Wrapping Up 2013 for Law Firm Librarians

Kate Greene Stanhope, Manager Library & Information Services at McInnes Cooper, has written a post called Wrapping Up 2013 on the On Firmer Ground blog.

On Firmer Ground is a blog about law firm librarians and is a joint project of the Legal Division of the Special Libraries Association, the Private Law Libraries Special Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries, the Canadian Association of Law Libraries and the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians.

In her post, she explains how she reached out to colleagues in Canadian law firm libraries to share "their thoughts on what kept them busy this year and what 2014 might look like".

The big themes are:

• Beyond legal research – The intersection of library and marketing: "More law libraries are collaborating with marketing, whether formally or informally, to lend expertise in the areas of Competitive and Business Intelligence."
• KM for Library & Information Services: "Legal information professionals continue to drive Knowledge Management within firms, but KM practices have relevance in helping us manage our internal know-how, specifically the collective knowledge amassed in the provision of research and reference services. "
• Prominent Roles in KM and Technology Projects

In concluding, Greene Stanhope writes:

"Looking ahead, the dynamic nature of the work we do as Legal Information Professionals will probably be reflected in the changing composition of our groups. At Lawson Lundell, an innovative, team approach is described in the advertisement for a new position, Manager of Information Resources. And, in 2014, my group will welcome the firm’s Conflict and Audit Coordinators as we become more involved in the life cycle of information within the firm, from new business intake to closed file management, and everything in between."