I think I’m suffering from SEF. I’ve now been trained, upskilled, put on publishers focus groups, retrained and re-educated in dos-based legal research databases, the subsequent cd versions & now their online counterparts for the past 15 years and counting. And in turn I’ve trained clients, helped upgrade their skills, taken their concerns back and forth to publishers, and helped retrain them in all the things I’ve been retrained in. Like me they’ve mastered dos commands, keyboard control commands, boolean operators, folio grammar, field searching and the refinements of using butterworths, lexis, lawbook, westlaw, austlii, comlaw, timebase, capitol monitor, OQPC, QLI etc etc etc. We’ve all reminded ourselves daily of the variations from one database to another of truncators and proximity operators . We’ve considered cartwheels; we’ve dreamed of federated searching that actually works. We’ve collectively taken on board the concepts of keywords, subject headings, synonym, taxonomies, and folksonomies. And still, in almost every case the results they (and I) continue to get can be inconsistent, not on point or buried in unhelpful hitlists which don’t make sense until every single record is opened and read anyway. And that’s without even going into the mysteries of downloading or printing (have Thomson software developers ever tried creating a useful document from the results of any complicated research in their own databases?). I’m not knocking the wonderful availability of online materials. But wandering daily in Database-land has grown more, not less, wearisome over the course of time. Every ‘advance’ advocated to us by publishers carries with it some mysterious regression. It also means that our hapless clients must also start all over again when all they want to be able to do is find the area of law that's on point for them and keep doing the same thing when they need to read it again. What I’d like to do is to make video clips of some of our real life lawyers researching their way through CCH or Lawbook or LexisNexis. Then I'd post the results on YouTube. That would be at least as funny as March of the Librarians (not very).
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Publishers Liaison Update March 2007
PUBLISHERS LIAISON UPDATE MARCH 2007
Systematics - Quantum online - current only to mid 2005 - contacted 23/01/2007 - by email
RESPONSE - from Kylie Peterson - We are currently reviewing this situation with the content provider and I will come back to you as soon as I have further information about the future of the service. There has been no policy decision at this stage to discontinue the service and we are hopeful that we will indeed be able to return the product to its former level of currency.
OUTCOME : without any further response from Systematics BF emailed again 6/3/07 - nothing further yet
lawbookpublishing.com.au - Annotated Land Title Act - updates are infrequent, publication often lacks currency; there have been comments from members of the list that other titles from this Publisher are not updated often enough and that errors remain uncorrected from one issue to the next - contacted 22/02/07 - by phone
RESPONSE - publisher Devi Alberti reports that the Annotated Land Title Act is updated 2 x per year and that the scale of payment for each update is charged out at about 65c per page. His advice was that the last update was published 30/6/2006 and the next will be approximately 1/7/2007. A year for this publication is is a financial year. He has also requested that the ALLG(Q) approach him in writing and not by phone.
OUTCOME : the Committee is considering writing to this publisher to outline our problems with looseleaf titles which have very long intervals between updates.
Comlaw - ongoing problems with the interface, slowness of response time and inconsistent results ; responses harvested from the Queensland list were emailed 19/2/07 to National Publishers Liaison representativel Petal Kinder
OUTCOME : no response as yet
Thomsons - loss of visible online indexes - TLA and other services; these are available in the print versions, are a valuable resource for online users & we would like to have them; BF emailed as personal request 24/2/07 but received no reply; further emailed a list of responses from the Queensland list 18/3/07
OUTCOME : BF to meet with Thomsons representatives Wed 28/3/07 (updated on original info)
LexisNexis AU - Queensland Planning and Environment Reports online but no pdf version available : BF rang Printacular (the publisher in Moorooka) to see if there might be an impediment at their end 14/03/07 - left message
OUTCOME : no response as yet
Thursday, March 01, 2007
NLS 2006
On December 1 and 2 2006 hundreds of new Librarians converged on the John Niland Scientia building in Sydney to participate in ALIA’s New Librarians Symposium (NLS). This is the fourth event of its kind to be held in Australia. The theme pathways and possibilities matched the event’s purpose to facilitate lively debate amongst new Librarians on what we should be saying about our profession. Some delegates took this a step further by presenting their first conference paper.
