BIALL's Legal Information Literacy Statement

Today I learnt that BIALL has published its Legal Information Literacy Statement.

The Statement was devised by a Working Group comprised of law librarians from different sectors, following a period of consultation by BIALL members. It sets out legal information literacy standards, applicable to all sectors of law librarianship in the UK, that can be used when designing legal research training.
Ruth Bird, Chair of the BIALL Working Group on Legal Information Literacy explains on the BIALL website that the Statement "aims to enable law students, at both the academic and vocational stage of training, to develop comprehensive legal research skills following a five stage model. Each of the five stages is expanded into separate competency based learning outcomes. These competency based learning outcomes are derived from the legal research learning outcomes as specified by the following UK legal professional bodies – the SRA (Solicitors Regulation Authority), the BSB (Bar Standards Board) & ILEX (Institute of Legal Executives)."

The Statement can be accessed from the BIALL website:
http://www.biall.org.uk/pages/biall-legal-information-literacy-statement.html

SLS / BIALL Annual Academic Law Library Survey 2010/2011

Today I learnt how to bench-mark my academic law library (if I had one).

The report analysing the results of the SLS / BIALL Annual Academic Law Library Survey was published this week on the BIALL website. 95 academic libraries from the UK and Ireland took part in the survey and the data relate to the academic year 2010/2011. The report was compiled by David Gee, Deputy Librarian and Academic Services Manager at IALS.

The survey provides a snapshot of different aspects of the academic law library, including services provided, database subscriptions, acquisitions expenditure and staffing levels. The report also provides further analysis and commentary on how these results have changed year on year.

No surprises that the three most popular databases were Westlaw UK, Lexis Library and HeinOnline. More surprising is that expenditure on law materials per student in old universities was down 2% on 2010 whereas in new universities it was up 12% in the same period. For context on these and other trends you will need to read the report itself.

SLS / BIALL Annual Academic Law Library Survey 2010/2011 (BIALL Members only):

http://www.biall.org.uk/publications.php?action=publication&id=28

caLIM - Current Awareness for Legal Information Managers Database

Today I learnt about caLIM (Current Awareness for Legal Information Managers Database).

caLIM, a database maintained by the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Library, is based on the current awareness column in BIALL's Legal Information Management. Here's what it contains [this description is lifted directly from the database]:

The database contains bibliographic records for articles and books relevant to legal information professionals. December 1994 onwards.

You can search by author, title, free-text, category (subject index terms) and date.

caLIM on the IALS website:

http://193.62.18.232/dbtw-wpd/textbase/cadquery.htm

IALS Global Law Library homepage:

http://ials.sas.ac.uk/library/library.asp

BIALL Law Librarian Salary Survey 2012

Today I learnt how to benchmark my salary against that of other law librarians using the BIALL Law Librarian Salary Survey.

The survey allows law librarians and information professionals to compare their pay and benefits with colleagues in academic, private or public sectors. It is a useful benchmarking tool for salary negotiations. You need to be a member of BIALL (British and Irish Association of Law Librarians) to complete the survey and to access the completed survey (and back issues). The 2012 survey is now open.

The BIALL website provides further information and a link for BIALL members to complete the 2012 survey:
http://www.biall.org.uk/publications.php?action=publication&id=27

BIALL’s Duplicates Exchange Scheme is back

Today I learnt that BIALL’s Duplicates Exchange Scheme (for exchanging duplicate journal issues) is back.

For a wee while we all thought the scheme was no longer, but it is still going strong and celebrates its 40th anniversary this year! The BIALL website describes the scheme as follows:

“The scheme is the means by which all Libraries can share resources, helping both large and small firms, academic and government Libraries. The scheme facilitates the obtaining of missing periodical parts, old textbooks and directories and off-loading surplus material you can’t face throwing in the bin.”*

It operates 3 times a year (October, February, June). You have to be a member to take part in the scheme and the annual subscription price is £32 plus VAT for organisations or individuals who are BIALL members or £50 plus VAT for non-members. More information on how the scheme works can be found on the BIALL website:

*http://www.biall.org.uk/pages/duplicates-exchange-scheme.html

Wildy BIALL Law Librarian of the Year Award 2012 - Nominations now open

Today I learnt that nominations are now open for the Wildy BIALL Law Librarian of the Year Award 2012.

