Clarivate Report on Artificial Intelligence in Libraries

Library software company Clarivate has published its Pulse of the Library 2024 report based on feedback from 1,500 respondents from across the world, covering academic, national and public libraries:

According to the report:

• Most libraries have an AI plan or one in the works - Over 60% of respondents are evaluating or planning for AI integration.
• AI adoption is the top tech priority - AI-powered tools for library users and patrons top the list of technology priorities for the next 12 months, according to 43% of respondents.
• AI is advancing library missions - Key goals for those evaluating or implementing AI include supporting student learning (52%), research excellence (47%) and content discoverability (45%), aligning closely with the mission of libraries.
• Librarians see promise and pitfalls in AI adoption - 42% believe AI can automate routine tasks, freeing librarians for strategic and creative activities. Levels of optimism vary regionally. 
• AI skills gaps and tight budgets are top concerns - A lack of expertise and budget constraints are seen as greater challenges than privacy and security issues - Tight budgets: Almost half (47%) cite tight budgets as their greatest challenge. Skills gap: 52% of respondents see upskilling as AI's biggest impact on employment, yet nearly a third (32%) state that no training is available.
• Regional priorities differ - Librarians' views on other key topics such as sustainability, diversity, open access and open science show notable regional diversity.

Clarivate is the purveyor of library technologies such as Sierra, Innovative, Alma, Primo, ProQuest, Web of Science and Journal Citation Reports.

List of 2024 vLex Fastcase 50 Honorees

Legal information company vLex Fastcase has published its most recent list of the top 50 people who have made significant contributions to the field.

A number of law librarians are on the list.

From the e-mail announcement:

"Since 2011, the vLex Fastcase 50, has recognized excellence across the legal sector. As of this year, 700 honorees have been inducted into the vLex Fastcase 50 hall of fame. To make this possible, a special thank you is extended to our judges and committee who have invested considerable time into reviewing each nomination to ensure all achievements and contributions to the legal sector are acknowledged, however big or small."

" 'From lawyers and legal technologists to judges, law librarians, and bar association executives, this award shines a spotlight on those who have made a significant impact within the legal community.' - Ed Walters, vLex Fastcase 50 founder, and vLex's Chief Strategy Officer."

American Libraries Releases 2024 Library Systems Report

The magazine American Libraries has released the 2024 Library Systems Report, its most recent annual report on the worldwide library technology industry.

"The library technology industry had a quiet year in 2023. But in the absence of major business moves and acquisitions, companies set their sights on executing strategies to strengthen their market position."

"Previous cycles of business consolidation have yielded a layered landscape with distinct levels of competition. At the top, a handful of large organizations with considerable resources—Clarivate, EBSCO Information Services, Follett School Solutions, and OCLC—continue to expand their portfolios, covering multiple business sectors and library types. Middle-tier companies, including Axiell, ByWater Solutions, The Library Corporation (TLC), and SirsiDynix, offer growing suites of products used by thousands of libraries. And finally, a group of smaller companies round out the industry, covering specialized libraries with niche products and services."

"Competition at each level remains vigorous. Libraries may have fewer product choices because of past acquisitions, but the options remaining are distinctive. Most libraries can choose between for-profit and nonprofit vendors, and between proprietary and open source products. For instance, academic libraries can pick from a short list of library services platforms (LSPs), including a proprietary solution from a for-profit company (Alma), an open source product supported by for-profit companies (FOLIO), or a proprietary product from a nonprofit organization (WorldShare Management Services)."

"Libraries see their technology vendors as strategic partners. They are increasingly purchasing core products from a single provider, rewarding companies’ efforts to create suites of integrated applications that function more efficiently than mix-and-match offerings. These days, libraries expect third-party integration from their products—but they generally acquire new components from a single main vendor."

The report is written by Marshall Breeding, a well-known library tech expert. He also edits the Library Technology Guides website and produces the annual international Library Automation Perceptions Surveys.

List of 2023 vLex Fastcase 50 Honorees

Legal information company vLex Fastcase recently published its most recent list of the top 50 people who have made significant contributions to the field.

"Created in 2011, each year the Fastcase 50 award honors a diverse group of lawyers, legal technologists, policymakers, judges, law librarians, bar association executives, and people from all walks of life. In many cases, honorees are well known, but in many others, the award recognizes people who have made important, but unheralded contributions."

" 'When we look back at the pandemic era, we will see it as a great reset in our attitudes and assumptions about legal services,' said Fastcase CEO Ed Walters. 'Even if they have had to spend more time on Zoom this year than they had planned, the 2022 class of honorees is making profound changes for the next generation of law. We celebrate these impactful advocates and inspiring innovators who are shaping the future under incredibly challenging circumstances'."

