Vancouver Law Librarian Blog

Some of Our "Best" Work

As readers of this blog, you likely know that Stem's roots go back to legal librarianship. It's been a while since Emma or I have worked in that capacity, but we've never forgotten the resources that were essential to our former work. For us, one of those go-to resources was BC lawyer Catherine Best's indispensable website, legalresearch.org.

If you're not familiar with it, the "Best Guide to Canadian Legal Research" is an info-packed website beloved by Canadian law students, legal researchers, and law librarians alike. Folks from outside Canada also cite is as a valuable resource for researching our laws. Simply put, this is one of those "gems" that you find yourself going back to time and time again.

So, you can imagine how thrilled we were when Catherine asked us to help her update the site's look and organization. She'd done an impressive job at hand-coding the site's HTML with painstaking care and precision since its inception in 1998, but the time had come to migrate the site into a content management system that would be more stable and user-friendly.

We worked with Catherine for several months on this project, and are pretty happy with the finished product: a refreshed organization and great-looking WordPress-based website where Catherine can continue to share her expertise and wisdom on this essential topic. It's also now easier to view across different devices, and has social media sharing capabilities, making it generally more accessible.

Here's a screen capture of the new homepage:

Best Legal Researhc

Did I mention Catherine is blogging now too? As VLLB readers, legal research is likely part of your job. So be sure to subscribe to her new Canadian Legal Research Blog.

Congratulations, Catherine, on this exciting milestone for legalresearch.org -- an important contribution to Canadian legal research and a boon to law students, librarians, and legal researchers everywhere!

Quickscribe Manual Updates for May 2013.

Six Quickscribe Manuals were updated in May. The following manuals were updated:

Keep in mind that free, daily updates to B.C. statutes and regulations are available at www.bclegislation.ca.

Quick View and the Cached Internet

Google Quick View is intended to bring content to your smartphone in a fraction of the time.

It's unclear whether QV is delivering some kind of cached page copy, but that's the assumption I'm making. The project is also still in experimental stages and is only using Wikipedia pages at this time. This makes sense; at least from a 'copyright permission' point of view. It's one thing to keep copies of webpages in Google cache; but quite another to deliver those surrogates to users, rather than the original website's version. Publisher consent is required.

Now, what if Google can deliver mobile content faster? Mobile is an easy target here. Who needs speed more? ... Perhaps website owners are prepared to trade 'speed' for their publishing control. I don't know, and would hope smaller publishers wouldn't buy into this model (or able to afford it?); but for the biggest of publishers, I suspect this kind of offering could be a big draw. Mobile growth being what it is, and the exposure opportunities that Google can deliver.

Can you imagine the New York Times or Wall Street Journal not jumping aboard?

The Internet has always had the ability to "level the playing field." Big or small, web publishing (mostly) allowed one to punch above their weight class. For really big publishers, however, QV could be their chance to rise above upstart competitors. To purchase certain factors differentiating their delivery. And really, who better to partner with?

As for Google, QV might be their chance to further embed their company as "the platform" built upon the Internet's infrastructure. (I obviously have similar thoughts re: Facebook and G+.) Whenever big companies house and deliver the content of others to Internet users, a little publisher independence is lost.

If Publishers become reliant on Google, letting them deliver their pages faster and to more people, I can't see them being able to step off the platform -- even if they wanted to. Once your competition is using "the platform" too, right or wrong, the risks are too high to leave. Which is what many people are betting on by holding company stock in the 'GoogAppleFaceAzons' of the world. Platforms could be profitable.

A little tin foil hat going on here? Perhaps. But if the Internet becomes a question of speedy cached content vs. mom-and-pop self-hosted content; there will be another type of 'digital divide' going on. And unfortunately, it won't be Publishers (big or small) who profit.

Google Reader Wasn't that Great Anyway

If you follow this blog, you likely already know two things before I write this post. First, my ongoing belief in the value of RSS technology for monitoring online publishing; and second, the coming demise of Google Reader.

