Introduction
The Signet Library is one of the best known and most respected law libraries in Scotland. Located on Edinburgh's Royal Mile, the library is located in the building that bears its name. The Signet Library is home to The Society of Writers to Her Majesty's Signet (known as The WS Society, often simply referred to as “the WS”), an independent association of lawyers that traces its history back over 500 years, making it one of the oldest professional bodies in the world.
Elaine Bird
History of the WS
The story of the Society of Writers to the Signet begins far back in the history of Scotland. Many centuries ago when the art of writing was little more than a mystery known to a few, but at a time when the authority of the Scottish King was increasing, the method of authentication of documents carrying the King's warrant and approval presented a growing problem. The solution was found in the use of seals to be attached to documents in evidence of royal approval, and with or without any signature. By the early 14th century, four types of seal were in existence. The seal know as “The Signet” was reserved for the private communications of the King himself or for the authentication of documents in which he was closely concerned or interested. The earliest recorded use of the Signet was in 1369.
With multiplication and growing use of seals it became necessary to appoint officials and staff to supervise their use. The use of the Signet seal was entrusted to a high court official known as the King's Secretary. His office was an important one and his clerks eventually came to be known as Writers to the Signet.
In 1532 James V brought about a major reform of legal administration creating the College of Justice. The Court of Session came into being as a result of this reform. The new court superseded the previous courts to which the Writers to the Signet had acted as clerks for some time before 1532. As a component part of the College of Justice, they came to act in the same capacity in relation to the new Court of Session.
In May 1532, immediately following the establishment of the College of Justice by James V, the first Act of Sederunt of the new Court of Session made regulations for the work of Writers or “Clerkis to the Signet.” The aim of these regulations was to secure the diligence and confidentiality of a body which was becoming increasingly recognised as a necessary and responsible part of the legal system in Scotland.
The earliest minutes of the Society of Writers to the Signet which have survived date from 1594. In that year Sir Robert Cockburn of Clerkington, Lord Secretary to the King and Keeper of the King's Signet, granted to John Layng, as Deputy Keeper of the Signet, and eighteen other writers, the first Commission conferring on them official status for their work as clerks to the Courts. Rules for the qualification and admission of Writers to the Signet were laid down.
The Society continued to grow in importance, so much so that the Treaty of Union in 1707 provided that vacancies in the Court of Session could only be filled by advocates or Writers to the Signet. In 1746 the ancient office of Lord Secretary was abolished, and since the holder of the Secretaryship was also Keeper of the Signet this office fell vacant. The post was then filled by special appointment until in 1817 the office was combined with that of Lord Clerk Register. The position has remained unchanged up to the present day, Lord Mackay of Clashfern being the current Keeper, having taken up office in 2007.
Our building
In 1722 the Society resolved that all Acts of Parliament passed before and after the Union and all Scots law books in print (around 60), and others as they came out, should be purchased for the use of members. In 1778 the Society resolved to form a general library on a large scale, collecting for the purpose the best books in every area of literature. By 1792 the library contained some 3,000 volumes - the origins of our collection go back further than the building. By the 20th century the WS had one of the finest privately funded collections in the UK.
Signet Library
Steeped in history, The Signet Library is an impressive building. Described by King George IV as “the finest drawing room in Europe” the building was finished in 1822 to a design by the architect Robert Reid, famous also for designing the Bank of Scotland building in Edinburgh, as well as for being the last King's architect in Scotland in 1840. As then, The Signet Library is still owned by The WS Society – a society of solicitors who, like their predecessors, cherish and guard the building for future generations.
In the Upper Library, the cupola painting, by Thomas Stothard, depicts Apollo and the Muses, accompanied by the following poets, orators, historians and philosophers: Burns, Shakespeare, Homer, Milton, Virgil, Cicero, Demosthenes, Herodotus, Livy, Hume, Robertson, Gibbon, Newton, Bacon, Napier and Adam Smith.
The Garnkirk Urn, which stands at the west end of the room, was made by the Garnkirk Coal Company in Lanarkshire and given to the Society in 1842 by Thomas Sprot, who was both a director of the company and a member of the Society.
