Dalhousie University Lecture on Future of Law Librarianship

The School of Information Management at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia recently hosted a talk on the future of law librarianship.

The two speakers were Kate Greene Stanhope, from the local law firm McInnes Cooper, and Anne Matthewman, from the Sir James Dunn Library at Dalhousie.

In a post on the School's blog, Matthewman describes the essence of their message:

"Will law libraries be assumed into knowledge management or information technology departments? Will their role in helping legal professionals find and understand the law fade as electronic legal information becomes prevalent and print materials fade into the background?"

"I think not. As I said Thursday evening, there will always be the need for specialists and intermediaries to manage and help interpret the burgeoning mass of information. Librarianship has always been a form of knowledge management and new techniques and software do not change that. It is up to librarians to work with information technology departments, to help IT professionals understand how information and knowledge are used, and conversely to understand ourselves how information is stored and manipulated. Additionally, it is up to us to take an active role in strategic planning for our organizations and to make sure we know and interact with the key players."