Legal Research

Sabrina Pacifici Wins SLA Innovations in Technology Award

Posted on June 16, 2008
I am currently in Seattle at the SLA conference. SLA awards were handed out last night, and as I reported over at Slaw, my colleague, mentor and good friend Sabrina Pacifici was honoured with the J.J. Kellar Innovations in Technology Award for her long-standing work as creator, founder and sole editor of law and technology blog beSpacific and e-zine LLRX...

Response to Wendy Reynolds on Slaw: Why Librarianship?

Posted on June 01, 2008
If you haven't already seen it, you should read Wendy Reynolds' article on Slaw, Why Librarianship? I am delighted Wendy has joined us on Slaw. You may recall she had a short-lived but brilliant blog on knowledge management a couple years ago. In this recent article, she questions whether librarianship is still a viable career option for those just starting out, whether she would recommend her niece to pursue this avenue...

What's on the Agenda

Posted on June 01, 2008
Howdy! I just recuperated from the CALL conference in Saskatoon, and am now in Ottawa to teach my Social Networking Tools class on Monday. After this I will be gearing up for the SLA conference. I have some content planned including notes and follow-up from the CALL conference which I will be posting in the next few days...

Expand Your Mind, Take Two

Posted on May 24, 2008
At the Mesh conference I met Dave Hyndman who later posted a tweet (a message to Twitter) sharing this video with everyone. It really is mind-blowing: animation created on public walls. The scope of this project is incredible. [Note: for full effect hit the full screen toggle (the four arrows pointing outwards) to view video...

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Expand Your Mind

Posted on May 24, 2008
....otherwise known as the conference season!Connie spotted at Mesh08 Afterparty sponsored by Social Media GroupOriginally uploaded by ariehsingerI have to admit, I am one of those strange life forms who actually enjoys attending conferences. It was not always thus...

Mesh conference workshop: Sam Ladner on Reputation Monitoring and Management

Posted on May 22, 2008
Speaker: Sam Ladner of Blast Radiushttp://designresearch.wordpress.comTylenol - cited as key way to address bad incident with product; pulled product off the shelf in 6 days. Today, with word of mouth on the web this would not be fast enough.S. S. Stevens, 1946 "on the Theory of Scales of Measurement" Science,Vol...

Mesh conference session: Building a Brand on the Web

Posted on May 22, 2008
Panel moderated by Mark Evans.Panelists:Michael Garrity - CommunityLendMaggie Fox - Social Media GroupRohit Bhargava - http://www.influentialmarketingblog.com/Q: How is building a brand on the web different than building a brand with traditional methods?MF: It is the same, but things happen faster online...

Want More Mesh Conference Coverage?

Posted on May 22, 2008
I highly recommend Mark Blevis' coverage of the mesh conference also. He has also live-blogged some of the same sessions I have and has managed to capture different thoughts as well as apply his own analysis on the fly. Brilliant! Check out his posts at http://www...

Mesh conference session: Social Media in the Enterprise

Posted on May 22, 2008
Panel - moderated by Michael O'Connor ClarkeChris Reid of Yamaha Motor CanadaNatalie Johnson of General MotorsJenny Bullough of Harlequin Enterprises Ltd.Q: Can a corporation be social?NJ: GM is trying to move away from "corporate speak" but it takes time to establish your own voice...

Mesh conference keynote: Garrett Camp talks about StumbleUpon

Posted on May 22, 2008
Mike McDermott interviews Garrett Camp from StumbleUpon. Notes on selected questions below. StumbleUpon was purchased in 2007 by eBay. It has over 3 1/2 million members currently.Q: Why would eBay purchase them?A: eBay doesn't have a recommendation system, but it has a social networking aspect...

Mesh conference keynote: Lane Merrifield on children's virtual world Club Penguin

Posted on May 22, 2008
Stuart MacDonald interviews Lane Merrifield of Club PenguinQ: What do you think Club Penguin is teaching our kids?A:Reading is one - there purposely are no voice overs; they want reading to be a part of it. Newspaper published weekly that also includes user content has to be read...

Mesh conference keynote: Michael Geist on Digital Advocacy in Canada

Posted on May 21, 2008
Michael Geist talking on Digital Advocacy - these are notes from his talks (notable sites he mentioned); below are also notes from an interview with Rob Hyndman that followed his talk.Three stories:(1)Speech from the Throne, the government talked about protecting culture which was a restrictive piece of copyright legislation they were planning to introduce...

Mesh conference keynote: Ethan Kaplan on the Music Industry

Posted on May 21, 2008
I am at the Mesh conference in Toronto today and tomorrow. Last night after a pre-Mesh event I had the opportunity to chat with a few friends. One thing we addressed with how the music industry has changed. Jay Moonah, who is both in marketing related business and is a musician (and who is also one of the smartest people I know in social media), said while the music business is alive, the record business is essentially dead...

Presentation to OALT/ABO: The Wonderful World of Social Networking Tools

Posted on May 20, 2008
Last week I had the privilege of speaking at the annual conference of the Ontario Association of Library Technicians (OALT/ABO). My presentation slides are below, with a few changes I made following our discussion.What these do not capture is the lively discussion of the group, talking about how their children and grandchildren are using the networks, and whether we have a realistic or overly restricted view of the web...

FIS PLC Social Networking Tools Course - Coming Again to Ottawa

Posted on May 20, 2008
I am delighted to announce that, by popular demand, we have added another social networking tools class in Ottawa on June 2nd.This is a hands-on survey course looking at various social networking tools for library and information professionals. The morning is spent learning about RSS and setting up some feeds in Google Reader, setting up a blog with WordPress , setting up a blog with PBWiki, and learning about social bookmarking by using del...

