The Canadian Law Blog Awards, or Clawbies, have opened for 2018! What? You’re not familiar with a Clawbie? How can that be? They’ve been around for 13 years!
The Clawbies are an opportunity to celebrate law-related publications. While focussed on the written word, they also include podcasts and other forms of media. If there’s something you listen or read regularly that you think should be recognized, be sure to tweet about it with the hashtag #clawbie2018.
My legal information sources have definitely dwindled lately. Whether it’s an abundance of great content or a lack of time to absorb it, I’ve restricted myself to the tried and true this year. I love The Docket with Michael Spratt and Emilie Taman, for thoughtful opinions from the criminal defence bar (plus they make me laugh a lot). I’ve started listening to Stereo Decisis (always important to come up with a great name first!) with Robert Danay, Oliver Pulleyblank and Hilary Young. I think this qualifies as the only podcast with a regular cast from both coasts. They seem willing to talk about just about anything (witness the episode “The Beverley Bralette Edition”).
The two blogs I regularly read were both Clawbie winners last year. Legal Sourcery, from the Law Society of Saskatchewan Library, is an amazing source of ideas on everything from how to improve access to justice to what’s going on in legal news in Saskatchewan. We try to emulate their productivity but they have way more resources than we have! O’Faolain, which I suspect is an Irish word meaning something profound (or maybe profane), David Whelan’s personal blog, offers opinions on legal technology, knowledge management and planning for law libraries. Sometimes I feel like he’s a mind reader, as I’ll be thinking about a particular topic and then I’ll discover he’s just written something on it.
While I’m sticking with my old favourites, I’m sure other #clawbie2018 nominators will suggest some new titles to spruce up my stream for next year.
While sorting through the material stored in the library, we’ve come across some examples of how the library used to function. We developed this display to show although technology has replaced some of the ways we perform our job, the basic method is still the same. For example, the card catalogue. Replaced by an online catalogue, yet still used to organize the material in the library so others can retrieve it.
Other items of interest include a report by former Chief Librarian Garth Niven on the state of the library (2003); a detailed memo on the effects of theft (by lawyers!) of the books in the library and what punishments should be meted out to the perpetrators; as well as two bound copies of the entire library catalogue, one from 1930 and the other from 1960.
Library Technician Practicum student George Roy put together the display. Next time you’re in the library, take a moment to peruse some of the items.
Law Day, held in commemoration of the signing of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, will take place on Sunday, April 15, 2018. Presented by the Manitoba Bar Association and the Manitoba Department of Justice, the Law Courts themselves will be open to the public for tours, mock trials, debates, presentations and demonstrations (including demonstrations by a drug detector dog).
The library itself will be open for viewing, although no library staff will be available that day.
If you’d like to know more about Law Day Winnipeg, please check out the Manitoba Bar Association’s website. Admission is free, and if you require disability accommodation, they ask that you e-mail them directly to the e-mail listed on the previous link provided.
This year, the staff at the Manitoba Law Library have been busy!
In addition to our regular duties, this past week we put up a Christmas tree. Well actually … a Juris-mas tree! Using old editions of the Corpus Juris Secundum, we set up a neat, festive feature that has been capturing the attention of everyone here.
We hope you’ll be able to join us for a holiday celebration on Wednesday, December 20th between 2 and 4. You’ll be able to check out the tree for yourself while enjoying some festive cheer.
The Manitoba Law Library would like to acknowledge with gratitude that we are situated on Treaty One Territory, the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe, Cree and Dakota peoples, and the homeland of the Métis Nation.
Printing and Photocopying
If you need to use the library’s printing and photocopying services you will need to create an account. See us at the front desk for assistance.
This year, the staff at the Manitoba Law Library have been busy!
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