ALLA (WA) News Blog

It's that time of year again,  Cleaning up your desk... Organising projects for the first day back in 2022.. Setting up your out of office email reply... Wondering how you will eat all the chocolate office Santa piled on your desk, and if you did leave it in the office will the lack of airconditioning cause a melted chocolate puddle? That's bad for the books, best eat it now then. 

Details of the ALLA Conference 2022 are now available from the ALLA Conference website: allaconference.com.au/  The ALLA Conference 2022 will take place 24-26 August 2022 in Hobart, Tasmania at the Hotel Grand Chancellor .  The theme for 2022 is THE NEW NORMAL, with the following sub-themes: Post COVID considerations How has covid affected your work, your life, the library profession, the legal profession? Where to from here? How do we deal with fake information and disinformation, how do we respond to the changes in society with regards to gender and cultural inequality? How can we as law librarians help these changes and change makers? How have things changed? Legal history, how will legal history be recorded / accessed in the future? What is your favourite legal topic? Has it changed lately? How have the courts changed? Are trials now more like tv court? A call for abstracts is now open on the ALLA Conference website and closes 1 May 2022.  Conference registrations w...

The Australian Law Librarians' Association journal, the Australian Law Librarian is now available on Informit, with the December 2021 issue (Volume 29, Issue 4) now available on the platform. This edition is packed with articles stemming from the ALLA Virtual Conference 2021 #ALLA2021 - including some papers from the conference presenters including: Evolution of publishing commonwealth legislation / Meredith Leigh Human rights in a prison library - the legacy of Alexander Maconochie / Belinda Lawson The present moulds the future: what are we doing now to develop future ready law graduates? / Annette Goodwin Engaging the future with legal research skills / Paula Everett Reflections on AustLII's 25th anniversary - where we came from and where we are going / Richard Hunter Future progressive: ALLA survey of legal publishers and e-books / Monika Zygmuntowicz Empowering innovation in legal knowledge management, now and in the future / Virginia Ginnane A timely reminder to attendees ...

Murdoch University has advertised for a part-time law lecturer in legal research. What better way to ensure graduates have the legal research skills they need when they move into practice? Or when they move into jobs such as Research Officer at the Law Council of Australia ?  The selection criteria for the Legal Research Lecturer position are below and can be found on the Murdoch University  current vacancies  page. Applicants are directed to apply through  seek . Applications close 10 December 2021 at 8.59pm.  Please note they have also advertised for a Law Lecturer specialising in Law and Technology.  Selection Criteria A PhD, or appropriate professional qualification/accreditation in an area relevant to appointment. Demonstrated experience in teaching in the discipline or profession with demonstrated success in training students in legal research skills. Demonstrated ability to work under broad direction only, exercise initiative in undertaking responsib...

Liaison Support Librarian The University of Melbourne's Law School Library has advertised for a 0.5 FTE position of Liaison Support Librarian.  In this role you will work within teams of discipline-based information professionals delivering services to support integrated information services, scholarly and digital capabilities programs, research support, collection management and faculty liaison in the Library Learning & Engagement program. Liaison Support Librarians have two principal areas of responsibility: to support Liaison Librarians to deliver learning and teaching services for academics and students, and to provide advanced frontline client services.  They also support research programs to the University research community.  For more details see the University of Melbourne jobs website . Applications close 6 December 2021 Liaison Librarian (Learning & Teaching) The University of Melbourne's Law School Library has advertised for a full time position of Liai...

Information Innovation, University of Technology Sydney is hosting a webinar on the topic of Hidden Seams: Auditing Knowledge, Information & Communication.  When: Thursday, 25 November 2021, 3.00 - 4.30pm Register: Via Meetup . The session will be delivered via Zoom.  About the Session The disciplines of knowledge management, information management and corporate communications have all developed tools to assess organisations, often known as “audits”. While these techniques have developed separately, and have had different histories and drivers, they often overlap in the behaviors they target and techniques they use. This session investigates: How the the traditions of communication, information and knowledge audits developed Similarities and differences between them What practitioners from these different disciples can learn from each other About the Presenters Patrick Lambe is a globally recognised knowledge management practitioner who was originally trained in Informatio...

