Wondering if that email in your inbox is a legitimate request for business?  Here are some steps that I use to research if an email from a company is legitimate.

1. Look at the original email – check the properties (usually a right click) of the From address to make sure that it matches what appears as a link – make sure the domain matches the company URL.
2. Hover over any links in the email to see if the URL behind the link matches what is highlighted.
3. If there is a phone number in the email, paste it in to Google

Today’s tip is about budgets. For many law firms, fall is budget season. Why not think about budgeting for individual research projects?

Things you can consider:
– what format do you need downloaded cases and materials in? Free and fee sources offer different outputs so do your gathering once.
– how much research time so you have to het an answer? If you only have an hour, spend it (on commentary) wisely.
– have you (or someone you work with) answered this question? Updating work product you have makes for a fast and inexpensive research budget

Happy planning!…

The Privy Council Office, among many other responsibilities, prepares Orders-in-Council and other statutory instruments to give effect to Government decisions.

The PCO website is the first place to look for proclamation dates of federal legislation – proclamations are published in Canada Gazette Part II, but the Gazette publication is sometimes far later than the Order in Council that brings a federal Act in to force.  The PCO maintains the .

For example, on October 6, the PCO published Privy Council Order Number: 2011-1164. this is the instrument that says:

Therefore, His Excellency the Governor General in

I am the kind of law librarian who likes to read legislation.  I know, it is weird.  It is particularly nice to have frequently needed legislation sources in my pocket.  I have posted before about the keeping your rules of court handy on your eReader.  Today’s Tip includes steps for putting statutes on your mobile device.

John Papadoupoulos wrote about the Canadian Law app that is available through Apple’s App Store. This app sounds neat, and it might work very well for you. I prefer law from the source and thought it would be good to outline the alternative for …

Today’s Tip: seeing is believing.

If you have an interest in a particular area of law, for example human rights, you should be aware of what is happening at the Supreme Court of Canada in regards to your topic.

Today, the SCC is hearing a case from the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal called Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission v. William Whatcott.  The SCC Case information page (link location) leads to a summary, the docket, the Factums and the live (or archived) webcast. 

Webcasts for SCC hearings can be viewed directly in your Internet Explorer browser using the  plugin.  If …

One of the great things about Twitter is that you can follow along with what is happening at a continuing education seminar that you are not attending.

Ted Tjaden and I are presenting, along with other great speakers, for the Legal Education Society of Alberta on .

For today’s tip, I have been tweeting tips, as have others, at #LESAonline…

Editor’s note: This tip was provided by Ted Tjaden, National Director, Knowledge Management at McMillan, Slaw contributor, and . Thanks Ted!

Although many law librarians “complain” of the tendency for law students to go straight online before thinking about the issues and consulting print and online secondary resources, I remain surprised by the number of smart law students who when they go online have never used

Google Advanced Search has a number of advantages over a simple Google search:

• Search within a a site or domain: limit your search to a particular domain or URL (e.g., “un.org”)

• Show

Google+ is now open to anyone so I thought it would be appropriate to share a tip for legal research on this social media tool.

First – a caution: the only thing that Google+ will tell you about a topic is who cares about it. Sometimes that is important to identify when looking at a legal research issue.

How do you search Google+? This is one of the new features announced yesterday

Search in Google+
You’ve been asking for it, and we’ve been busy building it, so today we’re bringing Google’s search expertise to Google+. Just type what you’re looking

I believe that creativity is a skill that can be developed. I have to believe it because I am still working on colouring inside the lines. To enhance your legal research work product, sometimes you need to think outside the lines.

For example, think about unconventional places where information can be found. I am not talking about a Google search.

A good example of creative thinking is set out in a case called Sparks v. Dubé, 2011 NBQB 40. Even though precedent suggested that an ex parte order for preservation of information on a Facebook account would be difficult, …

Today’s Tip: Take advantage of training opportunities.

Since we are in back to school mode, I thought a training tip would be appropriate. Legal research, like many other skills, is enhanced by practice. We don’t always have a chance to practice everything we need.

When was the last time you did research for a point in time historical regulation? When did you last need to find a United Nations document? Are you confident that if you needed ALL the commentary about a point of law you would be able to find it?

There are plenty of offerings to help you …