Law Society of Saskatchewan
Find a LawyerMember ProfileMember ResourcesContact
  • 0
    Cart
  • My Account
  • COVID 19 Updates
    • Covid 19Covid 19 Updates
      • Client Resources
        • Client Interaction Considerations
        • Client Identification and Verification
        • Testamentary Documents
      • Practice Interruptions
      • COVID-19 Response FAQs
      • COVID-19 HR Related FAQs
      • Health and Wellness
        • Wellness Together Canada
      • Technology Webinars
        • Working Remotely Resources
      • Business and Economic Support
  • About Us
    • About LSS VideoAbout Us
      Play video Our independence from the government is primary to our mission; it is important to the administration of justice and is fundamental to maintaining a free and democratic society that respects the Rule of Law. That is, the legal profession is uniquely positioned in society to provide a check and balance on government power by ensuring citizens who are in conflict with the government have access to impartial legal representation and ensuring accountability in all areas of society.
      • Mission, Vision, Values and Direction
      • Executive
      • Benchers
        • 2018 Bencher Election
      • Convocation
      • 2021 Committees and Task Forces
      • Annual and Financial Reports
      • Awards, Bursaries, Scholarships
      • Contact Us
  • News
      • slider_1Latest News
      • Practitioner Staff Appeals Tribunal Position
      • Call for Applicants for Adjudicators
      • Saskatchewan Estate Litigation Update: Adams Estate v Wilson: Who has standing to challenge a Will?
      • Podcasts
      • Legal Sourcery
      • Annual Reports
      • Benchers’ Digest
      • Re:Source Mail
      • Video
      • Case Mail
  • Initiatives
    • slider_1Initiatives
      The Law Society is seeking to identify legal service providers for new initiatives. This unique approach, the first of its kind in Canada, enables the Law Society to expand access to appropriately regulated legal services in a responsible and sustainable manner. The overall goal is to balance the need for enhanced access to legal services for underserved Saskatchewan citizens while ensuring public protection. For more information, click below. Consultation
      • Access to Justice
        • Future of Legal Services
        • Saskatchewan Legal Coaching and Unbundled Services Pilot Project
      • Equity
      • Legal Information
        • Saskatchewan Access to Legal Information
        • National Trusted Intermediaries and Legal Information Network
      • Innovating Regulation
      • Truth and Reconciliation
        • Additional Resources
        • Notice to Day School Survivors
      • Saskatchewan Justicia Project
  • Regulation
    • slider_1Remote Executing Of Certain Documents And Remote Witnessing Of Wills By Electronic Means Legislation Now Permanent
      We are happy to announce that today, the Government of Saskatchewan repealed the temporary emergency regulations related to remote execution of certain documents and wills and replaced those regulations with permanent regulations allowing for remote execution of documents via electronic means (i.e. video calls) to continue long-term beyond the end of the public emergency period. Practice Directives
      • Definition of the Practice of Law
      • Act, Code and Rules
        • The Legal Profession Act, 1990
        • Code of Professional Conduct and Amendments
        • Law Society Rules and Amendments
        • Rules Concordance – Read More
      • Potential Complaint Outcomes
        • Ethics Committee
        • Competency Committee
        • Conduct Investigation Committee
      • Hearings, Decisions and Rulings
        • Pending Discipline Matters
        • Discipline Decisions
        • Conduct Review Database
        • Ethics Rulings Database
        • Admissions and Education Proceedings
        • Admissions and Education Decisions
      • Lawyers with Practice Conditions/Restrictions
      • Lawyer Trusteeships and Successors
      • Firm Regulation
  • Public
    • slider_1New Law Society Complaint Form
      The goal is to assist and encourage complainants to provide clear and concise descriptions of their concerns, and reduce confusion by removing technical terms that may not be fully understood by members of the general public (i.e.: “conflict of interest”). Complaint Form
      • Finding a Lawyer
      • What to Expect From Your Lawyer
      • Looking For Lost Wills
      • Designated Holidays
      • Making a Complaint
        • Complaints Process
      • Common Client Concerns
        • Understanding Lawyers’ Fees
        • Quality of Service
        • Conflict of Interest
        • Confidentiality
        • Withdrawal
        • File Transfers
      • Common Client Concerns
        • Role of an Estate’s Lawyer
        • Role of Opposing Lawyer
        • Breach of Trust Conditions/Undertakings
        • Lawyer’s Conduct in Court
        • Lawyer’s Outside Interests
  • Lawyers and Students
    • hiring sign resizedCareer and Volunteer Opportunities
      • Becoming a Lawyer in Saskatchewan
        • Students
        • National Mobility Transfers
        • International Applicants
      • Becoming a Principal
      • Membership Services
      • Forms and Fees
        • Law Society Forms
        • Trust Account Forms
      • Career And Volunteer Opportunities
        • Students Seeking Articles
      • Lost Will Listings
      • Locum Registry
        • Information for Lawyers Seeking Locum Work
        • Tips for Hiring a Locum Lawyer
        • The Contract: Potential Issues and Sample Clauses
        • Ethical Issues and Practice Management
        • Professional Liability Insurance
        • Technology Preparedness
        • Locum Lawyer Scenarios
        • Locum Lawyer Registry
        • Disclaimer
      • Western Conveyancing Protocol
        • Protocol for Saskatchewan
      • Practice Advisor Program
      • Practice Resources
        • General Resources
        • Resources from the Courts
        • Internet and Technology
        • Tables and Indices
        • Forms and Guidelines
        • Queen’s Bench Rules
  • Legal Resources
  • CPD
    • slider_1Continuing Professional Development
      • CPD Activities
        • CPD Calendar of Activities
        • CPD On Demand (Subscription)
        • Recorded Versions Shop
        • Study Group Resources
      • CPD Policy
        • Reporting CPD Hours
        • Eligible CPD Activities
        • Approved Providers
        • Remedial CPD Plan Information
        • FAQs
        • Transition to One-Year CPD Term
      • Contact Us
      • Volunteers
  • Shop
Search

