A Quick Update for KF Modified Users
Hello KF Modified users!
While COVID continues to be with us, a global pandemic has come and gone since the last blog post. That’s a long time so many apologies right off the top for letting that much time slip by.
We have recently received a number of questions regarding the status of KF Modified. Since our last post in November 2019 there have been some changes but we’re happy to report that KF Modified is still an active classification scheme.
However, after many, many years, F. Tim Knight has stepped down as the primary editor of the KF Classification Modified for Use in Canadian and Common Law Law Libraries. We thank him for his dedication and hard work modifying and enhancing the classification scheme and keeping KF Modified an up-to-date and going concern.
We are pleased to report that beginning in May 2023 Susan Jones (Technical Services Librarian at the University of New Brunswick) assumed the editorial responsibility for KF Modified. We are very happy that Susan has taken on this editorial role and also thank her for her many contributions as a member of the KF Modified Committee. KF Modified is in good hands!
If you have any questions or concerns regarding KF Modified please contact the Canadian Association of Law Libraries or get in touch with Susan directly for assistance. Tim will also still be available to answer questions for the next couple of years and has plans to revise and update the Guide to KF Modified Classification which was last updated by Janet Moss in 2006.
Enhanced Section on Law and Indigenous Peoples
Hello KF Modified users!
Just a quick note, after quite some time, to let you know that KF Modified is alive and well.
I also, wanted to announce that the 3rd Quarter update, just released to subscribers, includes a revision to the section that covers law and Indigenous peoples. KF8210 has been reorganized and enhanced by adding and removing terms and cross-references to provide a more respectful representation of Indigenous peoples in the classification scheme.
The revised table of cutter numbers under KF8210 incorporates some elements found under the recently introduced Library of Congress classification for Indigenous peoples. The objective of the Library of Congress when they developed this new classification was to provide a more equitable treatment of legal subjects relating to Indigenous peoples. The sub-section KIA-KID covers Canadian regional and comparative aspects of the law of Indigenous peoples.
As an alternative to using this separate LC classification the KF Modified Committee decided to expand the existing classification within KF Modified to reduce the need to reclassify law library collections and keep the materials together. The resulting KF Modified enhancement made every effort to improve and include variations in terminology including additional cross-references wherever possible.
The general heading in KF Modified has also been modified from ‘Indigenous peoples. Indians. Native peoples. Aboriginals. Inuit,’ to a broader and more inclusive scope, ‘Indigenous peoples. First Nations, Métis, Inuit. Native peoples. Aboriginal peoples. Indians (North America).’
Many thanks to Humayan Rashid who prepared the initial draft of this enhancement and to other members of the KF Modified Committee who provided valuable input in the preparation of this enhancement.
2016 Quarterly Updates
A quick update an KF Modified updates.
The updates for the 4th quarter of 2016 were submitted to CALL/ACBD last week and should be distributed to subscribers shortly.
The 3rd quarter updates were completed in mid-November and a combined 1st/2nd quarter update was finished tardily in August.
Work on the 2017 updates will begin next month.
KF Modified Linked Data Project: Final Report
The final report of the KF Modified Linked Data Project was submitted to the CALL/ACBD Committee to Promote Research last fall and is available on the CALL/ACBD website.
This project began shortly after the CanLII Law, Government and Open Data Conference and Hackathon held in Ottawa, Ontario, September 13-14, 2013, where I had the opportunity to speak about “Linked Data and Canadian Legal Resources.” Inspired by the potential of the work done during this hackathon Sarah Sutherland[1] and I decided to work together and developed this linked data classification project. We subsequently submitted a research proposal to the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD) and were awarded a modest research grant that allowed us to begin work on this initiative.
[1] Manager, Content and Partnerships, Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII)
Library of Congress Classification is Online
The other day I discovered that the Library of Congress Classification (LCC) schedules are now freely available online. Amazing!
And pretty current too. At the time of this writing these files are update as of March, 2016. If you’d like to check for newer class number additions you could also do a search on the recent LCC Approved lists.
KF Modified users without access to the KF Modified schedule can consult the PDF of the classification that KF Modified was originally based on: KF United States (General)* [pages 1-205]. You’ll also find an index in this document starting on page 551 (note that this index refers to federal and state law).
Thank you Library of Congress.
Happy cataloguing!
* This link will download the PDF file.
