ALLA (WA) News Blog

Thomson Reuters Insight recently published a white paper entitled "The Future of the Courts." It's available for free from their website , but it's necessary to register some personal details before downloading (so you may want to check their privacy policy). The paper reviews trends in the US, the UK, and Australia with the aim of forecasting "what will the courts look like in 20 years' time?" Keep themes include: A changing context, including politics of payment for justice and professional technologies Virtualisation (virtual access to courts), online dispute resolution, and self-represented parties Automation  A data revolution Standardisation and globalisation Continuing importance of people in making courts function The paper concludes: Courts leaders need to display adaptability and foresight; they need to develop a keen understanding of the benefits of technology, both the technology available today and the new technology that wi...

From the University of Western Australia's Institute for Advanced Studies: Bringing Justice to the ‘Hood: Is There a Home for Neighbourhood Courts in Australia? A public lecture by Sarah Murray, Law School, The University of Western Australia Quoted from the event announcement : Neighbourhood Justice Courts (NJCs) are community-focused courts that harness the power and energies of the judiciary, local community and service providers to bring about better outcomes for people who come into contact with the legal system. Based on the principles of non-adversarial justice, restorative justice and therapeutic jurisprudence, the emphasis of NJCs is on problem solving and collaboration. NJCs are, in effect, a one-stop community justice hub. They create local forms of justice innovations through integrating justice personnel and service providers with residents, NGOs, local businesses, churches and schools. The integration of these support networks, alongside heightened judicial e...

A list of free Australian online legal resources has been added to the ALLA website: http://alla.asn.au/information-advocacy/free-aust-legal-resources/ Thank you to ALLA web communications committee member Vanya Taylor for creating these pages. Vanya has done a terrific job in developing a great resource for ALLA members and the general public. If you have any feedback, suggestions for improvement, or websites you would like to see added, please email webcom@alla.asn.au . Kind regards Kirsty Wilson _______________________________________________ ALLA-ANZ mailing list ALLA-ANZ@lists.alla.asn.au To change your subscription settings please visit: http://lists.alla.asn.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/alla-anz

In a recent post from 3 Geeks and a Law Blog , Greg Lambert responds to the comments of a George Washington University Law Professor. The comments of Professor Orin Kerr were published in an interview to the National Law Journal , where he said: The lesson of the article is that you can do anything with an amazing research librarian. Three cheers for Professor Kerr. Let's face it, it's true. Without research librarians where would our library users be? Greg Lambert, comes up with a valid point though. After noting he will be "printing out, framing, and hanging [the quote] on my office wall", he asks Kerr "you're just now figuring that out??". To me, this sounds like the same problem faced here in academic law libraries every day - our staff and students not knowing what we can do for them. Queue the branding and advertising spree I'm currently in the middle of - it's all about marketing. As I've discussed previously in Academic ...

The Supreme Court Library Queensland (SCLQ) is Queensland’s principal legal information provider, delivering innovative information services to members of the judiciary, legal profession and community. Its extensive resources span local, national and international materials, accessible online via the Library catalogue, as well as a comprehensive collection of print research materials, totalling more than 150,000 items. The Role The Research and Training Librarian works as part of a small Information Services team. This position helps to provide a high quality information service to library customers, including research assistance, general reference services and customised training provision. The Research and Training Librarian will be expected to: Provide librarianship insight and expertise that supports the Information Services team to deliver high quality customer service Provide high quality information services for members of the judiciary, legal profession and other Library...

ALLA(WA) invites members to a Mind mapping session using facilitation techniques  Manjeet Janjua (Strategic Learning Manager) from LexisNexis will present on: An introduction and understanding of the history and context behind why LexisNexis adopted the mind mapping methodology An understanding of how content is acquired during training An exploration of facilitation v instruction The key principles law librarians can apply in educating and training practitioners to utilise mind mapping in their individual research Next steps and sources of further information in how to utilise mind mapping as a progressive methodology which can be applied across organisations more generally Where : Ashurst Australia, Level 32, 2 The Esplanade, Perth When : Wednesday 6th May 2015, 8am – 10am RSVP : Luise Crisafulli (lcrisafulli@chambers.francisburt.com.au) by COB Friday 1st May. Please note this session is limited to 20 attendees. ** A light brunch will be provided courtesy of Le...

Dear ALLA members, The Call for Papers for the 2015 Law via Internet Conference, to be hosted by AustLII in Sydney in November 2015, is now at http://www.lvi2015.org/ AustLII hosted the first three 'Law via Internet' Conferences (1997, 1999, 2001), and in 2003. The 2015 Conference is now returning 'home' after a decade. AustLII would appreciate it very much if you could put a link to the Call for Papers on your websites, and/or could circulate the URL of the Call for Papers to your networks of contacts, inviting them to submit papers, and to make plans to come to the Conference. The full Conference website will soon follow, at the same URL. We look forward to receiving abstracts of your papers, and to welcoming you to the Conference in November. Best wishes, Graham Graham Greenleaf AM Professor of Law & Information Systems, UNSW Australia Web - http://www2.austlii.edu.au/~graham/   LSN - http://ssrn.com/author=57970 Twitter: ...

