My first ‘Editorial’ piece as the new Editor of Legal Information Management (LIM) is deliberately brief. This is for two reasons. Firstly, I do not wish to steal any thunder from Jennefer Aston's excellent Guest Editorial for this autumn issue. Secondly, with so many substantial articles to include, space proved to be very much at a premium. This LIM is truly an issue dedicated to Ireland. Only the regular Current Awareness section and two short pieces under Checklist and Practical Matters stops this issue from being a ‘clean sweep’ as our theme takes over the entirety of the publication, such was the enthusiasm of our Irish colleagues to contribute.
However, I do wish to express some gratitude in the course of this editorial. First and foremost, my thanks go to Christine Miskin from whom I have taken over as Editor. Christine has been outstanding in the role and will be an extremely hard act to follow. Her experience in editorial matters is second to none. She was Hon. Editor of the Law Librarian (the previous title of this journal) from 1990 to 1995 and, from 2002 until 2011, returned as Editor following the change of name to Legal Information Management. Christine's enormous contribution both to the profession in general, and to BIALL, were recognised at the BIALL Annual Dinner held in Newcastle in June 2011 when the BIALL President was delighted to present her with Life Membership of the Association. We wish Christine a long and very happy retirement.
Secondly, where this issue is concerned, I am particularly grateful to Jennefer Aston for acting as Guest Editor. The range of papers submitted encapsulates fully the law library and legal information business in Ireland, both north and south of the border. Jennefer has been instrumental in encouraging excellent writing and efficiently gathering the articles together for publication. It seems only fitting that, following this selection of articles, the BIALL Annual Conference will return next year to Ireland, on this occasion to the North, and will take place in the city of Belfast.
We received many other submissions for this issue that were on matters other than Irish legal information and, whilst holding those articles in reserve, I am grateful to those authors for their patience. These articles will form part of the winter issue of LIM. One consequence of this is the delay in publication of the report by Dr Peter Clinch on the SLS/BIALL Academic Law Library Survey 2009/2010. As occurred last year, this article will appear in the winter issue. In the meantime, BIALL members can access the results of the survey via the BIALL website.
The Four Courts, which overlooks the river Liffey, was designed by Thomas Cooley and James Gandon, and was opened in 1796. It remains in use, and is a symbol of the Irish legal system, though criminal trials have moved to a new building up-river.