None of us have had much time to consider things yet, and I'm sure we'll be doing more of that in the weeks to come. One early decision for me, however, is that I won't be signing any online petitions, or be begging Google to reconsider their decision. I'm in backlash mode already. :)

As much as Google did an admirable job bringing down feeds fast and reliably, I was never enamored with the reader product. I switched from Bloglines to Reader because Bloglines became slow and unreliable, not because Reader had superior features.

In fact, I became so frustrated with Reader's web interface that within six months I decided to put FeedDemon in front of it. Google Reader's killer feature was its speed, and never the UI; so using Feeddemon as my application software gave me a great UI while I was at home; but still allowed me to travel for business and sync my reading history. It was the best of both worlds.

Things have changed since I setup that situation, though, and will now have to change again. But hopefully for the better!

I now have Flipboard in the mix, which is a big help for social media sharing; and pulling recommended reading out of my friends and colleagues. That's important, because these kinds of personal recommendations didn't exist five years ago. Or more accurately, took place blog-to-blog rather than the larger social networks that dominate today.

Social media is the elephant in the room, of course. Most savvy users filter topical discussions via "groups"; which is a fine method to pull your respected peers (and their reading recommendations) together. But social media isn't everything! Right? There will always be:

those publications that are required reading, or that you respect;
topics that interest few others, but are important to you;
or niche topics that are rarely written about online. Within a blog post, for example.

People are important recommendation agents, but relying on your network alone is a mistake. Having great filters up, that aggregate key materials, is an important part of using the Internet. The Internet may be a wonder of the modern world, but to be effective in its use, information discovery must meet your personal needs and interests. And for that reason, I don't see the death of RSS-consumption coming anytime soon.

Yes, I'll admit it: RSS isn't for everyone. If you use an RSS reader today, consider yourself a power user. You are an "information junkie"; a journalist, a blogger... a librarian. Someone who relies on being in the know.

The web is made up of much more than power users. We know this. We are the minority here, and not all that profitable to the corporate interests of Google. However, don't think for a minute that those needs that were being served via RSS are going away. Social media networks and serendipity aren't going to fill those needs.

Here's a better way to look at all this: Google is releasing its hold on RSS. The monopoly is done. (It's always a monopoly when Google is involved. Who wants to compete?) Now, some of Google Reader's features may get wound into G+, but die-hard Google Reader fans? They aren't going to be happy. And that re-opens the market again. To innovation, and to competition.

Personally, I don't have to change my habits all that much. I could use a cloud provider to sync together all my RSS services, but weaving Google out of my routines? No worries there. I'll manage just fine.

Quickscribe Manual Updates for February 2013

Four Quickscribe Manuals were updated in February:

And don't forget: daily updates to BC stats and regs are available for free at www.bclegislation.ca.

Phil Bradley Celebrates 10 years of blogging

Congrats to UK blogging librarian Phil Bradley, who is celebrating 10 years of blogging!

For me, Phil Bradley is the original "Librarian 2.0". He writes on search engines, web usability, and librarianship; all important topics for me. In fact, I've probably read far more of those 10 years worth of posts than I care to admit.

So, "cheers" to you, Phil! Your writing and rants traveled some 7500 kilometers over here to the west coast of Canada. I hope your online voice will carry forward for a long time.

[RSS Subscription here]

Map of Global Underwater Telecom Routes

Put this one in the category of digital vs the real world. TeleGeography, a global telecom market research and consulting firm, has released their latest interactive map of data lines running under the world's oceans. (No picture could do this map justice. Click over and zoom in for closer look.)

The map shows 232 routes currently in operation, with 12 more planned in the coming year. As ExtremeTech points out, submarine data routes like these have been around for some time. The first ones dating back to the 1860s for transatlantic cable runs.

If there's a common theme here, it might be that no technology is immune to the physical realities of mother nature. Regardless of whether you're tugging lines across the ocean for early telegraphs in the 1800's, or prepping for terabytes of data in the 21st century.

Georgetown Law Library Blog Aggregator -- More Proof RSS Isn't Dead

A cool project from Georgetown Law Library: a blog aggregator that mixes the latest posts from their faculty blogs.

