The Role of Legal Librarians
Legal Article GuideBy: Robert Proctor
A legal librarian’s role will vary according to the size of the library in which they work. In a small library the librarian will have many diverse tasks; however working in a large library provides the opportunity for specialization into particular fields of law or aspects of legal librarianship. In the academic world, law librarians can be an important part of the community. They are often responsible for teaching students to use both print and online research tools effectively and for providing assistance to law school professors. And of course they are responsible for operating the library in the same way as a traditional librarian, in acquiring and cataloging new reference material, maintaining existing material, and providing information on the materials and services the library can provide.
In Government law libraries, the role of the legal librarian is similar in that they are responsible for the long-term and day-to-day running of the library. However in a Government law library, the legal librarian will often provide assistance to both prosecution and defense lawyers as well as judges. In addition they will often advise members of the public who are looking for legal information on diverse subjects such as wills or small claims proceedings.
In a private law firm, the librarian is again responsible for maintaining, enlarging, and cataloging collections of legal reference materials as well as ensuring that lawyers and paralegals have easy access to the material the library contains. Many private legal libraries are small in comparison to those held by law schools or government institutions, and therefore the librarian working here is likely to oversee many different aspects of running the library.
Wherever they work, a legal librarian should have a good understanding of the legal system, knowledge of the terminology of the legal profession and the literature of the law, and an understanding of the legal and ethical requirements of both the legal and librarian professions. As well as all of this, a good legal librarian will be knowledgeable in using technology to catalogue and retrieve information using a variety of research tools and databases.
In the UK there is currently no formal qualification required to work as a legal librarian, although of course relevant qualifications – in either Law or Librarianship – are a plus, especially if you don’t have much work experience. The British and Irish Association of Law Librarians (BIALL), runs a one-year evening course in law for librarians in association with the University of Westminster.
Robert Proctor is part of Legal Week Jobs, a website specialising in legal jobs including gradute, legal secretary, solicitor & paralegal jobs.
For more information please visit Legal Week Jobs.
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