Have you had a look lately at Spectrum , a monthly magazine published by the American Association of Law Libraries? Although some of the content is specific to jurisdictions in the US and Canada, there are always interesting discussions about legal education and service provision that are relevant to all law libraries. The April issue was recently published, and back issues are also available on the AALL website . One article in particular that recently caught my eye was: " Closing the Gap Teaching 'practice-ready' legal skills " by Christine M. Stouffer (February 2015) -- well worth a read by anyone working with law students and graduates. The April issue contains the following: Outcomes in the Balance The crisis in legal education as a catalyst for change By Beau Steenken Keepers of History Law libraries in the community By Nichelle Perry  Public Relations: Reputation Management Changing your patrons' perceptions By Ingrid Mattson Dead Poet...

Dear ALLA members and friends of ALLA It is my pleasure to announce the official launch of the National Survey of Law Libraries. I thank our colleague Fiona Brown and Monash university for their support in this endeavour. This is the first truly national survey of our profession since 1984 and the aim to obtain a snapshot of law librarianship as well as an understanding of the breadth and types of law libraries across Australia. Please note that the survey is not limited to ALLA members – we would like to include all law libraries and those who identify as law librarians in this survey. I would ask all law library managers to complete the survey on behalf of their libraries. It should take no longer than 20 minutes to complete and your assistance will be greatly appreciated. The survey can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ALLS Regards Karen. Karen Rowe-Nurse President & Director ALLA Ltd president@alla.asn.au Email originally sent through the ALLA-ANZ Mailing List

Research Librarian - 12 month contract Ashurst is a leading global law firm. We advise Australian and international corporations, financial institutions and government clients. We are a full service commercial law firm practising in all areas of law, from corporate, banking, tax, employment, intellectual property and dispute resolution, to energy and resources, infrastructure and investment advice. We have 28 offices in 16 countries as well as other associated offices. With over 400 partners and 1,700 lawyers, we offer the international insight of a global network combined with local market knowledge and expertise. Ashurst's Library & Research Team has an exciting opportunity for a Research Librarian to join on a 12 month contract (full-time) based in Melbourne and reporting to the National Research Manager. As part of a national research team, this role uses a range of subscription and freely available legal and business research databases and resources to provide in-depth and...

Research Librarian - 12 month contract - Perth Ashurst is a leading global law firm. We advise Australian and international corporations, financial institutions and government clients. We are a full service commercial law firm practising in all areas of law, from corporate, banking, tax, employment, intellectual property and dispute resolution, to energy and resources, infrastructure and investment advice. We have 28 offices in 16 countries as well as other associated offices. With over 400 partners and 1,700 lawyers, we offer the international insight of a global network combined with local market knowledge and expertise. Ashurst's Library & Research Team has an exciting opportunity for a Research Librarian to join on a 12 month contract (full-time) based in Perth and reporting to the National Research Manager. As part of a national research team, this role uses a range of subscription and freely available legal and business research databases and resources to provide in-dep...

Further to our post about the Supreme Court of Western Australian Consolidated Practice Directions , here's an update from another court. The latest Federal Circuit Court's Practice Directions include a direction stating that ' signed by AustLII ' versions of judgments may be submitted to the court.. It will be interesting to see if more courts follow a similar path in the future. View the direction on the Federal Circuit Court's website

For any librarians out there who might be in the fortunate position of being able to buy international law books: Oxford University Press has compiled a list of all of the books on international law published between April 2014 and March 2015 in English, French, or German. This comes to a total of 401 titles, which are conveniently listed in a spreadsheet on the OUP website (along with more details about the criteria used to create the list).

Some may have had trepidations about the date, but it was no April Fool's joke: ALLA(WA) members gathered for informal networking at our annual Easter breakfast on 1st April. The venue, Sentinel Bar & Grill, offered a sophisticated breakfast menu that fueled everyone for collegial conversations. A sincere thank you to CCH / Wolters Kluwer, kindly represented by Malcolm Hoad, for their support and Easter chocolates! The ALLA(WA) committee wishes everyone a very happy Easter break. Members enjoy conversation and Malteser bunnies Muesli and figs: delicious!

The Supreme Court of Western Australian Consolidated Practice Directions have been updated. The current version as at 31st March 2015 is available here . The update includes: Complete reissue of the CPD removing designated page numbers to avoid repagination of hard copy document when amendments are issued; Various minor editing changes and contact detail updates.  New PD 5.11 on handling