![[Horizontal Rule]](../grph/marblebar.gif)
Keeping up with the shift to electronic communications, a number of Canadian organizations offering continuing legal education courses have set up sites on the World Wide Web.
Check out the following for details on upcoming CLE programs:
I commend these organizations for venturing early onto the Internet. It certainly sends a strong message to the profession.
Will their programs enjoy a higher registration as a result of being advertised on the Web? Unlikely.Searching the Internet looking for courses to take requires a deliberate effort. If the point of putting the information on a webpage is to announce a course, the effort may be wasted. Announcements are unlikely to come to the attention of the casual browser, much less the intended audience of the local profession. The uninvited course brochures sent through Canada Post are more intrusive and draw more attention.
So why take the time and trouble to code all this information into HTML?
The benefit, I predict, will come mostly from the reduction of ancillary work: on-line registration, confirmation and fielding telephone calls. Having worked in CLE for many years, I know that between the time the notice is sent out and the date of the course, office staff field numerous repetitive inquiries from people who threw out the brochure and want a new copy, or who can't remember where the course is held, or at what time, and so on. Putting these details on a website is a way to handle these inquiries without using a lot of staff time.
The registrant also benefits. (Again, having worked in CLE for many years,) I know that often the CLE department is not the paragon of organization it would like to be. As a registrant calling in to find out, eg, what time a program starts, I have been put on hold and referred to three different people before I get an answer. If the information were available on-line, I could get it at my convenience (usually the evening before the program).
British Columbia Chief Justice Allan McEachern has announced that effective Aug. 1, 1996, the superior courts will post reasons for judgment at their website as they are released.
These include:
Unlike with value-added services like QuickLaw, the posted cases can only be located by name, and will not be enhanced by headnotes or key words.
The Québec National Assembly has provides access to its Travaux parlementaires (Parliamentary Proceedings) at no charge through its French or English websites.
Hansard can be searched by date or keyword (note that debates are not translated but are recorded directly in French or English). Still in the planning stages are webpages containing Order Papers and Notices, Votes and Proceedings, Bills and Annual Statutes (in both languages).
Legal researchers should know about the Canadian Legal Research Network mailing list, moderated by lawyer and technology consultant Martin Felsky. A low volume list that promises not to clutter up your mailbox, it is high in quality and relevance.
To subscribe, send a message to majordomo@world.mmltd.com with only the body:
subscribe clrn-l YourEmailAddress
replacing, of course, YourEmailAddress with your own e-mail address. (BTW, the second word contains two lowercase 'L's, not the number 1. For further information contact owner-majordomo@world.mmltd.com.
And finally...
CA*Net reports that the number of domain name registrations under .ca and its provincial subdomains are still climbing fast. The following statistics shows the trend.
Year Registrations
Registrations in 1994 were just over 2.5 times those in 1993; 1995 had 3.5 times those in 1994. Projecting a linear growth for the remainder of 1996 - a conservative estimate - gives us 8186 registrations by the end of December, being over 2.5 times last year's figures. Of the total 4775 registrations in 1996, 1970 were in the .ca domain proper, while the remainder break down as follows:
Is your law firm or organization registered yet?
© 1996 Lewis S. Eisen