma splice,” which some consider a serious grammatical mistake. There is, however, one exception that can cause you a problem. You don’t use a semicolon to connect two complete sentences if there’s a conjunction between the clauses (and, but, etc.). In that case, use a comma. I don’t know why. That is the rule. Example: Jane is a dependent child of the deceased, and she is the applicant in these proceedings. Adding that single word, the conjunction “and,” means that you must change that semicolon into a comma. However, if the first sentence already has one or more commas in it, you do use the semi-colon. ... Mon, 27 Dec 2010 13:00:38 +0100 895176 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/27/public-commission-on-legal-aid-in-b-c-hears-rural-perspectives/ Over the past few months I have had the privilege to be involved in an important project in British Columbia known as the Public Commission on Legal Aid (“Public Commission”). Although the scope of the Public Commission is province wide and therefore includes cities and communities of all sizes, I have been personally interested to hear the unique challenges faced by those in rural communities in regards to legal aid. Commissioner Leonard Doust, Q.C. will be releasing an official report of his findings sometime in 2011; however, I wanted to take the opportunity now to share some background on the Public Commission and some of themes that struck me as an individual attending the various Public Commission hearings throughout the province. The need for a Public Commission on Legal Aid was identified through a series of meetings that took place in 2009 between a variety of community organizations and justice system stakeholders. The attendees at the meetings expressed a collective concern regarding legal aid in British Columbia and a strong desire to seek progressive solutions for the future of legal aid in the province. Acting on this collective will, the Public Commission was officially established in June of 2010 by a variety of organizations including The Canadian Bar Association (British Columbia), The Law Society of British Columbia, The Law Foundation of British Columbia, The British Columbia Crown Counsel Association, The Vancouver Bar Association and The Victoria Bar Association.  In order to engage the public of British Columbia regarding their priorities for the future of legal aid in the province, an process was established that consisted of two principle activities: an open call for written submissions and an 11 community tour of the province to hear in person submissions. To date the Public Commission has received a significant amount of written submissions and has recently completed hearings in all 11 communities. ... Mon, 27 Dec 2010 12:00:20 +0100 895177 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62906 From a Philadelphia Daily News Article by Vernon Clark: After more than a century in Philadelphia, the nation's oldest library for the blind is facing the potential loss of most of its materials and services to its Pittsburgh counterpart. A state-commissioned study has recommended that the Philadelphia Library for the Blind [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Sun, 26 Dec 2010 16:28:00 +0100 895107 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62905 From a NY Times Obiturary by Dennis Helvesi: Mr. Cohen had worked at his Uncle Max’s law firm and on his own in Brooklyn in the 1950s before deciding that enough was enough. “He wasn’t cut out for practicing law,” Mrs. Cohen said. “He was not confrontational.” Instead, he would become [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Sun, 26 Dec 2010 16:06:00 +0100 895108 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62904 Two Resources The iPhone Blog Glossary iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and Apple TV terms. The Android Dictionary Created and maintained by AndroidCentral (Source: ResourceShelf) Sun, 26 Dec 2010 15:51:00 +0100 895109 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/26/baldwin-v-costner-and-the-bp-oil-spill/ Most people are too busy shopping during the holidays to be worried about filing suits. Unless, maybe, you’re a celebrity. Stephen Baldwin filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against Kevin Costner, not for any work they had done together in the entertainment industry, but for Baldwin’s investments in Costner’s company, Costner in Nevada Corporation (CNIC). Baldwin claims he met Costner in April and decided to become a 10% partner in an invention backed by CNIC which could separate oil from water. With the backdrop of the April 20, 2010 BP oil spill, it seemed like a good venture. Interestingly enough, the device was developed during the filming of Costner’s 1995 film Waterworld. The basis of the claim is that the Plaintiffs allege the Defendants bought out their shares without telling them about a $52 million sale to BP. A complete summary of the facts can be found on Courthouse News Services, and the Statement of Claim is available through TMZ. (Source: Slaw) Sun, 26 Dec 2010 15:27:34 +0100 895178 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62895 From   AbeBooks It was a bumper year for rare bookselling on AbeBooks. Our top 10 list of the most expensive sales of 2010 includes nothing priced under $14,000. The top sale was a very rare Islamic manuscript, around 800 years old, for a whopping $45,000. The sale of the archives of [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Sat, 25 Dec 2010 19:08:00 +0100 894971 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62894 Compiled and Designed by Digital Surgeons (and SEO Firm) Direct to Infographic Categories of Demographic Info Include: Gender Income Level Age Education Plus Several Direct Comparisons Including: Number of People Aware of Facebook vs Twitter (88% vs. 87%) Percentage of Users Who Login Daily (41% vs. 27%) Located Outside the [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Sat, 25 Dec 2010 18:54:00 +0100 894972 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62893 The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has published issue 273 of Research Library Issues (RLI). It features articles on net neutrality, fair use, and open access to federally funded research. Guest editor, Prudence Adler, sets the stage for these articles as she describes how these issues are inextricably linked to one another. [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Sat, 25 Dec 2010 17:57:00 +0100 894973 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62892 From an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Announcement: On December 22, 2010 Susan Hildreth's nomination to be director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) was confirmed