Implementing Legal Information Literacy: A Challenge for the Curriculum

Dutch law faculties usually change their curriculum due to pressure from external factors, such as inspection reports, accreditation procedures or educational innovations dictated by general university policy. Course subjects are changed each semester or academic year to bring them more into line with each other. Sometimes there are substantive reasons for change, such as the imposition of an international perspective. Courses are seldom altered in response to internal curricular pressure, as this leads to tension in personal relationships. The policy on appointing chairs is another thorny issue. Occasionally the need to change or adapt the curriculum arises from both external and internal developments. Legal information skills have remained a somewhat neglected part of the curriculum. As a branch of academic or legal skills, they exist independently on the periphery. University libraries, which are becoming increasingly adept at Information Literacy, are digitalizing and globalizing at an accelerating rate. Thus, when necessary, legal degree courses must catch up and revise legal curricula in this regard