Dumpling in a Hanky

I'd never heard of the prolific forger "Antique" Smith before I saw the email notification about the talk on him from the Society of Antiquaries in Scotland. But I like archives, and history, and the fact there was a legal case that arose from it meant it sounded like an interesting outing. So last night I went along to the National Library of Scotland, where this talk was being hosted. So, what did I learn? Mr Alexander Howland "Antique" Smith had quite a busy time of it between 1887 and 1893, churning out at least 500+ known (at a conservative estimate) forged manuscripts and letters attributed to a wide variety of well known people over all sorts of time periods. However, he seems to have had a particular liking for Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott....or maybe they were just more saleable items! He was trained as a law clerk, in the firm of Thomas Henry Ferrier WS, and it seems that old legal documents stored in the firm may have been the early sourc...

Let me begin by confessing: I am not a law firm lucky charm. I’ve worked for 2 different firms over a period of 18 months, both of which went into administration or merged with another firm, which left me unemployed twice in a short period of time. Unfortunately, my story isn’t unusual: changes in the legal market mean that these sort of events will happen more and more frequently, especially in the mid-sized law firms. My Nostradamus moment now is to predict that most mid-sized firms won’t exist within 5 years, as they get eaten up by the bigger firms, or split down into smaller, niche firms. So if you’re working in a small or mid-sized firm: you’re in a very risky position right now. So what can you do to both plan for the potential experience of having a job that disappears, and to get through it successfully? I’m going to give you some tips on what to do, when, and how to get through this. And I’ll be honest: a lot of this is unpleasant, but you can get through to the other sid...

Unfortunately, lawyers get it too...and one of the best (for best, read "irritating and patronising") ones is the Legally Blonde female lawyer. Y'know - that attractive yet dumb blonde girl who floats through life, until an major event makes her re-evaluate everything, and then she works her socks off to show everyone how smart she really is? Seems like the BBC have been watching a few too many repeats of that film recently, judging from their reporting of this story  (although Legally Blonde isn't specifically mentioned in the report). Look: she's blonde! Look: she's pretty! Look: she used to work in a beauty-based job! That means she must be stupid! Look: she went to court to battle on her Mum's behalf! Isn't that an unexpected event! Look: she's studied to become a lawyer! And excelled at her studies! Look: she's actually really, really smart! Who could have imagined? Dear god - all it needs is her bust size, and a hint that she...

Recently, for the first time, I’m involved in a stressy legal transaction. I’ve sold one property, and I’m buying another – when I bought the first property, I was a first time buyer: no chain, no issues, just finances to get sorted, and conveyancing fees to pay. This time around, I have the finances of the property I’m leaving (along with any final bill from the Totally Incompetent and Deeply Hated Factoring Company) to deal with, a new mortgage to apply for, the transfer of the old mortgage from the old mortgage company to the new mortgage company, the transfer of mortgage cash and deposit to the owner of the property I'm buying, and legal/conveyancing fees for buying and selling to cover. So, while one property's definitely sold, I'm still waiting for confirmation of the one that I've bought is officially bought. Now, as a librarian, I deal with information. My users ask me for information all the time, and I try and get it for them. Sometimes, this information can...

Poor thing. Old books can be delicate. Their bindings get dry, their pages become fragile...they need treated with a little care and respect, if they're to have a chance of surviving for another hundred years. So what do they get? Post-it attacks, bent covers, and broken spines.

Meg mentioned in a comment on my previous drawing that I'd missed a couple of the other ways lawyers utilise expensive law books...so I've created an additional drawing to illustrate one of the other favoured approaches.... Problematic when pots leak Old Legal 500's: great for putting plants on (or increasing the height of your monitor).

Want to see how much you could burn during a meeting or conference call with your lawyers? Well, now's your chance, with the LawyerClock :) Start it up, and watch the dollars and cents burn away....

I wonder how many other law librarians will find this situation familiar. Lawyers and books It's the one where you ask someone where the book signed out by them is, and they strenuously deny all knowledge of it...or even the existence of such a thing as a book...while surrounded by the things. P.S. Dumpling is not very good at art.

That's the usual reaction I get when I respond to the question "So, what do you do?" I either reply "I work for a law firm", when I'm in mixed company and don't really want to talk about work. But this seems to make people think I'm a lawyer, and I have to explain I'm definitely not a lawyer, but a librarian, and that all sorts of people other than lawyers work in a law firm. So, actually, that one kind of backfires an the -lets-not-talk-about-work front, and I'm trying to not say that any more! Or I say "I'm a librarian for a law firm", which is what I use when I'm feeling a bit more chatty, and happy enough to explain what I do. And since I end up having to explain my job anyway, I'm using this one more frequently. No matter what I reply though, both lead to the same response. The puzzled look. Then there's a couple of options: "Oh, I didn't know lawyers needed librarians" "Oh, do you look after ...

So, I've previously blogged my Library Roots , and added it to the wiki of the Library Routes project (and if you haven't done yours yet, get adding - it's fascinating!). I thought I'd now add info on my Library Route, i.e. how I ended up doing what I do today. Well...it all started off a bit randomly. I'd qualified, and now I needed a job. I was scouring the CILIP Gazette job section, and the library recruitment agencies, and the local authority job sites here in Edinburgh, hoping to find something, anything, that would let me work! But it's not easy, even in the Capital of the country, to find a job when you don't have any official experience. So really, after a couple of months, and with the savings going down fast, I needed a job. I saw a post for a part-time library assistant at a private members society library within the Scottish courts complex at Parliament Square. I had no idea what a librarian would do in a court library, but I got the job, a...

*Warning - extreme and pointed sarcasm may be used in this post. Those with weak hearts and constitutions may want to stop reading now* Dear people-who-have-agreed-to-attend-the-training-with-a-supplier-that-we've-set-up-for-your-benefit, I am very, very sorry. I obviously forgot a few things. I forgot: That I am your personal diary secretary, and I myself should have reminded you that you had agreed to attend this training. That you are incapable of leaving your seat without my specific instruction to point you towards a training room, and therefore cannot make your own way to your training. That the frequent pop up reminders on your computer of your imminent training session are only for you to ignore. Every time they pop up. For an hour beforehand. Every 10 minutes. That you can only tell me that you're not attending the session once I have had to come looking for you and ask you personally. That you cannot write an email or pick up the phone to spend 20 seconds telling me y...