ALLA (WA) News Blog

 Don't forget that RSVP's to the ALLA (WA) Autumn Breakfast are due on 21 April!

The ALLA (WA) Committee invites ALLA (WA) members, and those with and interest in law libraries to join us to catch up with your law librarian colleagues and friends over breakfast at Basilica.  Come enjoy a delicious breakfast, chat with friends, and talk to the ALLA (WA) Committee.  Members of the ALLA (WA) Committee will be there - feel free to let us know what you think about future professional development opportunities you would like to see in 2023.  You have the option of pre-ordering your meal and drinks to speed up service on the day.  The current menu can be seen on Basilica's website .  If you wish to pre-order, please include details in your RSVP.  What:           ALLA (WA) Autumn Breakfast Who:           ALLA (WA) Members and those with an interest in law libraries (invite your co-workers!) Where:         Basilica,           ...

As 2023 draws to a close, and we all prepare to take a well deserved break (no matter how brief), the ALLA (WA) Committee wishes you a happy holiday season.  We hope you enjoy this time with your families, friends and loved ones. Enjoy all the celebrations that you can!  We look forward to seeing you all in 2023! May the new year be filled with success. 

Dear ALLA(WA) members, On the 30th November we had our ALLA(WA) AGM and welcomed our 2022-23 committee. An email with the AGM minutes and reports will be sent to members shortly.    Our new committee is as follows: President: David McDowell Secretary: Jane Beer Treasurer: Anne Young Committee members: Gilien Bevan, Alice Hewitt, Sky Atkins, Fiona Archibald I want to extend a warm welcome to Sky Atkins (Herbert Smith Freehills) and Fiona Archibald (Federal Court of Australia) for joining the committee and thank returning committee members for volunteering their time for another term. This will be my last term as President and Jane’s last term as Secretary so I encourage any interested members to attend our committee meetings throughout the year and learn about the activities of the Committee as well as these positions throughout the year as they will be vacant at the next AGM. Joining the committee has been a wonderful networking experience for myself and has helped me develo...

Notice of AGM  On Tuesday 18 October 2022, ALLA (WA) Members will have received Notice of the ALLA (WA) Annual General Meeting to be held on Wednesday 30 November 2022 at 5.30pm.  If you have not received this Notice, and are a current ALLA (WA) member, please reach out to the  ALLA (WA) Secretary, Jane Beer .  The AGM will take place at Allens, Level 11, Mia Yellagonga Tower 2, 5 Spring Street, Perth.  After the meeting, Gilien Bevan will show us Allen's new library space.  This will then be followed by our end of year dinner at The Terrace Hotel, 237 St George's Terrace, Perth - a short 2 minute walk from Allens.  Special Resolution At the AGM, there will be a special resolution proposing to amend the  Rules of the Australian Law Librarian's Association (Western Australian Division) Inc  (2021).  The AGM notice contains some details of the special resolution, and more details will be sent out closer to the date, together with a proxy v...

The ALLA (WA) Committee met on 12 October 2022 to discuss a number of important activities for the Division.  The Committee have decided that going forward we will provide recaps of what was discussed at each meeting to better share the work of the Committee with our Members. Key topics discussed at the meeting included:  Updating the ALLA (WA) Inc. Rules to meet legislative requirements Accessibility of Western Australian COVID-19 Directions AustLII medium neutral citation inaccuracy Database Roundtable Session  ALLA (WA) AGM and End of Year Dinner - 30 November 2022 Full details for the ALLA (WA) Annual General Meeting,  along with details for the End of Year Dinner and special resolutions to update the ALLA (WA) Rules, will be shared with ALLA WA Members soon.  The next ALLA (WA) Committee meeting will take place on Thursday 3 November at lunchtime via Teams. All ALLA (WA) Members are welcome to join the discussion at this and future meetings.