 

Canadian Association of Law Libraries Upcoming Webinar on Negotiating Tips and Tricks

The Vendor Liaison Committee of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries is hosting a webinar on July 26, 2023 from 1:00 to 2:30PM Eastern on Negotiating Tips and Tricks:

"Contract negotiations have evolved and are now more complex than ever. Listen to experienced colleagues discuss today's negotiation landscape with practical takeaways."

(...)

"In this session, you will learn:

• general approaches and strategies in negotiating contracts
• general contract language to watch out for and strategies for responding
• how to get support"

Geek in Review Podcast Interview on the Launch of Lexis+ AI

The most recent episode of the Geek in Review Podcast co-hosted by Greg Lambert and Marlene Gebauer is available.

Lambert is a former president of the American Association of Law Libraries.

The podcast features an interview with ⁠Jeff Pfeifer⁠, Chief Product Officer of LexisNexis for UK, Ireland, Canada, and US:

"Pfeifer discusses how LexisNexis+ AI offers conversational search, summarization, and drafting tools to help lawyers work more efficiently. The tools provide contextual, iterative search so users can refine and improve results. The drafting tools can help with tasks like writing client emails or advisory statements. The summarization features can summarize datasets like regulations, opinions, and complaints."

"LexisNexis is working with leading AmLaw 50 firms in a commercial preview program to get feedback and input on the AI tools. LexisNexis also launched an AI Insider Program for any interested firms to learn about AI and how it may impact their business. There is definitely demand for the AI Insider Program with over 3,000 law firms already signed up."

American Libraries Releases 2023 Library Systems Report

The magazine American Libraries has released the 2023 Library Systems Report, its most recent annual report on the worldwide library technology industry.

"In recent years, business acquisitions have brought high-stakes changes to the library technology industry, creating seismic shifts in the balance of power. But other events in 2022—primarily advances in open source software—have even bigger implications for the market. Although proprietary products continue to dominate, open source alternatives are becoming increasingly competitive (...) "

"The 2023 Library Systems Report documents ongoing investments of libraries in strategic technology products in 2022. It covers for-profit and nonprofit organizations that offer strategic resource management products—especially integrated library systems and library services platforms—and comprehensive discovery products."

"The vendors included have responded to a survey requesting details about their organization, sales performance, and narrative explanations of accomplishments. Additional sources consulted include press releases, news articles, and other publicly available information. Most of the organizations provided lists of libraries represented in the statistics reported, allowing for more detailed analysis and validation."

The report is written by Marshall Breeding, a well-known library tech expert. He also edits the Library Technology Guides website and produces the annual International Library Automation Perceptions Surveys.

LawBytes Podcast on Federal Court Ruling on Facebook and Privacy

In the most recent LawBytes podcast, University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist talks with his colleague Teresa Scassa about a recent Federal Court decision that ruled for Facebook in case with many privacy law implications:

"The controversy over Facebook and Cambridge Analytica was back in the spotlight in Canada as the Federal Court sided with Facebook and against the Privacy Commissioner of Canada in a decision arising from a 2019 investigation into the matter. The Privacy Commissioner ruled against Facebook in 2019, but Facebook disagreed with the findings, took the matter to court, and won. What lies behind the decision and what does it mean for privacy in Canada? My colleague Teresa Scassa, who holds the Canada Research Chair In Information Law, is widely regarded as one of Canada’s leading privacy law experts. She posted on the decision soon after its release and joins the Law Bytes podcast to talk about the ruling and its broader implications."

Geek in Review Podcast Interview with Lexis CTO Jeff Reihl on Future of AI

The most recent episode of the Geek in Review Podcast co- hosted by Greg Lambert and Marlene Gebauer is available.

Lambert is a former president of the American Association of Law Libraries.

The podcast features a discussion with ⁠Jeff Reihl⁠, the Executive Vice President, and Chief Technology Officer at LexisNexis. 

The episode covers the current state of AI and its relevance to the legal and research sector:

"During Reihl’s sixteen years at LexisNexis he witnessed many innovations such as the nearly universal adoption of iPhone and other mobile products, cloud computing, and document automation, but the speed a acceleration around Generative AI tool like GPT 4.0, Bing, Bard, and others is causing even the big players in the legal industry to quickly adjust to the demands of the market. Jeff highlighted the flexibility and benefits of LexisNexis’ technology, which can provide valuable insights and information to its users on-demand. The organization generates and applies AI-enabled insights that assist users in finding, evaluating, and curating content more quickly and effectively. Jeff went on to explain how AI technology is helping lawyers reduce research time and increase accuracy in creating legal documents. In conclusion, Jeff explained that LexisNexis is committed to promoting innovation in the legal field by utilizing innovative technology solutions to advance research and meet the growing research demand, thereby improving legal professionals’ efficiency and accuracy."

