Celebrate the silly season with ALLA NSW! 

Our annual Christmas Party is fast approaching and we want to see you there! 

Date: Tuesday 5 December
Time: 6.30pm - 9.30pm
Venue: PS40
Cost: $15
RSVP: Friday 1 December

This year we are hosting our festivities at PS40 - Sydney's first soda factory and bar. 

It is located on 40 King St, Sydney CBD (entrance is via Skittle Lane).

You can expect Sydney's best sodas, as well as top-notch cocktails and bites to eat.

Tickets are $15 for ALLA NSW members, and $50 for non-members.

For any dietary requirements, please email austlawlib.nsw@gmail.com.

Payment can be made at the door on the day, or via EFT (see link below for details). 

To register: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/celebrate-the-silly-season-with-alla-nsw-tickets-39669771354

Please RSVP by Friday 1 December.

We hope to see you there!

ALLA NSW

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

Come join us on the 6th December to celebrate 2016!!

Since it was such a success last year, we will be holding the festivities again at Since I Left You.

Date & Time:
Tuesday 6 December 2016
6:30 pm – 9:30 pm AEDT

Location:
Since I Left You
338 Kent Street
Sydney, NSW 2000

Please RSVP by 1 December 2016. Email your dietary requirements to austlawlib.nsw@gmail.com

Cost: $15 for members and $50 for non-members

Payment: Can be made on the day or as an EFT to the following:
ALLA NSW
BSB:062303
ACC: 28013802

Please include your surname and Xmas in the details.

Hope to see everyone there!!

Review of the ALLA 2016 conference: a "round table" event

Late last month our ALLA NSW members were invited to attend a “round table” to review the ALLA 2016 Conference. This was a great opportunity for those present at the conference to share their experiences and insights with those unable to attend.

The Conference was a success, with attendees noting many key takeaways from the event.

Much fun was had at the Old Melbourne Gaol, the perfect location for an ALLA social event. The library tours also proved popular, with the newly built Docklands library described as a place to visit on your next Melbourne trip.

There were many stand out presentations. Dan Hunter’s Gamification looked at the process of using popular game elements to engage students. He found that the appeal of competitive behaviour helps motivate and compel students to learn. It left many wondering what gaming elements to include in their own legal research training sessions.

Another presentation that garnered much interest was Junior Browne’s discussion on the role the University of the West Indies' Faculty of Law played in the development of law in the Caribbean. The faculty’s collection has become an authority on law in the region, and access to information has greatly improved as a result.

Junior Browne’s presentation stimulated conversation on how to respond to a change in traditional needs of law librarians, so that we can be leading the change rather than merely adjusting to it. As leaders, what industries might we seek to intentionally disrupt to bring about further change?

The event proved a great opportunity for members to get together, share a drink, and think about what really matters to us as librarians in an ever changing, constantly evolving environment.

Be sure to check the ALLA website to join the conversation at future NSW events.

What happened at the 2016 ALLA conference?

Our next event is a "round table" review of the ALLA 2016 Conference Presentations. Come along have a glass of wine and hear from your colleagues and find out what were some of the key "take away" moments from the presentations and workshops.

This event is free to members of the Australian Law Librarians Association (ALLA) and $10 for non-members.

This event may be recorded and the recording distributed to members.

Event to be held at the following time, date and location:
Wednesday, 28 September 2016 from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM (AEST)
Family Law Registry
Lionel Bowen Commonwealth Law Courts Building
97-99 Goulburn Street (Corner of Castlereagh Street)
Sydney, NSW 2000
Australia

Please RSVP by 5.00pm Tuesday, 27 September.

Law Librarianship - Legal Research - QUT's popular course is available online from September 2015

Are you looking to make the leap into law librarianship?

Or perhaps you’re a public, academic or corporate librarian who wants to be better equipped to help clients navigate the complexities of legal information resources?

QUT has got your professional development covered!

After the success of the initial online offering of our Law Librarianship: Legal Research course in 2014, we are offering the course online again by popular demand from September 2015.

About the course

This course, developed with the support of the Australian Law Librarians’ Association, introduces you to the Australian legal system and the world of legal research. The program specifically helps you to explore and evaluate primary and secondary legal research sources, covering Commonwealth, State and Territory jurisdictions. There is a strong focus on helping you to develop strategies to identify the characteristics of legal enquiry and to locate relevant, authoritative information to meet your clients’ needs.

This course is perfect for professionals that want to make the leap into law librarianship more experienced law librarians looking for a refresher course librarians from other sectors – learn all about legal research to help you answer law enquiries more effectively LIS students those looking to earn points for the ALIA PD Scheme.

