ALLA (WA) News Blog

Dear Members, Only 3 sleeps until Christmas – can you believe it?!! The month of December seems to have disappeared into some sort of vortex... surely it hasn’t been 3 weeks since the ALLA Christmas Party?! Like all of you, December has been a busy month for me – starting with a trip to KL for the IALL 2011 Conference: The Dynamics of Malaysian Law in the Global World. Librarians from all over the world attended, with some familiar Aussie faces – Robin Gardner, Natalie Weiland, scholarship winner Debbie Bennett, IALL President Petal Kinder and ex-pat Ruth Bird. The papers were amazing and covered a broad range of topics – including Islamic banking principles, maritime law, human rights, legal education and research in Malaysia, and a fabulous panel presentation on access to free legal resources in Malaysia, Singapore, India, Australia and the Philippines. And just like that... 2011 draws to an end. In a year that has flown by, we have eaten breakfast together, lunched together and dr...

Want to know who attended the Christmas function?  See their happy, smiley faces below.

From 20 February 2012, while Cassie Netolicky is on leave, Mawghan Elverd will be Acting Knowledge Manager at Jackson McDonald - at this stage, for 8 months.

Christmas festivities got off to a relaxing and companionable start on Wednesday, 30th November, as about 36 colleagues turned up at Rubix Bar & Café for sundowners and nibbles.   Law librarians caught up with one another on the latest news in a convivial and informal setting.   It was encouraging to see several new faces, in addition to the LexisNexis Team (Jim, Praba and Manjeet), who had sponsored the door prizes. Congratulations to the evening’s four prize winners – Monica Smith , Justin Booker , Philomena Humphries and Linda McNamara !   Thank you, LexisNexis, for your kind sponsorship.   The evening drew to a close as the last guests departed at about 7.30pm, strolling home in the Perth dusk, illuminated with Christmas lights along William Street. Photo's of the event will be uploaded in the next couple of weeks, so keep checking the blog for updates.

Dear Members, November? Really? And the end of November no less... where has the year gone! Christmas is fast approaching – and we all know what that means – time for the ALLA (WA) Christmas Function! We are celebrating tomorrow night at Rubix Bar – and with well over 30 members attending it is set to be a fantastic event! Drinks and food will be plentiful – with Lexis Nexis sponsoring some fabulous door prizes! RSVP’s closed for the Christmas Party last week – so if you missed out on attending this event never fear – the CPD Committee is busy planning a full calendar of fabulous events for 2012! A big thank you to Mawghan Elverd, Lisa Lester (nee Nichols) and Belinda Eisenhaur for all of their efforts throughout 2011! Another thank you goes out to Jennifer Moore for her wonderful Post-Conference Wrap-Up at the Country Road Cafe Breakfast Brown Bag on November 16th. Jennifer was the recipient of this year’s Conference Bursary and as such represented WA at the ACTioning the Law in ...

ALLA(WA) will be holding its Christmas function on 30th November 2011, at the Rubix Bar & Cafe', 334 Murray Street, Perth.  Please RSVP to Mawghan Elverd ( melverd@jacmac.com.au ) by COB 23 November 2011 if you can attend.  The ALLA(WA) committee hope to see you all there for our last function of the year.

Stel Podias has joined the staff of the Law Library at the Supreme Court of WA. He will be working on a part-time basis until at least the end of the year.

A warm welcome is extended to Cynthia Maclaine who has been appointed Manager of the Perth Knowledge Centre at Corrs Chambers Westgarth. Cynthia will be attending the breakfast at Country Road Cafe on Wednesday, 16 November so will be able to meet many of you then.

Congratulations to Deanne Barrett who has been appointed Manager, Research Services at the John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library at Curtin University. Deanne leaves the WA Department of Planning on 18 November and commences her new position on 12 December.

ALLA(WA) would like to congratulate Lisa Nichols and Michael Lester on their wedding that occurred on 30th October 2011 in Yanchep. Picture below. We would also like to also congratulate Kelly Underwood and Jeremy Savage on their wedding that occurred on the 5th November 2011. Picture below: We wish both couples every happiness.

Catherine Macgill will be the acting Library Manager, Law Library until the end of December 2011.

Work has begun on a new edition of the Moys classification scheme.  Diana Morris is the editor of the new 5th edition.  Diana was Librarian / Research Services Manager at Slaughter and May before retiring in December 2007.  She was on the Editorial Board for the 3rd edition published in 1992.  Diana can be contacted via email, diana@diandphil.com . For more information, please see the British & Irish Association of Law Librarians website

Setting a Precedent: The Evolution of the Australian Law Librarians' Association 1969-2009  by Barker, D., Brown, F. and Johanson, G Excerpt: The first 40 years of the Australian Law Librarians' Association. If you scan the photographs in this book, you will quickly notice that the professionals described in it are collaborative and relaxed: and they have good reason to be. Their relatively small association has achieved big things in its first 40 years. This well-researched official history describes the unique services provided by law library staff to Australian lawyers. Librarians, lawyers, historians, academics, researchers and supporters who read it will all be enthralled by the vivid details of the growth of the association, from just 24 members in the beginning to more than 600 today. Whether it involved computerisation, publishing, lobbying, aiding the Pacific region, or just socialising, the ALLA has done it with flair.

