Editorial

There are three main themes in this, the first issue of LIM for 2005. We begin with a series of short articles on the perils, pitfalls and challenges of multi-site working within the legal information environment. I am very grateful to the large number of people who have contributed to this theme by answering a short questionnaire that we put together in an attempt to ascertain what the key issues are. Some of our contributors have elected to answer the questions given as a template and others have adopted a more narrative style. Unfortunately we did not manage to get a contribution from an academic library. We do have articles from a number of our well-known large regional/City law firms, plus contributions from two smaller Scottish firms and the experiences of the College of Law. As a precursor to this theme our topical issues section features an article by Elisabeth Tooms, until recently Global Head of Library Services at Allen & Overy, on the challenges involved in running what must be the ultimate multi-site library with a staff of over 70 information professionals scattered around the world. Elisabeth also traces the history of her involvement in the development of the service from its beginnings in the early 1980's. At the other end of the spectrum Isabel Hood has written a wonderfully down-to-earth account of the stresses and strains of being a one-person library and information service in a multi-site law firm.