ALLA (WA) News Blog

Lavan Legal is an independent Western Australian law firm with a team of over 170 employees including 21 Partners. Our law firm has an excellent history and reputation for providing clear, commercially focused legal advice and we strive to live up to our ideal of being “leaders in law”. Due to the upcoming retirement of our long serving Legal Information Manager we are seeking an enthusiastic and experienced Librarian to lead our library team. About the role Reporting to the Managing Partner, this position is primarily responsible for managing the Lavan Legal library in an efficient and cost effective manner and satisfying all the information needs of the Firm. Key responsibilities There are many responsibilities for this position, with the key ones being: Provision of in-depth legal research. This involves working closely with solicitors to analyse and provide answers to complex questions of law. Solicitors are provided with comprehensive current  awareness services and th...

Taylor & Francis have released a white paper that reveals research showing that 88% of librarians think that social media will become more important in the future. The white paper, Use of social media by the library  is available on the Taylor & Francis LibSite which states: "This white paper has been research and compiled by Taylor & Francis to provide an overview of current practices relating to the use by libraries of social media, from a world-wide perspective, against which individual institutions can benchmark their own activities and be inspired to try new approaches" If you don't have time to read the full paper, take a look at the companion infographics: Current Use and Practice Social Media Applications Measuring Effectiveness The Future of Social Media

Arts Council England launched a new journal on 18 November – Create : a journal of perspectives on the value of art and culture .  In the inaugural issue, authors Neil Gaiman and Toby Litt “discuss the power of libraries and literature to imagine our future”.   This article can be found at http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/what-we-do/value-arts-and-culture/state-arts/create/society/ . Thanks to Fiona Archibald for this contribution. 

Take a look at who was spotted representing Western Australia at the 2014 ALLA Conference. Photos courtesy of our friends at ALLA (SA). L-R: Kirsty McPhee (Tottles Partners), Amanda Saunders ( Federal Court), Jennifer Moore (Edith Cowan University), Lisa Lester (WCIT), Bernadette Gargan (then Murdoch University, now VCAT Library), Anne Greenshields (The University of Notre Dame), Mawghan Elverd (Back, Jackson McDonald ), Lisa Webb (Law Library at the Supreme Court), Jaya Ralph (Curtin University) L-R: Kirsty McPhee (Tottles Partners), Amanda Saunders (Back, Federal Court), Lisa Webb (Law Library at the Supreme Court), Mawghan Elverd (Back, Jackson McDonald ), Bernadette Gargan (then Murdoch University, now VCAT Library), Jaya Ralph (Curtin University), Anne Greenshields (The University of Notre Dame), Lisa Lester (WCIT), Jennifer Moore (Edith Cowan University)

You know how it goes. Friday afternoon you leave your office sorted - no pesky pile of emails waiting for you. But by Monday morning, you have a small mountain waiting for you upon return. And if you go on leave, it's a nice mountain range. Ever thought that there must be a better way of managing all the emails you get? If its anything like me and you are facing hundreds each morning, I'm sure you're hoping for something to help. Carson Tate is a management consultant and author of Work Simply: Embracing the power of your personal productivity style can provide some guidance on helping you manage your daily email deluge. Tate recently published on her LinkedIn blog a post to help you "Stop wasting your precious time and act on an email. Read it, decide what you need to do with it and act on it." Her four steps to the process, which she outlines in more detail are: Read your email messages once Decide - What is this email message? Does it require ...

A bill has recently been introduced before federal parliament that will be of interest to information professionals: the Acts and Instruments (Framework Reform) Bill 2014 . One important bit from the Explanatory Memorandum : The existing Acts database established under the Acts Publication Act and the existing Federal Register of Legislative Instruments (both are accessible by ComLaw) will be integrated into a single register called the Federal Register of Legislation (the Register). The Register may contain other relevant documents and information likely to be useful to users of the Register. Further: The Bill establishes a new category of instruments called notifiable instruments, which will be able to be registered in authoritative form. This new category of instrument is designed to cover instruments that are not appropriate to register as legislative instruments, but for which public accessibility and central management on the Register is...

Congratulations to Monica Smith, currently with DLA Piper, who was the successful applicant for the position as Team Leader, Library and Information Services, Department of the Attorney General.  Monica will leave DLA Piper on 14 November and begin her new position on 17 November.

Posted on behalf of DLA Piper Librarian DLA Piper is the truly local, truly global business law firm. Joining DLA Piper means not only joining an experienced local team, but also being part of a global network with offices located in more than 30 countries around the world, including five offices in Australia. We believe the quality of our services is defined by the quality of our people. A fantastic opportunity has arisen for a full time Librarian based in our Perth office. We are looking for a qualified and experienced librarian with a demonstrated ability to provide superior quality legal and business research in a local and national team environment. Qualifications in Library & Information Management or Knowledge Management are essential and experience in a legal or corporate environment is desirable. Your duties will include... ·         Reference/research support to the library's clients across Australia ·   ...