This article written by Jasmin Hollingum was adapted from her coursework that she submitted as part of an MSc in Library and Information Studies. It posits that whilst collection development policies (CDPs) are in widespread use in academic institutions, they are currently under-used in law firms. It considers what benefits a written CDP could deliver to a law firm library and identifies the problems that firm librarians face when developing such policies. Finally it seeks to establish ways in which they might be overcome.

Universities enter into contracts with publishers or providers of aggregated resources on behalf of university libraries to provide staff and students with access to material in electronic format for educational and research purposes. Following a brief review of twelve database provider contracts, our research demonstrates that Australian academics are potentially breaching the contractual terms and conditions of electronic resources when accessing, downloading and printing articles and other materials. They are covered for research purposes, but not for educational purposes.

In this article Sophie Thompson describes what design thinking is and gives practical exercises to see how design thinking can be used to give a fresh perspective on delivering knowledge services. The article is based on a parallel session delivered as a workshop at the BIALL Annual Conference 2019.

The Holy Grail for most biographical researchers is a large hoard of unpublished personal papers such as letters or diaries. In reality that quest will usually be in vain. Research must instead focus on institutional sources. Because of their long history and pervasive role in the English legal profession, the Inns of Court and their records are likely to be the starting point for many legal biographical research projects. They also very usefully illustrate what the biographical researcher is likely to gain (and unlikely to gain) from using institutional archives in general. This article, written by Guy Holborn, describes the main classes of records held in the Inns' archives and what they can yield.

Elizabeth Dawson's article outlines archival sources for legal biography held at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, focussing on primary sources of information on individuals, including the Law Society and Bar Examination results. It also summarises additional sources which provide biographical information on legal practitioners and scholars eg. the archives of The Society of Legal Scholars and the Council of Legal Education, IALS institutional archives, The Bar Council, The International Law Association and academic membership associations. The article also provides guidance to researchers on using the IALS Archive, and advice on using related external archival sources.

Professor Graham Virgo, in delivering the 3rd Willi Steiner Memorial Lecture, asks if it is possible to become a legal practitioner in England and Wales without having studied Law as an academic discipline. Is there any point in studying for a Law degree? Students study any academic subject to acquire knowledge and to develop key skills. This is just as true of students studying Law. But is the knowledge acquired by a Law student and the skills which they develop really of benefit to them in legal practice? Crucially, what can the managers of legal information do to support the particular needs of Law students and academic researchers?

At the BIALL Conference in June 2010 John Duffy presented a paper recounting his experiences of installing a bespoke desktop library interface for all the barristers, with customisation available and utilising Web 2.0 tools.

Abstract: The purpose of this paper by Uma Narayan is to provide an insight into how to use Indian legal materials for research purposes. The following subjects are covered: the evolution of the Indian legal system; systems and procedures in enacting laws in Parliament; Indian legal information sources - both government and private - as well as print and electronic sources and how to understand the method of publication of legislation.

Within UK law firms, marketing or business development departments have traditionally been responsible for the provision of business information. Sue Lamond, from Addleshaw Goddard, explains how her firm differs in that the Information Services department is responsible for this provision. The department compiles company and sector profiles and analyses, and is directly involved in the pitch process for new work from clients, supporting client partners' information and development needs.

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.

This article by former law librarian, Jennifer Smith, highlights access and security issues to consider when handling sensitive information. Jennifer is a Director of the Information Management and IT consultancy, OneIS, which specialises in working with smaller organisations with complex information management requirements. The article provides practical advice and is particularly aimed at readers working in organisations without dedicated information security professionals.

John Furlong reviews the law firm sector in Ireland as it weathers the storms of recession and the winds of change. The article provides details on the size and scale of the sector as well as statistical information on solicitors and law firms.

The aim of this qualitative study is to explore new barristers’ information literacy (IL) experiences during their transition from education to the workplace. New barristers are defined as individuals currently doing pupillage or who qualified as professionals in the last two years. Although the transition into work constitutes an important period in new barristers’ legal careers during which they face many IL challenges, so far neither new barristers’ perspectives on their IL experiences nor their transition experiences have been examined in detail. The study employed semi-structured interviews to explore the IL experiences of six new barristers.* This thesis finds that new barristers face a variety of IL challenges and thus have different transition experiences. For them, legal research has emotional implications. As professionals, they have IL needs and experiences that are dissimilar from the ones they developed during their education. This impacts on the content and delivery of IL training for new barristers. The study broadens our understanding of legal IL and new legal professionals’ IL needs. It has implications for law librarians and legal educators as it throws the complexity of new barristers’ workplace IL into relief. Finally, the study offers some recommendations for IL training.

Cath Hancock, Staff Development Officer at Cardiff University, and Alison Clayton of Cameron McKenna have supplied us with two articles addressing aspects of the recruitment and selectiom process. This article from Cath Hancock concentrates on the pre-intervies process but also looks briefly at post-interview issues.

This paper is based on the presentation given by Heather Semple of the Northern Ireland Law Society to the 39th Annual BIALL Conference held in Dublin in June 2008 and covers the historical and constitutional background to the country. The paper then considers sources of legislation and case law and provides helpful tips on how to undertake research within the complicated and difficult system of legislative publishing.

The new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, which heard its first case in October 2009, sits at the apex of the UK's justice systems. Located in the painstakingly restored Grade II Listed Middlesex Guildhall in Parliament Square, it will be the highest appeal court in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and for civil cases in Scotland. Jenny Rowe, Chief Executive of the Court, reveals how the new Justices' Library is at the heart of this landmark building.

John Furlong attended the Annual Conference of the Canadian Association of Law Librarians (CALL/ACBD) and was particularly interested in the sessions involving the way in which clients are now taught about legal materials and the importance of teaching internet literacy or “neteracy”.

In this article Beth Flerlage and Renae Satterley reflect on the library staffs’ experience of using Agile project management techniques and cloud-based tools to restructure resources at Middle Temple Library.

This article by Nicola Wakefield looks at the project to build a new academic law library at the University of Salford. It examines the tasks involved, resource planning and communication as well as highlighting successes and issues raised during the construction and design process. The conclusion of the article discusses the lessons learned from undertaking a task of this scale, as well as recommendations for others who may be about to embark on a similar project.

This survey of United States law sources, by Hester Swift, Foreign and International Law Librarian, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, is based on a presentation delivered at the BIALL Foreign and International Law Seminar on 3 March 2009.