The ALLA(WA) Committee has their next committee meeting on Wednesday 12th October and we would like to invite you to attend.  Our meetings are currently held remotely via Microsoft Teams and start around 5.15pm.  This would be a chance to discuss the recent ALLA Conference and AGM where many concerns and issues around communication were raised. We will also be discussing some upcoming events. This would be an opportunity to ask questions and make any suggestions. The ALLA(WA) committee is also interested in hearing any ideas on how we can serve our members better.  If you would like to attend please let David McDowell,  ALLA (WA) Presiden t know by COB Tuesday 11th October.  David McDowell ALLA (WA) President

We wish to share with you an exciting update about a cross-divisional, joint ALLA (WA) and ALLA Victoria collaboration. Over the past few years there has been much discussion about better ways to communicate with current and prospective ALLA members.  The Western Australian and Victorian Divisions have been using various social media channels for quite some time including, Twitter ( @alla_vic and @lawlibsWA ), LinkedIn , and the ALLA (WA) Blog (which is celebrating its 12th Birthday this month). These have provided a well-received presence online, but both Divisions have concerns around the possibility of missing out on hearing from current and perspective ALLA members through not being active on other social media platforms where our members are. Together the ALLA (WA) and ALLA Vic committees are looking to work towards creating a space to engage all current and future ALLA members, no matter what State or Territory they come from, in a new formed social media collaboration: Law...

The ALLA (WA) Committee has their next Committee meeting on Wednesday 14 September  and all ALLA (WA) Members are invited to attend.  Meetings are currently held via Microsoft Teams, and start at 5.10pm.  In addition to our standard Agenda items, this meeting would be a chance to discuss the recent ALLA Conference and ALLA Ltd. AGM, where many concerns and issues around communication, and other topics, were raised. We will also be discussing some upcoming and potential CPD events for our WA Members.  This will be an opportunity to ask questions, make suggestions and air any frustrations.  The ALLA (WA) Committee is also interested in hearing any ideas on how we can serve our Members better.  If you would like to attend please let ALLA (WA) President, David McDowell know by COB Monday 12th September. We will then provide interested members with the Teams Meeting details.  If you can't make it to the meeting, but have something you would like raised or ...

The ALLA(WA) Committee has their next committee meeting on Wednesday 13th July and we would like to invite ALLA (WA) Members to attend. Our meetings are currently held remotely via Microsoft Teams and start around 5.10pm. We know there has been some dissatisfaction from ALLA members around communication from ALLA National regarding access to the new ALLA website, the creation of new email lists and membership renewals. This would be an opportunity to ask questions, make suggestions and air any frustrations. The ALLA(WA) committee is also interested in hearing any ideas on how we can serve our members better. If you would like to attend please let David McDowell,  ALLA (WA) President know by COB Monday 11th August.

Please join ALLA (WA) President, David McDowell in congratulating Sky Atkins and Alice Hewitt on being the successful applicants to receive the ALLA (WA) Bursaries for the ALLA Conference 2022 in Hobart (24-26 August 2022).  Sky and Alice will both provide a presentation of their conference experiences to ALLA(WA) members later in the year, as part of the Bursary requirements.  David  would like to thanks ALLA (WA) committee members Jane Beer and Gilien Bevan for being part of the selection committee with me. Congratulations again Sky and Alice!  Early Bird Registrations for the ALLA Conference 2022 close Friday 8 July 2022

Get ready to conference! The ALLA Conference 2022 website is a great resource to find out all you need to know about the conference. Make sure you take a look to check out details about the conference, including special conference rates for accomodation . This year the conference is being held at the Hotel Grand Chancellor Hobart , Tasmania and the conference program looks to have some great events in the program! Workshops Per ALLA Conference Tradition, there will be a half-day MOYS Workshop held on 24 August 2022. This 3 hour workshop will be led by staff of the High Court of Australia Library. It costs $75.00 for ALLA members, and $95.00 for non-members. Get in quick though - the workshop will be limited to 12 people.  Tours What is a librarian conference without a tour of a library? There are two tours available to nominate for when completing the registration form . Conference registrants can nominate for a tour of either the State Library of Tasmania or the Andrew Inglis C...

