Chief Law Librarian Yemisi Dina and Associate Librarian and Head of Public Services Sharon Wang represented Osgoode Hall Law School at the 56th annual conference of the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians (BIALL) in Glasgow, Scotland.
Their presentation, “Evolving Roles and Realities in Canadian Academic Law Libraries,” provided an overview of the Canadian academic law library landscape, exploring how institutions are responding to changing technologies, evolving research needs and shifting expectations in higher education.
Drawing on their experience at Osgoode and across the Canadian legal information community, Dina and Wang highlighted the opportunities and challenges facing academic law libraries. Their remarks addressed key issues shaping the field globally, including the growth of digital scholarship, integration of artificial intelligence, rising user expectations and increasing demand for equitable access to legal information.
The BIALL annual conference brings together legal information professionals from the United Kingdom, Ireland and around the world to explore developments, innovations and emerging trends in law librarianship. This year’s theme, “From the Clyde to the Cloud: Legal Information in Transition,” focused on how legal information services are adapting during a period of rapid change.
Dina and Wang were joined by co-presenters Sooin Kim (Chief Law Librarian) and Alexia Loumankis (Reference and Research Librarian) from the Bora Laskin Law Library at the University of Toronto. Together, they shared Canadian approaches that contributed to cross-jurisdictional learning and a broader understanding of how law libraries support legal education, research and access to justice.
Their participation highlights the role Canadian academic law libraries play in international conversations shaping the future of legal information services.