Monthly Archives: December 2012

We’re #1, we’re #1!!

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As a final flourish to what has been an outstanding 2012, we have awakened from our holiday slumber to toot our own horn a little bit – as the freshly minted winners of a 2012 Clawbie for Best Law Library Blog!

You can read the full list of winners here, but here’s what they had to say about us:

Off the Shelf, the Osgoode Hall Law School Library Blog, is not your standard candidate in this category. While it does include notes on new titles and services that all good law library blogs provide, it complements that useful content with a regular supply of topical links to interesting blog posts and videos. We also liked the engaging (and sometimes irreverent) writing tone.

Aw, shucks! As Sally Field would say:

Happy New Year everybody, and see you in 2013!

Major Enhancement to SCC Judgments Website

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The Supreme Court of Canada and Lexum are proud to announce that the Court’s judgments website now contains all decisions back to 1907. Moreover, all the PDF versions of decisions up to 2010 are identical to the official version available in the Supreme Court Reports.

This major content addition has been made possible thanks to the support of the Supreme Court of Canada. The Court has been at the forefront of free access to judicial decisions for the past 20 years. Lexum is proud to provide its technology and infrastructure to ensure continuous and efficient availability of Supreme Court of Canada decisions.

It’s that time of year…

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It doesn’t have to be like this…

It’s that time of year when you can’t possibly imagine another summary, another all-nighter, another minute of the at-times-crushing weight of expectation that accompanies the exam period. While it’s probably the absolute last thing you want to hear (and have probably heard it a million times already anyway), as somebody who has done it relatively recently (I graduated from Osgoode in 2009) I can say that it’s not that bad. Honest. You’ll be fine. Indeed, you’ll probably grow to almost enjoy the bleary-eyed, sleep-deprived, put-upon guise that you get to wear twice a year for three years. On the other hand, the expected catharsis of walking out of the final exam never really materialises, either. An alarum does not sound, confetti does not rain from the ceiling, and alas, life goes on. It is, as John Lennon once said, what happens when you’re busy making plans.

I guess what I’m trying to say is don’t build it up too much, but don’t tear it down too much either. It’s all a part of the experience of law school, so you might as well accept it for what it is, put your nose to the grindstone, and get to it – but don’t worry about it unduly. Your classmates are all in the same boat. And don’t forget that if you have any questions, concerns, or even just need a shoulder to cry on, we at the library are happy to help!

For those who need a reason to smile right now, here you go:

Good luck everybody!

Law and Order: Overthought

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Credit: Overthinkingit.com

I’m sure that pretty much all denizens of law schools have, at some point watched at least one episode of Law and Order (or its many, many spin-offs) and, in all likelihood, groaned at some point. While it’s undeniably entertaining, it is also frequently larded with clichés, improbabilities, bad law, and an overly Manichean outlook. After twenty years and over four hundred episodes, these certainly pile up to the extent of “here we go again.”

So, if you’ve ever wondered exactly what would happen if you were to subject the series to an overly rigorous statistical analysis, today is your lucky day. The good folks over at Overthinkingit.com have done it for you, and it took only (!!) two years.

Take a look at it here.

Thanks to the Law Librarian Blog for bringing this to my attention!