The gallery originally ran across the west end of the Upper Library, but was removed in 1868, apparently to improve “the appearance and lighting of the room.” The original window was replaced with the present stained glass window to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887. It depicts, along with the Royal Arms and those of the Society, the arms of the Keepers and Deputy Keepers who had held office during the previous fifty years.
Our collections
Curretnly the primary focus of our collection is to provide a first class law library to meet the needs of today's legal practitioners. The collection is divided in to four distinct areas:
The working law library
This collection forms the core of our 21st century business. We hold key Scottish and English textbooks, which are available for loan to members and member firms, journals, law reports, loose-leafs, and key reference works such as Halsbury's Laws and Stairs Encyclopaedia. We also hold previous editions of some textbooks, including English titles from Sweet & Maxwell's Common Law Library.
We have an extensive collection of the principal Scottish, English and United Kingdom statutes, statutory instruments, and local and private Acts, Irish statutes and law reports, and Commonwealth law reports.
The Letter-box
The historical legal collection
This is held in various parts of the library and includes some 5,000 volumes accumulated by the Society prior to 1856. The collection has a variety of foreign material. Many of the books in this collection are not held elsewhere in Scotland and are therefore of great scholarly interest.
The Session Papers
These are bound volumes of case papers from the Court of Session in two collections, covering the period from the beginning of the 18th century to date. Parallel collections of these papers are held in the Advocate's Library and the Scottish Record Office, but those belonging to the Society have the unique advantage of being indexed. They are considered to be of considerable historical interest.
The Scottish collection
This collection is comprised of some 15,000 volumes of works about Scotland, including general history, travel, topography, biography, genealogy, and family history. The family history collection is considered to be of considerable importance, as it contains a number of books found in few other libraries. There is also a special section of works on Mary Queen of Scots.
Students in the Reading Room
The Roughead collection is a unique collection of books on criminals and trials collected by the late William Roughead WS and bequeathed to the Society on his death. The collection is of exceptional interest within its field.
The reading collection
This collection is designed for retired members and those wishing to read and borrow non-legal material. The collection is comprised of books on travel, nature, science, biographies, autobiographies, novels with a special emphasis on Scottish authors such as Alexander McCall Smith and Ian Rankin.
Services today
My role as Director of Information Services and Librarian has several strands: to act as guardian of the Signet Library and of the works of scholarly and historical importance contained in it; to ensure that we have an up-to-date and relevant collection of hard copy resources to meet the needs of today's legal practitioners; and to ensure that we use electronic resources to the best advantage of our members and other users.
A special challenge of this role is to ensure that our services meet the needs of various groups of users, from student members just starting out in their legal careers, to experienced practitioners through to retired practitioners. Our geographical reach is also very wide. We deal with large commercial practices in Edinburgh and Glasgow who employ teams of information professionals, to sole practitioners in the Orkney Isles. We also work with academics from within the UK and overseas. Unlike the Law Society of England and Wales, the Law Society of Scotland does not provide its own library and information service. I consider that our services are comparable to the Law Society of England and Wales in many respects. However, membership of the society is purely voluntary, as we have no regulatory authority and hence no “captive members.”
Library services
We offer the following services:
Research
We provide legal support services, including advice on research techniques, authorities, references, citations, legislative developments and case reports.
Document delivery
We can provide copy extracts from journals, case reports, texts and other sources, whether online (via LexisNexis) or hard copy. Users can telephone, email, write or visit; documents can be delivered direct to the requester's desktop if required.
Consultancy
An experienced information professional can help identify and manage a firm or organisation's knowledge management needs, from developing or enhancing in-house systems for the management and sharing of information, to identifying and meeting training needs. It is possible to discuss and agree with the client a tailored service and fee arrangements to meet the needs of the client.
Our clients are drawn from a wide range of users and include: WS members and WS law firms, lawyers and law firms throughout the UK and overseas, knowledge and information professionals, accountants, banks and financial institutions, professional bodies, government departments, public and private sector organisations, and universities and institutions of further and higher learning.
Electronic collections
We subscribe to the entire LexisNexis Law Library, and have a subscription to Westlaw. We offer users wireless access via their own laptops or laptops provided by us.
The Signet Online
I am delighted to have been involved in the creation of our own new online service, The Signet Online, in collaboration with LexisNexis, Solcara, and 7Side. The service, due to launch in early 2009, is a web portal designed to offer users a fast and easy-to-use federated search, which allows searches across multiple authoritative sources simultaneously. The portal will also allow users to access the company and anti-money laundering compliance searches of leading UK provider 7Side.
