Legal Information Specialists

Essential Law for Information Professionals, fourth edition, provides up-to-date and easy-to-follow practical guidance on the law as it affects information management and the principles underlying practice. Using individual cases to illustrate these core principles and contextualise regulations, it cuts through the legalese to provide exactly what’s needed in an easily digestible format showing examples of how the law has worked in practice in specific legal cases. The book gives readers the tools to quickly assess legal hazards and identify solutions. Information law is a particularly fast moving area of law. In the eight years that have passed since the best-selling third edition was published, there have been many changes to the legislation and numerous legal cases which have further developed our understanding of the law. The fourth edition fully reflects those changes, which include:

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.

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.

Library, information and knowledge professionals are often at the front line of managing and monitoring their organisation’s legal compliance and have roles and responsibilities in both complying with the law and taking advantage of its provisions. To do their jobs effectively, they need not only to understand the law, but also to develop the skills, confidence and organisational policy frameworks to apply the law’s principles to their context of use. They need the knowledge and skills to help them decide what is acceptable and to develop appropriate risk aware approaches when things are not clear-cut. Information Law: Compliance for librarians, information professionals and knowledge managers provides an overview of important information law issues along with tools and guidance to help readers establish a framework so that their organisation can both comply with its legal responsibilities and support a suitably risk aware environment which optimises access and use. Based on the authors’ many years in professional practice and on their proven ‘Compliance Methodology’, it will help readers understand the legal issues that are central to the information they hold or that they wish to access.

The changes brought about by digital technology and the consequent explosion of information known as Big Data have brought opportunities and challenges in all areas of society, and the law is no exception. This book, Knowledge of the Law in the Big Data Age contains a selection of the papers presented at the conference ‘Law via the Internet 2018’, held in Florence, Italy, on 11-12 October 2018. This annual conference of the ‘Free Access to Law Movement’ (http://www.fatlm.org) hosted more than 60 international speakers from universities, government and research bodies as well as EU institutions. Topics covered range from free access to law and Big Data and data analytics in the legal domain, to policy issues concerning access, publishing and the dissemination of legal information, tools to support democratic participation and opportunities for digital democracy. The book is divided into 3 sections: Part I provides an introductory background, covering aspects such as the evolution of legal science and models for representing the law; Part II addresses the present and future of access to law and to various legal information sources; and Part III covers updates in projects, initiatives, and concrete achievements in the field. The book provides an overview of the practical implementation of legal information systems and the tools to manage this special kind of information, as well as some of the critical issues which must be faced, and will be of interest to all those working at the intersection of law and technology.

This is a no-nonsense book, written by a leading authority. It covers the ever-changing role of the information officer and how to survive. It discusses such issues as: what does a law information officer do on a day-to-day basis and the mechanics and processes for supplying information; a practical guide to enquiries and undertaking research; and how to set up and manage an information service. Importantly, the author does not take a ‘dry’ approach to the subject; rather, he discusses the following contentious issues: given the amount of information available on lawyers’ PCs, are information officers really necessary?; when should the information officer undertake the research and when should the lawyer do it; will information officers become redundant as the role of the professional support lawyer becomes more important. In essence, the book analyses the changing role of the law information officer and serves as a practical survival guide. Based on practical, day-to-day experience Jargon free; no ‘high-faluting’ theories Examines the threat (if such it be) of professional support lawyers