The role of the legal information officer

Paperback  200 pages  ISBN 184334047x      £39.00

Hardback  200 pages  ISBN 1843340488      £55.00

Covers the changing role of the legal information officer and how to survive. Discusses such issues as: what does a law information officer do and the mechanics and processes for supplying information; a practical guide to enquiries and undertaking research; and how to set up and manage an information service. Importantly, the author does not take a €dry€ approach to the subject; rather, he discusses the following contentious issues: given the amount of information available on lawyers€ PCs, are information officers really necessary?; when should the information officer undertake the research and when should the lawyer do it?; will information officers become redundant as the role of the professional support lawyer becomes more important?

Key Features

• Based on practical, day-to-day experience; jargon free; no high-falutin theories
• Examines the threat (if such it be) of professional support lawyers

The Author

Trevor Harvey is as an Information Officer at Clifford Chance, the world's largest law firm. He has worked in the information profession for over 20 years.

Readership

The book is aimed at: information professionals working for law firms; those individuals looking to move in to the legal sector; potential entrants to the information profession in general; and academic librarians keen to gain an insight of another sector.

Contents

Personnel - qualifications, skills needed; types of personnel working as information staff and their different roles, such as supervisory, purchasing hard copy and online material; the jobs of administration, researching; indexing, cataloguing and classification; building databases, intranets; providing current awareness services

Management - how to manage stock (covering practical management, legal and technical issues): hard copy material and electronic information; how to manage information staff and other personnel; the budget € setting/negotiating prioritising and planning; being a one €man€ band € how to operate as a single operator in charge of a small library

Research and enquiries € who asks the questions (partners, lawyers, trainee lawyers and support staff); the psychology of the user; how to deal with and assist the user, including how much help should you give?; knowing your sources € if you don€t know the answer, where can you look?

Marketing and promoting your service - raising your profile within the department/firm € methods such as current awareness bulletins, team meetings, training sessions, tours, targeting particular user groups. Includes a discussion of the practicalities of these issues and relative merits

Personal growth and development € get out from behind your PC (how to get as high a profile as possible)!; outside the work place € the art of networking!

The future of the information professional € what do employers want?; information officers and librarians still have an image problem/will they be needed?; information officers and librarians come cheaper than lawyers!; do they think differently from a lawyer?; the threat of professional support lawyers?; career choices and management and what benefits can and should you expect