‖‖ Local and Regional Updates / Mise à jour locale et régionale

By Erin Clupp

Hereʼs a quick look at whatʼs been happening in the law library community across the country.

Knowledge Management Special Interest Group (KM SIG)

The Knowledge Management SIG had an active year and is looking forward to a great 2023.

Our bi-monthly meetings covered a wide range of topics, and we were pleased to bring in some excellent guest speakers. Topics covered include failure, precedent collections, and KM in specific settings, such as courthouse libraries.

Looking forward to the conference in May, we will be sponsoring a session and are looking for member suggestions. As a starting point for ideas, KM World recently noted that some of the top trends are:

• artificial intelligence

• machine learning

• knowledge graphs

• content services

• data democratization

• customer engagement

We welcome your thoughts on any of these topics. Contact Michael McAlpine and/or Katie Thomas, and we can put into play a conference topic or quarterly meeting session.

SUBMITTED BY

KATIE THOMAS & MICHAEL MCALPINE Co-chairs, KM SIG

Private Law Libraries Special Interest Group (PLL SIG)

Marnie Bailey (Fasken) remains chair of the Private Law Libraries SIG for the 2022/23 term, with Carolyn Petrie (Norton Rose Fulbright Canada) joining as co-chair over the summer.

We hosted a meeting on October 21, 2022, to talk about chargebacks, and we had a lively discussion with members. A quick poll showed that just over 75 per cent of those in the meeting charge back for resource use, and that the bulk of these charges are for Quicklaw and Westlaw content. Common themes emerging from the meeting were whether the administrative time required to calculate chargebacks makes the eventual disbursements cost-effective; the lack of consistency between firms, and even within offices or practice groups, regarding chargeback policies; and the lack of revenue targets from chargebacks across most firms. A few members also shared the details of recent experiences to evaluate chargeback return on investment and the resulting policies proposed.

In 2023, Marnie and Carolyn look forward to hosting additional meetings for PLL members to share their experiences and opinions, and to meeting as a group at the CALL/ACBD conference in May.

SUBMITTED BY CAROLYN PETRIE & MARNIE BAILEY Co-chairs, PLL SIG

Vancouver Association of Law Libraries (VALL)

Greetings from Vancouver! The first half of our program year was a busy one.

In September, we hosted a mini-lightning talk titled “Current Library Projects” over Zoom. Marnie Bailey (Fasken) spoke about her library’s recent transition from their DB/ Textworks catalogue to Genie+. Ronit Landon (Vancouver Public Library’s InfoAction research service) spoke about a physical upgrade to a space in her library that houses the Skilled Immigrant InfoCentre (SIIC), a government-funded resource centre that provides newcomers to Canada with information on getting a job, exploring careers, or starting a business. Sean Sallis-Lyon (Lawson Lundell) discussed his recent experience working on a project to create a searchable repository for the B.C. Gazette. Tracy McLean (Courthouse Libraries B.C.) spoke on Alex McNeur’s behalf regarding the development of a legislation training program for Courthouse Libraries B.C. librarians. It was an informative and well-attended session.

In October, we had a virtual Halloween Trivia Social. Halloween costumes and themed backgrounds were encouraged! In December, we hosted our first in-person Holiday Social since 2019 at the Sutton Place Hotel. We dined on a fantastic spread, enjoyed catching up with colleagues, and welcomed Gillian Crabtree as VALL’s newest Lifetime Member.

In January, VALL hosted another substantive session titled “Heirs Property,” presented by guest speaker Kirstin Nelson. We continue to hold substantive sessions over Zoom, while socials are a mix of both in-person and online. We try to hold special gatherings twice a year, usually around the December holidays and a year-end June event.

SUBMITTED BY ALEX EVERITT President, VALL