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 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.

Devolution for Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales resulted in an asymmetrical constitutional framework. The Welsh settlement was more limited than that for Northern Ireland and Scotland. However, since the Government of Wales Acts of 1998 and 2006, Wales has eventually achieved primary law-making powers. Regrettably, the stages leading to the present position resulted in an often confused and confusing body of law. Practitioners wishing to know the content of Welsh law on a subject may encounter a complex tapestry of different types of enactments. The next step for Wales must be improved accessibility and codification. The process of devolution continues. This paper by Professor John Williams was delivered at the BIALL Annual Conference in June 2014.

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

Philip Leith, who is a trustee of BAILII, explains its origins in the Society for Computers and Law's suggestion that the government should build a computerised database of English law, to its role today as a major free resource for legal information. He discusses the Australian model, AustLII; describes the current database and considers the interaction between legal publishers and addedvalue and free legal sources both now and in the future.

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.

OSCOLA, the Oxford Standard for the Citation Of Legal Authorities, was first devised in 2000. The fourth edition, published in November 2010, includes for the first time guidelines for citing Scottish, Irish and Welsh cases and legislation, historical legal sources and new media such as blogs. It also provides more extensive general advice about using quotations, managing and cross-referencing footnotes and organising bibliographies and tables of cases and legislation. OSCOLA can be used in conjunction with bibliographic software such as Endnote and is becoming the UK national standard for legal citation.

In this article, James Mullan addresses the recent trend relating legal project management (LPM) by law firms and assesses the long term potential for this concept. In addition, he seeks to identify how those in the law library and information profession can play a significant role in its introduction and development within a firm.

Sexuality and Law scholarship is a new and developing field but, like most legal scholarship, it is dominated by masculine concerns and methodologies. This article, by Rosemary Auchmuty, explains why research that ignores feminist concerns and methodologies will be incomplete and inaccurate, and suggests questions that should be asked of resources to ensure a complete and accurate coverage of the topic.

This article presents useful clues for British law librarians and legal researchers conducting research on American laws and legal systems. It focuses on general guidelines and key sticking points the author, Erin Gow, found when transitioning between legal research in the American and British jurisdictions. Key skills introduced include the ability to: differentiate between federal and state legal jurisdictions in the US; recognize key differences in American legal terminology and construct searches using American terms; analyze and select key American legal resources for different types of research questions; and identify American standards of legal citation. This article is based on the presentation that the author gave at the BIALL Online Annual Conference in June 2021.

In recent years there has been an explosion of new ‘legal tech’ solutions on the market claiming to solve almost every problem or improve the efficiency of almost any process in a law firm. Alongside these new legal tech vendors are the traditional legal vendors offering enterprise solutions, and it can be challenging to identify, select and implement the right mix of solutions to solve your law firm's knowledge management (KM) needs. If you are thinking about or have been asked to introduce a new KM solution, it can be difficult to know where to get started, especially if you are in this position for the first time. This article, by Richard Tomlinson, explores some techniques and methodologies picked up over several years working in legal technology in big-law, to help you select and implement the best technology solutions for your firm.

This article by Renê Francisco Hellman and Mariana Cesto aims to analyse how the New Civil Procedure Code will influence the Brazilian legal education system. The new Code is opposed to ‘surprise decisions’ and emphasizes the need for substantial opportunity to contradict the opponent's submissions. This will constrain judicial decision-making. On that basis, new challenges appear for teaching, and they must be faced and solved in order to make the new prescriptions effective. The proposal is to use an interdisciplinary approach to reformulate the legal education system. This would effectively provide better support to future lawyers regarding their development, making them better qualified to operate within the legal system.

Professions of all types are being affected by globalisation of markets and the information technology revolution. The information world is developing rapidly and increasing numbers of people are being attracted to working within this modern sphere, many of whom have had no formal information training. Does this mean that a library and information qualification is no longer a requirement and if so why As an information graduate in the modern information world, I have two choices. I can take each day as it comes and become a pawn in a high stakes chess game played by others or I can take individual responsibility and develop my own career.

The twenty-first century is already proving to be the real dawn of the information revolution. The internet is now officially coming of age and highly functional mobile devices are everywhere. The youth of today are permanently connected and the media world is shifting to a “born digital”, “on line first” mentality. Every part of our society is feeling the effects of this revolution and is reaping the benefits of “real time information everywhere” ... or are they? Adrian Dale, in the second Willi Steiner Memorial Lecture, suggests that the reality is that many businesses are failing to keep pace with information growth and desperately need help – the question is from whom?

Kate Stanfield has based this article on a presentation given at the 2008 Online meeting. She considers the potential role of the non-traditionally trained information professional within a law firm information service. Such roles include professional support lawyers, para-legals and business development and IT professionals.

Michael Chapman, who is a Senior Lecturer at the Inns of Court School of Law, writes about how the BVC is delivered to over 500 full-time students each year, using state of the art technology and e-learning methods which are a far cry from traditional teaching methods. This article is a companion to Peter Clinch's article on the BVC which also appears in this issue.

In this article, Jackie Fishleigh looks at ways in which legal information managers can demonstrate their personal value and effectively market their services. In so doing she draws on her own recent experience promoting the intranet to every department in her law firm.

This article concerns the international law collections at the library of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS) in London. It is based on a talk given by Hester Swift at the training day entitled ‘Socio-Legal Sources and Methods in International Law’ which was held at IALS on 25 November 2016.

This article by Katie Woolf, formerly of the Government Knowledge and Information Network, looks at the new UK Government strategy for knowledge and information (KIM). Led by the Knowledge Council, the strategy sets out the principles and actions government must take to develop the capability it needs to manage corporate knowledge and information as the key business assets they are. It discusses how the strategy will be achieved through a departmental delivery model, the relationship of the strategy with the Information Assurance agenda post data loss scandals, and the need for senior leader engagement to be the driving force to building a culture that values KIM.