Today is ALLA (WA)'s 45th Birthday.  The first meeting of the members of the then WA Branch of the Australian Law Librarians' Group was held in May 1977 (see the April 1977 edition of the Australian Law Librarians' Group Newsletter ). But we began on 31 March 1977 (you can see our birthday on our ACNC registration ). ALLA (WA) has come a long way in the past 45 years, leading the way with publishing ALLG(WA) Newsletters and having the oldest and longest running blog of any ALLA Division, and even hosting the ALLA Conference in Perth. With the COVID-19 situation preventing us from a proper, in-person celebration - we would like to take this moment to thank every past and present (and future) ALLA (WA) Committee member for the time they have spent serving the Western Australian law librarian and legal information professional community.  There are too many to thank personally - and we have been going through the archives in the hopes we haven't missed a name! Those who st...

Dear ALLA(WA) members, Happy New Year! I hope you all managed to have a relaxing break over the Christmas and New Year holidays.  Before we welcomed 2022, ALLA (WA) held its AGM on the 25th November 2021 at Grand Bar & Bistro. Thank you to everyone that attended and to Jane Beer and Alice Hewitt for organising the venue and food. The lamb shanks were massive!     The Special Resolution brought forward to remove the requirement of having a Vice President position and reducing the minimum general committee member positions to two members was passed unanimously. These changes to our ALLA (WA) Rules have been submitted to and processed by the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety, Western Australia.  Our ALLA Rules received an audit during this process and it was picked up that we do not currently have a section in our Rules that addresses disputes between members and the association. We also need to amend the Rules to include the day in each year ...

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. 

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...

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 ? 

The ALLA (WA) Committee is excited to offer ten bursaries to cover the virtual registration costs for the 2021 ALLA Virtual Conference  taking place on the 23 and 24th of September 2021.  These bursaries are valued at $120 each and will reimburse ALLA (WA) members for the cost of registering to attend the 2021 ALLA Virtual Conference. Applications are open to ALLA (WA) Members only. To apply please provide a short statement (no more than 500 words in length) outlining why you believe attending the ALLA Conference 2021 would be beneficial to your career development.  Requirements for Successful Recipients: Successful recipients must register for the conference before seeking reimbursement from ALLA (WA). Successful recipients must attend the specific conference within the calendar year of receiving the award. If the award is not taken up within the time frame, the funding and registration will be void.  Successful recipients are required to either  Submit content...

ALLA (WA) members are invited to the   ALLA (WA) Annual General Meeting  on WEdnesday  23 October  2019   at   DLA PIPER, Level 31 Central Park 152-158 St Georges Terrace   commencing at  5:15 pm . Please   RSVP   your attendance via email to the  ALLA (WA) Secretary, Natalie McDonald by   5pm Monday 21 October 2019 . If you have any dietary requirements please let Natalie know with your RSVP by email:   natalie.mcdonald@iinet.net.au If you   cannot   attend, please complete the proxy form and email it to 2017/2018 ALLA (WA) Secretary Natalie McDonald, by  5pm Monday 21 October 2018 . Please find linked below the following documents: ·            2019 ALLA (WA) AGM Agenda ·            2019 ALLA (WA) AGM Proxy Form  – to be completed by members who cannot attend the AGM Posted on Behalf ...

ALLA (WA) members are invited to the ALLA (WA) Annual General Meeting on 4th July 2018 at The George commencing at 12.30pm . I would like to take this opportunity to thank Greta Dye and Thomson Reuters for sponsoring our AGM. Unfortunately, we did not receive enough nominations to fill the office bearers positions of Vice President and Secretary.  If additional nominations are not received, in order to ensure that ALLA (WA) can form a committee of management several nominated committee members may volunteer to take on dual positions.  This will be confirmed at the AGM. The AGM will be followed by lunch and a presentation by Lucas Frederick, Senior Product Developer from Thomson Reuters.  Lucas has worked for Thomson Reuters for almost 15 years and has been involved in various aspects of legal publishing.  Lucas will present on Thomson Reuters international Sweet and Maxwell, Carswell and Brookers titles. I look forward to seeing as many as possib...