Papers were presented on a variety of topics of interest to new and not so new Librarians. Many of the papers and presentations can be viewed on the Symposium’s website.
There was a strong presence from the Law Library field with the ALLG NSW Division staffing a stall in the Trade Exhibition. Aspiring Law Librarians were able to listen to the advice of Vanessa O’Meara and Melanie Adams in the session “So you want to be a Law Librarian?” Lisa Paul presented a very interesting paper on her involvement as an Academic Law Librarian in the review of undergraduate law curriculum at Griffith Law School and how this has benefited her in her career.
We can highly recommend NLS as an opportunity to learn, develop your networks and have fun! We’d encourage the ALLG to continue to support this event in the future. Keep your eyes peeled for the next issue of the ALLG (Q) Newsletter, out next week for a full report on NLS2006.
-Sally Manser & Kirsten Harte
Papers were presented on a variety of topics of interest to new and not so new Librarians. Many of the papers and presentations can be viewed on the Symposium’s website.
There was a strong presence from the Law Library field with the ALLG NSW Division staffing a stall in the Trade Exhibition. Aspiring Law Librarians were able to listen to the advice of Vanessa O’Meara and Melanie Adams in the session “So you want to be a Law Librarian?” Lisa Paul presented a very interesting paper on her involvement as an Academic Law Librarian in the review of undergraduate law curriculum at Griffith Law School and how this has benefited her in her career.
We can highly recommend NLS as an opportunity to learn, develop your networks and have fun! We’d encourage the ALLG to continue to support this event in the future. Keep your eyes peeled for the next issue of the ALLG (Q) Newsletter, out next week for a full report on NLS2006.
-Sally Manser & Kirsten Harte
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Update on Copyright Seminar
Hi Everyone, Moyra has clarified some of the information I posted yesterday.
Cheers
Helen
Dear ALLG members
I would like to clarify an item in Helen's report of the talk I gave last Thursday.
The existing Fair dealing exceptions are unchanged - in fact a new category has been added
Fair dealing now applies to
1. Research and study
2. Criticism or review
3. Reporting the news
4. Giving of professional advice
AND
5. Parody and satire
Two or more articles from the same journal issue may be reproduced if they are for the same course of study or the same research (Cf the original requirement that they be on the same subject)
A library may request another library
(a) to provide copies for a client for any of the above purposes
(b) for inclusion in the library's collection
If the request it for (b) it is not clear that more than one article may be copied (since it is not for the same course of research or study)
Please don't hesitate to get in touch with me if you have any further queries.
Moyra McAllister
ALIA Copyright Adviser
Mob: 0409 463 663
copyright@alia.org.au
Cheers
Helen
Dear ALLG members
I would like to clarify an item in Helen's report of the talk I gave last Thursday.
The existing Fair dealing exceptions are unchanged - in fact a new category has been added
Fair dealing now applies to
1. Research and study
2. Criticism or review
3. Reporting the news
4. Giving of professional advice
AND
5. Parody and satire
Two or more articles from the same journal issue may be reproduced if they are for the same course of study or the same research (Cf the original requirement that they be on the same subject)
A library may request another library
(a) to provide copies for a client for any of the above purposes
(b) for inclusion in the library's collection
If the request it for (b) it is not clear that more than one article may be copied (since it is not for the same course of research or study)
Please don't hesitate to get in touch with me if you have any further queries.
Moyra McAllister
ALIA Copyright Adviser
Mob: 0409 463 663
copyright@alia.org.au
Monday, February 19, 2007
Copyright Update
Hi Everyone
Richard and I attended a Copyright Seminar last Thursday at lunch time which was put on by ALIA Quorum. Moyra McAllister is the copyright adviser for ALIA. It was very good. Moyra went through some very basic points about what copyright is etc, but also covered some of the sections of the recent amendments to the Copyright Act. This is just an excerpt of what she covered and suggested.
The fair dealing provisions still exist but they are only for research or study - and that means course/study. The fair dealing provisions no longer apply to libraries copying for other libraries.
Moyra pointed out the definition does not say that the Library has to be open to the public - just that you have to be willing to supply ILL.
There are special case exceptions for libraries s200AB - but they are not really certain what "certain purposes" they are yet!
