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News (Updated January 2012)Electronic Newsletter The January issue of the Library’s Newsletter has just been circulated. The main item in this issue is a wide-ranging Review of the year 2011. It also contains reports on The Princess Royal’s visit on Grand Day and on new online initiatives, and features on new acquisitions and on the Caribbean section of AccessToLaw. The Newsletter aims to keep Inner Temple members and Temple tenants up to date with Library news and developments. It is available in two formats: PDF (requires Adobe Acrobat) and Word. To read the latest newsletter click here. Previous issues are available here. To subscribe to the Newsletter, click here. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future content, please email:librarynewsletter@innertemple.org.uk
Current Awareness Blog We also now monitor a selection of chambers’ websites with a view to including articles, case comments and conference papers where appropriate. A list of the chambers currently being monitored is available on the Sources page of the blog. Subject categories are displayed in a drop down menu, including 'category counts' i.e. the number of posts indexed under each category. Subscribers to the RSS feed can tailor the feed to their own requirements by selecting individual subject categories rather than receiving updates from the blog as a whole. Since individual subject category feeds are quite specific we have decided to introduce bundled groups of feeds under broader subject areas. Our first bundled feed is for Family Law. We are treating this as an ongoing project and will be adding more groups of bundled feeds in the future. More information can be found on the Bundled feeds page.
As well as featuring the latest news, the
blog also contains a substantial archive. There are now over 22,000
posts indexed in over 1,000 subject categories. New Online Services The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting has given the four Inns of Court Libraries free access to its new online service which was launched last autumn. The Library now has access to a new Justis database which covers England and Wales Judgments in the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) 1951-1992. Google+ Google+ is a new social networking platform, which is similar to Facebook. The Library has created a Google+ page, featuring information and links to our services, news and photo sets. Grand Night The Royal Treasurer, Master HRH The Princess Royal, and Benchers of the Inn visited the exhibition in the Library on the evening of Grand Day, 9 November 2011. Among the manuscripts on display were a number of autograph royal letters from the Tudor and Stuart periods as well as items from our collection of finely illustrated printed books on non-legal subjects. Filming Two of the Royal letters from the Library’s manuscript collection are to be featured in a forthcoming BBC4 series, She Wolves, and a National Geographic series on The Tower of London. The Marshall Hall press cuttings will feature in a documentary series, The Strange Case of the Law, also on BBC4. Library Partitioning Proposal During 2011, as part of a wider review of the utilisation of the Inn’s space resources, the Executive Committee was considering the feasibility and desirability of partitioning Rooms E, F and G in the Library to allow them to be used for Education and Training events, Committee meetings and some external events after 5pm and at weekends. The Commonwealth and Scottish collections and some of the public access PCs are housed in the rooms concerned, and the access to Wi-Fi facilities is also in these rooms. If the proposal were to go ahead, it is envisaged that there would be soundproofing between rooms E, F and G and other parts of the Library (and between the rooms themselves), and that alternative Wi-Fi arrangements would be made. When a room was being used for a meeting or training purposes, those wishing to use the Library would have to work in Rooms C, D and J, and when a room was being so used access to the collections would have to be by a librarian retrieving the book(s) required. Facilities such as Wi-Fi and PCs would be reduced. To assist in assessing the impact on Library users, an email was sent out in September 2011 from the Master of the Library to members of the Inn and barrister tenants, who were invited to comment on the partitioning proposal. A number of respondents shared the concerns of the Library Committee. The Executive Committee hopes that those fears may be allayed and has decided to commission a fully costed and detailed proposal before determining whether the proposal should proceed. Background information on the proposal is available in the Sub-Treasurer's Report and the Librarian's Note.
Preparing for Pupillage Refresher training on the main legal databases can also be provided. Tours for BPTC Students
BPTC students who would like a tour of the Library should contact the Deputy Librarian, Tracey Dennis , please email: tdennis@innertemple.org.uk.A virtual tour is available on the Library website for student members and others unable to visit the Library in person. For more information, and to start the tour, click here.Transcripts Guide July 2011 Edition In February 2011 we produced a revised edition of Transcripts of Judicial Proceedings in England and Wales: a guide to sources. Since the February 2011 edition was published a number of changes caused by the creation of Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service, and of the new government web portal, Justice, have affected the currency of some of the content. The information in the Guide has been updated and, is now, as far as possible, correct as at 1 July 2011. For more information on the Guide click here. Wi-Fi The Library has Wi-Fi access in Rooms E, F and G.Saturday Opening Click here to see the Saturday opening timetable for the four Inn Libraries from January to December 2012. New Books Click here for the latest list of New Titles and Editions received by the Library. Donations The Library would be delighted to accept donations from authors of legal texts. All donations are acknowledged with a personal bookplate. Legal Research FAQs The FAQs on the website cover UK and European case law and legislation and treaty research. The questions and responses are based on questions frequently asked of the staff at the Library's enquiry point. Suggestions for both print and electronic sources are included. AccessToLaw AccessToLaw, the Library's gateway, site provides annotated links to over 1400 legal and parliamentary websites. Library staff aim to select sites which may be useful to legal practitioners and to provide brief details of coverage under the categories United Kingdom, Commonwealth, Other Jurisdictions, Legal Subject Areas and General Resources. The latest stories from the Current Awareness blog are also included on the site, as well as a link to the entire current awareness database and archive which goes back to April 2007. There were 59,000 visits to the site from 183 countries during 2011. The sections of the site accessed most frequently were Case Law, Health & Social Care Law, Personal Injury, Courts & Tribunals and Immigration & Asylum. We hope this index of sites will save time for barristers who are unfamiliar with free sources of legal information on the Internet. AccessToLaw is updated on a quarterly basis. Feedback on this project or details of any sites which users feel should be added can be sent to mclay@innertemple.org.uk.
We have created a Facebook page to promote library services and as an additional way of communicating with our users. The page includes information on services, news, events, useful links and photographs. If you are a Facebook user and would like to see the Library's page click here. Internet ServicesSubscription services available for use in the Library include Casetrack, CLI Online, Criminal Law Week, Electronic Immigration Network, ICLR Online, Lawtel, LexisLibrary, The Times, Westlaw UK and the following Justis databases: Statutes and Statutory Instruments, England and Wales Judgments Court of Appeal (Civil Division) 1951-1992, and Celex. Accessibility The Library has an Accessibility Information Sheet which covers access to the building and gives details of equipment and software available to assist users with disabilities. Click here to download a copy of the Information Sheet. Bar Librarians Group The Bar Librarians Group was formed in 2002 by the librarians of the Inn Libraries and the librarians of individual chambers. The Group meets regularly, usually at Inner Temple, and its objectives are to share relevant information, to be a strong voice for the interests of its members, and to develop more effective working relationships with the main legal publishers. If you are a qualified librarian working in chambers and you are interested in finding out more about the Group, please email either Margaret Clay or Alison Million .Suggestions Box The Library has a suggestions box situated near the Reference section. This may be used by Library users to post comments or queries regarding Library services. USB Memory Sticks Memory sticks (1GB) for use with the Library's word processing PCs are now available for purchase from the enquiry desk. They are priced at £8.00. Library Merchandise The Inner Temple Library has produced two postcards, which are available for purchase (50p each) from the Enquiry Point. The first is a photograph of the Library interior taken by Adrian Blunt (the former Deputy Librarian).
The second is a reproduction of one of the most treasured illuminated manuscripts in the Inner Temple's collection, and depicts the Court of King's Bench, c. 1460.
A bookmark, which features sections from two of the Library's illuminated manuscripts of the Court of Westminster (c.1460), is also available from the Library.
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