Load More

Generic filters
Law Society of Saskatchewan Libraries & Librarians Is CALL/ACBD Changing Its Name?

Is CALL/ACBD Changing Its Name?

November 26, 2020

by Ken Fox, Librarian

On November 24 of this year, the Canadian Association of Law Libraries / Association Canadienne des Bibliothèques de Droit (CALL/ACBD) held a “Town Hall” meeting via Zoom, and discussed, amongst other matters, an organizational name change.

Principally, they want to remove the word “library” from their name. And I couldn’t agree more. In fact, in 2016, the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) voted on a similar proposal to change its name to the Association for Legal Information (ALI), which occasioned the following comments, originally posted on March 8, 2016, and repurposed for the present discussion.

But in the case of the AALL, the membership voted overwhelmingly NO to the name change … and I am still stunned.

Don’t they know that “library” means “place for books”? Old, smelly, dusty, obsolete books! Don’t they know that research is now done online? People, the world of legal information is leaving books and libraries behind.

Every word means exactly one thing, and the meanings of words do not change, ever. Library means books, and books are made of paper, and paper is a thing of the past.

Do they imagine that an electronic text can in some way be called a “book” – perhaps by putting an “e” in front of the b – to wit, an “ebook?” And then, in their bizarre fantasies, the people who still want to be called “librarians” and “library technicians” could organize their collections of “ebooks” into some kind of “e-library?” That would be like creating a digital analog for mail, and rather than choosing a sensible, contemporary name for it, simply sticking an “e” in front of the word “mail” – thus “email.” Who would ever use such an antiquity?

The business software market provides us with many examples of such linguistic anachronisms. Who would use a computer program that features “pages” and “cutting” and “pasting” – like your monitor is made of paper? Who would use an operating system that deploys “documents” that are organized into “files” and “folders” – as if there were cabinets and drawers inside your hard drive? And some have proposed that such documents and files could be stored in a web? Or a net? Or a cloud? What does that even mean? With such confusing, outdated terminology, it is little wonder no one uses such technology or takes it seriously.