Geek in Review Podcast on Tagging and Artificial Intelligence

The most recent episode of the Geek in Review Podcast by US law librarians Greg and Lambert Marlene Gebauer is available.

Lambert is a former president of the American Association of Law Libraries.

The podcast features a discussion with Damien Riehl, VP, Litigation Workflow and Analytics Content at FastCase, and one of the drivers behind SALI (Standards Advancement for   for the Legal Industry):

"SALI is a system of tagging legal information to allow for better filtering and analysis. It works like Amazon’s product tags, where a user can search for a specific area of law, such as patent law, and then choose between various services such as advice, registration, transactional, dispute, or bankruptcy services. The tags cover everything from the substance of law to the business of law, with over 13,000 tags in the latest version. SALI is being adopted by major legal information providers such as Thomson Reuters, Lexis, Bloomberg, NetDocuments, and iManage, with each provider using the same standardized identifiers for legal work. With this standardization, it will be possible to perform the same API query across different providers and receive consistent results. Imagine the potential of being able to ask one question that is understood by all your database and external systems?"

"In that same vein, we expand our discussion to include how Artificial Intelligence tools like Large Language Models (i.e., ChatGPT, Google BARD, Meta’s LLM) could assist legal professionals in their quest to find information, create documents, and help outline legal processes and practices."

Library of Parliament Legislative Summary of Bill C-18: Online News Act

The Library of Parliament has published its legislative summary of Bill C-18, the Act respecting online communications platforms that make news content available to persons in Canada (short title: Online News Act).

"The purpose of Bill C‑18 is to rebalance the power dynamics in the digital news marketplace in order to ensure fair compensation for Canadian media outlets and journalists. It creates a new legislative and regulatory framework to enable digital news intermediaries to negotiate agreements with Canadian media to authorize them to disseminate Canadian media content on their platforms. The bill sets up a process that enables smaller media outlets to bargain collectively."

"The bill also expands the mandate and powers of the Canadian Radio‑television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). It gives the CRTC responsibility for developing the code of conduct governing bargaining between digital news intermediaries and news businesses. It also mandates the CRTC to determine whether agreements made outside the bargaining process meet the conditions for exemption."

"According to the Charter Statement on Bill C‑18 prepared by the Minister of Justice, Bill C‑18 is consistent with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. To arrive at this conclusion, the Minister assessed the bill’s potential impacts on freedom of expression (section 2(b)), searches or seizures (section 8) and fair trial rights (section 11)."

It is possible to follow the progress of the bill through both Houses of the federal Parliament on the LEGISinfo website. 

American Libraries Releases 2022 Library Systems Report

The magazine American Libraries has released the 2022 Library Systems Report, its most recent annual report on the worldwide library technology industry.

"Events of the last year have reshaped the library technology industry. Previous rounds of acquisitions pale in comparison to the acquisition of ProQuest by Clarivate, which has propelled the leading library technology provider into the broader commercial sector of scholarly communications. This deal signals that the gap in size among vendors is widening, as ProQuest businesses Ex Libris and Innovative Interfaces also join Clarivate."

"The emergence of such a large business at the top of the industry has accelerated consolidation among mid-level players that aim to increase scale and efficiency to remain competitive. This was a banner year for consolidation of midsize competitors, with more acquisitions than any prior year."

"These deals raise concerns about weakened competition, but they may also enable new industry dynamics that will spark innovation and synergy within the broader research and education landscape. Small companies with visions for innovation often lack the resources to deliver, which larger companies can provide. Increased investor and stockholder involvement, however, translates into pressure to maximize profits and growth. The way these competing dynamics play out has important implications for libraries."

The report is written by Marshall Breeding, a well-known library tech expert. He also edits the Library Technology Guides website and produces the annual International Library Automation Perceptions Surveys.

Materials from October 14 Webinar on Negotiating With Vendors

Last week, the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) hosted a webinar called Savvy Negotiation Skills: A Toolkit for Law Librarians.

The speaker was Annette Demers, head of the Paul Martin Law Library at the University of Windsor and past president of CALL.

Demers has posted materials relating to her webinar on the website of Paul Martin Law Library.

