Hat tip to the Law Librarian Blog for synthesizing the report to this:

At least for the foreseeable future, the consensus is that a hybrid model which balances both electronic and print resources is the best solution from the standpoint of those engaged in research and scholarship.

Not a huge surprise that keeping paper is more expensive.

Cheers, Shaunna

PACER is the US Public Access to Courts Electronic Records.  Searching is available for account holders and the cost of documents is 8 cents a page.

Seems like a long way away, but not really!

Some information, including the most recent draft of the new rules has been posted to the Alberta Courts Website. There are also answers to a few frequently asked questions.

Happy Monday!

~ Linda Harmata

We're thrilled for you that your hard work and creativity are being recognized nationally, Kirsten. Warm congratulations to you, from the ELLA membership!

~ Linda Harmata

Need a statute or reg when out of the office with no internet except your BlackBerry? Steps for getting what you need: 'Legislation on the Go' via Slaw at: http://www.slaw.ca/2010/04/08/legislation-on-the-go/

Cheers, Shaunna

has been posted to SSRN and can be downloaded

Abstract:     
Wikipedia has been cited in over four hundred American judicial opinions. Courts have taken judicial notice of Wikipedia content, based their reasoning on Wikipedia entries, and decided dispositive motions on the basis of Wikipedia content. The impermanent nature of Wikipedia entries and their questionable quality raises a number of unique concerns. To date, no law review article has comprehensively examined the citation of Wikipedia in judicial opinions or considered its long-range implications for American law.

This article reports the results of an exhaustive study examining every American judicial opinion that cites a Wikipedia entry. The article begins with a discussion of cases that cite Wikipedia for a significant aspect of the case before the court. The impact of these citations on litigants’ constitutional and procedural rights, the law of evidence, judicial ethics, and the judicial role in the common law adversarial system are explored. Part II discusses collateral references to Wikipedia entries. Part III proposes a set of best practices for when and how Wikipedia should be cited. Detailed statistics on the quality of Wikipedia entries cited in judicial opinions and the completeness and accuracy of citations to Wikipedia entries are provided. The article concludes with a discussion of the impact of Wikipedia citations in judicial opinions on the future of the law.

Cheers, Shaunna

I expect the results for law students from other schools would be similar.  These are the students who are coming to Head Start and our firms and organizations.  What a difference a decade makes!

Cheers,

Shaunna

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

Micheline Gravel from the Legislative Assembly recently informed us they now have Alberta bills going back to 1961: http://www.assembly.ab.ca/net/index.aspx?p=bills_archive

Thank you Micheline!

Josette McEachern

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.