Defining International Law Librarianship in an Age of Multiplicity, Knowledge, and Open Access to Law

Many law librarians are experts in international law and legal research. The concept of ‘international law librarianship’, however, encompasses something more than a field of study in which a group of experts practise their profession. In the broader sense, the idea suggests a common calling, similar interests, and goals shared by librarians with a range of specialties beyond international law, working in all types of law libraries. What commonalities create and sustain the concept of international law librarianship? This paper suggests that they can be found in: law librarians’ common need to respond to the ‘multiplicity’ of information sources facing twenty-first century legal researchers; the development and nurturing of a shared base of professional knowledge; and a common commitment to work toward ensuring free and open access to legal information globally

Disintermediation

Disintermediation is a concept well-understood in almost all industries. At its simplest, it refers to the process by which intermediaries in a supply chain are eliminated, most often by digital re-engineering of process and workflow. It can often result in streamlined processes that appear more customer-focused. It can also result in the destruction of almost entire industries and occupations, and the re-design of almost every aspect of customer and client-facing activity. To date, legal education in particular has not given much attention to the process. In this article I explore some of the theory that has been constructed around the concept. I then examine some of the consequences that disintermediation is having upon our teaching and learning, and on our research on legal education, as part of the general landscape of digital media churn; evaluate its effects, and show how we might use aspects of it in two case studies that are, effectively, versions of the future of legal education

Simulation and technology in legal education: a systematic review and future research programme

This chapter is a systematic review of the literature on simulations and technology in legal education. To date, there has been no reasonably comprehensive summary of the research on simulation and technology in legal education - this in spite of a growing body of evidence that games and simulations not only have positive effects on student learning, but that there are significant correlations between the use of educational technology and student engagement. The practice of systematic review generally is relatively rare in legal ecucation, in common law jurisdictions at least. Indeed systematic reviews as a whole, such as that of Mearns et al on the effectiveness of online and blended learning in the field of education and technology, are not widely available in law as a discipline; nor are they evenly distributed in law's sub-domains

Starting An Electronic Journal In Law

Starting and operating an electronic journal is similar to starting and operating any journal; it is only the actual “mailing” of an electronic journal that is easier. The author discusses his experience in starting the Journal of Online Law, an electronic journal dealing with the legal issues of cyberspace. He describes his experience in addressing questions such as whether to charge for access, how to gain visibility for the journal, what type of articles make the most sense for electronic publication, which forms of electronic distribution make the most sense, and other issues

Law, learning, technology: reiving ower the borders

Serious consideration of our students’ learning requires us to engage with the theoretical constructs of other disciplines, some of which have much to tell us about how we teach law, how we might teach it more effectively; how our students learn and what they understand as learning. This interdisciplinary understanding is an essential component in the dialectic between theory and praxis of teaching and learning, and the law. If this is true for what might be termed more traditional learning methods, it is even more the case for computerbased educational interventions. In computer-based learning, the management of learning on many levels becomes critical to educational success, and the understanding and application of interdisciplinary theory plays an important role in the design and development of materials and in the learning events themselves

Capturing the Uncapturable: The Relationship between Universities and Copyright through the Lens of the Audio-Visual Lecture Capture Policies

The COVID-19 pandemic has consolidated a double move. On the one hand, universities are becoming increasingly aware of the strategic value of copyright. On the other hand, the necessity to embrace distance education is making universities realise that there is a wealth of issues that go beyond ownership of research outputs and reprography rights. Understanding the role of universities as copyright subjects today requires understanding the rise of the ‘platformisation’ of learning, which this chapter does by analysing the audio-visual lecture capture policies of the largest universities in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy and France. The rules on lecture capture represent a meaningful entry point to investigate strengths and weaknesses of the universities’ approach to the creation and use of protected content online. Through this lens, it is possible to reflect on both the underlying exacerbated power imbalance between universities and teachers, and the diverging approach towards copyright law across the European higher education landscape. First, the chapter considers whether the selected universities had a specific policy on lecture capture, and, if so, what it covered, and where the default rule sat in the continuum between opt-out and opt-in. Then, it investigates issues of ownership of the lecture recordings, including the incorporated slides and other materials as well as the performance rights. Ownership rules significantly affect who can exploit the recordings and under which conditions, thus raising delicate and timely questions on the management and commercialisation of recorded lectures, the protection of moral rights and the retention of economic ones. Despite stark differences between the selected countries’ approach, the clear trend towards an increased expectation that teachers have to record their lectures epitomises the digital dispossession that is inherent to the platformisation of education. Nonetheless, the oft-forgotten rights in performances can still play a role in pursuing a fairer balance between the competing interests at play