July 23, 2007

Dear valued OBA Section Member

OBA Section Newsletters will now all be produced in electronic format and sent to you by e-mail.  This is a transition that provides many enhancements in service and delivery:

• instant hyperlinks to cases, legislation, papers, and other sources cited;
• inclusion in Thomson Carswell’s legal e-index for enhanced legal research;
• recognition of authors through the Index to Canadian Legal Literature;
• members will receive time-sensitive material expeditiously;
• extensive universal access to timely materials regardless of geographic location. 

For those Sections in which newsletters have remained in print format, we appreciate the challenges inherent in this change, this message is primarily addressed.

Remember, one click on the print button when it arrives in your (or your assistant’s) inbox, will give you the newsletter in the familiar printed form faster than snail mail.  You can still read it on transit or while languishing in the hallowed halls of justice.  We believe you will appreciate the electronic format and the convenience of instant hyperlinks to the source materials when you start using it.

Inundation by e-mails is a major increasing challenge.  This challenge will not go away. The need to organize and instantly differentiate types of e-mails is critical to maintaining sanity!  What better time to take a few moments to organize your email filing system than now! We offer the following basic observations for starters:

• Most -email programs have a ‘Rules’ feature.  Rules can help you manage your inbox by automatically re-routing e-mails to a particular folder.  
• You can have a folder for each Section to which you belong
• To a limited extent, you can colour code incoming mail: so OBA materials could appear in a different colour.  This differentiates them from client work.  It could trigger you to make a print version or re-route to a file for later viewing or printing.
• You could have e-newsletters e-mailed to your assistant, to print for you, if you prefer them in that format – but watch - we believe you will prefer the benefits of the electronic version, once you start using them in that format!  Once you have read the printed version you can return to OBA.org to access the footnoted materials, for more in-depth consideration.
• Indeed you will be able to access the e-newsletters from anywhere, any time you have Internet access. 

Useful Sources for systems to organize e-mails: 

Top Ten Technology Tips (And How to Use them) –Dan Pinnington and David J. Bilinsky - http://www.practicepro.ca/TopTenTechTools.pdf

Organizing e-mails -. Indiana University - University Information Technology Services http://uits.iu.edu/scripts/ose.cgi?amar.ose.help –

10 Tips for Organizing your E-mails - Web Worker Daily http://webworkerdaily.com/2007/02/15/10-tips-for-organizing-your-e-mail/

In Sections we are committed to providing the best quality support for your practice, and the most affordable (our cost) basis.  We believe that there is no better investment for your professional development dollar than OBA Sections, and we are constantly, and with your input, striving to do better.  We like to hear your comments – good or bad.  Please let us know how we can help you better.

If you do not have an e-mail address or if you practise in an area that does not have broad band Internet access, please call us at 1-800-668-8900 and ask to speak to a Sections Staff member. 

Yours sincerely,

 

Erica L. James
Chair of Sections