ALLA (WA) News Blog

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 new look of the Department of Justice's Law Library website went live today: https://dojwa.ent.sirsidynix. net.au/client/en_AU/llwa The  link is also available on the  Department’s website . The website includes links to free resources where available, as well as the library catalogue. Services marked with a padlock symbol are only accessible from onsite within the library.

Have a desire to write a journal article? What about present at a conference? We've found some opportunities from all over the world. Conferences CALL/ACBD Conference 2018 The Canadian Assocaition of Law Libraries / L'Assocation Canadienne des Bibliotheques de Droit Conference will be held on 27-30 May in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Submissions for Conference Sessions and Lighning Talks are open until October 20. The theme is Build Bridges | Broaden Our Reach. See the conference website for more details.  Journals Australian Law Librarian Journal The Australian Law Librarian   is seeking  contributions for the upcoming issue.  Centred around the theme of professional development, issue 4 of the journal is the place to share your experiences in mentoring, being mentored and growing as a professional. As a professional, you never stop growing. With this issue, we invite you to share your experiences, learnings, and thoughts on mentoring and professi...

In case you missed it, because I know I did, the Law Times Reports are at HeinOnline in their Law Journal Library. This old law report series is hard to find in print and difficult to copy when found as they are usually bound in large volumes. The coverage at HeinOnline covers the full run of this report which was 1859-1947. Thanks to Sky for the tip.

ALLA members are invited to hear CCH's Alicia Cohen sharing with us on     Is eLending really here? Despite the high penetration of digital devices in Australia, demand for physical publications by libraries has remained stable. A perceived lack of demand for eLending has put it on the back shelf, but new and innovative technologies are responding to the future needs of our busy lawyers and business professionals. Over the last three years the team at Wolters Kluwer, CCH has been collaborating with the law librarian community to develop an eLending solution that allows professional libraries to easily offer their users loanable eBooks. This project has developed significantly over the years and now the CCH ePlatform offers a device-agnostic and publisher-aggregated space for all libraries. Promoting research and access to information is a central mission for libraries and also for CCH. eBooks and eLending are another step closer to achieving this. Come along ...

Information below provided by the Department of the Attorney General: From 1 July 2016, the Law Library at the Supreme Court will close its doors and the Department of the Attorney General will provide library services to legal practitioners at the Law Library at the David Malcolm Justice Centre. Legal practitioners (and other persons doing research on behalf of legal practitioners) can access the Law Library by going to Level 23 of the David Malcolm Justice Centre, and will be given access to the Law Library (which is located on Level 2). The Law Library's opening hours will be 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Friday and services will include: - access to a browsing collection, with loans (other than loose leaf services) to take to court only; - reference desk services; - access to electronic databases at the Law Library (including LexisNexis, Westlaw and CCH) will be available from 25 July 2016; - photocopying and printing; and - document delivery. Fees will apply for photocopying...

In case you missed it, AustLII has recently added these two law reports to their online holdings:   Argus Law Reports 1895-1950 and Argus Law Reports, Current Notes 1896-1950 

On the 9 June 2016, approximately 95 information professionals met at the State Library of Western Australia to participate in a historical group photograph to capture ‘Information Professionals in Western Australia 2016’. All groups and associations were well represented and happily networked in between the group photographs that were taking place. Thanks to our sponsors – Jade Barnet, LexisNexis, Thomson Reuters, TimeBase, Wolters Kluwer (CCH), Western Australian School Library Association and the Records and Information Management Professionals Australasia for helping us make this event happen. Below are some sneak peek images of the event... the professional photo’s will be released soon, so keep an eye on the blog!  (Photographs taken by Kirsty McPhee)    

If you have not yet seen it, you might be interested in signing the online petition in support of Trove. Details available via the link below https://www.megaphone.org.au/petitions/fund-trove-1

The Law Library at the Supreme Court of Western Australia closes at the end of June 2016. An integrated library service for government lawyers, the judiciary and the legal profession will be provided by the library of the Department of the Attorney General which is scheduled to operate from the David Malcolm Justice Centre, 28 Barrack Street, Perth from July 1 2016 In light of the pending closure of the Law Library at the Supreme Court of Western Australia, to help celebrate the wonderful service and acknowledge the fantastic work of the library staff, you are invited to attend the Supreme Court Law Library Farewell hosted by ALLA (WA). This event is open to all.  When: Thursday 23 June 2016 Time: 5.30pm – 7.30pm Where: The Boheme, 300 Murray Street Perth RSVP: Gil Bevan gilien.bevan@allens.com.au by Tuesday 21 June 2016.

The Australian Law Librarian (ALL) journal are seeking contributions for Volume 24, Issue 3. The theme of this issue is Education and Educating . Education - Within the industry there are an increasing number of professionals returning to study (or never stopping). ALL would love to hear from those in the beginning, middle or end of that study about what prompted you to enrol. What course are you doing? Are MOOCs your thing? Are you returning to university for post grad qualifications? Masters, Law Degree, PhD or something else? What course are you doing and how? What are your tips for those who are struggling to find the time to study? What would you change about your experience if you could? Or are you an independent studier, what are the tools, collections, resources you use to keep studying? Educating - In this issue ALL are also looking for contributions from the educators. Whether you are educating future library and information professionals, future lawyers...

