Legal Information Management Index

The second edition of this popular handbook has been thoroughly updated by the original team of experts and some new contributors, to provide current best practice guidance on the key legal information issues for every type of service. Each of the chapters is updated to reflect general changes in law libraries and their users in the past seven years. In particular, the handbook covers new information technologies, including social networking and communication. New chapters also focus on the key topics of outsourcing, and the impact of the 2007 Legal Services Act. The second edition of this valuable handbook continues to be an important professional reference tool for managers and staff of all types of legal information services, and will help them with the challenges they face in their work every day.

Around the world, legal information managers, law librarians and other legal information specialists work in many settings: law schools, private law firms, courts, government, and public law libraries of various types. They are characterized by their expertise in working with legal information in its many forms, and by their work supporting legal professionals, scholars, or students training to become lawyers. In an ever-shrinking world and a time of unprecedented technological change, the work of legal information managers is challenging and exciting, calling on specialized knowledge and skills, regardless of where in the world they practice their profession. Their role within legal systems contributes substantially to the administration of justice and the rule of law. This International Handbook addresses the policy and strategic issues with which legal information managers and law librarians need to engage in the context of the diverse legal environments in which they work. It provides resources, analysis, and considered studies on an international basis for seasoned professionals, those about to enter the field, and anyone interested in the evolution of legal information in the twenty-first century.

Here is an essential introductory guide on all aspects of law librarianship written especially for non-law librarians, library school students, and beginning law librarians. Although there are several excellent practical handbooks and numerous articles on specific topics of law librarianship for practicing law librarians, Basics of Law Librarianship is the only resource that addresses the information needs of the student or new law librarian. Author Deborah Panella, managing librarian of a large, prominent New York law firm, explores the major areas of law librarianship. She covers vital topics such as the legal clientele, collection development, research tools, technical services, impact of technology, and management issues, and describes what makes law libraries different from other special libraries. She has written a clear, readable volume without excessive detail or the use of special terminology. The bibliography of law library literature and the index add enormously to the book’s value as a major reference.

This book will help any law firm create and maintain an effective and well-organized records management program, including administration and storage of client files and administrative records in all types of media. Firms will learn to implement an efficient information, document, and file retrieval system, thus reducing costs, avoiding ethics violations, and ensuring client satisfaction. In addition, the book covers legal and ethics compliance when it comes to management and retention of both paper and electronic files.

In order to fully grasp whether a technical solution is legal or not, one must of course be able to interpret existing legal frameworks in a digital environment. At the same time, an in-depth understanding of applicable IT law requires insights into what technology has to offer. The need for legal awareness beyond applicable law is captured in the title of this book. In general terms the wording denotes legal issues of relevance when designing, developing and administrating information systems of diffe-rent kinds. The book covers such broad application areas as e-govern-ment, knowledge management in law firms, and e-business models. The field of Law and IT is moving towards a deepened approach in terms of how substantive law interacts with regard to legal management of information systems. Mention can be made here of the steadily growing business area for lawyers which can be termed legal knowledge management. In a broad sense this comprises business positions such as product designer of legal information services, information managers associated to business law firms, security law consultants offering legal advice on risk analyses, secure legal document management, etc. The book is divided into five separate parts each covering a number of chapters within the following areas: Basic Notions of Law & IT; Automating the Law; Legal Information Retrieval; Information Management in the Legal Environment; Information Security & the Law. This anthology contains contributions from lecturers in the Stockholm University Maser Programme of Law & Information Technology representing business law firms, the information industry, government and academia. The intention is, however, that this book will not only serve the role of major course literature but also be of interest to other professionals engaged in legal aspects of IT in the modern information society.

For this new handbook BIALL (British and Irish Association of Law Librarians) has brought together an unparalleled team of respected experts to provide authoritative and up-to-date best practice guidance on the key legal information issues for every type of service, focusing particularly on the balance between electronic and printed resources, free and charged services and electronic and on-site access. Beginning with a survey of the growth of law librarianship, and an analysis of different types of services and users, the Handbook goes on to discuss research techniques for hard copy and electronic information, giving tips on how to 'know it all and find it fast'. Subsequent chapters describe how to source and organise different types of legal information; how to choose and purchase library management systems; and how to manage budgets and financial demands. A chapter on staff management, training and professional development looks both at practical day-to-day staff concerns and future skills issues. Other chapters cover copyright, data protection and ethical issues; knowledge management; and virtual learning environments. The Handbook concludes with examples of a variety of legal information services which describe the particular professional demands and conditions that they present. The BIALL Handbook of Legal Information Management offers a professional reference for managers and staff of all types of legal information services on the challenges they face in their work every day.

Information management is central to the smooth and effective operation of any legal business. It ranges in scope from email and internet access policies through to the management of client information. This book and accompanying CD-ROM examine this topic.