by unanimous consent by the United States Senate. The Institute, an independent United States government agency, is the primary source of [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Sat, 25 Dec 2010 17:49:00 +0100 894974 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62891 The National Library of Australia embraces the use of social media as a corporate communications and community-building tool. The Library encourages every employee to have an opportunity to express and communicate online in many ways, such as through social media, professional networking sites, blogs, and personal web sites. However, all employees need to use [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Fri, 24 Dec 2010 16:43:00 +0100 894833 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/24/christmas-in-1594/ The law student of 1594 passed Christmas revelling to The Comedy of Errors by Shakespeare. We know this because of the Gesta Grayorum which was printed in 1688 from a much older manuscript. This text has been conveniently reproduced with an introduction on the Mr. Shakespeare blog. We can also look forward to a 3 volume set, part of the Records of Early English Drama series, to be published in January 2011 by Boydell & Brewer: Inns of Court, edited by Alan H. Nelson and John R. Elliott, Jr. According to the publisher’s blurb: The Introduction provides a survey of Christmas entertainment supervised by Inns of Court Masters of the Revels and Christmas Princes, including minstrels, a lion-tamer, musicians, disguisings, plays, masques, and even a puppet-show. The illustrations (ground-plans and plates) offer evidence of the original performance conditions for Inns of Court plays and masques. The appendices will reproduce a number of relevant documents. A brief account of the Grand Christmases celebrated at the Inns of Court can be found in Anton-Hermann Chroust, in "The Beginning, Flourishing and Decline of the Inns of Court: The Consolidation of the English Legal Profession after 1400" (1956) 10 Vand. L. Rev. 79-123 (Hein), at 102-3: The fact that the Inns of Court were also schools of manners should explain the original meaning and functions of those periodic entertainments "which are called revels," and which for a long time played an important role in the lives of the Inns. These pastimes apparently were encouraged by the Benchers who believed that such activities would greatly improve the literary tastes and the social manners of the students.²⁸ Revels and masques were usually held at Christmas time or some other feast day, and the King as well as the Queen attended them regularly. ... Fri, 24 Dec 2010 16:39:19 +0100 895179 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62890 From a News Release: Legal publisher Fastcase today announced that it will collaborate with Public.Resource.org on a weekly feed of national caselaw updates – the nation’s first public broadcast of standardized judicial opinions for bulk download. The initiative is part of a broad-based Law.Gov effort to make the nation’s primary legal [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Fri, 24 Dec 2010 16:18:00 +0100 894834 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62889 Merriam-Webster recently released an app for the iPhone/Touch/Pad featuring a free edition (it's advertising supported) with definitions from the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. Entries also include synonyms & antonyms, example sentences, audio pronunciations, reader view -("lets you hide navigation buttons to see text in full screen") and recent history ("lets you keep track of [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Fri, 24 Dec 2010 14:54:00 +0100 894835 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/24/the-friday-fillip-229/ Think of it as a stocking. (How did socks become stockings — and not sockings, eh? Blame belongs to the Old English, it seems, whoever they were.) Yes, a Christmas stocking just crammed with little goodies, the sort of things to keep you occupied while the rest of us sleep in for just a little bit longer, which is what we’ll be doing here at Slaw for the next little while, I imagine. (The Christmas stocking thing didn’t begin as a distraction, it turns out, but rather as boots with gifts for Odin’s flying horse, Sleipnir; Odin would be so gratified, he’d replace the straw with sweets or toys.) I’m referring to QI. Which stands for Quite Interesting. Which, by turns, is a British TV show, a book, a website and a blog. And like a Christmas stocking, QI is crammed with little gems (or lumps of coal) that you’d likely not find anywhere else. The TV show is a BBC quiz/comedy show, MC’d by none other than the ubiquitous Stephen Fry and “panelled” with a quartet of funny folks. You can’t get it here, but you can watch dozens and dozens of snippets on YouTube. Fry tries to ask questions about trivia and the contestants ad lib. Now, I was raised on a diet of The Goons, Beyond the Fringe, and Monty Python, so I have that peculiarly British sense of humour that leaves the Germans baffled and Americans thinking they’re missing something important. If you’ve not been similarly warped, QI as a quiz might not appeal to you. But that’s okay. Because there’s the website — which is filled to overflowing with quite interesting facts. (For example, on the site today is the startling revelation that General Franco owned an arm of St. Theresa of Avila and kept it with him his whole life; he died clutching it. ... Fri, 24 Dec 2010 14:00:18 +0100 895180 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/24/traditions/ How many seasons have you watched “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”? “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”?, “Frosty the Snowman”? The answer being several. In that spirit, I present to you a re-re-Blog posting. In my defence I have attempted to update this post, but the cases that appear would likely not do much to uplift your holiday spirit. So, in the proper holiday spirit let’s see how Santa Claus has fared in Canadian Courts. From: Santa in the Courts Community Funding Corp. v. Newfoundland (Department of Government Services and Lands), 2004 NLTD 236, 243 NFLD & PEIR 255. A very Christmasy case from NL, whereby Santa made a seasonal visit to a Bingo Hall in St. John’s and in keeping with his reputation… From para 2 of the case: Santa Claus made an appearance at the bingo hall and called two games of bingo. In keeping with his reputation and the spirit of the season, Santa Claus took it upon himself to increase the prizes for the two games in question – one by $100, and the other by $75 – thus increasing the total prize payout for the evening to $3,175. More specifically, from para 6 Accordingly, on