2022

87th IFLA General Conference 26-29 August, Dublin, Ireland

Inspire, Engage, Enable, Connect

Even thought this year many of our members were unable to join in person the Conference, we had a wonderful time in Dublin. After the first Standing Committee Meeting, the Law Section members visited the Bar of Ireland, to learn about the provision of legal research in Ireland from Robert Cary, Sub-librarian at the Law Library, and a tour of the Four Courts building which is celebrating its centenary in 2022.

Round Hall of the Four-Courts

The Law Section sponsored two presentations.

Confronting and Overcoming Legal Restrictions on Access to Law: Librarian Engagement to Free the Law.

Chaired by Leslie A. Street, William & Mary Law School, Wolf Law Library, United States.

In spite of the advancement of freely available online legal information, considerable tension still exists between the governments of the countries of the world and commercial publishers when it comes to the need to provide the laws of the countries of the world freely to all people.

This program explored how restrictive use policies (copyright, terms of use, pay for access) affect the public’s ability to publicly access the law and libraries’ abilities to share law and preserve it. It also looked at how law can be used to protect and ensure public access to the law as well.

Presentations:

The State of Access to African Government and Legal Information. What’s copyright got to do with it? By Mariya Badeva-Bright. African Legal Information Institute, Department of Public Law, University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Law Library of Congress’ Legal Gazettes and Copyright Clearance Project. By Aslihan Bulut, Law Librarian of Congress, United States.

A framework of documentary standards for law, by Ginevra Peruginelli, Institute of Legal Informatics and Judicial Systems, National Research Council of Italy, Italy.

The second presentation was organized between the Law Libraries, Government Information and Official Publications Sections: Engaging with Copyright in Official Publications of Government and Law Libraries: Collaborating for Innovative Solutions

Engaging with Copyright in Official Publications of Government and Law Libraries: Collaborating for Innovative Solutions

Chair: Leslie A. Street, William & Mary Law School, Wolf Law Library, United States

Speaker: Mariya Badeva-Bright, African Legal Information Institute, Department of Public Law, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Speaker: Cornelie Butz, Germany

Speaker: Emily Landriault, Brian Dickson Law Library, University of Ottawa, Canada

Speaker: Carol Riccalton, Library and Preservation Services, European Commission, Luxembourg

This open interactive session facilitated conversations between the panel and attendees on how copyright affects access to information and the work of Librarians working in Government, Parliament and Law libraries. The program featured a panel discussion and Q&A offering opportunities for participants to share their perspectives and understanding of copyright.

Panel presentation      Chair
The Cultural Evening took place at the dlr LexIcon Central Library and Cultural Centre in Dún Laoghaire, on the shores of Dublin Bay. Along with food and festivities, we had the opportunity to learn about Irish culture through literature, myths, legends and spoken word performances. On the large outdoor area, we all enjoyed Irish music and dance.
Cultural evening

2019

85th IFLA General Conference and Assembly 24-30 August, Athens, Greece

Libraries: dialogue for change

Welcome sign to IFLA WLIC Athens 2019

Congratulations to all the Law Libraries Section members on receiving the Special Mention for Partnership and Collaboration award for our work worldwide! A special Thank You to Sonia Poulin and the team that participated in all the workshops in Africa! Well deserved!

Law libraries section session in Athens 2019

A big Thank You for all their work to Marisol Floren and Michel Fraysse as they finished their SC mandate

A big Thank You for all their work to Marisol Floren and Michel Fraysse as they finished their SC mandate

Sessions

Session 115 Telling Our Stories – Law Libraries

1. The Virgil Darnell Hawkins Collection: A Special Collection at the Heart of an HBCU Law School

Yolanda Jones, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, United States

2. And the Seed of a Bequest Sprouted: The Wainwright collection of the Nahum Gelber Law Library at McGill University

Sonia Smith, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

3. Understanding #MeToo by Listening to the Past: Preserving, Mining, and Promoting the American Bar Association’s Women Trailblazers in the Law Oral History Collection @ Stanford Law School