The Council of Law Reporting in Victoria has entered an agreement with BarNet, the creators of BarNet Jade, to publish, sell and distribute the Victorian Reports for the next 5 years. This represents the first real change in the identity of the publishers of the Victorian Reports for more than 100 years. In addition, under the new publishing regime, greater emphasis will be given to making the Reports available online, quickly and at an affordable cost, while retaining the option of hard copy subscription. Approximately one thousand cases are decided by judges of the Supreme Court each year. All of these decisions are important, but some contain particularly important statements of legal principle that are instructive for the judiciary, the legal profession or the community at large. These judgments are selected for inclusion in the Victorian Reports and then supplemented by a carefully prepared summary of the case and its principle. The report and its summary is then reviewed and ...

Are you a current WA resident? Have you graduated from an ALIA accredited course (Librarian, Library Technician, or Teacher Librarian) in the last three years? Would you like to nominate for the 2015 F A Sharr Award, a prestigious award with a $500 bursary to spend on any professional development activities of your choice? We are looking for people at the start of their career who have the potential to contribute to the library profession in WA. This is a wonderful opportunity to show your talents to the library community and get some financial support for professional development. Are you passionate about the future of our profession? You don't have to be the best cataloguer ever or have a 90% course average but you do have to apply to have a chance of becoming the Winner of the 2015 F A Sharr Award. To nominate please provide: • details of two referees • a statement addressing the selection criteria • a certificate of completion for your course • your ALIA membershi...

On 11th February, the American Association of Law Libraries  (AALL) reported that: "the proposal to change the name of American Association of Law Libraries to the Association for Legal Information has failed by a vote of 1998 (80.11 percent) opposed, to 496 (19.89 percent) in favor." As previously mentioned on this blog, there has been a lot of debate in the profession about whether the name "librarian" adequately captures or even limits librarians' / information professionals' skills and contributions to their organisations in the legal field. It is clear where AALL members' views currently lie, but the discussion is ongoing. Further thoughts can be found on 3 Geeks and a Law Blog from incoming vice-president / president-elect Greg Lambert.

Readers may have seen reports recently that the board of the American Association of Law Libraries has proposed renaming the organisation as the Association for Legal Information . The final decision yet to be made by members, but this blog post from an American law librarian offers thoughtful commentary on the issue. From her perspective, the name "librarian" is not necessarily neutral and may not be adequately inclusive. Moreover, in a profession so defined by constant change, it makes sense for the association to be open to new possibilities afforded by a new identity. The full post offers more insights on the landscape of law librarianship in general. What if the Australian Law Librarians' Association considered a similar change? Hat tip: ALLA(WA) Vice President - Natalie McDonald. Legal Information Manager, Lavan Legal.

Thomson Reuters is providing online access to the text of the Hon. Michael Kirby's Leo Cussen Justice Lecture at the Australian Law Teachers' Association Conference earlier this year. It's interesting reading for librarians who are involved in supporting legal education in universities. The ten 'commandments' to Law Schools presented in the lecture are: Assure a more diverse intake Attend to vulnerable students, so that they survive their studies Address some particular subjects of poverty law Encourage engagement by future lawyers with civil society Promote engagement with all forms of legal aid Acknowledge the importance of the law on costs Enhance access to law through new technology Establish miscarriage of justice and innocence clinics Undertake reliant empirical research and law reform projects Consider basic lessons to be derived from foreign systems The text of the lecture can be downloaded from the Thomson Reuters Insight blog  for free, althou...

Legal information has been accessed electronically for decades, but how many legal professionals have technical skills in designing tools for organising or delivering information resources? The Melbourne Law School offers a unit called Law Apps [ PDF unit guide ] in which students design apps that deliver advice for common legal problems. A design competition is also part of the project, as described in this press release . Perhaps this type of skill will become more prevalent in legal education in the future?

The Melbourne University Law Review/Melbourne Journal of International Law has an editorial team working on a new edition of the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC4). Suggestions are sought from law librarians and researchers—email them to robing@unimelb.edu.au. Note that subscribers to the ALLA-ANZ e-mail list will have received a compilation of suggestions collected so far on 18th September 2015.

Originally posted on Int-Law - International Law Librarians List The Cornell Law Library is now accepting applications for the Bitner Research Fellows Program . The Bitner Research Fellowship for foreign law librarians offers a unique opportunity for visitors to experience American law librarianship, learn the American legal system, and network with professional librarians to create life-lasting personal and professional connections. Intended to foster professional development, the fellowship is tailored to each fellow's area of interest. Bitner Research Fellows are provided with exposure to Cornell Law Library's excellent resources, and the expertise of its professional librarians, while learning about advanced legal research in a global context. Fellows are selected by the library education committee based upon the current needs of Cornell Law Library and upon the eligibility guidelines. Funding The Fellowship is made possible through an endowment in honor of the la...

The National Library of Australia has asked for volunteers to help stress test Trove. If you've got time and are near a computer on Wednesday 23rd September at 12pm EST (10am WST) why not give it a go? For more information take a look at the NLA's Join us next week in an attempt to break Trove! post.