On August 31, 2009 I posted a note about a problem with the LawSource Cases template citation search box.  The 'Find' box did not require punctuation (CLR) but the Cases template did (C.L.R.)  As of this past weekend Carswell has added a line beneath the Citation box that reads: Exact punctuation required.  This should help users understand how to correctly input searches to secure correct results. 

Thanks goes out to Carol Morgan and everyone at Carswell who put this on the 'to do list', monitored it and let us know when it was fixed.

Josette McEachern

I was speaking to a friend in an academic library a couple of weeks ago and she mentioned her library recently signed a contract with a publisher? jobber? to provide patron driven acquisitions.  Maybe this is old news for you academic librarians but it's the first time I had heard the term.  The vendor catalogue is linked into the library catalogue. When students search the library catalogue they may also retrieve hits for electronic books the library does NOT own.  If the students wants that ebook, they simply download it.  The first download of a specific title is FREE.  If the ebook is downloaded a second time, the library account is debited. They are contracted to spend a specific amount and I don't know  who owns the book -- the student or the library.  But the concept is intriguing.

Then I read on the Quill & Quire blog about a very cool print-on-demand copier called the Espesso Book Machine. It retails for $125,000 U.S. Very affordable. I see no reason why every Law Society library in Canada couldn't acquire one at some point.  Several university libraries already have one, including the University of Alberta.

Last summer it came to my attention that Westlaw Canada has a glitch in the way it handles searching citations, which I posted to this blog on August 31, 2009. This email is an update to that glitch.

If you enter a citation in the Find box (Home page) you can use periods or no periods, e.g.: 46 c.p.r. 3d 492 works, as does 46 cpr 3d 492.  But, if you enter a cite in the Citation box under the Cases template, it only works with periods, e.g. 46 cpr 3d 492 returns zero results.  I reported the issue to Carswell and initially they hoped to fix it. But it turns out the cost associated with doing so would be enormous so it will not be fixed.

However, they did agree to add a note to the Citation box at the Cases template to remind users to use periods in a citation.  Unfortunately, they can only do that at their regularly scheduled maintenance. I don't know when that will occur.  In the meantime you may want to ensure you include this tip in any training sessions your lawyers and students receive.

Josette McEachern

Hat Tip to Vancouver Law Library Blog and Library Boy for the alert about the McGill Guide (Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation) survey.

The editors of the Guide are asking for user input for the 7th edition. Please help them out.

Shaunna

Hat tip to Simon F at Slaw.ca for letting us know that:

 Irwin Law has announced the development of its own online e-books platform. As of July 31, 2009, their current licensing agreement with LexisNexis Quicklaw will come to an end, and digital versions of all Irwin Law texts will be exclusively available on their proprietary platform as of the next day. Jeffrey Miller, Irwin publisher, makes it clear in his announcement to current authors that:

We respect the work of our authors and recognize our responsibility to publish in a manner that enhances their return and their reputation, while at the same time protecting their intellectual property rights. Finally, our view is that electronic publishing should support our print program, but that e-books cannot replace the utility or the experience of the printed page. We believe that all these goals can best be accomplished within the framework of our own Irwin Law e-book platform.

 

Cheers, Shaunna