Canadian Association of Law Libraries Webinar on Negotiating With Vendors

The Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL)  is hosting a webinar called Savvy Negotiation Skills: A Toolkit for Law Librarians on Thursday, October 14, 2021 from 2 to 3:3PM EST:

Some law librarians continue to be involved, to some extent, in negotiating contracts with vendors. Negotiations with large vendors can be intimidating, especially for newer librarians. Law librarians in all work situations and levels of experience are welcome to participate.  Senior librarians are invited to share their experience and perspectives. This session will provide practical tools, tips and checklists to assist law librarians in the various phases of contract negotiation.

The speaker is Annette Demers, head of the Paul Martin Law Library at the University of Windsor and past president of CALL.

It is free to CALL members. Student - $15.00 plus applicable taxes;  nn-Member - $50.00 plus applicable taxes.

American Libraries Journal Publishes 2021 Library Systems Report

American Libraries recently published its 2021 Library Systems Report, the latest in a series of annual reports on trends in the library technology industry:

"In a year complicated by a global pandemic, the community of vendors providing technologies to libraries made important strides to meet pressing needs and make ongoing progress in their longer-term initiatives. Though the pandemic disrupted library services—as well as funding—in 2020, concerted efforts were made to fulfill the demands of users to the extent possible. Almost all vendors made sharp turns to expand access to digital collections and services in order to compensate for diminished access to physical materials."

"Only a few minor acquisitions took place in this deeply consolidated industry last year. Unlike in 2019, none of these transactions altered the overall balance of power among competitors. Vendors made extraordinary efforts to help customer libraries cope with changed services while they continued product development agendas looking beyond current circumstances."

Library vendors readily provided support during the pandemic, especially through rapid development or implementation of functionality that supported newly instituted workflows, such as online selection and checkout of materials and touchless curbside pickup. Abrupt building closures prompted a need to update policy calendars controlling due dates and notices, along with other operational changes. Almost all vendors described delivering system interventions or functional enhancements to assist their customers during this challenging period. Many of these changes will have enduring value. For some libraries, the crisis accelerated transitions to increased digital operations already under way.

"In addition to changes in system policies and operations, some vendors mentioned other specific—and unprecedented—measures offered in support of their clients during the pandemic. Biblionix not only implemented 16 features designed to help libraries adapt to changes in lending and workflow but also offered financial relief to its clients. Since many experienced reduced lending during the pandemic, Biblionix lowered the fees for Apollo ILS according to use levels, an unusual practice in the library technology industry. Innovative Interfaces made its Circa Sierra mobile app free to libraries for a year to assist with curbside services. Ex Libris launched the “Best Practices for the Ex Libris Community during COVID- 19” initiative to provide guidance on building closures and reopenings. Soutron Global developed a Pandemic Recovery Program, providing customers with an extended support package, and donated 10% of its revenue to a financial assistance fund designated for Soutron clients. OCLC supported libraries implementing curbside pickup services through specialized workflows provided through its CapiraCurbside mobile app."

The report is written by Marshall Breeding, a well-known library tech expert. He also edits the Library Technology Guides website and produces the annual International Library Automation Perceptions Surveys.

Canadian Judicial Council Guidelines for Management of Requests for Bulk Access to Court Information by Commercial Entities

The Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) has published new guidelines for the Management of Requests for Bulk Access to Court Information by Commercial Entities:

"Courts across Canada are grappling with requests by commercial entities for bulk access to Court Information to aggregate, analyze, repackage, commercialize and distribute it, particularly court decisions, orders, and other documents typically found in Court Records."

"This demand has traditionally been driven by publishers of research systems and precedent databases. Increasingly, however, requests are coming from a more diverse range of organizations, some motivated by intent to apply advanced analytics or machine learning algorithms to predict individual and collective decision-making outcomes based on features such as judges or counsel names, and fact patterns."

(...)

"While access to Court Information must be a core tenet underpinning ‘open justice’, it is also important to balance this by mitigating the risk that inadvertent release of private or sensitive information residing in court files does not cause harm to vulnerable people, undue distress or a risk of identity theft arising from malicious use."

(...)

"The objective of this report is to propose a common approach and guidelines to assist Canadian courts responding to requests for bulk access to Court Information. The proposed mechanisms are aimed at recalibrating the core principles of ‘access’ and ‘open courts’ in the context of digital information and online service delivery. Access issues were much easier to navigate at a time when court information was held in paper files and the need for physical attendance at a courthouse effectively meant that information was practically obscured and thereby protected from broad, inappropriate use. It is now more challenging to balance ‘access’ principles with other important principles including preserving integrity, safeguarding the administration of justice, protecting the reputation and integrity of the court and the judiciary, and mitigating risks associated with misuse of private or sensitive information."

