To get a sense of where law firm libraries are today and where they are headed, a quick glance at librarians' titles will do the trick: director of knowledge solutions; director of knowledge management services; chief knowledge officer.

These titles reflect the evolving and expanded roles that law librarians occupy in firms today. Which led to us rebranding our survey, now in its 16th year, to better capture the market. In our newly renamed Survey of Law Firm Knowledge Management, Library, and Research Professionals, we found these information professionals are increasingly focused on data and analytical tools to provide cutting-edge research for their firms. And because of the vast amounts of data created by these technologies, the jobs of library leaders have become much more complex. They are increasingly working on matters such as business intelligence and competitive intelligence that are central to firm strategy.

“I think firms are understanding that we have more information at our disposal than ever before, and require the intelligence of the library leadership to help them leverage and understand it,” says Greg Lambert, incoming president of the American Association of Law Librarians and chief knowledge services officer of Texas-based Jackson Walker.

Credit: ALM