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Law libraries are strategically directing their services towards the digital information future. This approach is driven by a shared vision between the law faculties and the libraries, emphasizing the unique requirements of legal science and the broader social community. As a result, the role of law librarians need redefinition and expansion of their position within their institutions and communities. The changing landscape requires law librarians to take on a more active and crucial role, broadening their responsibilities and challenging their competencies and existing knowledge. This shift highlights the significance of continuous learning and the development of additional competencies, skills, and values alongside traditional academic qualifications.
As a result, a new category of professionals, termed "hybrid professionals", is emerging within the field of law librarianship. To address these evolving demands, law librarians have come together through various associations such as American Association of Law Libraries (AALL). These collaborations established standards and guidelines to outline the essential competencies required for effective work in law libraries.
Several research questions arise from these advancements, including the role of law librarians within their communities, the modern concept of law librarianship, the profile of law librarians in the 21st century, the achievements and future prospects of networking among law and related libraries, and the essential competencies and skills needed for success within this specialized field.
By exploring examples of successful long-term collaborations between law librarians in the South East European Law School Network (SEELS), the aim of poster presentations is to spark discussions on the challenges faced in defining their roles and missions in the past. Additionally, this aim to shed light on new roles and perspectives to ensure relevance and impact of law libraries in the digital age.
In the new educational environment, due to the development of ICT technology, and the emergence of new educational concepts at higher education institutions, law students must develop information literacy (IL) skills to navigate the evolving educational landscape effectively. This entails acquiring the ability to locate, assess, and apply legal information, fostering critical thinking, and supporting lifelong learning. Collaboration between university libraries, faculties, and librarians is crucial in promoting IL.
Modernising European Legal Education (MELE) is a project co-funded by the EU through the Erasmus+ program initiated to enhance law students' transversal skills, incorporating an IL module involving law librarians from various European universities. Designing IL programmes within the legal field presents unique challenges due to discipline-specific nuances. By integrating generic and legal-specific IL skills, students can build comprehensive IL competencies essential for their academic and professional pursuits.
The aim of the poster presentation, using the example of the MELE project, is to showcase the e-Course IL skills created by law librarians. The e-Course on IL Skills include different compenents in particular: information need, definition of types of sources, research questions, successful and effective search strategies, legal databases, copyright, bibliometric tools etc.
By participating in this valuable MELE project, law librarians have drawn attention to the role of librarians in designing and implementing IL programs, as well as the importance of creating, expanding, and developing a community of law librarians with the aim of promoting excellence in creating and teaching IL to students at law faculties.
Poster will provide contact information for further inquiries, MELE websites links, links to content of e-Course IL skills, QR code to detailed content of the poster, logos of the project, and images showing cooperation and exchange of ideas.