Date sorting at the Alberta Courts Judgment database

Someone at the Alberta Courts is going to be very unhappy.  I was asked to write a letter to share how disappointed (stronger phrasing will likely be used) that the Alberta Courts Judgment Database is no longer applying their "recent First default to the Quick Search results. 

For those of you not in the know, the Quick Search function provides the previous 30 days of judgments and it often used by lawyers to review new case law.  Remember the days when you walked into the Alberta Law Libraries and looked at the recent cases pile on the side reference desk (in Edmonton). The Quick Search function is the virtual equivalent of this process - an important tool for lawyers.

Not only is the Quick Search function not applying the default sort order, this seems to be broken for all searching. The search template shows a Sort by option of Recent First by default, but the results are not matching that criteria.

Fast forward to this morning when I was asked "What were they thinking?"

A very good question I hope to find an answer to. Even better, a return to the previous - successful - functionality.

Government of Canada moves to electronic printing

A news release on July 5, 2013 shared that the Government of Canada Moves to E-Printing.

This move is billed as part of the government commitment to reducing costs and modernizing operations. The Procedures for Publishing give us an idea of how Government Documents will appear.

I sincerely hope that all government documents will be forever available through the Government of Canada Publications website. I hope that the government supports the crucial activities of the Depository Services Program.

I predict that this move will lead to more jobs for librarians in the private sector who will find interesting challenges locating Government of Canada Publications.