Systems Librarian (Brisbane) McCullough Robertson has advertised for the a part-time (25 hours per week, flexible)  Systems Librarian  located in their Brisbane office.  Responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:  Manage, maintain and develop the online interfaces to Library content and services, including the library intranet pages; Deliver a best practice information systems environment for the firm incorporating hardware, software, networking and online solutions; Collaborate and liaise with IT to successfully test, install, integrate, and maintain digital library solutions to ensure corporate consistency and resolve support issues; Coordinate the maintenance, management and development of the Library management system in order to provide effective automated services to the firm and enhance overall functionality of the software; Monitor trends, identify and embrace emerging technologies; Provide professional library services including legal and busines...

This year the ALLA (WA) Committee was pleased to offer ALLA (WA) members Kate Hewit and Vidagdha Bennett bursaries to attend ALLA's first ever, and slightly delayed, virtual conference. We congratulate them both on their successful applications for the bursary.  As part of the bursary both Kate and Vidagdha have written a short blog post recapping their experience of the conference.  To help them write this piece, the ALLA (WA) provided the following questions as prompts: How did you find attending the conference virtually? What were the advantages and disadvantages? Would you been keen to attend a virtual conference again or prefer a face-to-face conference?  Who was your favourite speaker / favourite session and why? What did you learn that you will find helpful in your current position?  Did you meet anyone interesting in the breaks / virtual meeting rooms? What was your overall experience with these meeting rooms?  What session would you recommend peopl...

Kott Gunning – news of closure from 3 Dec 2021 You may have heard the news that Kott Gunning’s equity partners have made the decision to dissolve the partnership, with a dissolution date of 3 December 2021; Kott Gunning will cease to trade from this date. As you may know, Kott Gunning is a 102 year old independent Western Australian firm with a long and proud history within WA’s legal landscape, so this decision is not one that has been taken lightly. Although all partners intend to continue practising law at various national firms, they will not be taking all of Kott Gunning’s historic print library with them to their new locations. Therefore Kott Gunning is looking to sell (or donate) the following collections (and more!), and welcomes expressions of interest: Statutes of WA – 1892 to 2013 (noting that some of the more historic ones are reprints rather than originals, but there are many originals) CLR – 1903 to 2020 (aka Vol 1 to 268) WAR – 1899 to 2020 ALR – ...

Please note: This paid position is only available to ALLA Members.  Membership Coordinator & Administrator The Australian Law Librarians’ Association Ltd (ALLA) invites expressions of interest from members to serve as Membership Coordinator and Administrator to the Association. The member in this role generates and oversees the membership process, including book keeping tasks for ALLA Ltd. consistent with the policy set by the ALLA Board and to meet the needs and interests of ALLA members. This is a role for an ALLA  member who has excellent organisation skills, accounting experience and who enjoys book keeping. Familiarity with Xero or experience with other book-keeping programs or systems is an advantage, and strong Excel skills are required. Excellent communication skills and a strong attention to detail are essential. Term of Appointment: Three years, commencing on January 1, 2022 with option of a renewable appointment. Remuneration: Annual honorarium of $5000. To be c...

vLex Justis is hosting a webinar providing a comprehensive overview of vLex Australia on 10 November  at 7.00am Perth time.  The session, led by Lin, one of vLex's in house trainers will provide a comprehensive overview of vLex Australia, including the extensive primary and secondary sources available in the vLex Australia collection. Lin will explore how this collection can be used alongside vLex’s recently updated AI assistant, Cloud, and Word tools too.  Register for this Zoom session here . Other vLex Justis sessions are scheduled regularly and can be found here . 

Our ALLA (WA) Christmas Dinner and AGM is fast approaching – taking place on 25 November 2021 at the Grand Bar & Bistro. The AGM will commence at 5.15pm. A complimentary two course dinner will be served, with drinks to be pay as you go. We have been asked by the venue to confirm our final numbers earlier than expected, and have had to move the RSVP date up to 9 November 2021. Please let ALLA (WA) Secretary Jane Beer know by COB Tuesday 9 th November if you are able to make it, along with details of any dietary requirements. We have also extended nominations to join the ALLA (WA) committee to COB 9 th November – so if you are interested please consider joining! See the notice and nomination form attached to an email to members. If you are unfamiliar with the work of the committee, feel free to reach out to any of the current committee to talk about the work they do. Current ALLA (WA) Members will have recieved updated details of the  AGM Notice  and  Call for Commi...

