Law Libraries
Law librarians work in a range of settings, such as private law firms, academia, courts, parliament, governmental organisations, and the legal departments of businesses, associations and non-government organisations.
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Law librarians can be involved in tasks such as legal research, teaching and learning, information literacy, classification of library materials, collection development, electronic services, and special collections and archiving.
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Law librarians work with material and information from a variety of sources. These include electronic online databases (for information ranging from legislation and cases, to company or financial information); print resources such as text books, reference books and law reports; journals and other documents. Law librarians are involved in the provision of this information to support the legal and policy making community, and also the general public.
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There are three general categories that law librarians most commonly work in. These include:
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Academic Libraries
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Academic law librarians can find themselves working in specialised law schools, or academic libraries with legal collections. Academic law librarianship is a good career for those who enjoy legal research and working with scholarly information.
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Government Libraries
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Government libraries offer a range of contexts in which law librarians can work in. Government libraries include courts, parliamentary libraries and government departments. The scope of government libraries is diverse and would be a good career choice for those who enjoy legal research and being involved in the legislative process.
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Private Law Libraries
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Private libraries include law firms, the legal department of a corporation, business and non-government/not-for-profit organisation. Law librarians in private libraries are involved in a diverse range of services depending on the size and scope of the library. Often law librarianship in a private setting involves a high degree of client and reference work.
