The International Association of Law Libraries' 20th Annual Course on International Law Librarianship was held in Lausanne, Switzerland from the 23rd to 26th of September, 2001. The course theme, "Comparative and International Law in a Multilingual Environment: Current Issues and Information Resources" was particularly interesting considering the multiple languages used in both Switzerland and the European Union. Talks such as "Comparative Law: Current Issues and Challenges" focused on the difficulties of comparative law research. The impact of foreign law on domestic legislation was demonstrated in speeches such as "The Influence of Swiss Private International Law on the Italian Codification" and "Foreign and International Law Influences in the New Swiss Constitution". Special attention was also paid to the European Union and the complexity of translation in the speech "Translation and the Law".

The conference included tours of the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law, the Swiss Supreme Court and the United Nations in Geneva. Demonstrations by vendors and publisher exhibits allowed participants to learn about new and useful resources. Finally, the opportunity to meet with and learn from law librarians from all over the world was especially valuable. Papers presented will be published in an upcoming issue of the "International Journal of Legal Information."

Next year's Annual Course on International Law Librarianship promises to be equally informative. It will be held at Yale Law School in New Haven in October, 2002. More information will soon be available on the IALL website at http://www.iall.org or email Silke Sahl at ssahl@law.columbia.edu with questions.