Attending Southern Currents?

The following committee members will be at the ALLG/NZLLA Symposium in Melbourne next week:

Lise Aldridge,
Sue Macaulay,
Helen Gambley,
Sandy Liddle,
Susan Oag, and
Richard Vankoningsveld.

Sandy has arranged for us to be seated at a table together for the dinner on Thursday night, so if you fell like sitting with some familiar faces I believe there are still a few spare places.

It seems the majority of us are staying at the Mecure Welcome hotel too, so look out for Queenslanders in the hotel bar if you’re attending!

Revised rules of the Queensland division

Following changes agreed at the AGM on 6th September 2006, we have new rules for the Queensland division.

A PDF of the revised rules for the ALLG (Qld Division) Inc. have been uploaded to the website (www.allg.asn.au), and the link can be found in the 'Join Us' section.

AGM and our new committee!

A report on last night's AGM from outgoing Secretary, Claudia Davies

Our second AGM as an incorporated association was held last night at Allens Arthur Robinson on the 31st floor of the Riverside Centre. Thirty members came to listen to Lea Giles-Peters fascinating talk on the new State Library, elect the new committee, and watch the sun go down behind the mountains before sipping champagne until late.

Our new committee

Lise Aldridge (President)

Leanne Cummings (Immediate Past President)

Sue Macaulay (Vice President)

Susan Oag (Treasurer)

Sally Manser (Secretary)

Richard Vankoningsveld (Web Coordinator)

Susan Stockwell (CPD Coordinator)

Kirsten Harte (Newsletter Editor)

Barbara Flowers (Publisher's Liaison)

Sandy Liddle (Membership Coordinator)

Helen Gambley (Employment Coordinator)

Michelle Phillips and Melissa Smith (Committee Members)

Congratulations to everyone. Contact details will be available on the ALLG(Q) website soon. Please feel free to contact the committee with ideas for CPD
events and venues or feedback on other issues of concern to the ALLG.

At the AGM, Leanne's President's report and Susan's Treasurer's report
outlined the terrific activity and achievements of the outgoing
committee. Members got great value for money from the impressive list of heavily-subsidised CPD and social events, our new blog, sponsorship and other promotional opportunities.

The evening wasn't all business. I think that everyone in attendance will want to be at the public opening of the new State Library on 2
December this year. Lea kept us amused with tales of dealing with arty architects, decidedly non-arty boards, and staff flung far and wide over Brisbane. We can't wait to hear the musical piece commissioned for the new State Library, see the kuril dhagun Indigenous Knowledge Centre, and sit in the "red box" overlooking the Brisbane River.

A special thank you to our sponsors for the night - One Umbrella and CCH - and to Allens for providing such a spectacular venue for the evening.

Feez Ruthning Opinions Collection

Barbara Flowers attended the launch of the Feez Ruthning Opinions Collection:

It was good to be at the Supreme Court Library on Wednesday night and be witness to an occasion that gladdened this old librarian heart. Peter Allen, partner of Allens Arthur Robinson, or Feez Ruthning in its earlier manifestation, presided over a wonderful iniative of his own - the firm's handover of its Opinions collection to the Supreme Court Library for digitisation and deposit.

This major accumulation of important legal material, drawn from the firm's colonial beginnings, to 1994, is of great value not only to the legal profession but also to present and future historians of Queesland and to us and our 'descendant' librarians. The Feez Ruthning collection includes Opinions written by many of the firm's illustrious alumni, including three Chief Justices of the High Court, several Chief Justices of the Queensland Supreme Court, and many eminent Queensland lawyers including Tony Fitzgerald. By association the collection provides a documentary history of much of Queensland's economic and legal history, and the sentiments of all guest speakers, the Attorney-General, the Chief Justice, Senator George Brandis and Peter Allen himself were drawn from the same expressed hope, that this important bequest will be the beginning of many similar bestowals from other of Queensland's law firms which have their origins in Queensland's colonial beginnings.

As law librarians we are all too familiar with the difficulties in obtaining decisions and opinions which pre-date the Court's use of electronic record keeping. Having been in unrequited pursuit of an Opinion of Sir Arnold Bennett for more than two months, I can point at first hand to the frustrating nature of our work when we encounter an absence of proper house-keeping in the documentary resources which make up our history. The Opinion in question is a much-cited resource on the duties of bailiffs, but appears to be no longer discoverable. So the publications resulting from the Supreme Court's history program, and the future fruit of this latest initiative from Allens are welcome changes for us as custodians of the state's legal resources. The Supreme Court Library fulfills an important role for all Queenslanders, and for the democratic process itself, by retaining and making its legal resources readily accessible. It is inspiring to see the Library Committee at the forefront of such a ground-breaking recruitment to the Court's collection. And as an erstwhile FLIER Librarian during the last years of my time at Feez Ruthning it was also interesting to see so many familiar faces at the Banco Court.

Senator Brandis alluded rather endearingly to the care with which lawyers like to preserve their words, often on carefully selected papers and more often than not bound in half calf, to produce a quality of printed work not much seen elsewhere these days. I thought this an interesting reversal of the barrister's or actor's love for words, where attention is focussed on the expression of them, with not so much regard for their preserved appearance. Of course as librarians we are also preoccupied with the preservation of words, but our preoccupation is to satisfy their need for retrievability and for the continued availability of their content. Peter Allen's initiative is a wonderful testimony to the importance of libraries and it was an inspiring evening altogether. I was very happy that enough space had been found in the Banco Court to accommodate us all.