December 22, 2003, Santa Claus appeared as expected and was wildly cheered by some 275 happy patrons. …the manager of the bingo hall, invited Santa to “call” two games of bingo. Initially, Santa gave away some bingo ‘dabbers’ supplied by the hall; but before calling the game, and without any warning to [the manager], Santa ‘upped’ the jackpot of the first game by $75 to $200. [the manager] was not prepared to risk the wrath of the patrons by going to the stage and announcing that Santa had exceeded his jurisdiction by raising the jackpot. The game proceeded. Emboldened, Santa then announced, before calling his second game, that the jackpot would be increased by $100 to $200. Again, [the manager] allowed the game to continue. ... Fri, 24 Dec 2010 13:33:06 +0100 895181 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62878 Top Picks for Apps to Help You While Away the Minutes If idle hands are the devil’s plaything, Satan must hate smartphones. Androids, BlackBerrys and iPhones have so many good apps that their owners can fill the tiniest gap of free time with a productive, whimsical or useless activity. Neuroscientists [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Fri, 24 Dec 2010 12:23:00 +0100 894836 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62877 Dialysis Facility Tracker This site is for dialysis patients and others who want to learn about the quality of care at individual dialysis clinics. Among other things, you can learn how often patients treated at a facility have been hospitalized, report certain types of infections or are placed on the transplant list. [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Fri, 24 Dec 2010 11:19:00 +0100 894837 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/24/just-plain-wrong/ Clements (Litigation Guardian of) v. Clements, 2010 BCCA 581 - right result, bad reasons. A sub-text to the case is the manner in which the panel used a hot-off-the press article in a law review to explain and justify its analysis and conclusion, introducing and setting up the manner in which it intended to use the article this way: [54] The question of when it will be appropriate to resort to the material-contribution test discussed in Resurfice Corp. has been the subject of some appellate consideration and considerable academic writing. In my view, the answer to this question is fully and articulately set out in a paper by Professor Erik S. Knutsen entitled “Clarifying Causation in Tort”, found at (2010), 33 Dal. L.J. 153. Professor Knutsen’s view, with which I agree, is that a judge can resort to the material-contribution test in only two situations: what he refers to as ones involving circular causation and dependency causation. In all other cases, causation must be determined on the but-for test. The panel is right that there has been “considerable academic writing”. I’ve written some of it. (Some might accuse me of much of it, certainly more words than most, but that’s true only about the Canadian writing.) It’s my view that not much of it - the academic writing, that is – agrees with the contents of Prof. Knutsen’s article. The substance of the disagreement is an issue for another day. What isn’t is the fact that there is substantive disagreement but there’s no acknowledgement of that in the reasons.  The panel is also right that there has been “some appellate consideration”. Unfortunately, with the exception of a recent contribution from the Alberta Court of Appeal, all of what is useful appellate consideration is in decisions of the British Columbia Court of Appeal. ... Fri, 24 Dec 2010 11:09:49 +0100 895182 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/MKuf/~3/mVvn0bHlDqw/battle-of-demos-musical-holiday-edition.html Nothing brings out holiday spirit like caroling around town or sharing a good time with friends. But when you combine both of those fun activities with Google technology, Weezer, Greyson Chance, and Demo Slam, you get Battle of the Demos: Musical Holiday Edition.This winter season, Weezer and Greyson Chance stepped to into the Demo Slam arena to show the world their most creative tech demos. We know they can both sing, but who will win in a battle of technology?Spending his Christmas home in Oklahoma City, Greyson Chance figured he could combine Google Local Search and caroling to spread some musical cheer around town:Weezer is known for their adoring fans (well, at least one adoring fan authoring this post). Check out this slam that gets the whole crowd involved:Head over to demoslam.com to vote and help decide whether a voice search performed by 3,000 people or crooning through the streets of Oklahoma City will reign supreme.Posted by Laura Melahn, Weezer Fan Club and Amanda Kelly, Greyson Chance Cheer Squad (Source: Official Google Blog) Fri, 24 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895535 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62875 News Briefs + Wiley-Blackwell Launches Mobile Applications for Select Health Publications (Information Today) + Seattle librarian confirmed for national library post (Seattle Times) + Ski passes offered at Ottawa library (CBC News) + James J. Hill Reference Library to launch business incubator (Star Tribune) + Microsoft Cloud Data Breach [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 23:26:00 +0100 894764 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62879 FCC's Net Neutrality Report and Order (PDF) In the Matter of Preserving the Open Internet Broadband Industry Practices ... I. PRESERVING THE FREE AND OPEN INTERNET 1. Today the Commission takes an important step to preserve the Internet as an open platform for innovation, investment, job creation, economic growth, [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 21:35:00 +0100 894765 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62876 Politics Goes Mobile More than a quarter of American adults – 26% – used their cell phones to learn about or participate in the 2010 mid-term election campaign.   