Author archives

Dr Peter Clinch, formerly Senior Subject Librarian for Law, Cardiff University, Wales, UK (retired)
Dr Peter Clinch has been Senior Subject Librarian for Law at Cardiff University since 1992. He has a law degree and has worked in law libraries and legal information for over 30 years, more than 25 of them in universities.

Between 2000 and 2002 he was Project Manager for the development of the FLAG database, an inventory of the foreign, comparative and international law holdings of over 60 universities and national libraries across the United Kingdom. For this work he won the Wallace Breem award for his unique contribution to the legal information world. Between 2002 and 2003 he developed the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations, for which in 2004 he again won the Wallace Breem award. In 2006 he was named Wildy-BIALL Law Librarian of the Year, on the publication of the second edition of his book: Teaching Legal Research.

His fourth book on legal research is due to be published in 2010. In addition to the 40 plus journal articles he has had published he has given numerous conference and seminar presentations. Since 2003 seven universities and colleges (including two outside the UK) have sought his consultancy advice on setting up or further developing their law collections or improving their legal research skills training.

The FLARE Index to Treaties Extended

The FLARE Index to Treaties (FIT), launched in March 2009 on the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies web server has been extended to cover about a third more treaties and conventions. In the past two years the Index has established itself as a valuable finding tool for the international lawyer. It is a fully searchable database now indexing and listing over 2,000 of the most significant multilateral treaties concluded from 1353 onwards and a number of significant bilateral treaties signed between 1353 and 1815. This article, by Steven Whittle and Peter Clinch describes the background to the extension and technical aspects of the updated implementation employed to deliver new content and finding features.

Subjects: Comparative/Foreign Law, Features, Government Resources, International Legal Research, Legal Research, Treaties & Agreements

FIT for Purpose The New FLARE Index to Treaties

Dr. Peter Clinch and Steven Whittle describe the background development, various ways in which the service can be used, and technical issues of this fully searchable database. Launched in March 2009, it indexes and lists over 1,500 of the most significant multilateral treaties concluded from 1856 onwards. It was conceived to fill a gap in the range of information finding tools available on the internet for the international lawyer.

Subjects: Features, International Legal Research, Legal Research, Legal Technology, Treaties & Agreements