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.

Heather Memess and Steve Whittle of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies describe the recently launched UK gateway to the internet via the Resource Discovery Network. Intute: Law (previously SOSIG) covers the best internet sources of law for the academic community. They are evaluated by experts at Bristol and IALS and cover a wide range of materials. Information on how to best exploit the system is given, together with details of additional services and functionality offered, including workbooks and an online legal research tutorial.

In this very practical and useful Checklist, Anne Coles and Davina Gifford of LG guide us through the steps involved in moving a corporate library to a new building, whilst at the same time re-branding the information service. They highlight the most important issues to consider at the pre-planning and planning stages; the move itself and after the move. The most important message is not to enter unwinnable battles and to prepare as thoroughly as possible.

Stella Dextre Clarke provided an article for our Winter 2003 issue on the government's drive towards interoperability, and the role of a controlled vocabulary in easing access to information. Here is an update, casting light on the relevance of the government's standards, from the viewpoint of our profession.

This is the second contribution by Lesley Dingle and Daniel Bates to an expanding audio and photographic archive, which focuses on the careers of prominent academics who have a long affiliation with the Faculty of Law at Cambridge University.

Compiled by Katherine Read and Laura Griffiths at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies

Laura Griffiths provides information about the portals or gateways of qualitatively evaluated links to legal information on the internet, including FLAG, INTUTE: Law and eagle-I, and repositories of information produced by IALS and its partners such as FLARE and the Current Legal Research Topics database.

In the latest article in our Checklist series, James Mullan and Claire Ireland of CMS Cameron McKenna provide an extremely practical and useful guide to the process of moving the administration of all aspects, including circulation systems, of the acquisition of journals, loose-leafs and other periodical publications to a subscription agent. They consider the advantages and disadvantages and point out potential pitfalls.

At the 2004 BIALL Conference the Legal Online Resources Directory (LORD) was launched. The Legal Information Group (LIG) is currently developing the Directory to meet the needs of today's information professionals. James Mullan, Chair of LIG, gives a history of the LORD project and an outline of its possible future.

This article by Sarah Batts discusses findings from a dissertation research project investigating LPC and BVC students' use of resources in supporting their legal research. Although there are many similarities between the two cohorts in the tasks they find difficult, or their use of a virtual learning environment, there are also key differences in the sources of help they would turn to first to look for answers to problems. This understanding of the different emphasis that students place on different resources provokes a number of questions which, if addressed, could help promote a positive library experience for students.

Melinda Renner, from the University of New Brunswick, writes about her experiences as a New England Law Library Consortium International Fellow who was seconded to the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies in London. She describes the visits she made and her impressions of how academic librarianship in Britain and Canda appear to share many of the same issues and problems.

Liz Polding writes about her experiences of integrating e-learning resources into existing law courses at the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice, and shares her experiences of how to ensure that their introduction and use is accepted by tutors who may not have much relevant experience. Resources used include open source options, such as Moodle, webcams, pod casts, interactive noticeboards, chatrooms and e-portfolios.

This article comes from Sue Woodman, the outgoing Chair of ALLA and brings us up to date with developments down under

This paper by Nicola Wakefield was presented at the BIALL 2006 Conference in Brighton. The presentation discussed the formation of a working partnership between the School of Law Staff and the Law Library at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU). The two parties have worked together successfully for many years to embed legal information skills training into all law teaching programmes. The paper looks at how collaboration occurred, what training materials have been developed, working methods, and the reasons for the project's success.