Undeniably the perception of success of an information unit or library in a law firm (or any other organisation for that matter) is down to two main factors. The level of support from the organisation is one, and often that could be interpreted as attitude and/or the level of the person who is responsible for allocating budget etc (ie the library partner) and/or how influential he or she is. The second: the way in which the Library or Information Unit Manager operates, their influencing and interpersonal skills, their general management of the information function, in particular creating the perception of being good value for money and invariably providing the right (quality) information in the right quantity at the right time.

Professions of all types are being affected by globalisation of markets and the information technology revolution. The information world is developing rapidly and increasing numbers of people are being attracted to working within this modern sphere, many of whom have had no formal information training. Does this mean that a library and information qualification is no longer a requirement and if so why As an information graduate in the modern information world, I have two choices. I can take each day as it comes and become a pawn in a high stakes chess game played by others or I can take individual responsibility and develop my own career.

First of all, apologies for the title. This article is based on a talk I was asked to give to the Welsh Law Librarians Group at their inaugural meeting. I was allocated the graveyard slot in the afternoon and it was intended to be something to make everyone wake up. There is nothing like suggesting librarians are no longer needed to do just that.The purpose of this piece is to look at developments in legal information provision — and information provision generally — over the past five to ten years.

Although one can read differing accounts of what is involved in information auditing, most commentators would probably accept that audits are, in some form or another, a type of investigation undertaken for the purpose of optimising information use within organisations. In practice this can range from the compilation of a straightforward inventory of published materials to an analysis of information use and flow across the whole of an organisation's operations. Despite differences in scope, most audits are likely to consist of a survey of the organisation combined with some form of gap analysis.

In the identification, evaluation and acquisition of suitable computer related software products and skills, as well as Internet products and skills, organisations have continuously sought to streamline their business processes. Historically the route taken has been dictated by the outcome of previous decisions — organisations have been governed by their chosen hardware and software environments or had to justify significant re-investment in a change of direction. This could, however, all be about to change radically in the immediate future.

In the essential work, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web by Lou Rosenfeld and Peter Morville (ISBN 1-56592-282-4), the authors state that the primary job of the information architect is to:

clarify the mission and vision for the site, balancing the needs of its sponsoring organisation and the needs of its audiences

determine what content and functionality the site will contain

specify how users will find information in the site by defining its organisation, navigation, labelling, and searching systems

map out how the site will accommodate change and growth over time.

These points rather succinctly describe what an information architect sets out to accomplish for any given site and/or situation. But given these points what should someone ‘do’ to implement improved information architecture (IA) for a site? Where do you start?

‘You'll be bored’ they told me, when I left my post in a busy law firm library and took up the role of Information Manager at the Bristol Law Society, surrounded by leather-bound books and cherry-wood shelves. I think it was a problem of perception: what would I do with my time without having partners demanding their research by yesterday, if not sooner? Would people really want me to provide very old cases all day long? Just what exactly was the local law society library for?

First, here is a quick recap for those not familiar with the Library and the Document Supply Service. The Institute Library is a postgraduate academic research library, known for its collections of foreign and international law, particularly Commonwealth law. The main funding for the Institute and its library comes from HEFC. However, in our experience, the collections need to be available to practitioners. Lawyers may not always be willing or able to visit the library in person so a commercial document supply service was devised in the early 1990s, to meet a legal need and to help serve the administration of justice. A significant side-effect of the document supply service has become its ability to generate income to supplement the annual grant from HEFC. The workings of the scheme are set out fully in Gee (1999) but, in outline, practitioners must Join the Library as subscribers and are then able to access our priced document supply service. Full details are available at http://ials.sas.ac.uk/library/iservice/iservice.htm.

An indexed and annotated copy of the Employment Rights Act 1996 as amended at 1st January 2000, including amendments made by the Employment Relations Act 1999, is included on the professional area of this Web site. DiscLaw Publishing Ltd provides e-LOAD (employment Law on a Disc). The subscription service includes CD-ROMs updated every six months plus a password to their Internet site, updated every three weeks with the latest employment law developments. The site also contains lots of free information based on an earlier issue of the CD.

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On flight NW43 from Gatwick I am the excitable passenger in seat 22B glancing nervously at the permafrost several thousand feet below as we head rapidly over Greenland (?) for the USA. I am travelling (with much thanks to BIALL and AALL) towards the 94th AALL Meeting and Conference (my first) being held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where I am due to speak in session H3 about the Social Science Information Gateway and the work led by IALS to develop the law section of the Internet Gateway (http://www.sosig.ac.uk/law).

I saw the ad for ‘Head Librarian’ at Central European University in Prague in July 1993 after I had stopped for coffee in a grotty service area on the M5, en route from the impossible job in Glasgow to the exciting job in Somerset (holding both of those down simultaneously was an interesting geographical challenge in itself…). Of course, I knew I had no chance at all, but applied anyway, and by some minor miracle they offered me the post.

You will all have noticed the proliferation of US law firms with offices in the UK, mainly London. Sidley Austin Brown & Wood (SABW) was formed in May 2001 as a result of a merger and is currently the second largest US law firm office in London (27 partners, 85 fee earners, 3 full-time library staff, one part timer, one freelance.) Like most of the US firms in London SABW concentrates on financial and corporate work — international finance, corporate securities, capital markets, tax and property.

I came to Thailand 18 months ago. An amazing opportunity had arisen to work in Bangkok and as my ‘other half’ was also being transferred, off we set. The contract was to work in our Bangkok office for 2/3 years in a regional role supplying commercial information and research to the five Asian offices and, of course, experience the life of another country.

Many years ago, not long after I first started work in an academic library in Northern New South Wales, I had a conversation with a colleague about how exciting it would be to work in ‘an old, traditional university like Oxford’ in what seemed from a distance, a ‘real university’ as opposed to the smallish modern one I was currently employed in. This vague musing on a quiet afternoon during the stifling build up of a regular afternoon tropical storm was strangely prophetic. In between assisting individual students with their research into the relationship between aliens and the Internet (I'm not joking), I was dreaming about the musty old collections, academic robes, traditions and reading rooms which reeked of intellectual strain and rigour. Well, you know what they say about being careful what you wish for!

The South African law library holds a similar function to that of its English counterpart. It provides a primary source to describe the law and how it has changed and grown over time. South African attorneys fulfil a similar role to solicitors and South African advocates can be equated with barristers. While attorneys have recently gained rights of audience in the High Court, most attorneys continue to brief advocates in complex matters due to their specialised knowledge and skills.