In a post-election nationwide survey of adults, the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project found that 82% of adults have [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 18:36:00 +0100 894766 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62874 WikiLeaks: A Critical Catalyst, But for What End? Launched in October 2006 with the byline of “we open governments,” WikiLeaks has positioned itself in the eye of more than one media storm in the past 4 years. The site presents itself as a “non-profit media organization dedicated to bringing important news and information [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 18:24:00 +0100 894682 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62873 ARL Publishes RLI Special Issue on Influencing Public Policies: Access, Openness, and Innovation The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has published issue 273 of Research Library Issues ( RLI ) , which focuses on several critical public policy issues of importance to the research library community. This issue of RLI features articles on [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 18:19:00 +0100 894683 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62872 iPads, Print-on-Demand Slowly Transform Magazines in 2010 This revolution is going to take its time. It's been a year of high expectations but little fulfillment for those who thought 2010 might forever change the way we read magazines. We've seen that disappointing uses of new tools, limited audience interest, and small [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 18:13:00 +0100 894684 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/23/ontario-publishes-advisory-panel-report-on-anti-activist-lawsuits/ The Ontario government this week made public the final report of an advisory panel on SLAPP suits (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation). SLAPP suits typically take the form of abusive defamation lawsuits aimed at shutting down criticism by non-governmental organizations or citizen lobby groups. Targets of SLAPPs in various parts of North America have been local residents, neighbourhood associations, municipal governments, and peaceful protesters, who have been sued for acts such as reporting bylaw violations, speaking at municipal meetings or even just picketing and circulating petitions. The panel recommends that Ontario adopt anti-SLAPP legislation to protect the freedom of the public to participate in matters of public interest: “[19] Advocates of legislation who made submissions to the Panel tended to agree on its main characteristics: • It should provide a speedy and cheap method to stop lawsuits if those suits were brought for an improper purpose, namely to harass or intimidate the defendants; • It should put the onus on plaintiffs to prove that their lawsuits were not improper; • It should help rebalance an inequality of financial resources between the parties, possibly by an order that the plaintiff should pay the defendants’ costs at the outset of the litigation; • It should provide stronger legal protection for citizens engaged in public participation, such as through special defences; • It should deter people from bringing such suits in the first place, by exposing plaintiffs, and possibly their directors and officers, and lawyers, to awards of damages or even punitive damages. • Its principles should apply to the actions of administrative tribunals as well as to lawsuits in court. ... Thu, 23 Dec 2010 14:55:59 +0100 895183 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/23/csst-services-and-website-available-only-in-french/ Since April 2010, the Office québécois de la langue française required that all communications between the Commission de la Santé et de la Sécurité du Travail du Québec (CSST, Quebec’s workplace health and safety board) and employers, suppliers and partners take place in French only, to comply with the Charter of the French Language. However, if the head office of those parties is located outside Quebec, they may be served in English. Conversely, this requirement does not apply to CSST communication with employees. They can be served in English especially if it is in regards to their rights and obligations. Word for word, this is the CSST’s new Language Policy: As a Québec government agency, the CSST is required to comply with the rules of the Office québécois de la langue française. To do so, CSST employees must abide by the following general principles in their communication with English-speaking workers, employers, suppliers and partners: Workers may have access to CSST services in English, in particular for all matters regarding their rights and obligations. French is the language of work in Québec. All communication with employers, suppliers and partners must be in French only. However, an enterprise that does not have an establishment in Québec or whose head office is located outside Québec may ask the CSST to provide its communications in English. To find out more, consult the Charter of the French Language. The CSST is willing to receive complaints from employees in English, yet they are not willing to serve the employers in English. “The message is the language of business and commerce here in Quebec is French, and the public services will use French,” said Office de la langue française spokesperson Martin Bergeron. But this message and policy do not apply just to the CSST. ... Thu, 23 Dec 2010 14:30:52 +0100 895184 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62836 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Litigation Database The myriad consequences of the spill have already spurred an onslaught of litigation, with allegations ranging from personal injury and property damages to violations of RICO and securities law. As more damages are discovered, plaintiffs will likely continue filing new claims. This database attempts to [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 14:05:00 +0100 894685 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/23/morris-cohen-1927-2010-a-few-thoughts/ Morris Leo Cohen died on Saturday, December 18, 2010. He had recently celebrated his 83rd birthday. More than a few of us call Morris mentor. During his years at Yale, Harvard, Penn and SUNY Buffalo, he attracted disciples with ease and grace. I trust that a round of tributes will follow his passing, but one aspect that may be neglected is the symbolic value of it for librarianship. Morris was the last great scholar bibliographer of his generation in American law librarianship. Not a scholar who stepped into the role of librarian, Morris was a scholarly bibliographer, a man of great learning, who could quote both Samuel Johnson and Ranganathan in the same sentence. Even more important, he was devoted to bibliographic integrity. While a hardy handful of American law librarians continue to pursue lines of scholarly interest, Morris stands for old-style, careful, bibliographic work. His work showed analytical depth combined with elegant style. It was an endeavor that called for intellectual focus and pure sweat equity. When I first met Morris in 1972, I was a second year law student at Harvard Law School. Sharon Hamby O’Connor, who had been my boss at the undergraduate library, suggested that I meet with him to discuss my very foggy career plans. (Sharon went on to become Law Librarian, Professor and Associate Dean at Boston College Law School, yet another of Morris’s mentees). Inspirational in every possible way, Morris told me to be