"The Framework specifically identified some potential risks associated with an overly cavalier approach to the ‘open courts’ principle in an era where Court Information is stored in electronic rather than paper format, where sensitive Judicial Information and private data is intermingled with other information on court files and databases and when the effective protections afforded by practical obscurity are no longer present."

"A more recent, emerging consideration, many will see as a risk, is the trend towards application of predictive analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to Court Information. While there are some potential benefits from these developments, there are also some risks associated with incorrect predictions and the ramifications of reliance upon the output from biased or poorly designed machine learning models. The key question here though is whether it is the role of the judiciary to make determinations about the quality or effectiveness of such services and whether courts are in any event resourced to wade into such territory."

The CJC's  role is to ensure the proper conduct of federally appointed judges. This includes the power to investigate the conduct - and not the decisions - of federally appointed judges when a complaint is made against one of them.

The Council also makes recommendations on issues relating to court management and technology.

It is chaired by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.

American Libraries Journal Publishes Library Systems Report 2020

American Libraries recently published Library Systems Report 2020, the latest in a series of annual reports on trends in the library technology industry.

The 2020 report looks in particular at integrated library systems, library services platforms and comprehensive discovery products.

"The library technology industry took some significant turns in 2019. Ex Libris, a ProQuest company, acquired Innovative Interfaces and shifted the balance of power, strengthening Ex Libris’s position in technology for academic libraries and propelling it as a major player in public libraries. This move narrows the slate of competitors in an industry already offering few viable options for many libraries."

"Technology for public library automation has been mired in stagnation. It takes a substantial level of development to both maintain existing products and build next-generation technologies for the emerging realities of a given library sector. Will Ex Libris opt to invent a new platform for public libraries, as it did for academics? How it responds may shape whether we see ongoing stasis or a new phase of innovation (...)"

"New product categories have begun to emerge. Many companies look beyond the library as their sole audience for development and create products targeting their parent institutions or communities. Recent efforts include tech products that support teaching, such as reading-list applications, discovery services for open educational resources, and support for application program interfaces (APIs) and protocols that connect the library with student information systems. Interest in support services for higher-education research has increased. Research information systems have been available for quite some time, but this new wave of products positions libraries as research stakeholders."

The report is written by Marshall Breeding, a well-known library tech expert. He also edits the Library Technology Guides website and produces the annual International Library Automation Perceptions Surveys.

Directory of On-Demand Recordings of Webinars from Library Organizations, Vendors, and Others

The website infoDOCKET has put together a Directory of On-Demand Recordings of Webinars from Library Organizations, Vendors, and Others during the COVID-19 pandemic:

"Many libraries, library organizations, and others are offering webinars during the COVID-19 for a variety of reasons including thinking/planning for the future, developing learning new skills, and simply conversing with colleagues."

"Below, find a spreadsheet with links to watch recordings of these webinars and/or information about a variety of webinar series."

COVID 19 - Free Resources from Vendors

In reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, many library vendors and publishers are opening up their collections and making at least some of them free.

Here are a few lists:

• COVID-19: Special Offers, Events, News, and Updates From Library Vendors, Publishers, Online Services, and Others (infoDOCKET, March 17, 2020)
• Free COVID-19 Resources from LexisNexis Canada (Off the Shelf, Osgoode Hall Law School Library Blog, March 20, 2020)
• Contenu gratuit chez plusieurs fournisseurs (blog of Kathleen Wynd, electronic resources librarian at UQAM, Université du Québec à Montréal, March 19, 2020) - her blog post links to a fairly long list of providers opening up their collections

Articles on COVID

Recent articles and podcasts:

• A Tour Through Pandemic Law for COVID-19, Omar Ha-Redeye, Slaw.ca (March 15, 2020): "Canada has come a long way since the SARS pandemic in 2003. With the outbreak of COVID-19, here is a non-exhaustive overview of some of the ways that pandemics have come up in our legal system."
• The LawBytes Podcast, Episode 43: Heather Joseph on the Coronavirus and the Urgent Need for Open Access to Research Publications: "Given the head-spinning changes taking place in our society, there is a widely recognized need for immediate open access to the latest research and medical developments. Yet despite the fact that the public often funds research in the area, the conventional publishing model often places that information behind paywalls or subscription fees."
• COVID-19: Special Offers, News, and Updates From Library Vendors, Publishers, Online Services, and Others (infoDocket, March 17, 2020)
• LitCovid: A New Hub for 2019 Novel Coronavirus Scientific Literature From the the National Library of Medicine (infoDocket, March 14, 2020)