ALLA(WA) will be holding its Christmas function on 30th November 2011, at the Rubix Bar & Cafe', 334 Murray Street, Perth.  Please RSVP to Mawghan Elverd ( melverd@jacmac.com.au ) by COB 23 November 2011 if you can attend.  The ALLA(WA) committee hope to see you all there for our last function of the year.

The Law Library at the Supreme Court of WA will bid farewell to Library Manager, Mrs Alice Anderson in early November, as she leaves after more than a decade's service in the Library.  She and husband Ian, plan to travel this vast continent in their own time.

Dear Members, Welcome to the ALLA (WA) News Blog! Late last year we decided to do away with the traditional ALLA (WA) Newsletter and replace it with a funky new blog. Whilst updates have been few and far between so far, the Committee is working hard to make this a hub of up-to-date information on events, initiatives and member news. I would encourage all members to subscribe to the Blog and to check in regularly to see the updates and new information – and to contribute whenever you can! 2011 has proven to be an exciting year all round – with many great events and the passing of the National Model at the ACTioning the Law Conference in Canberra in September. We still have some exciting events to look forward to – a Post-Conference Breakfast and our Christmas Party at the lovely Rubix on November 30 th – remember to save that date as we want to see as many of you there as possible! That’s all for now – blog you later! Kirsty McPhee ALLA(WA) President 2011/2012

  A most enjoyable Sundowner get-together was held on Wednesday 21 September at Tottle Partners , on the 40 th Floor of the Bank West Building.   The approx. 23 guests enjoyed the magnificent views over the Swan River, South Perth and Heirisson Island.   The snacks included a wide selection of cheeses (all suitably labeled) and wine to excite the taste-buds.   In addition it was a good opportunity to meet the LexisNexis WA Team – Jim, Praba and Manjeet, who has recently arrived from the UK.   Pictures of the event below:  

Work continues on the HAL Project, with Robyn Schofield working on cataloguing unique titles for inclusion in the database.

Congratulations to Jennifer Moore (ECU) who received the $1500 ALLA(WA) National Conference Bursary to attend the 2011 ACTioning the Law Conference in Canberra. Jennifer is a worthy recipient of this award, and we look forward to her sharing her conference experience at the upcoming the Post-Conference Wrap Up.

The National Model was passed at the Canberra ACTioning the Law Conference in September – stay tuned for more updates on this exciting new phase for the Association.

The 2011 Australian Law Librarians' Conference, with the theme ACTioning the Law, will be held in Canberra at the Hotel Realm, from 20-30 September 2011. The conference website is now available . The conference committee is still working on the program, but preliminary information is already available at the website. We also promise you the delights of a conference dinner at Parliament House, an opening reception at the High Court of Australia, and all the wonders of Canberra in springtime, including the floral delights of Floriade. Full registration costs will be finalised soon, but for those of you who need to make budget bids now, we expect the ALLA member rate to be around $650. More details will be provided as they come to hand, but book your diaries now.

The Easter breakfast will be held at the Country Road Cafe, 307-313 Murray St Perth On April 20 2011, 7.30 - 9.00 am. Please respond to Lisa Nichols at lnichols@claytonutz.com by April 14 if you would like to attend.

Stephen Griffiths has taken a 12month secondment from the Department of Commerce to the Practitioners’ Branch Library. Kendra Mulatz has left Corrs Chambers Westgarth and law librarianship to take a position as Information Services Manager with Woodside Monica Smith is currently on a six month contract with Freehills. Bernadette Gargan has been appointed librarian, client services (law) at Murdoch University

Great to see so many people yesterday at the "Host a horde" held in the newly refurbished Practitioners' library at the Central Law Courts. Those who knew the old library were pleasantly surprised by the new light and airy environment. Our thanks to Gael Roberts from the Legal Practice Board Complaints Committee who gave an informative and entertaining overview of the role the LPCC has in this state in relation to the practice, procedure and disciplinary matters required for the legal profession. Thanks also to Belinda Eisenhauer for all the organisation and the lovely lunch. Hope to see just as many members again at the Easter breakfast which will be advertised soon.

[From Naish Peterson, ALLA National President] Nominations are now open for the ALLA Fellowship Award. The ALLA Fellowship Award replaces the BIALL Scholarship and is open to  all ALLA members. As this is a new award, no exclusions for previous  scholarship winners will be applied, i.e. previous BIALL Scholarship  recipients are eligible. The successful applicant will receive $3000 to attend an international  conference from the following list: American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) British and Irish Association of Law Librarians’ (BIALL) Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) International Association of Law Libraries (IALL) International Federation of Library Assocations and  Institutions (IFLA) Joint Studies Institute (JSI) New Zealand Law Librarians’ Association (NZLLA) With ALLA already offering the Lyn Pollack Award to attend the ALLA  National conference and most State and Territory Divisions providing  similar opportun...

We had the Icebreaker this morning, and reports from attendees were very positive about the presentation we had, which was  30 things in 30 minutes . I know that there were a few websites that I either didn't know existed (the Attorney General's Court Process pages) or remembered seeing back when they were in beta but hadn't visited recently (Barnet's JADE) that I think I'll have to go and investigate fully. I also think I'm going to have a quick play on Wordle too! A Slideshare link to the presentation .

If you're running a media search now, hope like mad that the main search terms don't revolve around the word water or any of its derivatives. Sadly, not even an AND NOT Brisbane will save you. Sigh.