You even have the option of completing assessment to gain formal course credit towards a qualification in Library and Information Studies*.

This is not your typical online training course! Participants in the Law Librarianship: Legal Research online course will engage in a range of facilitated learning experiences, self-paced and in real time, which reflect QUT’s flexible and innovative approach to teaching and learning in the Master of Information Technology (Library and Information Studies) course.

Course details:

When: 29 September to 24 November

Online classes will run on Tuesday evenings (6pm-8pm AEST) over 9 weeks, starting 29 September. Can’t make a class? Catch up with a recording, available through QUT’s online learning platform.

Registration: Register online now to secure your place. Registrations close on 15 September 2015.

About the facilitator:

Dr Gillian Hallam is Adjunct Professor with QUT. As an experienced educator and trainer, Gillian develops and delivers highly specialised academic and professional programs for the library and information services sector in Australia and overseas. She also provides consultancy services to academic, public and special libraries. Prior to joining QUT, she worked as a librarian in the corporate sector, managing business and legal information.

Further information:

Contact Kate Davis kate.davis@qut.edu.au

* Check with your institution about options for applying course credit.

Event Summary - LexisAdvance

On the 18th of June NSW ALLA and LexisNexis held a lively demonstration of LexisAdvance. We had Carolyn Norman Client Upgrade Delivery Manager and Jo Wade Senior Product Lead presenting and demonstrating the new database LexisAdvance. Obviously early days and from this distance difficult to tell, but my first thoughts are it seems to be a major step up from LNAU and for those lucky souls who remember Butterworths Online.

Which means you probably need to pay attention to the LNAU marketing department this far out; it is a major development for us and our users.

Thanks to Jo Wade we were able to look under the hood of LexisAdvance and discuss some of the new design features and thought processes that went behind the design changes. Again my first impression is that the new design seems cleaner and makes very good use of graphics. This should make retrieval and reading easier and more “pleasurable”.

LexisAdvance is a significant development for LexisNexis users, the cleaner design and the way Casebase interacts with the database is major step up for legal research in Australia for Law Librarians and Lawyers – some people might even say innovative.

Thanks to both Carolyn and Jo for presenting and being so collaborative and sharing with information about the new product. I know everyone at the meeting was intrigued and excited about the changes.

Phil Mullen

A Storify of all the twitter activity is available at https://storify.com/ALLA_NSW/lexis-advance [View the story “Lexis Advance” on Storify]

eLearning Knowledge Cafe

Struggling with getting your clients engaged in eLearning? Come to the ALLA NSW Knowledge Cafe and share/discuss your experience and learn from the experiences of others.

This event is going to be a bit different! So that everyone will be able to get the most out of the Knowledge Cafe a LinkedIn group has been created to get the introductions out of the way and get some preliminary discussion going
We encourage you to join the group and share your thoughts. Don’t worry the group is only going to be open to members.

The session will be moderated by Helen Cluff, Sydney Knowledge Centre Manager at Herbert Smith Freehills.

Details

When: 1 July 2014, 6:00-7:30pm
Where: Herbert Smith Freehills Knowledge Centre, Level 33 ANZ Tower 161 Castlereagh Street, Sydney
RSVP at EventBrite
Be sure to join the LinkedIn group!

Published: 24 June 2014

Back by popular demand - Copyright: Is that fair

For everyone who missed out on the first session, ALLA is please to present Copyright- Is That Fair.

How do I know if this is “fair use”?

The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) has recommended a new “fair use” exception, which would be a defence to copyright infringement. This presentation highlights 27 rules of thumb, and gives examples, indicating which uses of copyright material will be fair, according to the ALRC. It will also explore the following questions:

• What does the ALRC report say about libraries and archives, mass digitisation, data mining, orphan works and technology?
• What was NOT covered in the ALRC’s report?
• What is the government likely to do with the report?

Rufina Cheung edits and writes for CCH’s Australian Industrial & Intellectual Property and Australian Contract Law Reporter. Rufina has worked in the NSW Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (criminal law), NSW Crown Solicitor’s Office (administrative law) and NSW Attorney General’s Department (Legislation and Policy Division).

If you are not a financial member of ALLA you are still welcome to come to the CPD session, the cost is $10 to be paid on the day.

Please note that the session will be recorded.

Details

When: 26 June 2014, 1pm – 2pm

Where: Level 36, 225 George St Sydney.