a law librarian. Looking at him, at his work, and entranced, as so many were, by his sweet manner, he changed my life. I recall that on that day he told me of BEAL, his projected Bibliography of Early American Law. It was an ambitious project, conceived of with Balfour Halevy, that ultimately was designed to prepare a catalog that listed each and every legal imprint in the United States published before 1860. Ideally, Morris would look at each book in person. ... Thu, 23 Dec 2010 12:00:01 +0100 895185 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62831 New Bibliographies from Air University Nuclear Weapons 2010 WMD: Chemical, Biological, & Radiological Somalia Piracy Cyberspace and National Security Iraq Reconstruction European Union Source:  Muir S. Fairchild Research Information Center, Air [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 10:59:00 +0100 894686 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62830 The Art of the American Soldier Presenting paintings and drawings created by American soldiers -- many of them capturing scenes of combat witnessed firsthand -- the groundbreaking exhibition depicts the human dimension of war in ways no photograph or newsreel ever could. Art of the American Soldier is the first major exhibition [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 09:54:00 +0100 894687 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62816 Google eBookstore Roundup + Exclusive: Google ebookstore rep hints at timetable for Australia (Teleread) + Indie Bookstores Opt-In to Google eBooks (Chicagoist) + Google Books: Solid But Not Worth Switching For (tapscape) + Five-Million-Book Google Database Gets a Workout, and a Debate, in Its First Days (Arts Beat, New York [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 08:36:00 +0100 894688 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62832 Library News Roundup + Ron Shank, former publisher of LJ, SLJ, and PW, Dies (Library Journal) + Better late than never: Mt. Clemens library waives fine for man who returned book 76 years late (Mlive.com) + Man fails to return book, is sentenced to death (satirical take from Cincinnati.com) + [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 07:03:00 +0100 894689 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/MKuf/~3/Ple33mRbfz4/dashing-through-snow-with-norad-and.html (Cross-posted from the Lat Long Blog)Every Christmas Eve, children all over the world ask themselves—and their parents—questions about Santa’s magical journey. How does Santa visit so many children in one night? Will he eat the cookies I left out? How does he fit all those presents into his sleigh? These childhood mysteries are part of what makes the Santa tradition so special.There’s one timeless question that we’re proud to say we can help answer: Where in the world is Santa at this very moment? Thanks in part to recent advances in warp-speed GPS technology and some very clever elves (elveneering?) NORAD Tracks Santa is once again prepped and ready to go.Starting tomorrow, December 24 at 2:00am EST, visit www.noradsanta.org to follow Santa as he journeys around the world delivering presents to children in more than 200 countries and territories. There are a few different ways to find the jolly old man in his unmistakable red suit over the course of the day, so feel free to track him using any of the following methods:See Santa on a Google Map: On your home computer or laptop, visit www.noradsanta.org and choose your preferred language. You’ll see a large Google Map on the page displaying Santa’s current location and his next stop. Click the video icons to watch “Santa Cam” videos, and click the gift icons to learn more about each city.Watch Santa fly with the Google Earth Plug-in: From www.noradsanta.org, click on the link Track Santa in Google Earth. You'll see Santa steering his sleigh right on the webpage. If you don't have the Google Earth plug-in, you can get ready by downloading it ahead of time.Follow Santa on your phone: Track Santa from your mobile phone by opening Google Maps for mobile and searching for [santa]. Or, visit m.noradsanta.org on your phone’s browser.Subscribe to his YouTube channel: Santa’s home on YouTube is at http://www.youtube.com/noradtrackssanta. ... Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894702 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/22/slaw-makes-bruce-cartons-10-go-to-blogs-of-the-year/ Bruce Carton at Law.com’s Legal Blog Watch has honoured Slaw by picking it as one of his “10 most watched” blogs of 2010. He’s got a video of them all, which just so happens to start with you-know-which blog. Click on the image below to go to his post and the video. We are proud to be in the company of the following great blogs: Consumerist Jonathan Turley Legal Juice Legal Satyricon Lowering the Bar Simple Justice Slaw.ca SPAM Notes Texas Lawyer THR, Esq. Many thanks, Bruce. (Source: Slaw) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 00:04:14 +0100 895186 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/22/black-eyed-peas-spoil-blakes-flash-mob/ For a short moment, we had some innovative law firm marketing going on with Blakes flash mob dance! The Youtube video was here. That is until lawyers for the Black Eyed Peas called copyright foul. Youtube is now displaying the infringement image below: I say boooo to the Black Eyed Peas and Will.I.Am. It’s tough enough to get lawyers to leave their offices and walk down a couple flights of stairs for a fire drill. Can you imagine getting close to 50 of them dance in the middle of a shopping mall? Unheard of. Happy holidays! :) (Source: Slaw) Wed, 22 Dec 2010 23:37:32 +0100 895187 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62835 FDsys: GPO’s Official System of Record GPO is pleased to announce several new accomplishments regarding its Federal Digital System (FDsys). As of December 20, 2010, FDsys has become GPO’s official system of record for online Government information. This new phase is characterized by a fully stood-up and implemented system foundation with failover [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Wed, 22 Dec 2010 23:34:00 +0100 894528 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62824 U.S. Top 10s and Trends for 2010 The Nielsen Company released a list of the most popular media and consumer spending trends in the U.S. for 2010, covering everything from the most popular television shows, to the most liked commercials, book sales, purchasing trends, top mobile apps and more. + [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Wed, 22 Dec 2010 22:19:00 +0100 894529 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62815 U.S. Cybersecurity Predictions, Resolutions and Wishes for 2011 With the abundance of