ALLA (WA) News Blog

Here where I work we've had a Christmas Decorations competition. I won a special mention for my Christmas Jawa and my rotating selection of Christmas themed Mad Magazine covers.

12 December 2013 Law Library, Supreme Court of WA Since the distribution of Tom Percy’s memo under the banner of the Australian Lawyers Alliance there have been further enquiries regarding the future of the Law Library. At this stage, there are no decisions to report. The Department of the Attorney General is working through the implications of the amalgamation and is in discussion with the Legal Practice Board and the Law Society as well as the Bar. There are issues of service agreements, space and finance to be sorted before any definite decision can be made. Meanwhile, we are here to provide the service we always have and we see no immediate end to that. Regards, Catherine Macgill Law Librarian

It all started with a wobbly table, that Wednesday night on September 25. I sauntered down to Lalla Rookh to find C, from the nearby Supreme Court Library, already seated at a table in the small sunken courtyard at the bottom of the stairway, which takes you to this underground bar and restaurant.  Don't be scared to go downstairs   There's a whole other world below I joined C at her table. I was glad she could make it, while she was glad for the opportunity to finally visit this venue and to do something in Perth, other than come to work. I started to peruse the menu for drinks and nibbles. I was shocked to find that there was no olives on offer.    A menu with no olives on offer   This was not looking good. Just to make matters worse, the table wobbled. C and I decided to relocate, ostensibly to find a non-wobbly table but also to see what Lalla Rookh had to offer inside. As we walked in, a waitress asked C if she had changed her ...

The World Wide Web may seem like a limitless superhighway. But it is filled with dead ends: hyperlinks that point to webpages that have become permanently unavailable. It’s a phenomenon known as “link rot”. http://www.abajournal.com/mobile/mag_article/link_rot_is_degrading_legal_research_and_case_cites/

You may be interested in this article in the December issue of The Australian Law Journal - YOUNG, P W and GOMEZ, A A The status of law reports produced in England prior to 1865 (2013) 87 ALJ 844. Nominate reports appeared in England between 1530 and 1865 through private enterprise and varied in both quality and accuracy.  This article attempts to provide a helpful guide as to what reports are considered more reliable than others.  The article will particularly focus on the reporters of the period from the accession of George III, 1760 to 1865.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to spend some time with my family in Colorado Springs, Colorado over the American Thanksgiving holiday. It was a snowy -20 degrees Celsius on my last day there, but Colorado has marvellously changeable weather. We enjoyed many beautiful warm days, perfect for hiking—as seen here with the Australian Law Librarian  in tow.     Megan Fitzgibbons

Kristy has commenced work as a librarian with the Department of the Attorney-General's Library.  She was previously employed in the library at Monash University.