It’s even worse. The world of computing has tried to bring back ancient scrolls and icons, as if computers have religious powers. And they will even try to sell us tablets, which are traditionally made of stone and have not been in fashion since the days of Moses. I guess it is appropriate that tablets were first introduced by a company (now bankrupt, I would assume) named after the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. And just last week I caught my son using the word “avatar” in a computing context. So naturally I explained to him that an avatar is a human incarnation of a Hindu deity – nothing to do with computers, smarten up boy! Computers are very now, but if such antediluvian terminology persists, they might take us back to Old Testament times.

Thankfully, it is perfectly obvious that few people would use a computing device that features icons, scrolls and avatars, and of course nobody living in the 21st Century would ever, ever purchase a tablet.

And who would ever use the electronic version of a library, whatever that might be. Or an archive, for that matter. An archive is a place for old bundles of paper and film strips and magnetic tape and other assorted artifacts stored in boxes. A digital text archive? Managed by digital archivists? The notion is absurd.

The world of legal information is now a vast virtual space of discrete packets of data, variously owned, and employing diverse, complex organizational systems of metadata, requiring expert knowledge to effectively catalogue and retrieve – who would ever dream of naming such a thoroughly modern superstructure a library? And who would ever take seriously someone who purports to know something about such a structured information complex, and yet still calls themself a librarian or library technician?

Yes, the AALL should have changed their name to the Association for Legal Information. And the American Library Association should be the American Information Association (AIA), and the Canadian Federation of Library Associations should be the Canadian Information Federation (CIF), and so on – that way everyone in today’s world will know exactly what our associations are about, and not associate them – and us – with old dusty books from a bygone era.

We are living in the information age, and our professional designations should reflect that reality. Computer programmers have already wisely rebranded themselves Information Technicians. And writers, since nobody actually “writes” with quills and pens anymore, should be called information engineers. And publishers can be information producers. And librarians and library techs can be information professionals and technical information professionals. These few modest changes would end much of the confusion about who does what in this brave, high-tech world.

So when CALL/ACBD puts forward its motion to rebrand as the Canadian Legal Information Association (CanLIA) – I’m voting YES.

Share this:
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

3 Responses to “Is CALL/ACBD Changing Its Name?”

  1. Shaunna Mireau says:
    December 3, 2020 at 2:21 pm

    A thoughtful post Ken. Thanks for writing about this.
    Would you vote yes to Legal Information, Innovation and Knowledge Workers of Canada? How about Canadian Association of Legal Information Specialists? It is really tricky to find the right description that invokes a ‘knowing’ about the specific role Legal Information Specialists can play in an organization, particularly since we are so versatile and embedded into the businesses that we work in.
    One of the many challenges with our current name is that it is tied to a space and we are essentially a collection of people with a common interest.
    What delights me, as the current President of CALL/ACBD, is the opportunity for conversations about what we really do and how the potential is limitless when you add a legal information specialist to your team.
    Cheers, Shaunna

    Reply
  2. Holly Ann Knott says:
    December 8, 2020 at 1:30 pm

    Thank you for my laugh of the day! You e-librarians are sure funny!

    Reply
  3. ken fox says:
    December 8, 2020 at 3:00 pm

    Thanks for your comment Shaunna! I don’t object to either of those names, or the ones suggested at the meeting. And you hit the nail on the head when you say that these new words lack the specificity of “library.” I have for the most part accepted that we are losing the word “library” – despite that it says so much (information purposefully collected, organized & accessible). My regret is that we have failed to detach it from brick & mortar and haul it into the information age as has been done with “archive” … in the information age everyone will be an information technician , so “legal” becomes the sole substantive descriptor, possibly merging us with other professions (such as legal AI programmers) – so you spin that in the opposite direction – saying “we” (the former library people) can spread out and be more! Well who am I to get in the way of that?

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Archives

Categories

Subscribe Now

Subscribe for the latest news from our blog "Legal Sourcery".

Online Tools

  • Search
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of Use

Quick Links

  • About Us
  • LSS Initiatives
  • For Lawyers & Students
  • For the Public
  • Regulation
  • CPD

Subscribe Now

Subscribe for the latest news from our blog "Legal Sourcery".

Stay Connected

Twitter
Facebook
Linkedin

© 2021 Law Society of Saskatchewan