Beth Williams, Stanford University, United States

Session 167 Access to Laws of the Countries of the World – Law Libraries

1. Helping legal aid providers and vulnerable communities access law in China through a robust legal information service system

Joan Lijun Liu, The Institute of Humanities and Social Science Data, Fudan University Library, China

2. Access and knowledge of the law: supporting migrants in understanding law

Ginevra Peruginelli, Chiara Fioravanti, Francesco Romano and Sara Conti, National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Legal Informatics and Judicial Systems, Frienze, Italy

3. GOALI Goes to Johannesburg – Training and Outreach in South Africa for Research4Life’s Global Online Access to Legal Information Program

Ariel A. E. Scotese, Jacob Sayward and Nina E. Scholtz, Cornell Law Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, United States

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2018

Atelier pour l’open access à l’information juridique: 3 et 4 décembre 2018, Dakar, Sénégal.

World Library and Information Congress: 84th IFLA General Conference and Assembly, 24-30 August, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Theme: The Role of Government and Law Libraries in Times of Crisis and Turmoil. Law Libraries with Government Libraries.

Monday, August 27, 2018: 11:45 – 12:45. Plenary Theater – Session 150

Chair: Heather Casey (Georgetown University)

Speakers: Jane Sanchez, Library of Congress, United States, Yolanda Patrice Jones, Florida A&M University, United States, The Special Access to Justice Mission of an HBCU, Edita Bačić, Faculty of Law, University of Split, Croatia, Neutrality versus Proactivity in Libraries During Turbulent Times.

Theme: Law as a Life Skill. Law Libraries with Public Libraries

Wednesday, August 29, 2018: 10:45 – 11:45. Ballroom 2 – Session 232

Chair: Sonia Poulin (Justice Education Society)

Speakers: Dave Nolette, Justice Education Society, Vancouver, Canada, Marc Legacy, Justice Education Society, Vancouver, Canada, Bonnie Hough, Judicial Council of California, San Francisco, United States.

2017

World Library and Information Congress: 83rd IFLA General Conference and Assembly, 19-25 August, Wroclaw, Poland.

Theme: Law in Transition – Challenges for Legal Research and Legal Methodology in Post-Communist Europe.Law Libraries with Government Libraries Section.

Monday, August 21, 2017: 11:45 – 12:45. IASE 1st. Floor – Session 104 – Access Monday August 21st sessions and papers here

Chair: Anne Burnett (University of Georgia)

Speakers: PrzemysÅ‚aw Kaczmarek and Jakub Łakomy, Department of Theory and Philosophy of Law, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland, Overview of Polish Legal System and The Role of the Judge in Poland: Ethics, Law and Legal Education. Peter Roudik, Director of Global Legal Research Center, Law Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., United States, Comparing Laws for Better Governance:  Case Study of Researching Laws of Central and East European Countries in the Law Library of Congress. Josef Skala, Legal Advisor to the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law, Reflection of the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law on Legal Transformation in Eastern Europe.

Theme: Optimizing Subject Access to Legal Resources: Solidarity in Divergence, Subject Analysis and Access Section with Law Libraries. Monday, August 21, 16:00 – 18:00 – Auditorium Hall (SI) – Session 120 – Access Monday August 21st session and papers here

Chairs: George Prager (New York University Law School, United States); Maja Žumer (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia); Hélène Besnier (Bibliothèque Cujas, France).