RSVP at EventBrite

Published: 24 June 2014

Lunchtime Seminar - Chinese law and sources

In an ever shrinking world, there is increasing need for members of the law library profession to possess expertise in both Australian and foreign law, particularly that of the countries of the Asia Pacific. ALLA NSW has invited Vivienne Bath to provide an overview of Chinese Law, including the availability of sources of Chinese Law for Australian legal practitioners.

Vivienne Bath is Professor of Chinese and International Business Law at the University of Sydney.

An audio recording of this session will be made available to ALLA members.

If you are not a financial member of ALLA you are still welcome to come to the CPD session, the cost is $10 to be paid on the day.

Event Details 

When – 27 May 2014, 1-2pm
Where – 1 O’Connell Street, Sydney NSW
RSVP on EventBrite

Lunchtime seminar - Copyright: Is that fair?

 How do I know if this is “fair use”?

The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) has recommended a new “fair use” exception, which would be a defence to copyright infringement. This presentation highlights 27 rules of thumb, and gives examples, indicating which uses of copyright material will be fair, according to the ALRC. It will also explore the following questions:

• What does the ALRC report say about libraries and archives, mass digitisation, data mining, orphan works and technology?
• What was NOT covered in the ALRC’s report?
• What is the government likely to do with the report?

The session will be presented by Rufina Cheung. Rufina edits and writes for CCH’s Australian Industrial & Intellectual Property and Australian Contract Law Reporter. Rufina has worked in the NSW Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (criminal law), NSW Crown Solicitor’s Office (administrative law) and NSW Attorney General’s Department (Legislation and Policy Division).

If you are not a financial member of ALLA you are still welcome to come to the CPD session, the cost is $10 to be paid on the day.

Where: Jade Barnet, Level 7, 155 King St  Sydney, NSW 2000 Australia

When: Thursday, 8 May 2014 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM (AEST)

RSVP at EventBrite.

Vendor Negotiations - Lunchtime Seminar

ne·go·ti·ate (nĭ-gō′shē-āt′)
v.ne·go·ti·at·ed, ne·go·ti·at·ing, ne·go·ti·ates
v.intr.
To confer with another or others in order to come to terms or reach an agreement: “It is difficult to negotiate where neither will trust” (Samuel Johnson).
v.tr.
1.To arrange or settle by discussion and mutual agreement:negotiate a contract.”

Come along and hear practical advice on how to reach a “mutual agreement” with our vendors. Presenters for the NSW ALLA CPD Seminar are; Vanessa Blackmore, Susan Ramsay and Lawrence Tan from the AGD and Rebecca Bollen-Manalac from Herbert Smith Freehills.

When: 16 April 2014, 1-2pm
Where: Gadens Lawyers, Level 16, 77 Castlereagh St Sydney NSW 2000
RSVP on EventBrite
An audio recording of this session will be made available to ALLA members.

Interested but not a member? Come along!  If you are a non-financial member of ALLA NSW you are still welcome to join this CPD session, the cost will be $10 to be paid on the day.

Published: 7 April 2014

Evening Seminar - New Budgets and New Databases for New Law

What happens when a legal librarian decides to take the ultimate step and bid farewell to popular databases? Come along on Tuesday 18 March 2014 and hear this tale of heartache, courage and perseverance from our very own network.  Branko Bulovic, Legal Librarian and Michael Green, Barrister will be sharing their thoughts on this interesting topic.

When – Tuesday, 18 March 2014 from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM
Where – One Umbrella, Level 9, 1 York Street, Sydney, NSW 2000
RSVP via EventBrite.

Download the meeting brochure.

Published: 5 March 2014

Lunchtime seminar: Ebooks and the challenges to bookstores and libraries

Image source: http://news.blogs.slv.vic.gov.au/2012/05/25/readers-shape-state-library-ebook-collection/#.UvMdB2KSx8E

How does a business built on the supply of hardcopy books and information to a tech savvy audience respond to the eBook? 

Come along on 12 February 2014 to hear Stephen Mason the National Business Development Manager at The Co-op, discuss the topic of ebook: challanges to bookstores and libraries.

RSVP for the event on EventBrite

When: 1-2pm, 12 February 2014
Where: Level 31, 1 O’Connell Street Sydney NSW

Published: 6 February 2014

Outsourcing the law firm library: The UK experience

On 19 November 2013, Fiona Brown delivered a presentation to the NSW Australian Law Library Association on the findings of her thesis Outsourcing the law firm library: the UK experience. Fiona’s thesis considered the growing trend within the United Kingdom for law library services to be provided by outsourcing companies.