KF Modified Committee Meeting, Draft Agenda
Hello KF Modified enthusiasts!
We will soon be making our way to Vancouver for the annual Canadian Association of Law Libraries conference. The KF Modified Committee will be meeting on Sunday, May 16 at 1:00pm in the Seymour room at the Westin Bayshore Hotel.
I’ve prepared a draft agenda for your consideration, but please let me know if there is something you would like to add.
KF Modified Committee Agenda
- Succession Planning
- General lack of Committee members
- Future development and ongoing maintenance of KF Modified?
- KF Modified and Linked Data Project
- Report submitted to CALL/ACBD Committee to Promote Research
- KF Modified Electronically Accessible
- PDF version could be made available immediately
- Should KF Modified be made available open access and free of charge?; print subscriptions are declining and OA to classification is a public good
- International Promotion of KF Modified Classification
- KF Modified goes to Jamaica
- Promotion of KF Modified to common law libraries outside of Canada
- Other Business
See you in Vancouver!
KF Modified Committee 2005
Hello all,
I’ve been going through some old files as part of my year end back up/clean up me files process and discovered this photograph of the members of the KF Modified Committee. This was taken at the CALL/ACBD conference in 2005, St. John’s, Newfoundland. Pictured here are from L-R: Ann Marie Melvie, Janet Moss, Judy Ginsberg, F. Tim Knight and Rashid Humayun.
KF Modified Committee 2005
All the best for the holidays and a healthy and productive new year to all!
Judy Ginsberg on KF Modified
Judy Ginsberg, Librarian Emerita, York University
As many of you know, Judy Ginsberg, Librarian Emerita at York University, was a member of what I’ve called the “group of 5,” that is, the group of academic law librarians who came together at the University of Manitoba in 1968 and decided to modify the newly available Library of Congress KF classification for American law. That momentous decision made a major impact on the organization of Canadian law libraries and informs the work of Canadian law librarians to this day.
Judy was involved with KF Modified in one way or another for many years. She was the Chair of the, KF Classification Modified Users’ Group, a support group of sorts operating under the Canadian Association of Law Libraries. She was also Chair of the KF Editorial Board from 1982 until the mid-2000s. Judy ensured the long-term continuity of KF Modified when she successfully pitched the idea that the Canadian Association of Law Libraries take on the role as “institutional home” for the production and distribution of the classification schedule.
I am pleased to report today that Judy’s writings on KF Modified are now available via the Osgoode Digital Commons.
- Ginsberg, Judith. “A Note On The KF Classification Modified For Use In Canadian Law Libraries,” in Law Libraries in Canada: Essays to Honour Diana M. Priestly. Ed. Joan M. Fraser, Calgary : Carswell Legal Publications, Western Division, 1988: 59-61
- Ginsberg, Judy. “KF Classification Modified For Use In Canadian Law Libraries,” CALL Newsletter 13.5 (1988): 392-400
- Ginsberg, Judy. “The KF Canadian Adaptation,” 1987
These articles provide a wonderful window into the history and application of KF Modified by one of the original proponents of the classification. You’ll also find some of her additional papers on cataloguing, bibliographic utilities, legal research and a proposed national virtual academic law library.
2nd Quarter Updates Coming Soon
The updates for the 2nd quarter of 2015 have been sent to CALL/ACBD headquarters and should be sent out to you sometime this week.
Happy cataloguing! 🙂
KF Modified Linked Data Project
Update: November 25, 2015: Just discovered that the video for this session is available. As promised below, here’s the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6isTtCcilGE.
Oh, it’s been very quiet on the KF Modified Blog. So here’s a quick update.
Sarah Sutherland and I have been diligently working away on the KF Modified linked data project. As you may recall CALL/ACBD provided us with some seed money to work on a proof of concept and although we haven’t got a finished project to show at this point, we did deliver a presentation this morning at Access 2015.
I’m posting the slides from that presentation along with a link to the XML schema we’ve developed for KF Modified.
Updated 21Sep2015: Here are the links to the XSLT Stylesheet that was used to convert a small example of KF Modified XML to HTML (also uses this HTML stylesheet).
We presented with Christina Harlow from the University of Tenessee who talked about how she’s using linked data to augment authorities with a locally created vocabulary.
The session was live streamed and I’ll share that link when it becomes available.
The KF Modified Blog 