Speakers: Barbara Szczepanska (Hogan Lovells (Warszawa) LLP, Poland), Law Cataloguing and Classification in Poland: A Journey through Time (and Practices). Filiberto Felipe Martínez-Arellano, Federico Hernández-Pacheco, and Efrén Chávez-Hernández, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico, Classification and Subject Indexing System of the Institute of Research on Law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.[EN] [ES]. Rudolf W. Strohmeier, Willem van Gemert, Christine Laaboudi and Anne Waniart, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, Optimizing Subject Access to Legal Resources: EuroVoc and VocBench. Benefits of Using Multilingual Controlled Vocabularies and an Open Source Collaborative Tool for their Maintenance. Carla Davis-Castro, Law Library, Library of Congress, United States, Legal Pluralism: Library of Congress’ Indigenous Law Portal.

Theme: Demonstrating value and / or assessing the impact of different types of libraries and information services:  can you spot the difference?” Session 211 – Division I – Wednesday, August 23,  13:45 to 15:45 – (IASE 1st. Floor) – Access Wednesday Sessions here

Chair: Raissa Teodori, Chair- IFLA Division I.

Speaker: Edita Bacic will introduce the Law Libraries perspective, one of eight lighting talks delivered by different Sections within the Division.

Atelier pour l’open access à l’information juridique: 29 et 30 mai 2017, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

The Secretary General of the National Assembly of Côte d’Ivoire opened the workshop and we made the news!

2016

Open Acess to Legal Knowledge Workshop: December 6 & 7, 2016, Kampala, Uganda.

World Library and Information Congress: 82nd IFLA General Conference and Assembly
13-19 August, Columbus, Ohio, United States

Chair: Yolanda Jones (Florida A&M University, USA)

  • Theme: Privacy Law in the Digital Age:Governments Rethink the Meaning of Information Access Policies
    Law Libraries with Library Research Services for Parliaments
    Thursday, August 18, 2016: 10:45 – 12:45

Speakers: Anne Klinefelter [PDF] (Director of the Law Library and Associate Professor of Law University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States); Adam Eisgrau [PDF] (Office of Government Relations, American Library Association,United States); Dennis Hirsch (Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University, United States)

Chair: Robert Newlen (Library of Congress, USA); Moderator: Roberta I. Shaffer (Law Librarian of Congress, USA)

2016 Standing Committee mebers and WLIC delegates, Columbus, Ohio, USA
2016 Standing Committee members and WLIC delegates, Columbus, Ohio, USA

2015

World Library and Information Congress: 81st IFLA General Conference and Assembly
15-21 August, Cape Town, South Africa

Standing committee members, Cape Town, South Africa.
Standing committee members, Cape Town, South Africa.

2014

World Library and Information Congress: 80th IFLA General Conference and Assembly
16-22 August, Lyon, France

Standing Committee 2014
Standing Committee 2014, Lyon-France

2013

World Library and Information Congress: 79th IFLA General Conference and Assembly
17-23 August, Singapore

Theme: Open Access to official and authenticated legal information in Asia
Law Libraries, Government Libraries and Library and Research Services for Parliaments

2012

World Library and Information Congress: 78th IFLA General Conference and Assembly
11-17 August, Helsinki, Finland

Theme: Promoting global access to law: developing an open access index for official authenticated legal information. Part 2: Europe

PowerPoints for the three presentations:

  • The source of law – doctrine and reasoning in Finland [PPT] | [PDF]
    Juha Raitio
  • E-law and free access to legislation in Finland and Europe [PPT] | [PDF]
    Ali Hietanen
  • Worldwide access to foreign law: international & national developments toward digital authentication [PPT] | [PDF]
    Claire M. Germain

2011

World Library and Information Congress: 77th IFLA General Conference and Assembly
13-18 August, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Theme: Political and constitutional status of Puerto Rico: a continuing challenge

2010

World Library and Information Congress: 76th IFLA General Conference and Assembly
10-15 August, Gothenburg, Sweden

Themes:

2009

World Library and Information Congress: 75th IFLA General Conference and Assembly
23-27 August 2009, Milan, Italy

Theme: The Italian legal system, basics and new trends

2008

World Library and Information Congress: 74th IFLA General Conference and Assembly
August 2008, Québec, Canada

Themes: