Summer Opening Hours

To see a Summer Opening timetable for the four Inn Libraries from 21st July to 4th October click here.

July Newsletter

The latest issue of the Library's electronic newsletter has just been circulated. This issue contains features on the Royal visit and the historical background to the Royal Letters Patent granted to the Inner and Middle Temple in 1608; on new developments on the EIN (Electronic Immigration Network) and on Westlaw; and on CanLII (Canadian Legal Information Institute) and the Canada section of AccessToLaw. There is also news about Saturday and Summer opening, new acquisitions, and the BIALL Legal Journals Award.

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 smclaren@innertemple.org.uk.

Wi-Fi

The Library now has Wi-Fi access in Rooms F and G.

Saturday Opening

Saturday opening has now been made permanent, subject to attendance figures continuing at a satisfactory level. 

Click here to see a complete timetable up to December 2008.

Pupils

The Library is offering tours for pupils based in the Temple. These need to be booked in advance and usually take place at the following times:  

                             10.30 a.m.          12.00 p.m.   

                             11.00 a.m.          14.30 p.m.  

                             11.30 a.m.          15.30 p.m. 

To book a tour, contact the Library via librarytours@innertemple.org.uk indicating a preferred date and time and mentioning any areas of particular interest.  

We are interested in finding out about pupils’ training needs. If you are currently a pupil please take a moment to answer this short questionnaire.

Library Virtual Tour

If you are an Inner Temple member who lives outside London, or have recently joined the Inner Temple and have not yet had the opportunity to visit the Library in person, we now have a 'virtual tour' of the Library. We hope the tour will be useful in helping you to familiarise yourself with the layout of the Library, the collections we hold, and the services we offer.

Click here to start the tour.

Facebook

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.

Transcripts Wiki

In March 2006 the Inner Temple Library produced a guide to sources for obtaining transcripts of judicial proceedings in England and Wales. We will be working towards producing a new edition later in the year and would like to get feedback from anyone who has used the guide. If, while using this guide, you have found that a link is broken, an email address is defunct, charges are different from those listed, or if you have discovered an additional source for obtaining transcripts, then we would like to hear from you.  

To facilitate the updating we have put the content of the 2006 edition in to a wiki which you are invited to edit or add to as appropriate. 

You can access the wiki at the following address: https://transcriptsguide.pbwiki.com/ 

Details on how to login and edit can be found on the front page of the wiki. If you would like to contribute please contact smclaren@innertemple.org.uk for a password and more information.

Annual Report

The Library's Annual Report for 2007 has now been added to the web site. Click here to view.

New Books

Click here for the latest list of New Titles and Editions received by the Library.

Anniversary Party

A party took place to celebrate the Library’s 50th anniversary in its current building. Amongst those attending were current and former members of the Library Committee and Library staff from all four Inns.

2008 Survey Results

An electronic survey of Library usage was carried out during February 2008 and an in-house survey on 27th and 28th February. Thank you to all those who participated. The results are broadly similar to those of earlier surveys carried out in 2006 and show that more than half of those who use the Library are members of Inner Temple or have chambers in Inner or Middle Temple. The main reasons for visiting the Library are to research for a case or to copy specific material and the Library is greatly valued as a quiet or convenient place to work. Responses showed an increasing use of both online and hard copy resources. The general level of satisfaction is high with almost all users finding what they want.

To read the results of both surveys, plus comments and responses click here.

Slide Shows

Four new slide shows were created for the Open Weekend, which took place on 19th and 20th January. These have now been added to the web site. 

To access the slide shows click here.

Halsbury’s Award

In October 2007 the Inner Temple Library was presented with a Halsbury's Award for Best Legal Information Service (Non-Commercial Sector).  The Halsbury's Awards are sponsored by LexisNexis and the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians to "celebrate and reward the dedicated work and outstanding service conducted by legal information services teams." 

The Library was nominated because it was felt that over the past few years the team had worked hard to improve services to barristers, pupils and students, based in London and throughout the UK. New initiatives have included a current awareness weblog, an electronic newsletter, legal research FAQs and a virtual tour. The AccessToLaw gateway site was acknowledged to be a very useful research tool. The Library’s active involvement in the Bar Librarians Group, which encourages dialogue between the Inn Libraries, chambers’ libraries and legal publishers, was also mentioned.

The other awards were for Best Regional Legal Information Service (Commercial Sector) won by Addleshaw Goddard and Best London Legal Information Service (Commercial Sector) won by Sidley Austin.

Current Awareness Weblog

In April 2007 the Library launched a selective Current Awareness weblog, which aims to provide up to date information on new case law, changes in legislation and legal news. We hope it will be of interest to UK lawyers and law students. The content is selected,  updated and indexed daily by Library staff.  Each item is tagged with subject terms so that users can view in a single list all the items on a given topic.

The service has recently been developed further and a widget is now available which allows information from the blog to be displayed on other individuals’ or organisations’ web sites. A version of the blog for mobiles is also available. For more information email smclaren@innertemple.org.uk.

Legal Research FAQs

A legal research frequently asked questions (FAQs) section has been added to the web site and can be accessed via the home page.  The questions and responses cover case law and legislation and are based on questions frequently asked of the staff at the Library's enquiry point.  Suggestions for both print and electronic sources are included.

Internet Services

Subscription services available for use in the Library include All England Direct, Casetrack, CLI Online, Criminal Law Week, Electronic Immigration Network, Halsbury's Laws Direct, Lawtel, Legislation Direct, LexisNexis, Lloyd's Law Reports, The Times, Westlaw UK and the following Justis databases: Statutes and Statutory Instruments, Electronic Law Reports English Reports, Mental Health Reports, Police Reports, Prison Reports and Celex.

AccessToLaw

The Inner Temple Library continues to collaborate with ActiveWeb on the AccessToLaw site. The site provides a gateway to a variety of legal and parliamentary sites. 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.

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 regular basis. Feedback on this project or details of any sites which users feel should be added can be sent to mclay@innertemple.org.uk.

Library Guides

A selection of Library guides, including the Readers' Guide and Student Guide, are now on the web site in pdf format.

Click here to view guides available for downloading.

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 is a relatively new organisation, which 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 now 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 (256MB) for use with the Library's word processing PCs are now available for purchase from the enquiry desk. They are priced at £3.50.

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 the Adrian Blunt (the former Deputy Librarian, who retired in September 2006).

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.