Law Librarians: prizes recognise innovative IT projects


The head of knowledge management at CMS Cameron McKenna won the award for best use of technology in a library project at the inaugural Lexis-Nexis/British & Irish Association of Law Librarians awards for excellence last week.


Kate Stanfield was praised for the development of a portal for the City firm using SV Technology's Lawport, which links internal and external applications and sources to create a one-stop-shop for lawyers and staff.


The portal pulls data directly from internal applications so that intranet-type information does not need to be duplicated. Ms Stanfield has also managed to adapt security of databases so that it replicates licence restrictions and permissions.


The product has now been launched worldwide at the 138-partner, 1,500-staff firm.


Ms Stanfield said: 'The portal enabled integration of all of our knowledge - it makes use of everything that the firm does. It was also a collaborative project that involved not just support departments but also the lawyers and their clients.'



The runner-up in the category of best use of technology was Emily Allbon, who set up a Web site - www.lawbore.net - for all law students, not just those at City University where she is based.



The site includes interactive and multimedia elements, such as a chat room and video clips. Ms Allbon also led a project that developed a series of e-learning modules for students learning legal research skills.


Jennifer Crossley at the University of the West of England took third place for her interactive guide to the university's law library. As well as providing information on the library's resources, the guide also includes audio-enabled demonstrations of database searching and video clips.