If you follow some of the work we do at Stem, or some of my RSS feed mix tinkering from years' past, the concept will sound familiar. Sites like DUIblogwatch.com or the homepage of lawblogs.ca use RSS feed mixing to roundup content sources into a single visible location.

More recently, we've used the same technology to display current blog content on firm websites; or to mix multiple publishing sources such as Waterstone's aggregation of firm news and blog posts.

It pains me to admit it, but RSS never became the household technology that I hoped -- at least not for reading and consuming content. I still think those of us who use feed readers are better for the practice; and it certainly beats trying to manage one's current awareness via social media. But the concept of 'building your own news' based on personalized interests never became simple enough for the average user. It might some day. But it hasn't.

What's been missed, however, is the fact that RSS has become 'the plumbing' for inter-website publishing. You don't see these underground pipes running between websites, but they're there. Make no mistake. And that alone makes RSS critically important; and a success in my view.

Will RSS have a resurgence? Probably. We're in a down cycle with web technology these days; being pushed towards social media and publishing under the rules of large corporate entities. I have a tough time believing that we'll still be using Facebook the way we do in 10 years time. Some of the old tools of web publishing may again rise up, and hopefully the web is ready to rediscover the concept of unfiltered personal publishing.

Any kind of backlash (remember: even AOL had its days of dominance) is likely to involve tools like RSS as the basis for new kinds of distributed connectivity.

One way or another, I wouldn't bet against the web staying static very long. Or personal publishing making another stand.

Quickscribe Manual Updates for December 2012

Two Quickscribe Manuals were updated in December: the BC Forest Legislation Manual and the BC Local Government Legislation Manual.

As always, daily updates to BC statutes and regulations can be found at www.bclegislation.ca.

Youtube Remote Gives Reason to Buy a Smart TV?

Interesting. Google is making your smartphone or tablet into a remote control for YouTube videos, which can then be pushed onto your smart TV. This works right now if you have a Google TV, but will available for many of the 'smart TV' manufacturers after the CES conference later this month.

You can even create a queue of videos, or line up your subscriptions; delivering full control over your evening entertainment. See it in action:

A lot of people will gloss over this; seeing as playing YouTube videos on your TV has been possible for quite some time. For me, I see this as an interesting connector between how TV is evolving, and how mobile tech will interface with it. The word seemless comes to mind -- It's a very 'Apple' announcement for Google.

Similar to how web-technology lowered the personal publishing threshold, home-created or quasi-professional online video will be pushed further into mainstream consumption. Watching niche online video channels will be even easier. And it wasn't that hard before.

Let's also remember how much entertainment has changed in recent years. Individuals have generated huge viewership numbers based on recording themselves playing a video game. And little more. Pop on a head-set, mix the video and commentary, and a star is born. Really? Yes. That's entertainment for many under-30.

And what of syndicated cable programming? Seems to be still going strong with big audiences for now; but as the population ages, there's going to be more variety and competition than ever before.

The YouTube remote is a solid stepping stone in that direction.

2012 Clawbies Nominations Roundup

The 2012 Clawbies are well underway and as is our tradition, we'll be tracking the nominations as they roll in here on the Vancouver Law Librarian, where the awards had their genesis in 2006.

Twitter is proving to be the nomination channel of choice this year and while we've had far too many to list all the individual tweets, here's a list of the blogs that have been nominated (we'll update this list as more nominations are received):

And, for your reading pleasure, check out the following bloggers' nominations (again, will be updated as the month progresses):

There are still nine days to get your nominations in by email, tweet or blog post, and, we suspect, still plenty of deserving blogs out there just waiting to be recognized. Keep those nominations coming!

The Biblio-Mat

Couldn't resist sharing this fun item on a Toronto bookstore's latest attraction: the Biblio-Mat!

The BIBLIO-MAT from Craig Small on Vimeo.

"The Biblio-Mat is a random book dispenser built by Craig Small (thejuggernaut.ca) for The Monkey’s Paw, an idiosyncratic antiquarian bookshop in Toronto. Biblio-Mat books, which vary widely in size and subject matter, cost two dollars. The machine was conceived as an artful alternative to the ubiquitous and often ignored discount sidewalk bin. When a customer puts coins into it, the Biblio-Mat dramatically whirrs and vibrates as the machine is set in motion. The ring of an old telephone bell enhances the thrill when the customer’s mystery book is delivered with a satisfying clunk into the receptacle below."

