An Overview of Health Law Research and an Annotated Bibliography

This analysis and the following bibliography are designed to meet the needs of researchers attempting to locate information in the field of health law. The analysis is written from the perspective of law librarians, but the same information retrieval problems apply to health administrators, hospital and medical counsel, and academic lawyers interested in health law and administration

Letter to Carol West regarding award of a Lucile Elliott Scholarship, April 17, 1979

A letter from Claire Germain to Carol West accpeting the Lucile Elliott Scholarship awarded to her

Legal Information Management in a Global and Digital Age: Revolution and Tradition

This article presents an overview of the public policy issues surrounding digital libraries, and describes some current trends, such as Web 2.0, the social network. It discusses the impact of globalization and the Internet on international and foreign law information, the free access to law movement and open access scholarship, and mass digitization projects, then turns to some concerns, focusing on preservation and long term access to born digital legal information and authentication of official digital legal information It finally discusses new roles for librarians, called upon to evaluate the quality of information; teach legal research methodology; and be advocates in information policy. Law librarians are encouraged to join professional associations and undergo continuous professional education. A recent development in the U.S.A., to add a legal research test on the bar exam, is of interest to the whole world, because it signifies the importance of a sound legal research training to the competent practice of law

Worldwide Access to Foreign Law: International & National Developments Toward Digital Authentication

This paper was originally presented at the World Library & Information Congress of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), Helsinki, Finland, August 2012, as part of a panel on Promoting Global Access to Law: Developing an Open Access Index for Official Authenticated Legal Information, Part II. Europe. http://conference.ifla.org/ifla78/programme-and-proceedings-day/2012-08-14. It focuses on worldwide access to the official word of the law, specifically to statutes, codes, regulations, court decisions, and international agreements in different foreign countries. The importance of improving global access to foreign law was highlighted at a 2012 joint European Commission/Hague Conference on Private International Law, with the hope for a global instrument to facilitate access to foreign law in civil and commercial matters. The paper discusses the challenges of digital law and the importance of authentication of official legal information worldwide. It retraces the history of what happened in the USA at the federal and state levels, in particular the successful information policy advocacy by law librarians that led to the enactment of the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act (UELMA) in 2012. It highlights the role of law librarians in the digital age and their concern for the sustainability of the digital format. Much effort has been expended on moving legal information from a preserved state (print) to an accessible state (digital). It is important to ensure as well that accessible legal information has a preserved (official, authentic -- hence reliable) venue. The Conclusion mentions a few prospects for the future, and a possible role for IFLA to develop a set of standards to encourage governments worldwide to authenticate their official legal information. This might fit well with IFLA’s stature as the major forum to influence information policy at the international level

Moving into Management from Within

In law libraries as in other organizations, employees are promoted into management positions within the existing staff. Ms. Germain discusses models for internal career advancement and provides practical advice for newly promoted managers