Having had a recent question regarding the use of RSS feeds to keep abreast of legal news (particularly new cases in CanLII), it occurred to me that this would be a great idea for practical blog post (cue the proverbial "eureka!" lightbulb above my head). RSS (or "Rich Site Summary"), is essentially a summary of […]
From Stephen Spong
Courtroom Movies in a nutshell
It's safe to say that we've all seen many, many movies and television shows that represent the well-worn tropes of the courtroom drama (or comedy) - dramatic tension, the quest for the truth, the judge furiously banging his or her gavel, celebrations over the delivery of justice, and so on. They've become so ingrained into […]
Canon law
It's been an odd few weeks in the realm of ancient traditions, what with the discovery of Richard III and now the first papal resignation in six hundred years (and the first voluntary one since the thirteenth century, when Celestine V stepped down in 1294). As of 8pm (2pm EST) on Thursday, the Pope will […]
Happy Valentine's from the Law Library!
Call it kismet, but we have received a new book for our Special Collections that seems extremely appropriate for Valentine's Day. Titled The Law In Postcards & Ephemera 1890-1962, it is, as the name would suggest, a collection of law-related postcards and ephemera that ranges from the racy to amusing to just plain cute. While many […]
Winter of discontent
In one of last week's biggest news stories, researchers and archaeologists in Britain managed to find and identify the body of one of the most notorious British monarchs, Richard III, whose remains were found beneath a parking lot in the middle of the city of Leicester. Although the historical significance of the discovery is arguably dubious, with […]
Upcoming Zotero webinars
Although I am currently in the midst of introducing first-year Legal Process students to the wonders of Zotero, for those of you who want a bit more information (or know nothing about it), York Libraries is offering free webinars for Zotero tomorrow (January 31st) and Monday (February 4th). The info about the webinars (and Zotero […]
Breaking into a full GALLOPP
Big news for those who love trawling through and reading government documents (you know who you are!), as an interesting new initiative was announced this week. From the press release: The Association of Parliamentary Libraries in Canada (APLIC) is proud to announce the release of its unique pan-Canadian bilingual government and legislative publications portal known […]
Shooting fish in a barrel
It is perhaps somewhat surprising that we've taken so long to get to this post, but it just seemed so obvious that I was reluctant to seem like we're just adding to the pile-on. I refer, of course, to the ongoing legal troubles of His Worship, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. Even those who make a point […]
Westlaw Litigator Training (Jan 23, 1-2 pm, Rm. 2009)
Your friendly neighbourhood library is happy to announce additional Westlaw Litigator training next week. Think you know Litigator? Come and brush up. Don't know litigator? Come to have your mind blown. Details below: The Library is pleased to offer an additional Westlaw Litigator training session. Westlaw Litigator is a unique collection of more than 100,000 […]
A quick guide to rare books
This is a post that really seems to straddle the boundary behind low brow and high brow, since it's about rare books, but via Pawn Stars. If you've seen Pawn Stars, you'll know that it's an extremely popular reality television show that is based out of the Silver and Gold Pawn Shop in Las Vegas. […]