Hear an interview with the Biblio-Mat's inventor, Craig Small, on CBC's As It Happens - Part 2 - Tuesday, November 20th. Apparently the Biblio-Mat has customers of The Monkey's Paw lining up out the door, and Mr. Small has had requests from hundreds of interested parties around the world who want their own Biblio-Mats!

Library Movers & Shakers -- 'the Canadians'

Every year Library Journal publishes its list of 'movers & shakers' in the Library industry. It's a nice 'pat on the back' for many librarians, both in North America and internationally. Library Journal has published a map locating past recipients from over the past 10 years.

Equally interesting, is this list of all the Canadian recipients that Michel-Adrien Sheppard has assembled over at Library Boy. 20 Canadians! And you probably know a few of them.

Perhaps readers will consider dropping Michel-Adrien's name into the nomination form for 2013. Given the lengthy commitment he's made to informing all of us about the latest happenings in Canada's law library world, he'd certainly be a worthy candidate in my view.

Quickscribe Manual Update for October 2012

Just one Quickscribe manual update to mention this month: the BC Labour Legislation Manual.

Remember, daily updates to BC statutes and regulations are available at Quickscribe's www.bclegislation.ca.

Law Librarian Expertise Showcased in CBA National Magazine

The October/November 2012 issue of CBA's National magazine spotlights the expertise of Canadian law librarians in a trio of articles:

Legal Research in the Digital Age: Why there is still a role for the law library
Online Resources for Lawyers: Law librarians and research lawyers recommend some of their favorites
In the Ring: Does digital research beat the traditional approach? It depends.

Vancouver's own Susannah Tredwell, along with Michel-Adrien Sheppard and Karen Sawatzky plus lawyers Mark Pioro, Matthew Oleynik, and Yossi Schochet are quoted throughout, discussing the benefits and limitations of online legal research, tips for effective research, and knowing when to stick with print.

Another handy article in this issue is Finger on the Pulse, which outlines tools lawyers can use to keep current on legal developments. If you haven't checked out the National's freshly redesigned website, here's your chance!

No More "When" for QR Codes. Now "IF"

QR codes are still not at the tipping point, I'm afraid. And they should have been by now -- it's the Fall of 2012.

The technology costs little to utilize, so there's still room to experiment (at least with the right tech-savvy audience), but law firms are right to be wary about their use in important campaigns.

Here are a couple strikes against to consider:

Apple isn't building a QR reader application natively into iOS. This means a good portion of smartphone and tablet owners must somehow be inspired to install a reader.
More often than not, QR codes duplicate information or actions that are already available without using this particular technology. It takes no longer to type a URL into one's phone than it does to capture one of these indie-Rorschach tests.
From this Mashable piece: "less than 5% of the American public has scanned a QR code." Now, factor in the Canadian-lag on technology, and ask the question: Is adoption where it needs to be to build a QR code into your campaign?

I was pretty hopeful early on, as seen in this Slaw post from 2010. And admittedly, there have been some interesting applications by firms, especially in print advertising. However, if the uptake on people scanning QR codes hasn't risen above 5% in the two years since I posted that piece on Slaw, the adoption rate simply isn't high enough.

I could be wrong, but it really doesn't look like QR codes will go mainstream in North America.

Quickscribe Manual Updates for September 2012

There were three Quickscribe Manuals updated in September:

For daily updates to BC statutes and regulations, visit www.bclegislation.ca, brought to you by Quickscribe.

Quickscribe Manual Updates for August 2012

There are four Quicksribe Manual updates to note this month:

BC Motor Vehicle Legislation Manual – Update #2/12
CC Motor Vehicle Legislation Manual - Update #2/12
RCMP Legislation Manual - Update #2/12
BC Transport Legislation Manual - Update #2/12

And as always, you'll find free daily updates to BC laws at www.bclegislation.ca.