Brisbane Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia has advertised on APS Jobs for the position of Manager, Library & Information Services (Qld) . (Vacancy Number VN-0695891) Applications Close 4 November 2021 Canberra National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia has advertised for the position of Assistant Director, Digital Community  (Vacancy Number VN-0695552) Applications close on 7 November 2021 Also advertised is the 2022 Indigenous Graduate Program  and 2021/2022 Temporary Employment Register Department of Parliamentary Services The Department of Parliamentary Services (Cth) has advertised on APS Jobs for the position of Assistant Director Library Systems.  (Vacancy Number VN-0695145) Applications close 25 November 2021. Also advertised is the   DPS Library Temporary Employment Register 2021/2022 International Opportunities Law Librarians seeking a more international flair to their shelf change don't forget to check o...

Strategic Plans for Libraries Tuesday 9 November, 10.00am (AWST) In this session two law librarians share their experiences developing and implementing strategic plans for their libraries. Register online : NOTE: this event is open to ALLA members only, please have your membership number with you when you register. At the Supreme Court of Victoria, consultation with the legal sector helped develop a five-year strategic plan that reflected the desire for a modern and dynamic Law Library of Victoria. The plan aims to establish a digital library service to support current and future generations of the legal profession to deliver better justice outcomes for all Victorians. Law Library of Victoria Librarian Laurie Atkinson will present the strategic plan and describe the consultation process, how the plan evolved, became operational, and how progress is measured. From the Supreme Court Library Queensland, David Bratchford will focus on the process of developing SCLQ’s current strategic plan...

It's the ALLA (WA) Blog's 11th Birthday! Our first post back on the 25th of October 2010 was a President's Letter , from our then  President Jacqueline Seligmann.  The ALLA (WA) Committe thanks all of our current and past contributors and readers.  To celebrate this milestone, our current President David McDowell has a fresh new President's Letter. 

ALLA (WA) Members are invited to the 2021 AGM and Christmas Dinner at Grand Bar & Bistro Perth on 25 November 2021. The AGM will commence at 5.15pm. A complimentary two course dinner will be served, with drinks to be pay as you go. Current ALLA (WA) Members will have recieved details of the AGM Notice and Call for Committee Nominations , along with details of a Draft Special Resolution to be voted upon at the AGM.  Please read through these documents and note the two  RSVP deadlines: Committee Nominations are due to the ALLA (WA) Secretary by 28 October 2021 RSVP's to the AGM & Christmas Dinner, along with Proxy votes for those who cannot attend are due to the the ALLA (WA) Secretary by 16 November 2021 We hope to see all ALLA (WA) members there!  This event is open to ALLA (WA) Members only - why not join and come along ? 

AustLII , in conjunction with Open Access Australasia , is presenting a free webinar on the topic Re-thinking the economics of legal publishing in Australia Tuesday 19 October, 9am Perth Time Australian university libraries currently spend significant amounts on subscriptions to the main commercial legal services, via traditional subscription models.  In this presentation AustLII's Philip Chung & Andrew Mowbray will discuss how AustLII is seeking to develop a ‘post-transformative agreement’ with libraries that will sustainably fund open access publishing in the subject domain of law, leading to a new economics for open access and commercial publication generally. The webinar will be delivered via Zoom. Register here .  About AustLII The Australasian Legal Information Institut e (AustLII) is an open and free access publisher, which is the most relied upon provider of legal information in Australia. The core AustLII service contains an integrated collection of nearly 900 dat...

ALLA Members are invited to a November PD event.  Strategic Plans for Libraries.   In this session Laurie Atkinson from the Law Library of Victoria, and David Blatchford from the Queensland Supreme Court Library, will share their experiences developing and implementing strategic plans for their libraries.  We hope that in hearing about their process we can reflect on the operation of the libraries we work in and how strategic planning can improve our library’s operations and service outcomes into the future. Date: Tuesday 9 November Time: 10.00am Perth Time Register online: Please have your ALLA Membership number to Register.  Description:   At the Supreme Court of Victoria, consultation with the legal sector helped develop a five-year strategic plan that reflected the desire for a modern and dynamic Law Library of Victoria. The plan aims to establish a digital library service to support current and future generations of the legal profession to delive...

This position was originally posted on seek.com.au  on 12 October 2021. It is expected that the jobs.wa.gov.au listing will be online by the end of the week.  The position is now listed on jobs.wa.gov.au from 12 October 2021. There is one full time position available, with a 18 month pool. Librarian Level 1 SC, PS CSA 2021, $70,165 - $94,345 p.a.Full time About us When you join the Department of Justice, you become part of a people-focused organisation, working hard to make our community a fairer and safer place to live. We offer many different employment opportunities in locations around Western Australia. You will have a chance to make a real difference to your local communities and to the lives of those you work with. About the role Qualified Librarian (Law) Join a team of experienced librarians delivering a highly specialised library and information service to the State's judicial and legal officers and members of the legal profession. In this role you will carry out a r...