Other WS services
The WS Society's purposes include promoting the highest standards in legal services. Our modern strategy is dedicated to providing membership services, professional services (of which library and information services form a part) and events.
Events
As well as a working law library supporting the work of The WS Society, The Signet building can be used as a venue to host a variety of functions and events, for a formal occasion, an intimate dining experience, a corporate function or a private event. Some BIALL members who have attended our annual dinner, BIALL study weekend, pre-conference seminar, or other events held here have had an opportunity to appreciate the opportunities available. Unfortunately, as the maximum number of places we are able to accommodate for a sit down dinner is 220 it is not possible to host the BIALL conference annual dinner here. However we have been delighted to have hosted other BIALL, SLLG, and legal publishing events here.
Professional Services
Education
The training and development of lawyers is one of the Society's most important professional services. The sophisticated courses, seminars and workshops run by the Society today echo our role in the training of apprentice “writers” - the distinctively Scottish historical equivalent of the modern solicitor.
Two thousand and nine sees a number of tremendously exciting developments to the Society's training programmes, building on a commitment to deliver practical training of the highest quality.
These developments begin with the launch of a brand new Professional Competence Course, a compulsory course for those training to be Scottish lawyers. Written in conjunction with leading practitioners, and reflecting the latest thinking in professional development, our PCC courses are designed to deliver the Law Society of Scotland's curriculum in a way that is directly relevant to practice.
This year also sees the launch of the innovative Learning for Business programme aimed at lawyers with 0-5PQ. This exciting and unique programme is designed to develop young lawyers' business and personal skills in line with their legal skills. Learning for Business has the added benefit of providing young lawyers with the opportunity to meet other young professionals from different sectors and to understand their roles in different business transactions, not to mention the chance to start building a professional network.
Accreditation
The Signet Accreditation is a formal qualification for Scottish solicitors signifying proficiency in an area of legal practice. Now in its third year, this initiative is an entirely new approach to assessing and accrediting legal services in Scotland. The assessment methodology is cutting edge, offering practical benefit to both lawyers and users of their services, by assessing client-focused skills such as communication and commerciality as well as legal knowledge.
Assessment is currently available in commercial property, commercial litigation, corporate and in house, with employment due to commence in 2009.
Lawyers who are successful in sitting the accreditation assessment are entitled to designate themselves “Signet Accredited,” so look out for that designation appearing after more and more names. A list of the current Signet Accredited lawyers is available from www.thesignetaccreditation.co.uk.
Conclusion
Whatever type of organisation we work in, we are all currently facing unprecedented economic challenges. My role as Director of Information Services and Librarian is to ensure that we are offering best value to members for their subscription. We need to demonstrate tangible benefits of being a member or member firm. In consultation with local information professionals and others, I am currently undertaking a review of our hard copy sources to ensure we carry material that continues to be of relevance to legal practitioners. Members and member firms are able to borrow our legal text books and this service is valued by all our members. In the current climate with budgets being slashed, it is important for our members to know in advance what books we will be purchasing, especially expensive new editions of leading textbooks.
As I mentioned earlier, we also offer our services to non-members, including those outwith the legal profession. We must ensure our services are priced competitively and that we are firmly on their radar as a provider of information services.
We are currently looking at how we can add value to core tasks, such as providing copies of cases. For example, we are experimenting with offering to look out copies of authorities in advance for those who decide to use our self-service copying service. For those firms who employ information professionals, I see our service as complementing, and indeed supporting, the work that they do. We are able to help with loose-leaf backlogs, provide emergency enquiry cover etc.
The Signet Library is a truly unique place to work and holds a special place in the legal history of Scotland. I feel truly privileged to be able to call myself the Librarian of The Signet Library.
Biography
Elaine started her career at the British Library before moving to the legal sector and joining Clifford Chance in 1990. After spending time in various other London firms, including six years as Head of Information at Bristows, she moved to the WS Society in 2006. Elaine was also very involved with BIALL activities having served on the Professional Standards Committee and she was, until recently, Chair of the BIALL Conference Committee. She is also a former Chair of the City Legal Information Group.
