ALLA (WA) News Blog

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...

The ALLA (WA) AGM, including special resolution vote, and annual dinner are next week on Wednesday 30 November.  ALLA (WA) members will have received an email containing details of the special resolution to be voted upon at the AGM.  ALLA (WA) members are also invited to join the new Committee at The Terrace Hotel for a complimentary dinner (pay-as-you-go drinks) following the AGM.  RSVPs and Proxies for the AGM and dinner are due by COB of Friday 25 November.  Send your Proxy or RSVP to the ALLA (WA) Secretary, Jane Beer .  Even if you can't join us, please complete your proxy form as it is important to enable the AGM to reach the necessary quorum for the AGM to proceed and for the Committee to be elected for the 2022-2023 year.  If you are having difficulties appointing a proxy, feel free to contact the current Committee who will be attending the AGM. They will be happy to act as proxy for those who require one.   

The adventures of the Finding the Law Project continue!  So it’s time for another update from the Project Lead, Anastasia Stepanovic, and Project Coordinator, Alice Hewitt. Our last update on the ALLA (WA) Blog was back in June – and since then we have presented at the ALLA (WA) Conference, published articles in the Australian Law Librarian journal, and we’ve gained a lot of ALLA member feedback and suggestions – end even a few new members to the project team.  At the ALLA Conference 2022 in Hobart, Anastasia and Alice presented a paper paying respect and homage to the evolution of Finding the Law – including all its various names, formats, and teachers. The presentation was centred around where ALLA had began this sort of law librarianship skills training, the different names the course was titled over time, and the different divisions that took the lead over time. The conference presentation was delivered using Rise Articulate, the building ground of the new FLO Project and ...

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...

It's the ALLA (WA) Blog's 12th Birthday! The year has gone very fast; since our last birthday, we have posted 96 blog posts!  The ALLA (WA) Committee thanks all of our current and past contributors, along with our readers who are spread out all over Australia (and the world!). We look forward to sharing more with you during our next year! Our Blog has come a long way since our first post back on the 25 October 2010 -  a  President's Letter  from our then  President Jacqueline Seligmann.  Last year we celebrated with a letter from our President, David McDowell, but this year we're doing things a little differently and looking back on the year that was.  Since 24 October 2022, when we posted our celebration of our 11th Birthday , our blog has been viewed 15,200 times. Since 25 October 2010, we've been viewed over 197,000 times.  Our most read post of the year has been the Do you know about FLO? post. This post provides an update on the Finding...

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

Don't forget that our first in person ALLA (WA) event for some time is taking place this Thursday.  The night will be a great opportunity to share learnings from the ALLA Conference 2022 that took place in Hobart last month, along with a chance to catch up with colleagues.  View the original ALLA (WA) Blog Post about this event here . Or RSVP via the ALLA Website . 

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 ...

You read that right folks,  ALLA Librarians have taken over the Lawfluent Podcast this week! Our friends at Open Law, an innitiative of BarNet Jade, have been kind enough to let some ALLA members grace the airwaves during their season 2 episode: Law Librarians from ALLA! Phil Mullen (ALLA NSW & ALLA Ltd), Anastasia Stepanovic (ALLA Vic) and Alice Hewitt (ALLA (WA)) joined forces for a round table discussion on everything from how we got to law libraries, how law libraries are all different, the book worm from Toy Story, and some very strange research requests.  Hosted by the wonderful Isabella Elena Carrozzi, and playing on a podcast platform near you.  Check out the Lawfluent Podcast now: Lawfluent Website Lawfluent Instagram Open Law LinkedIn

Know someone who has done great work over the past year?  Now is your opportunity to recognise and celebrate the great people in our industry! The ALLA Board is pleased to invite nominations for the following awards.  Winners will be announced at the ALLA Conference 2022 dinner in Hobart.  To nominate a worthy recipient, please email Karen Rowe-Nurse , ALLA Ltd Secretary, or complete the nomination forms available on the ALLA website (and linked below) by COB Friday 19 August 2022.  Nominations are a simple process, usually only requiring a short statement to support the nomination. 

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

Back in May we brought you an update on the start of the new National Finding the Law Online (FLO) Project (you can see it here Do you know about FLO? ).  Below is an update from the Project Lead, Anastasia Stepanovic, and Project Coordinator, Alice Hewitt. 

The latest edition of the Australian Law Librarian  journal is available now available from Informit . Volume 30, Issue 2 is packed with some great articles. See below for some highlights! 45 years of ALLA (WA) Following on from celebrating our 45th Birthday on 31 March 2022 , ALLA (WA) President, David McDowell spent some time digging around in the ALLA (WA) archives and wrote a great piece.  Take a look at the article, and the ALLA (WA) Committee is working on an in-person event to celebrate 45 wonderful years.  David McDowell, '45 years of ALLA (WA)' (2022) 30(2) Australian Law Librarian  69 State and Territory News You can also hear more from David, and other Divisional Presidents in the regular State and Territory news column of the journal Lisa Capps, David McDowell, Anastasia Stepanovic and Joanna Longley, 'State and Territory news' (2022) 30(2)  Australian Law Librarian  57 President's Letter Want to hear what is going on with ALLA National? Na...

Fiona MacDowall, the Business Manager for the Australia Law Librarian Journal , has a request for Law Librarians out there.  Fiona will be presenting a session on library classification systems at the ALLA Conference 2022 in Hobart on 24-26 August. She will be talking about Moys in particular, as well as other scheme.  For her presentation research, she would love to know how many law libraries use Moys and what other schemes are used. She is also interested in how comfortable librarians feel in cataloguing using Moys and what type of training is required.  Please help Fiona prepare this presentation by completing this short survey available on Google Forms . It should take less than 3 minutes.  If you cannot access the Google Form to complete the survey, please contact Fiona at the Business Manager email address .  For those interested, a Moys workshop is being offered during the ALLA Conference. Spaces are limited. 

ALLA members from around the country have joined together to work on updating and expanding the Finding the Law Online (FLO) course! This sub-committee, led by ALLA Vic. President Anastasia Stepanovic and along with ALLA (WA)'s own Alice Hewitt as Project Co-Coordinator, will see the development of a new set of online learning modules for FLO. Drawing upon the jurisdictional expertise of  FLO team members - Paula Jane Everett , David McDowell,  Kate Freedman, Alisha Nolan, and Amanda Surrey - we will develop a course for new law librarians, or law librarians new to a jurisdiction, or just librarians trying their hand at legal research. The FLO Team currently has volunteers who will share their knowledge of case law and legislation research for the Commonwealth, the Australian Capital Territory, South Australia, Victoria, and Western Australia. For New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Tasmania and Queensland - we are still looking for volunteers. Please get in touch...

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 ...

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...

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...

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...