Susannah Tredwell on Law Library Cost Recovery

Susannah Tredwell has a great new post up on Slaw.ca on The Future of Cost Recovery.

Unfortunately, I think there's a more fundamental question at play: whether clients are accepting of cost recovery and the extra disbursements entailed on their legal bills; or, if they are now demanding these costs be included; covered by firms as a 'cost of doing business'.

First let's face the facts: clients want to pay the least amount possible for a professional standard of service. They want to keep their legal bills reasonable, and no higher than is absolutely needed.

Do clients see value in legal research? That answer will vary, but one thing I'm sure of: that answer is completely unconnected to the how they respond to extra expenses added onto the end of their invoice. That particular client response is always going to be poor at best.

Anything a client can pinpoint on an invoice that's outside of the hourly rate or the flat fee negotiated is going to be received negatively. It's a natural reaction to say, "strike that off my invoice". Think about buying a car and how much we all hate those extra fees that get nailed on at the end. Drives us insane right?

So when it comes to law firm's cost recovery for legal research tools, I'm now thinking we need a big shift in direction. Even me. I used to think that we needed to get these costs onto client bills to showcase the value of our services, and for internal marketing -- demonstrating to lawyers the resources we were managing, showing the value of our services, and to help everyone recognize the (sometimes huge) costs involved. Unfortunately, this is a battle that isn't going away. And whether we directly cost recover or not isn't going to change things.

So now my opinion has been altered: The last thing Librarians should want connected to "legal research services" is the negative response of clients. Getting these disbursements on the bills isn't showing value of these tools, or our services. It's only getting lawyers to psychologically connect "research costs" with negative client responses. Nobody wins in this scenario.

I also think in most circumstances that firms need to reconsider charging disbursements altogether. It's a huge negative drag in the client relationship. Why? Clients want cost certainty -- not another line item tacked on at the end of the invoice. Most firms would be wise to bury these costs in their fixed fees, hourly rates, AFAs... whatever billing model they use. Because regardless of how the firm charges for its services, clients will always hate the taxes tacked on at the end of the invoice, and they will always hate disbursements.

Only one of those extra costs has an alternative course.

Praise for "Legal Information Specialists "

When Connie Crosby published her summer reading list on Slaw in early July, I noted she listed a new title from LexisNexis, "Legal Information Specialists : A Guide to Launching and Building Your Career". I was immediately intrigued, as I'm always amazed at the different paths my colleagues have taken (and continue to take) into, out of, and back to the law library world. The book is written by members of the legal community from across Canada, and discusses careers in the usual law library suspects (firm, academic, courthouse, etc.) as well as several alternative roles.

One of these colleagues, Karen Sawatzky, has just published a review of "Legal Information Specialists" at her blog, Library Technician Dialog, and she's pretty impressed with both the content:

"I read this text almost cover to cover – I skipped the academic library and law faculty chapters, as those avenues aren’t open to me. The very last chapter is titled Career Development Tips for Legal Information Professionals, but it is applicable to almost any career. ... This book should be in the library of all library schools in Canada, both university masters programs and college library technician programs. One of my colleagues calls working in a law library the “accidental career” – even a lot of librarians don’t realize it’s a career option. We need to do a better job of getting our career path out there and this book has taken a big step forward in realizing this."

... and the form!

"As to be expected of a book written by librarians, it is impeccably organized. The table of contents is extremely detailed. There is an Appendix of helpful resources and a glossary of acronyms. And of course, there is an index."

Gotta love a good table of contents! I haven't come across any other reviews of the title -- surprisingly, not even on Slaw, unless I missed it -- but you can read more on the story behind the book in this news item from the University of Windsor, in which general editor Annette Demers notes that:

"Ultimately, the book is much more than just a survey of the profession; it provides hope and insight about our transferability as information professionals, using the diverse range of knowledge, skills and networks that we have naturally developed to adapt to our changing environment."

I'm even more keen to start reading the book now that I've heard such a positive review, and fortunately Karen has agreed to lend me her copy. Have you read "Legal Information Specialists"? I'd love to hear what you thought of it.