high-profile and potentially damaging cybersecurity failures — the Aurora breach, China's mysterious hijacking of Internet traffic, the powerful Stuxnet worm, and of course, Wikileaks — the year 2010 won't go down as the best one for cybersecurity. What's scarier, in [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Wed, 22 Dec 2010 20:33:00 +0100 894530 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/22/more-on-the-language-of-law-reports/ This continues the comments on The Language of Law Reports. I couldn’t figure out how to put images in a comment. The following croppings are from Chadwyck-Healey’s Early English Books Online, via ProQuest. First is the title page of the 1604 edition of volume 4 of Coke’s Reports: Next is the top of page 91a, giving part of the record in Latin: Next is the top of page 92b, the beginning of the report in French: It’s still “en bank le Roy.” (Source: Slaw) Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:20:58 +0100 895188 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62814 What We Don't Know We Don't Know Do you read everything in your field today? Do you even know what everything means any more? Readers of scholarly research are faced with an overabundance of information due to interdisciplinary subject areas, access to research at earlier and multiple stages, and simply more research [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:24:00 +0100 894423 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/22/looseleaf-litigation/ Slaw readers might be interested in a recent judgement from the US District Court, in which two law professors, editors of a looseleaf service, sued the publisher for issuing a release under their names when they were not involved in its production. The release consisted of just 3 new case references and subscribers were charged $50 for it. Brief but briliant expert testimony on the nature of pocket parts was provided by a local law librarian to enlightened jurors, who awarded the plaintiffs $2.5 million in damages. The verdict was reported in the Philadelphia Enquirer yesterday (Dec. 21) and has also been reported in the ABA Journal, and the decision can be read in full in a Legal Research Plus post. For me, the action highlights the pointless nature of so much law book supplementation which carries a direct and immediate cost to the subscriber regardless of merit, quality or need. (Source: Slaw) Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:18:12 +0100 895189 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/22/happy-holidays-3/ As this is my last Slaw post before the holiday, I would like to wish Slaw readers (and of course all the Slaw contributors) a happy and safe holiday season. Please enjoy the card, which was created for our firm by a London artist (a higher resolution image is here), and the Harrison Pensa Christmas video. (Source: Slaw) Wed, 22 Dec 2010 13:19:58 +0100 895190 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62812 The Untethered Executive:Business Information in the Age of Mobility Much has been written about how smartphones and other mobile devices are changing the way people communicate. But little has been done to understand what the impact of this shift is on the executive suite. Are executives willing to use their smartphones for [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Wed, 22 Dec 2010 12:13:00 +0100 894424 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/22/cumulo-nimble-file-storage-in-the-cloud/ My quest for better file access started with a nagging suspicion that my shrinking storage containers would be my downfall. I went mobile with a laptop, which was smaller than my desktop and was portable. Then I added a handheld computer, which was still smaller and even more portable: no cords, no bags. On to USB thumb drives and finally shifting to a 2 GB micro SD card about the size of a raisin. Portability raised the likelihood of my files being lost or stolen if I misplaced the container in which they were stored. I solved the problem by shifting my file access to the cloud, reducing the files I have to carry with me. Keep in mind that I have a perfectly satisfactory system for storing and managing files on my desktop computer. What I needed was a way to ensure that I could remotely access and update specific files and I didn’t want to have to deal with remote access software. I’m a big fan – and user – of products like LogMeIn.com and RealVNC. They allow you to log on to a computer from a remote location and control it as if you were sitting in front of it, with mouse and keyboard. But that was overkill in this case. All I needed was access to files, and one way to do that is to synchronize files from my main computer to somewhere else. Get the Drop on Your Files One of the best known products for synchronizing is Dropbox. You can read some Slaw mentions of Dropbox here, here, and here. Once you install the Dropbox application on your computer, it creates a folder called My Dropbox and will synchronize any files in that folder to your online account on their servers. You could place all of your files in the folder and create an online backup at Dropbox. I use it much more sparingly, dragging a single file or folder to my Dropbox folder while it’s something I know I might need remotely. When I am finished with that project or research, I remove it from my home Dropbox folder, and it is removed from the Dropbox servers. ... Wed, 22 Dec 2010 12:00:36 +0100 895191 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/22/what%e2%80%99s-in-a-name/ I recently participated in a panel discussion called “Unbundled Work/Unbridled Success: Sourcing Canadian Legal Services Differently” at the Sixth Annual Canadian Bar Association Law Firm Leadership Conference. A significant portion of the conference covered legal process outsourcing (“LPO”). Professor Richard Susskind moderated the session on LPO. The conference was well attended by virtually all of the major law firms in Canada and the majority of the attendees were the managing partners of these firms.  The conference was a personal highlight for me, for two reasons. Firstly, Richard Susskind was the moderator of the LPO session. Need I say more? For those of you who don’t know who Richard Susskind is; let me enlighten you. Susskind published The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services in 2008; and in 1996, he published The Future of Law. Suffice it to say that Susskind has a very strong opinion about where the legal industry is going globally in the future.  