Creating Engaging Online Content for Library Users: Introducing Kahoot! and Padlet Thursday 7 October 11.00am (AWST) Michelle Clarke from K&L Gates and Anastasia Stepanovic from the University of Melbourne will share their knowledge of Kahoot! and Padlet, two free platforms that have helped them create engaging online content for library users. Register online : NOTE: This event is open to ALLA members only, please have your membership number with you when you register. As online learning replaces face to face library sessions, librarians may find themselves looking for affordable options to create interesting course content.  In this session two experienced librarians share their knowledge of Kahoot! and Padlet. Kahoot! Kahoot! is a widely used cloud-based tool to create and deliver teaching and testing quizzes. It’s used in educational institutions as an online game-based learning platform and includes a free component. In this online session Michelle Clarke from K&L Gate...

 ALLA’s first ever virtual conference is less than a day away, and sure, by now Zoom and Teams and virtual webinars have become standard (thanks Covid), but if you’re looking at two days of online conferencing this can be quite daunting. To help we’ve pulled together some tips on how to get the most out of (or just survive) an online conference. Before we get to those tips though, a quick word on the Social Event on Thursday night ( 23 September 5.30-7.00pm Perth time, via ZOOM ) - a live music quiz, brought to you by our friends (and Bronze sponsors) vLex and ALLA (Vic) President. A little birdy (ok, one of the hosts) told us to wear a hat, fascinator, hair accessory, origami, bird, pet monkey… err something on your head. Why? Is there a prize? Perhaps. Is it to be a great community building moment to embarrass us all equally about dumb hat choices? Also, perhaps. Either way, today’s blogger has got hers sorted, and she’s leaning away from fascinating. Now for the Tips. Be...

Hi ALLA (WA) Members, Just a reminder that the ALLA Conference 2021 takes place this week – Kicking off on Thursday 23 September with a Welcoming Address from Her Honour Chief Justice Helen Murrell from the ACT Supreme Court, followed by a Keynote Address by the Honourable Justice Stephen Gageler AC from the High Court of Australia. Due to Covid restrictions, the conference is being held virtually. This allows us all to access the program of speakers and events this year from the safety of our home or workplace. If you want to know more about the presentations to help plan your schedule, including abstracts, click on the title of the session in the Conference Program . Be sure to register , if you haven’t done so already. Registrants will be able to access the conference recordings for 6 months following the conference. If you aren’t registering – all ALLA Members are encouraged to attend the ALLA Ltd. Annual General Meeting at 12:38pm on Thursday, where we can hear from Nat...

ALLA members would have received an email from Emma Joneshart, President of ALLA Ltd regarding a call for nominations for members to join the ALLA Ltd Board of Directors. Nominations will be voted upon at the ALLA AGM, held on Thursday 23 September during the ALLA Virtual Conference 2021 . The ALLA Ltd Board of Directors is an important part of the Australian Law Librarians' Association's governance. Made up of at least eight members of ALLA, nominations are open for the following positions:  Vice President Secretary Treasurer Vendor Relations CPD Coordinator General Directors The Vice President position is for a term of 3 years, consisting of a year each as Vice President, President and Past President. The other positions are for a 2-year term, allowing for a sufficient time period to become familiar with the role and have meaningful impact on ALLA projects.  Each role is varied, with support from other members of the Board, and in addition to monthly meetings (mainly via te...

The University of Melbourne has advertised for a   Liaison Librarian   position.  “As the Liaison Librarian (Research Support), you will work within a team of information professionals, principally delivering services to support research programs in Melbourne Law School (MLS).  Priority activities include providing advice, training and resources on research impact, researcher profiles, strategic publishing, and data management; faculty communication and liaison; and research consultations for individuals" Applications Close 19 September 2021, for full details and to apply see the  University of Melbourne Jobs website .  Piper Alderman (Sydney) has advertised for a Law Librarian position.  "In this role you will have the opportunity to get involved in a variety of tasks and play a key role in supporting our team to access state of the art research resources and technology."  Full details can be found on LinkedIn .

