As we were preparing to reopen for the first time last year, it became clear that our reference schedule needed a rethink. I talked about it last October as I was starting to work through permutations and get staff input.
Reference Schedule Redux
David Whelan Blogs
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A Small Knowledge Share
I’ve been doing one-on-one meetings with all of my staff at my new job. It’s something I’ve done each time I have moved. And I’m reminded, once again, how valuable it is to sit down with everyone, out of the
The Closed Garden of Law Libraries
I have not always thought about public access to legal information. I haven’t ever been opposed to it. I started in an environment where my audience was prescribed: faculty and students in a law school. But my perspective has morphed
Old 1,000th
Allow me a self-congratulatory moment: this is my 1,000th blog post. It came as a bit of a surprise, as it’s not something I was tracking. When I enter the blog dashboard, I usually click on “Add new post” and
Last Call on Legal Research Apps
This blog has always had a bit of this and a bit of that. I noticed recently renewed interest in a some blog posts on Canadian legal research apps, one a decade old, one about 4 years out.
Goodbye, Old Paint
Today is my last day at the Great Library. It’s been nearly 15 years and I’m long overdue for a change. I am not part of the “Great Resignation,” though, as this departure has been years in the
What Lies Beneath
I was talking to a legal publisher about some training recently, as we’ve had some staff changes in the last year. At some point, I became backup for one of our staff managing our electronic access accounts, as you do
Peak E-books
My first book came out as both a paper object and a digital one. In 2010, the digital e-book (a DRM‘d PDF) was a bit novel, one of the first the legal publisher had attempted. I’ve been curious about
Case Law Closed
It’s 2022 and a legal researcher still can’t go to the source for every judicial opinion. I forget that sometimes since this is a problem that is obscured by the licensed legal databases we use everyday in our law library.
Neither Borrower Nor Lender Be
There can be a tension between being stingy with sharing information, to preserve one’s collection, and the goal of sharing information, to improve knowledge. The law libraries I’ve worked at have tended not to do much circulation. But it’s always