In this article Pattie Punch reflects on IALL's 34th Annual Course on International Law and Legal Information which was held at Statsbibliothek, Berlin from 20th to 24th September, 2015. The course was entitled ‘Within and in Between: German Legal Tradition in Times of Internationalization and Beyond’ and the work and content of the presentations made her consider what she values about the education of law librarians in the 21st Century. The course raised many questions in relation to a resilient education for law librarians. Since this course, the Brexit referendum in the UK has taken place and the author offers her thoughts about this change of direction and what it might mean for the profession.

This article by Rebecca O'Rourke, Commissioning Editor, Humanities and Social Sciences Journals, Cambridge University Press discusses the results of the recent survey carried out by CUP on our behalf to see whether LIM is still relevant to our readers.

Nick Davies delivered two lively sessions at the BIALL Conference 2011 concerning, “How to make your training engaging? Presenting so People Learn”. This article summaries those practical notions relating to effective delivery of training sessions and provides tips relating to the art of successful presenting.

In this article David Wills, the Librarian of the Squire Law Library, offers a brief description of the extraordinary range of architecture at the University of Cambridge with particular reference to the David Williams Building, designed by the world-renowned architects Foster + Partners. He suggests that, in the context of the Squire Law Library, which occupies the top three floors of the David Williams Building, the building has truly come of age; he looks at some of the features and challenges of its modern design; and notes that the building looks set to play a major part in the education and research activity of legal scholars and university students into the distant future. This article is a personal reflection based on the author's experience of using and working in the building for some 26 years since it was constructed and opened in the mid-1990s.

This article by James Mullan looks at a number of different tools for gathering metrics, discusses developing information services using these tools and emphasises their importance as a management tool in recessionary times.

In this article Samantha Steer looks at recent market insights as to the expectations of law firm clients, as well as the traits of lawyers, and presents key features from Westlaw Edge UK that address both aspects. She focuses on how Westlaw Edge UK can help lawyers with regard to accuracy, efficiency and confidence.

In this article, where Liz Murray, Information Resources Manager at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS) in London, interviews Claudia Holland, Head of the Library of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, the strategic direction of the new Head Librarian is explored. The strengths of this major international, comparative private law library are considered and the balance between providing electronic access to law resources while still maintaining an excellent legal print collection is examined. The importance of networks and collaboration is also highlighted.

Elaine Bird, the current Librarian of the Signet Library, describes the history and current activities of this library which forms part of one of the world's oldest legal professional bodies

Adoption of legal technology within law firms has seen a significant increase in recent years with the current necessity for seemingly indefinite remote working only adding to the need for technology solutions to keep legal workflows running. In light of this, legal technology purchases will undoubtedly see a further increase and a well conducted proof of value is crucial to making the right investment decision. This article is based on a talk given by Eleanor White at the BIALL Knowledge Management SIG in November 2018. It establishes the difference between a proof of concept and proof of value and elaborates on some key principles to consider during each phase of the latter. From the preparation and planning through to the running of the evaluation and the resulting decision-making process, this article addresses how to get the most out of the proof of value opportunity.

Kay Munro, Senior Assistant Librarian at Glasgow University Library, writes about the courses offered by the Faculty of Law at Glasgow, the law library's collections and the services offered to students.

Beginning in the early 1800s, New York has followed a comprehensive model of law-reporting with official law reports. This article by Charles Dewey Cole, Jr. looks at the influence of James Kent in establishing comprehensive law-reporting in New York, reviews the 1938 legislation that created the law reporting bureau and charged the state reporter with reporting almost all appellate court and selective trial court decisions, describes the state reporter's current publication practices and considers both the advantages of and the challenges presented by comprehensive official law-reporting. The article is based on a June 2019 presentation given at the annual conference of the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians in Bournemouth.

This article by Katy Davies explores the subject of resilience and why it is so important. It offers suggestions on how to change your mind-set to be less phased by the challenges of everyday life at work and home. It is based on a presentation delivered at the BIALL Annual Conference in 2019.

Amanda Fancourt is a Lecturer on the Legal Practice Course (LPC) at the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice. This article summarises the results of her research project, “Hitting the Ground Running?”, which looks at whether graduates receive a sufficiently focussed training for future legal careers whilst studying on the Legal Practice Course.

Sinéad Curtin and Alice Steen review sources of Irish legislation, caselaw and legal commentary. Their article also provides guidance on common research queries such as checking amendments to legislation.

Cynthia Fellows, Philip Leith and Joe Ury report on the survey responses to a usage and attitudinal project carried out in early 2012 by the British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII). There were 3,274 survey participants and their responses demonstrate substantial support for BAILII as an open access mechanism, a technically competent dissemination tool and a useful resource for lawyers and non-lawyers alike. Such positive response, we suggest, indicates that BAILII's resources are now threaded through the fabric of UK digital legal information, strengthening the ability of all citizens to access and become better informed about the laws of the land.

The article, by Elizabeth Dawson, provides a brief guide to some potential archival sources at IALS for gender based research, focussing particularly on the admission of women to the legal profession after the First World War and beyond. Sources will include the records of legal education, academic and membership organisations and material relating to professional practice. The article also provides guidance to researchers on using the IALS Archive.

This article written by Helen Garner, the Bodleian Law Librarian, reviews three different building projects that have taken place at the Bodleian Law Library (BLL) between 2010 and 2020. The three projects were all undertaken independently of each other and have transformed the BLL. This article discusses each project and explains the work that was completed. This is followed by a summary of the impact of the projects and the lessons learnt.

The Covid-19 pandemic drastically changed the information landscape. For us it exponentially increased our workload and unequivocally demonstrated how much value we could add to the business. The skill set of information professionals is in demand like never before, changing many of our roles for the better. This article, written by Felicity Cross, discusses the effect the pandemic has had on her department and what that means for our profession as a whole.

Is Google a substitute for using known, authoritative websites for cases, legislation and other official information? Ian Hunter writes about the test searches that he carried out on Google and discusses the results he noted. In this exercise, consideration is given to whether the websites retrieved are authoritative and also attention is paid to Google's ranking of results.

John Furlong of Matheson, Ormsby Prentice LLP briefly describes the services provided by the Companies Registration Office.