It's ALLA Virtual Conference 2021 Month! Our first ever fully virtual conference takes place on Thursday 23 September and Friday 24 September 2021.  The Conference Program is now available in an interactive format allowing you to view session times in your own time zone - where ever you plan to tune in.  Sure, a 7am start might be a bit rough normally, but the perk of a virtual conference is: no one will know if you are logging on in your fuzzy slippers (hopefully, we won't need them by then) and munching away on your breakfast of choice.  Of course, if you would rather sign in at a "normal" hour, don't forget that the sessions are all being recorded and remain available to registrants for 6 months following the session.  Key note speakers and special guests this year include: Stephen Gagelar AC, Justice of the High Court of Australia Helen Murrell, Chief Justice of the ACT Supreme Court Meridith Leigh, acting First Parliamentary Conusel with the Commonwealth O...

The 2021 New Zealand Law Librarians Association Online Conference takes place Monday 23rd - Friday 27th August, and registration is complimentary to ALLA Members.  The virtual conference theme is waiho i te toipoto, jaua i te toiroa - stronger together. The Conference Program includes a range of expert speakers and some standout sessions include: The Coming Storm: Value-added carbon zero knowledge services in the mid 21st century Te Ao Marama: The Response to calls for Transformative Change American Legal Research for New Zealand Librarians Australian Legal Research for New Zealand Librarians Building Resilience Lightning Sessions including - Flexible Working in Your Library, Opening Up in Lockdown - Parliament's Engaging Response, The Department of Mysteries, and more From Native Land Court to Maori Land Court 1865-2021 Cultural Confidence, One Word at a Time Each day of the conference, sessions are scheduled to run from 8.00-10.30am Perth Time - making this one of the easier int...

ALLA Members are invited to attend a virtual CPD event on the topic of knowledge management.  The session will discuss the latest updates from the world of knowledge management, hearing from Amanda Surrey (Knowledge Manager, Consultant and Facilitator) who will be hosting a panel discussion on recent developments in Knowledge Management in the world outside law.  Amanda will be joined by Alison Jones, Knowledge Manager at Geoscape Australia and Brad Adriaanse KMLF (Knowledge Management Leadership Forum) stalwart with a strong focus on L&D and Organisational Design. The session will be delivered via GoToWebinar at 11.00am Perth time on 19 August 2021 .  This session is free to ALLA Members. Members will have received an email with details of how to register.  Attending and wanting to join the conversation on Twitter? Follow us @lawlibsWA  and ALLA National  @AustLawLibAssoc and use the hashtag #allaknowledge

Legal Information Management have created a number of spotlight collections available through Cambridge Core. These spotlight collections highlight topical content published across the archives of the journal.  Each collection features content relating to these subject areas: COVID-19 Lockdown and the Legal Information World Metadata, Cataloguing and Classification in Law Libraries Information Literacy Women and the Law Knowledge Management Legal Publishers and Suppliers Law Firm Libraries Public International Law  The Willi Steiner Memorial Lecture Series The content in these collections is updated regularly, and often free for a limited time, and may provide you with some interesting and valuable content. Access the Legal Information Management Spotlight Collections here . 

The Law Council of Australia is delivering an online webinar of the topic of "Frontline legal services in times of crisis".  The legal assistance sector has carried many Australians through times of extreme crisis, with recent years no exception – from bushfires to the COVID-19 pandemic. This webinar will explore the achievements of the sector in trying times, and examine the challenges it has come up against. Leaders in the sector Rowan McRae, Nassim Arrange and David Woodroffe will join with the Law Council’s President, Dr Jacoba Brasch QC, to identify improvements to be made so that the sector is better equipped to respond in future emergencies. The session will be delivered via Zoom on Wednesday 11 August 2021, at 3.00pm Perth Time. Register Here . 

 ALLA National has launched their 2021 awards for: ALLA Law Librarian (or Law Library Technician) of the Year 2021 ALLA Legal Information Service of the Year 2021 ALLA Gem of the Year 2021 It's time to take advantage of the opportunity to nomination that person, or service, or customer relations person, who has provided you and our profession with exceptional service this year.  More information about these awards, and details of how to submit a nomination, are available on the ALLA National website, under  bursaries and awards .  Nominations close Friday 27 August 2021 at midnight (Eastern).  The winners of the awards will be announced at the ALLA National AGM during the  ALLA Virtual Conference 2021 , on Thursday, September 23.  The award winners and the text of their nominations will also be published in the December issue of the Australian Law Librarian Journal.