Susskind’s books predict significant new pressures on the legal marketplace and, as a result, great change in the legal industry. Susskind challenges lawyers by asking them to ask themselves what elements of their current workload could be undertaken more quickly, cheaply, and efficiently, or to a higher quality using new methods of working. He argues that the market will not tolerate expensive lawyers for tasks that can be better performed with modern systems and techniques; and he claims that the legal industry is being drawn towards the commoditisation of legal services, and by new and disruptive legal technologies. Is there a threat to local lawyers? According to Susskind, their jobs may be eroded; however at the same time, for entrepreneurial lawyers, Susskind foresees different law jobs emerging which may be highly rewarding, even if different from the law jobs of today. ... Wed, 22 Dec 2010 12:00:26 +0100 895192 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/22/canlii-seeks-new-president/ As readers know, SLAW has regularly posted on the good work of the people at the Canadian Legal Information Institute and the free access to law movement. I see they are now advertising for the position of CanLII President. If you are interested in applying, or know of someone who you think would be interested, contact information for applications is providing on the page at the foregoing link. (Source: Slaw) Wed, 22 Dec 2010 12:00:15 +0100 895193 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/22/ipad-apps-happy-holiday-shopping/ In the spirit of the season, here are some iPad apps of possible interest to SLAW readers: Dragon Dictation: I am excited to "train" this new version of Dragon Dictation for the iPad but have been too busy to do so. I have heard good things. I remember trying version 1 of Dragon Dictation on what I think back then was a 486 computer. One assumes this new version will work more smoothly. Screenshot of UTL Mobile App showing catalogue record for The Practical Guide to Canadian Legal Research UTL Mobile App: Perhaps of more interest to those in the Toronto area is the free University of Toronto mobile app, which allows for searching of the university catalogue (among other things). iPad Games for Sale: I am not sure how much longer these sales will last, so act quickly. Both EA Games and Gameloft have hugely discounted prices on their iPad Games. Flipboard: Although I don’t follow Facebook or Twitter, I still found Flipboard useful and well designed (it won iPad’s App of the Year and is free). As described on iTunes: Flipboard is a fast, beautiful way to flip through the news, photos and updates your friends are sharing on Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader and Flickr. See your social media in a magazine layout that is easy to scan and fun to read. Share articles and photos, comment on posts, and like or favorite anything. Customize your Flipboard with sections created from your favorite people, lists, groups and blogs on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and Google Reader. (Source: Slaw) Wed, 22 Dec 2010 11:00:58 +0100 895194 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62808 CLIR Announces Hidden Collections Awards The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) today announced the following recipients of the 2010 Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives awards: American Museum of Natural History Library For the People, for Education, for Science: Web Access to the American Museum of Natural History Archives  $117,600 [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Wed, 22 Dec 2010 09:16:00 +0100 894425 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62802 EPA Launches Website to Increase Transparency of Regulatory Activity The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a new website called Reg Stat that will enhance public understanding of its regulatory process and the number, type, and range of regulatory documents developed each year by the agency. This new resource is part [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Wed, 22 Dec 2010 08:32:00 +0100 894426 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62800 Wireless Substitution: Early Release of Estimates From the National Health Interview Survey, January - June 2010 Preliminary results from the January-June 2010 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) indicate that the number of American homes with only wireless telephones continues to grow. More than one of every four American homes (26.6%) had only [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Wed, 22 Dec 2010 07:26:00 +0100 894427 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/21/this-weeks-biotech-highlights-76/ This week in biotech was all about surveillance: Two Toronto scientists studied over two million tweets to assess the social network’s value as a public health surveillance tool and came away impressed. Even though social networks open some completely new avenues to gathering data and interacting, for the most part they are just valuable tools for use in traditional processes according to a recent Deloitte report. and many Pharma companies remain reluctant to engage. MaRS CEO Ilse Treurnicht, doing a bit of surveillance of her own on some publication surveillance data, noted that China is now second in publication of biomedical research articles globally, having recently surpassed Japan, the UK, Germany and Canada, among others. If you look at how often China’s scientists (as a whole) are cited by other scientists (a proxy for qualify or value), science in China still has a long way to go, though they have improved rapidly in “quality” as well. At The Cross-Border Biotech Blog and @crossborderbio on Twitter we are surveilling some beaches this week and will return in full force around the New Year. Happy holidays, everyone! (Source: Slaw) Wed, 22 Dec 2010 03:13:56 +0100 895195 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/21/a-conversation-about-secrecy-and-privacy/ There’s an interesting conversation over at Edge — not the legal consulting company, but the foundation that holds colloquiums on important issues in science, philosophy, and art. This discussion is entitled Who Gets to Keep Secrets? and the question was posed by Daniel Hillis, a computer scientist, who amplified it thus: The question of secrecy in the information age is clearly a deep social (and mathematical) problem, and well worth paying attention to. When does my right to privacy trump your need for security? Should a democratic government be allowed to practice secret diplomacy? Would we rather live in a world with guaranteed privacy or a world in which there are no secrets? If the answer is somewhere in between, how do we draw the line? As you might imagine, Wikileaks features prominently, as does law: law constituting governments, law delimiting privacy rights, and law shaded into ethics and morality. Those