The award will be given to an individual librarian who has "made a significant contribution to the work of BIALL and/or the legal information profession."* The award will be presented at the BIALL conference in Belfast in June 2012. All BIALL members are invited to nominate someone by contacting the BIALL Awards and Bursaries Committee. Further details on the BIALL website:

* http://www.biall.org.uk/news.php/148/nominations-open-wildy-biall-law-librarian-of-the-year-award-2012

BIALL's Bursaries to Attend Job-Related Courses

Today I learnt that BIALL offers bursaries to attend any relevant, work-related course or seminar, even if it is not related to libraries or the law. It would be completely acceptable to apply for a bursary to attend a course on, for example, management skills or intranet software, as long as it is relevant to your job. To apply for a bursary you must be a personal member of BIALL. All you need to do is complete the application form on the website explaining why you would like to attend the nominated event.

The following factors are taken into consideration when the committee assesses your application:

• the quality of application
• whether or not you have received BIALL bursary in recent years
• if there is an expectation of future commitment and performance in the law library profession
• proven or potential contribution to and /or participation in the Association's activities
• the ability to be a good ambassador for BIALL, including being prepared to participate in conference sessions and activities

If your application is accepted, you would be expected to write a report that may be published in the BIALL Newsletter or Legal Information Management.

Further information is available on the BIALL website:

http://www.biall.org.uk/pages/bursaries-to-attend-other-job-related-courses.html

PS. I'm cheating a bit with this one, as I knew about the bursaries before today. But it's good to spread the word...

FTSE 350 Constituent Companies - Current and Historical Lists

Today I learnt where to find current and historical lists of FTSE 350 constituent companies.

First I tried the London Stock Exchange website and the Financial Times. Both have good data but not exactly what I needed today. The FTSE itself provides a current list, but for historical data you need to contact the sales team. That was no good, as I didn't want to incur a large cost.

So then I looked at BIALL's How Do I? Wiki which had an entry on the exact same thing I needed, called "FTSE indices - lists of constituent companies". From this I learnt that there is a quarterly publication called Company Guide (from Charterhouse Communications) which includes FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies. Hurray!

Finally I contacted City Business Library, which holds the last 3 years of Company Guide, and I was kindly informed that their neighbour, the Guildhall Library, holds even longer runs that you can photocopy from. Job done. Whether or not my enquirer will make the trip up to Guildhall is another matter...

LSE's Historical Statistics:
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/statistics/historic/historic.htm

FT's Market Data Archive:
http://markets.ft.com/research/Markets/Data-Archive
FTSE's Current Constituents:

http://www.ftse.com/Indices/UK_Indices/Constituents.jsp

BIALL's How Do I? Wiki. Page on FTSE Indices:
http://biallpr.pbworks.com/w/page/5259177/FTSE%20indices%20-%20lists%20of%20constituent%20companies

City of London Libraries:
http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Leisure_and_culture/Libraries/City_of_London_libraries/

Kate Follen's 50 States in 50 Weeks US Legislation Challenge

Today I learnt about Kate Follen's US State legislation project.

Kate Follen, President of Monroe Information Services, has set herself the challenge of creating links to legislation for all 50 US states in just 50 weeks. Week by week she will provide the links in her blog:
http://monroeinfoblog.typepad.com/my_weblog/

There's a link to this on the US Legislation page of BIALL's excellent How Do I? Wiki:
http://biallpr.pbworks.com/w/page/5259246/US%20legislation

This nugget comes from the latest BIALL newsletter:
http://www.biall.org.uk/data/files/Publications/Newsletter/11_09_Newsletter.pdf