Because the focus of most of the themed articles in this issue of LIM is vendor relations from the point of view of the customer, it seemed sensible to allow the legal publishers to present their own views of relations with their customers to the readership, via a short survey carried out by BIALL's Legal Information Group.

David Percik, Chair of the BIALL Legal Information Group traces the history of this award, which was presented for the first time to Wildy's at the BIALL Conference in June 2010.

In June 2010 the first BIALL Supplier of the Year award was made to Wildy & Sons Ltd, following a survey of BIALL members. The chair of the Awards and Bursaries Committee at the time of the award was Susan Scorey. Some time after the event she talked to John Sinkins, Managing Director of Wildy's, about the award and customer relations more generally.

Julie Kitchen is a law librarian with many years experience of working for law firms large and small. In this article she provides an account of her personal experiences with vendors over the years and offers some suggestions for helping to improve the relationship.

The Committee on Relations with Information Vendors (CRIV) is one of thirty-seven committees organized under the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL). The purpose of CRIV is to facilitate communications between information vendors and the members of the Association by monitoring complaints and providing constructive suggestions to vendors of legal information. The Committee also serves to educate AALL member librarians on helpful ways to communicate with information vendors. This article by Rob Myers provides a brief history of CRIV, outlines the Committee's organisation and structure, discusses its activities in pursuit of its charge, and outlines its goals for the immediate future.

This article by Shaunna Mireau contains a brief update on the activities of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries Vendor Liaison Committee and shares the unique features of the relationships between Canadian law librarians and the vendor community.

Fiona Fogden gave a very practical talk at the BIALL Conference 2010 in Brighton on contract negotiation with online vendors and it has been held over to this issue of LIM as it fits so well with our vendor relations theme.

Jas Breslin gives a brief overview of how email discussion forums can be used by information professionals and information providers to enrich and enhance relationships.

This article by Caroline Shenton, Clerk of the Records at the Parliamentary Archives, describes the rich legacy of records relating to the judicial function of the House of Lords from the sixteenth century to 2009, when the new Supreme Court was established.

This article by Dr Peter Clinch gives details of where to find not just law reports but also other documents relating to cases. It covers a wide range of courts, from the High Court through to Coroners Courts and Administrative tribunals

This article by Dr Anthony Smith describes how the British Records Association can help legal information professionals and the legal profession generally to conserve old legal records of both law firms themselves and of their clients. He also describes the activities and publications of the Association.

Rosemary Shakespeare attended the 2nd Joint ALLA/NZLLA Conference. Her interest was primarily in those sessions with a worldwide focus, rather than specifically the Australasia region and this article is about digitisation projects, with particular emphasis on the Law Library Microform Consortium's work.

This report by Peter Clinch describes the procedures followed and the results obtained through updating the FLAG (Foreign Law Guide) database1, which took place during the Spring and Autumn 2010.

This is a further contribution to the Squire Law Library Eminent Scholars Archive by Lesley Dingle. It is based on interviews with Stephen Schwebel about his distinguished career as an international jurist in the United States and at the International Court of Justice.

Jas Breslin gives a brief overview of the type of work corporate lawyers are involved with and the key resources that they need.

Keri Gray gave a practical presentation at the June 2010 BIALL Conference covering practical tips and techniques to make the most of yourself before and during an interview.