who responded to Hillis included: the Provost of Georgetown University; the ED of the Electronic Privacy Information Center; the Editor of the Arts section of the Sueddeutsche Zeitung; George Dyson, the science historian; and Clay Shirky, adjunct Prof. at NYU. Hillis replied to many of the comments, and was in some cases replied to. (Source: Slaw) Wed, 22 Dec 2010 01:58:59 +0100 895196 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/21/personal-emails-in-a-goverment-system-subject-to-access-to-information-law/ A lawyer with the City of Ottawa was active in community activities, and with permission of his employer spent some time on those activities at the office. His email to and from one of the charities became the subject of an access to information request under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA). He resisted disclosure of the emails on the ground that they had nothing to do with government business, the disclosure of which was the purpose of the Act. The Information and Privacy Commissioner held in April 2009 that the emails must be disclosed: Order MO-2408 [PDF] dated April 9, 2009. The Divisional Court has now reversed that decision, holding that MFIPPA did not extend to personal communications just because they were stored on a government computer. City of Ottawa v. Ontario, 2010 ONSC 6835. The court held that the documents were not in the custody or control of the City, even though they were on its computer. Further, subjecting personal documents (electronic or paper-based) to access requests would hurt the privacy rights of the employees. This seems right to me. Otherwise community organizations and charities would not want public-sector directors or even volunteers if their private communications were subject to disclosure by what I think is a collateral attack through access to public information laws. Do you agree? What’s the other side? (Source: Slaw) Tue, 21 Dec 2010 22:59:53 +0100 895197 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/21/on-reading/ The ABA Journal had a news link today titled, “Do Judges Read Online Briefs Differently? Brief Writers May Need to Be Briefer“. The post discussed a Texas Lawyer article on e-filing and what that might mean to legal writing. Interesting stuff. The idea of fewer words to convey a point may be necessary if reading moves primarily to a screen. A colleague once asserted that there was a bunch of literature showing that reading on screen was slower than reading from paper, and he was right. Here are some examples of studies that support this premise: Dillon, A., McKnight, C. and Richardson, J. (1988) Reading from paper versus reading from screens. The Computer Journal, 31(5), 457-464. Available here Mangen, A., (2008) Hypertext fiction reading: haptics and immersion. Journal of Research in Reading, 31(4), 404–419, Abstract and Mentioned in the Chronicle of Higher Education Paper Because. “It is easier to learn on paper“ Today @ PC World, Reading on Paper is Faster than iBooks on the iPad, July 5 2010 Personally, I am enamoured of all the methods of consuming the written word. Consuming hyperlinked case law is bliss. I find joy in not keeping my spouse awake by reading in the dark with my back lit iPad…brings back memories of my youth with a flash light under the covers. I enjoy every visit to the public library, and I am looking forward to finishing the bookshelves in my new house where my collection of triage, tripe, and triumph will be displayed and accessible for revisiting. I relish time spent in bookstores for both new and recycled items. If writing with fewer words becomes necessary for technology, I hope that only occurs for certain types of writing. If you were wondering what to get me for Christmas, choose a book. ... Tue, 21 Dec 2010 22:02:39 +0100 895198 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62798 Apple Removes WikiLeaks App From App Store Looks like an unofficial iPhone and iPad app that let you view WikiLeaks site content and follow the WikiLeaks Twitter account on the go has been removed from the App app store earlier today. The app used to be available here (here’s the Google cache ). [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Tue, 21 Dec 2010 21:40:00 +0100 894305 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/62797 FCC Acts to Preserve Internet Freedom and Openness (Word) The Federal Communications Commission today acted to preserve the Internet as an open network enabling consumer choice, freedom of expression, user control, competition and the freedom to innovate. Chairman Genachowski voted for the Order; Commissioner Copps concurred and Commissioner Clyburn approved in part [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Tue, 21 Dec 2010 21:16:00 +0100 894306 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/21/facts-and-trends-in-dispute-resolution-in-sweden-and-finland/ ♬ Yeah i just need light I need light in the dark as i search for the resolution I need light in the dark as i search for the resolution…♬ Lyrics, music and recorded by: Jack’s Mannequin. The “Roschier Disputes Index 2010 – Facts and Trends in Dispute Resolution in Sweden and Finland” has just been released. Roschier is a Finnish law firm with over 70 years of experience in Finland and Sweden. This report offers an insightful look into trends of dispute resolution in Sweden and in Finland. This report is noteworthy in at least a couple of respects. The first is that respondents include not only General Counsel and CEOs, but also CFO’s, officers rarely surveyed on international commercial arbitration. The second is that it is rare for most of us to have a law firm undertake such a survey. The report provides a ‘look and see’ what is happening in other jurisdictions and allows us to compare and contract their (surveyed) experience to our (anecdotal) one. The report mentions the uniqueness of the survey: As for the rest of the world, most countries have never independently surveyed the general mood of their large and/or mid-cap corporations on ADR. In terms of the major finding of the report: [A] single conclusion stands out as the thesis of the report: despite the experiences with booming dispute resolution during the last downturn, no signs of a boom are as yet in sight. On the contrary, a majority of the companies surveyed have not experienced significant growth in the number of disputes and do not anticipate such growth over the coming years either. From a social perspective, it is good news that the number of disputes have not grown despite the downturn in the economy. But in terms of resolving the disputes that do occur: Companies are also clearly interested in exploring alternative ways of resolving disputes. ... Tue, 21 Dec 2010 18:51:46 +0100 895199