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The role of the librarian has changed fundamentally in recent years with the information explosion caused by the advent of the Internet. For academic librarians this has opened new challenges in the form of digital library developments, a growing need for information skills training and even participation in course design.

The library can no longer be viewed as a quiet haven for the storage of books and journals and is now at the forefront of some of the most innovative developments in the use of ICT within law schools. In this article from the Autumn 2002 issue of Directions Ann Priestley, then UKCLE Information Resources Developer and lapsed librarian, takes a look at some developments in legal information provision in higher education.

Law librarians have long played a key role in law schools, but recently concerns have been raised that changes in their role have, far from opening up new opportunities and recognition, led to a decline. BIALL, the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians, undertakes an annual survey of academic law libraries, which gives invaluable information on general activities such as database usage. The latest survey, published in May and downloadable from the summer 2002 issue of Legal Information Management, went further in looking for the first time at two key areas in a bid to counter these fears; liaison with the law department and legal research skills training.

The survey revealed that the number of institutions with a dedicated law librarian is in fact fairly static, although there is a downward trend. Responses on the liaison role gave evidence that law librarians are involved in supporting law departments in many ways other than simply providing physical materials in the library, but it is not entirely clear whether the impetus is from the law department or from the law librarian. The survey commented that “academics may think the law librarian would not want to sit through departmental meetings and believe they are being kind by not inviting them”!

The area of legal research skills training is key, tuning in as it does with the library profession’s current focus on information literacy and the spur to academics to ensure that their students develop transferable skills. To find out more about information skills training in higher education in general, visit the website of The Big Blue, a JISC-funded project which contains a toolkit designed to provide sources of inspiration and practical advice.

Focusing specifically on legal research skills training, the Big Blue contains a case study looking at the development of an online information skills module for the practical legal research course of the BVC and LPC at Manchester Metropolitan University. The National Centre for Legal Education (UKCLE’s predecessor) published a guidance note on teaching legal research, which provides invaluable guidance and advice on how to develop and run a legal research skills course, with sections on curriculum development, materials, assessment and evaluation (editor’s note – the second edition of Teaching legal research was published by UKCLE in 2006).

(Figures taken from Helen Young’s article Are academic law librarians in decline?, part of the SPTL/BIALL Academic Law Library Survey 2000/2001)

On undergraduate courses 60% of legal research skills instruction is incorporated into a module, and on vocational courses 52%.

A wide range of teaching methods are being used to deliver this instruction, calling for a range of teaching skills:

(Figures taken from the SPTL/BIALL Academic Law Library Survey 2000/2001, compiled by Cathie Jackson)

Only 18% of respondents reported extensive formal support from their law schools for their legal research skills instruction, and as yet law librarians do not have much direct control over this role. However these joint activities can be seen as the way forward, another way for librarians to liase effectively with academic colleagues.

Legal skills instruction has for several years now been supplemented by written database guides, and the survey showed that only 23% of institutions had produced no in-house guides. However, such activity is becoming too onerous and time-consuming, and their place is being taken by national guides, such as Intute’s Internet for Law.

A project which already shows tangible results in this area is the HEFCE-funded Case Project, a feasibility study into the possibility of enhancing access to legal research materials through increased collaboration. This has now resulted in a fully fledged Legal Information Gateway for Yorkshire, with a catalogue covering the seven university libraries involved in the project and online database tutorials.

Last Modified: 9 July 2010