Fiona’s research sought to understand the growing trend within the UK legal industry towards outsourcing library and research services, a common practice within the United States. Following on from her presentation at the national ALLA 2013 conference, Fiona the results of her interviews within the UK legal industry surrounding:

• the reasons given within the legal industry for legal research outsourcing
• the claims made for and against outsourcing by industry participants including in-house librarians, outsourced librarians and lawyers using both in-house and outsourced research services.

To read more about Fiona’s findings, her thesis is available on the Monash University website.

Posted: 25 November 2013

ALLA NSW Christmas Party - Come celebrate with us

Come celebrate a great year at the beautiful Deck Bar at Luna Park!

Take a look at the invite below or download it here

Be sure to RSVP to events.allansw@gmail.com or on Eventbrite

Posted: 21 November 2013

Why are libraries and information service departments outsourced? Evening seminar

Fiona Brown will present a CPD on  what she knows/believes about the outsourced libraries from the information provided by their employers and from other law librarians. She will also discuss what the expectations were of outsourcing which is very closely aligned to the reasons for outsourcing.

We last heard from Fiona at the recent ALLA conference where she discussed, Law Firm Library Outsourcing: The UK Experience.

When: 19 November 2013, from 6pm to 7:30pm
Where: 2 Park Street Sydney
RSVP at EventBrite

“We last heard from Fiona at the recent ALLA conference where she discussed,Law Firm Library Outsourcing: The UK Experience. 

Posted: 13 November 2013

eLending Showcase brought to you by LexisNexisAU

Facilitated by Philip Mullen, Committee Member of ALLA NSW, with the discussions to be led James Milenkovic, eLending Product Manager and Sue Ann Yap, Relationship Director for Large Law the event will discuss LexisNexis Red, the elending platform showcased in the recent ALLA National Conference held in Sydney.

Come along to see it how it works as well as discuss the future of ebooks and elooseleaf in the legal industry.

Our objectives at this session are as follows:

• Provide you with a demonstration on how the elending solution works
• Expand the conversation on how your library and your profession has progressed since the advent of ebooks
• Create a forum for KM practitioners to share experiences, ideas and know-how on deploying ebooks in the library
• Keep the momentum on ebooks and elooseleaf. It has been 3 years since LexisNexis first released eBooks and 2 years since the last iteration of elooseleaf. Is elooseleaf a true disruptive technology? How has it impacted your conversations with your stakeholders?

When: 15 October 2013, 12:30-2pm

Where: Level 31, 1 O’Connell Street, Sydney NSW

RSVP at EventBrite

Published: 10 October 2013

#getyourtweetsout! Twitter Workshop Toolkit

 In preparation for the Twitter workshop on 28 August 2013 (tomorrow :P) be sure to follow the hashtag #getyourtweetsout !

Our testing ground for the workshop is @Examplealla. Our examples on how to look at everything Twitter will be focused on this page so be sure to follow the page.

This is our first inter-state workshop with presenters from Sydney and Melbourne. Our presenters are:

• Larissa Reid @larissa_reid
• Sherry Sarmiento @SherrySarmiento
• Alicia Cohen @Alicia_Cohen
• Alex Cato @Curious_Meow

Don’t forget to bring your mobile device to the workshop and for everyone else be sure to keep a look out for #getyourtweetsout. How-to guides and a summary of the goings-on of the workshop  will be available on the blog after the workshop.

(Source: Aprewave Media; http://www.bizreport.com/2012/07/how-to-tweet—better.html)

Post: 27 August 2013

#getyourtweetsout

Want to enter the twittersphere but not sure how? Want to brush up so that you can tweet like a pro at the conference? Or just want to find out some tips and tricks about Twitter?

Then come to our workshop and #getyourtweetsout!

ALLA NSW will be hosting a session on the ins and outs of Twitter.
Hosted by Larissa Reid, Sherry Sarmiento, Alex Cato and across the digital world by Alicia Cohen the session will go through:

• communicating in 140 characters or less
• favourite, retweet or reply? When to do what?
• #hastags – the serious and the sarcastic
• managing the feed monster with lists OR separate your ‘lives’ with lists
• direct communication
• taking photos

What you need to do: log-in to Twitter. We have put together a guide on ExampleALLA to help you do this https://twitter.com/ExampleALLA.

What you need bring: your mobile device

When: 1pm, 28 August 2013 

Address: Level 13, 1 Bligh Street, Sydney

RSVP at EventBrite

Posted: 22 August 2013