This article by Alexander Lock and Jonathan Sims describes the context in which Magna Carta was obtained. It distinguishes different versions of the charter and signposts particular documents and publications in the history of its transmission and interpretation up to the early nineteenth century. It also identifies various texts and objects which have indicated the charter's significance for groups and individuals at particular junctures. These include information carrying objects which might support research on Magna Carta within the context of the circulation and reception of legal meaning. A major focus of the article is a chronological account of the charter's invocation from the thirteenth century to the early nineteenth century.

Accounts of the interface between law, gender and modernity have tended to stress the many ways in which women experienced the metropolis differently from men in the nineteenth century. Considerable attention has been paid to the notion of separate spheres and to the ways in which the public realm came to be closely associated with the masculine worlds of productive labour, politics, law and public service. Much art of the period draws our attention to the symbiotic relationship between representations of gender and prevailing notions of their place. Drawing on well known depictions of women onlookers in the trial in fine art, this essay by Linda Mulcahy explores the ways in which this genre contributed to the disciplining of women in the public sphere and encouraged them to go no further than the margins of the law court.

This article by Sarah Batts discusses findings from a dissertation research project investigating LPC and BVC students' use of resources in supporting their legal research. Although there are many similarities between the two cohorts in the tasks they find difficult, or their use of a virtual learning environment, there are also key differences in the sources of help they would turn to first to look for answers to problems. This understanding of the different emphasis that students place on different resources provokes a number of questions which, if addressed, could help promote a positive library experience for students.

This paper that is written by Phil Bradley is based on his keynote lecture, which he gave on 12 June 2014 at the BIALL Annual Conference. He considers the growth of information on the internet, both in terms of type and amount. His article considers the difficulties that this flood of data brings with it, the challenges facing traditional search engines when faced with access by mobile devices and applications. The role of privacy and the ‘internet of things’ are also discussed. Finally, there is an overview of the role of the information professional in this new information environment.

Zoe Melling writes on the Legal Aid Board in Ireland and the work of the professional information and research unit.

Last year in Cork when I added my voice to that of BIALL's incoming chairman to encourage attendance at the 2002 conference at Liverpool, I reminded delegates that Liverpool would be a return to the venue of BIALL's first conference. This announcement met with reactions ranging from “so what”, “not another anniversary” to a fascination with what it was like in the “olden days”. Gradually BIALL's Chair and others (Brian Murray of Legal Library Services in particular) persuaded me to give a session at the conference. Brian was insistent that Liverpool 1970 was part of the heritage of BIALL members and that they ought to be reminded of it from time to time. I should like to acknowledge help in preparing this paper from Mary Blake and Derek Way and the invaluable aide memoire of Mary Blake's history of BIALL (Blake, 2000).

In this article Lisa Davies, Access Librarian at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, reports on a recent initiative to create online tutorials to improve the legal information skills of postgraduate researchers. She describes the aims of the project, outlines the steps that were taken to create the new training resources, details the content of the tutorials, looks back on the main challenges faced and considers plans for the future.

This study by Dragomir Cosanici provides a bibliometric, comparative study of the citation practices of the state supreme courts in the common law jurisdictions of Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio, USA during a recent ten-year span (1994–2004). It focuses on the type of legal materials most frequently cited as authority, examining the importance of both primary and secondary sources. It specifically analyses the growing usage of electronic citations by the four supreme courts.

This article is based on the presentation given by Suzanne Wheatley at the BIALL Conference in June 2010 giving advice to prospective interviewers on how to make the best recruitment decisions.

This article by Ivo Vogel and Dr Jochen Haug of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin describes an ambitious project to build a portal to a huge legal information resource covering German primary and secondary legal sources currently available on the internet. It will act as the first port of call for all legal researchers and it is hoped to extend the project to include hard copy sources eventually.

This paper is based on a research study commissioned by the Financial Times and the Special Libraries Association (SLA) to explore the evolving value of information management to organisations around the world. Drawing on responses from both full-time information professionals and corporate executives, the research highlights the challenges facing both audiences and reveals a fundamental shift in the model of information management. The paper aims to provide an actionable framework for the continuing success of the information function in any organisation, describing the five essential attributes for modern information professionals. The research was presented by Simon Lord at the BIALL Annual Conference, 2014 and is published in full at: www.ft.com/sla

Pre-2013, Shearman & Sterling employed only two full-time knowledge management (KM) professionals across the globe. As Jon Beaumont describes, there was no centralised method of storage or retrieval for knowledge and Attorneys would have to contend with searching the firm's Document Management System (DMS), SharePoint intranet, internal discussion boards or ten disparate knowledge systems for document and matter information. ‘Knowledge Center’ was launched in 2015, following two years of planning, aimed at consolidating firm systems and providing users with a single interface to access any required know-how. This article will touch upon the consolidation and migration of information, but focus predominantly on Knowledge Center itself, examining functionality, search, filtering and browse. Processes for better knowledge identification of both document and matter know-how, all of which have contributed to the success of Knowledge Center, shall also be considered.

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.

Jackie Fishleigh from Payne Hicks Beach recently undertook a project to implement a know how database of documents for the firm's Company Commercial Department. Prior to starting she tried to find out how colleagues learnt to use the software and she discusses her findings in this article.

In this article David Ibbetson takes a perspective from the ancient world. A number of texts of Roman law are concerned with injuries arising in the course of athletics. They are particularly concerned with blameworthy killings, and constitute some of the most fundamental texts at the historical base of modern negligence liability. Behind them there may lie questions discussed by Greek orators, where they were fitted into a rather different framework from that of the Romans.

Amanda McKenzie presented this Parallel Session at the 38th Annual BIALL Study Conference in Sheffield in June 2007. She looks at the potential methods of identifying current awareness user groups and reviews traditional methods of current awareness delivery. She then discusses the use of third party aggregators, such as Lexis and PLC. She also looks at the potential for Web 2.0 and social networking methodologies, and evaluates alternative delivery methods, such as RDD feeds, in the context of offering comprehensive services to users.

This is an edited version of the presentation given by Peter Clinch to the 40th BIALL Annual Study Conference held in Dublin in 2008. It helps to set in context the surveys he conducted on behalf of the Society of Legal Scholars. The results of one of the surveys are reported as part of the Annual Academic Law Library Survey elsewhere in this issue.

This article written by Hélène Russell aims to look at the measurement of Knowledge projects and activities in a simple, practical way, with the aim of helping busy law firm librarians understand whether their various Knowledge Management (KM) projects and activities are having a positive effect and are value for money in a general sense. Be forewarned: the benefits of KM are often intangible and the way that KM affects tangibles can be complex, so measurement is difficult. However, that does not mean that you cannot approximate an answer which is useful for informing business decisions.

In this article Ian Hunter considers his experiences, learning points and recommendations on running an international law firm research service from home for 6 months, after being sent home at one hour's notice. In the article he considers working from home, including the psychological benefits of having a ‘journey’ to work, providing a research service and a library service, managing a team and the use of communications technology.