2008 InnovAction Awards - Deadline is June 2nd

Posted on May 19, 2008
June 2 is the deadline for submission of entries for the 2008 InnovAction Awards. From the website:The InnovAction Awards is a worldwide search for lawyers, law firms, and other deliverers of legal services who are currently engaged in some extraordinarily innovative efforts...

Last Chance to Catch My Course!

Posted on May 12, 2008
I am teaching Social Networking Tools: Hands on Learning one last time in Toronto for the next several months this Thursday, May 15th. This course is a chance to try out a blog, a wiki, looking at RSS feeds with Google Reader, bookmarking with del.icio...

Is Twitter Changing the Way We Communicate?

Posted on May 08, 2008
You probably already know I am a prolific Twitter user. But how are others using it? A few discussions that have stood out for me this week:Steve Matthew's post Lawyer Marketing With Twitter over at the Law Firm Web Strategy blog. I have to tell you, even though I have been following a few lawyers on Twitter (for example, Rob Hyndman and Doug Corneluis) I figured these guys were the exception and it would be unlikely to catch on in the legal world...

ooVoo Rocks

Posted on May 07, 2008
Oh hey, remember I told you about participating in ooVoo Day back in February? ooVoo is the new video chat tool that allows up to 6 people to chat at any one time. I just heard from Scott Monty of crayon who were doing the promotion of this tool--they have edited a very cool video of our experience...

How are YOU Rocking the Web?

Posted on May 07, 2008
Enough about me--I am very interested in hearing what tools YOU are exploring or playing with, and what little (or big) projects you have undertaken, whether it be in your professional or personal life:Have you tried out utterz or seesmic?Have you set up a new blog for your organization?Did you help your kids get started with Club Penguin or Webkinz?Are you using Skype to talk with family members? Have you tried the video option?Do you have a new favourite app in Facebook?Did you set up a wiki to organize a family reunion?Have you found a great use for all those digital photos you have been taking?Whatever it is, please share it here! So often we are in our own little corner of the world thinking we are the only ones who haven't tried something...

mesh conference is coming

Posted on May 06, 2008
In 2006 five guys got together and thought up the mesh conference. Their aim was to bring together Canada's internet community and solidify Toronto's presence as a major player in the web industry. They put together the first fantastic conference in 2006 in just 6 short weeks...

Where Do You Find the Time for Social Media?

Posted on April 29, 2008
I often get asked how I find the time to blog (well, when I do blog!), interact on Twitter, keep up with Facebook, learn about podcasting, attend any number of community-based social media group meetups, and read books to boot. My answers have varied over the years, but Clay Shirky, author of the recently released book Here Comes Everybody (which I have yet to read), has the best answer in this video...

Where I've Been, and Where I'm Going

Posted on April 28, 2008
Have you missed me? The best-laid plans sometimes get put aside for real life. I had a fantastic time at the Computers in Libraries conference, took lots of notes but alas had little bandwidth to post at the time. So, no live blogging. I do have photos to still post to Flickr, and notes to post from the sessions I attended...

Connie at Computers in Libraries

Posted on April 07, 2008
I have travelled to Arlington, Virginia to check out the Computers in Libraries conference. I left booking this to the last minute because I was busy, but then realized I would be mad at myself if I didn't attend. Last year I found it incredible: lots of new ideas in sessions, but more importantly so many smart, savvy people who I met...

Using RSS to track new Canadian case law from CanLII - an Instructional Video

Posted on April 07, 2008
I agree with Steve Matthews' assessment over on Slaw: Dominic Jaar has done some nice working creating an instructional screencast to show us how to create an RSS feed from a CanLII search (using Feedity) to track new decisions. It is one thing to have someone tell you about this; it is far more helpful to have someone actually show you.

Bibliography of Online Canadian Federal Government Databases - 4th edition

Posted on April 07, 2008
Great catch by Michel-Adrien Sheppard over at the Library Boy blog:an updated list of the Canadian Federal Government databases available on the Internet, via the Weekly Checklist. They count 488 publicly accessible databases now available. Some require registration...

Alana Taylor asks: Do you know what Flickr and Twitter are?

Posted on April 02, 2008
This video brings home the point that most people are oblivious to the social networking tools I use. In this video, NYU journalism student Alana Taylor took it to the streets asking students and other passersby whether they use Facebook, Flickr and Twitter...

New Canadian Case Law System "BestCase" Launches Today

Posted on April 01, 2008
It may be April Fool's, but this is no joke: Canada's fourth online case law system, BestCase from Canada Law Book, officially launches today.Late last year Canada Law Book met with law librarians across the country to introduce the idea and get feedback...

Bermuda law firm Mello Jones & Martin looking for Information Services Manager

Posted on March 29, 2008
Are you looking for a new law librarian experience? Why not try Bermuda! Danielle Brousseau posted this to the CALL listserv and I asked if I might re-post it to my blog for others. -- Information Services Manager Mello Jones & Martin, located in Hamilton, Bermuda, is looking for an Information Services Manager to add to the Firm?s Management Team...

Social Networking Tools on Friday - Still Room!

Posted on March 25, 2008
I am teaching the Social Networking Tools course at FIS PLC (Professional Learning Centre at the Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto) on Friday. There are still a few spot lefts if you have been waiting. I've been teaching this introductory survey course on a frequent basis since last August...

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