CALL/ACBD: Proving the Value of Library Services Report & A New Survey

As announced on the CALL listserv, Deborah Copeman and Michel-Adrien Sheppard have released their report, "Best Practices for Demonstrating the Value of Your Library Services", now available on the Courthouse and Law Society Libraries SIG section of the CALL website.

Compiled from CALL members' responses several months ago, the report concludes that there are:

"...no "best" best practices, only best practices that make sense to your library in the context of your organizational structure. In other words, value measurement puts stakeholders in the centre of the picture."

Common practices described in the report are surveys, evaluations, outreach/marketing, user testimonials, and statistics. An extensive bibliography is also included.

****

In other CALL news, the Vendor Liaison Committee (VLC) is conducting a survey on the 2010 financial outlook for Canadian law libraries. Responses (from people with budget responsibility in their libraries) are requested by April 30th, and will be reported at the CALL conference in Windsor in May, as well as on the VLC section of the CALL website.

Vancouver Law Day 2010

An event I wrote about last year, Vancouver Law Day organizers are gearing up for this year's Law Week 2010, which starts on April 11 and culminates in Vancouver Law Day on April 17. This year's Law Day theme is "Access to Justice: Justice for All".

A special forum will discuss funding cuts to legal aid, which impact lower income residents, and in particular, women in custody cases and BC residents with language barriers. This event takes place from 1:30 to 3:00 pm. in the Alice MacKay Room at the Vancouver Public Library. The forum will discuss two issues: Why is Legal Aid important to you and the people you work with? and Why is Legal Aid important to our society? The discussion panel will include representatives from West Coast LEAF, the BC Public Interest Advocacy Centre, the Legal Services Society, the Downtown Community Court, and others.

Other events during Law Week include a fun run, free law classes, courthouse tours, citizenship ceremonies, interactive demonstrations, and more.

Law Week is a national event held annually in April celebrating the signing of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. More info on BC Law Week and Vancouver Law Day is available at www.bclawweek.org.

Quickscribe Manual Update for March 2010

Just one Quickscribe Manual update for March: the BC Environment Legislation Manual. As always, daily updates to BC legislation are available at www.bclegislation.ca.

The *Real* Game Changer! ClioPad

While everyone is talking about slate-style tech devices these days, our friends at Apple should be careful about all the new competition hitting the market.

The simple truth is that there will be a lot of comparable products in 6-months time, including Stem's client Clio, who have just beat Apple by shipping their new ClioPad days before Apple did, and were distributing demo devices at this year's ABA Techshow. We may be more than a month away from getting an iPad in Canada, but ClioPads are heading out to Canadian mailboxes now.

The device is really fantastic. Unlike Apple, Clio is actually taking usability & battery life seriously, with the device operating way longer than anything on the market. Plus I can take it on an trip and not worry about WiFi access up in the air.

Has there ever been a device more suited to lawyers? At least today, I can't think of another. Check it out!