She suggests at a minimum we need to be listed on the Australian Libraries Gateway, need to list the subject areas we specialise and our willingness to provide ILL. CAL has also been recommending to people that our library catalogues need to online. She said that this is not correct and we don't have to do that. We do however, have to be part of the Interlibrary loan network - and we would have to do better than the ALLG Union Serials list. Something like GratisNet would be worthwhile.
There is also a Corporate Libraries Licence from CAL which she also thinks would be a good idea to get.
Richard and I attended a Copyright Seminar last Thursday at lunch time which was put on by ALIA Quorum. Moyra McAllister is the copyright adviser for ALIA. It was very good. Moyra went through some very basic points about what copyright is etc, but also covered some of the sections of the recent amendments to the Copyright Act. This is just an excerpt of what she covered and suggested.
The fair dealing provisions still exist but they are only for research or study - and that means course/study. The fair dealing provisions no longer apply to libraries copying for other libraries.
Moyra pointed out the definition does not say that the Library has to be open to the public - just that you have to be willing to supply ILL.
There are special case exceptions for libraries s200AB - but they are not really certain what "certain purposes" they are yet!
She suggests at a minimum we need to be listed on the Australian Libraries Gateway, need to list the subject areas we specialise and our willingness to provide ILL. CAL has also been recommending to people that our library catalogues need to online. She said that this is not correct and we don't have to do that. We do however, have to be part of the Interlibrary loan network - and we would have to do better than the ALLG Union Serials list. Something like GratisNet would be worthwhile.
There is also a Corporate Libraries Licence from CAL which she also thinks would be a good idea to get.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Our changing clients
Following on from the Talkfest on Wednesday, I came across a bibliography (courtesy of the ALIA Newgrads elist) on next generation librarianship that looked very interesting.
Lots of stuff about younger client groups, and as a contrast the "memo to baby boomer" article about teaching the boomers to let go seemed worth a read.
Lots of stuff about younger client groups, and as a contrast the "memo to baby boomer" article about teaching the boomers to let go seemed worth a read.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Membership Directory
The January 2007 edition of the ALLG(Q) Membership Directory is now available. If you did not receive the email with the directory attached but would like a copy of the directory, please let me know and I'll onf0rward to you.
Sandy
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Information Online 2007
Darling Harbour
David Claudia & Marie
Beth Crawter
Queuing for the internet at Information Online 2007
Lunch time
Richard, Claudia & Claire
Richard Claudia & Barbara
Afternoon tea
It was a really excellent conference - come to our Talkfest and find out why
David Claudia & Marie
Beth Crawter
Queuing for the internet at Information Online 2007
Lunch time
Richard, Claudia & ClaireRichard Claudia & Barbara
Afternoon tea
Monday, November 06, 2006
Major Mike Mori addresses Queensland lawyers
Our roving reporter Barbara Flowers has filed this extremely informative report of Major Mori's update on David Hicks, organised by the Australian Lawyers Alliance and held at the Brisbane Convention Centre on Friday 3rd November:
Major Mike Mori attracted quite a crowd at the Convention Centre, in spite of the Friday lunch time slot, slightly less than enough time to scramble across the Victoria Bridge and then be back at work for Friday arvo's surprises. One interesting fact about Major Mori is that he was a Criminal Lawyer. This became evident from his persuasive presentation of the David Hicks facts, summarised with a flourish and delivered with the theatre and passion of the good barrister that he clearly is. Another interesting fact is that he volunteered for the role of David Hicks' lawyer, and was not appointed by the Department of Defense, in spite of the assertion otherwise in his Wikipedia entry. This sheds some light on the curious contrast between his haircut and his legal stance. The other things I discovered about him is that his nickname is Dan and he has served in the US Marine Corps since 1983.
He took us through a timeline of Hicks' incarceration, the bouts of solitary confinement, the history and legality of the Military Commissions and the various slowly grinding wheels of justice which culminated in two important US Supreme Court cases which affect the GITMO detainees:
In Hamdi v. Rumsfeld 542 U.S. 507 (2004) the Court ruled that detainees who are U.S. citizens must have the ability to challenge their detention before an impartial judge.
In Rasul v. Bush 542 U.S. 466 (2004) the Court ruled that U.S. courts have jurisdiction to consider challenges to the legality of the detention of foreign nationals captured abroad in connection with hostilities and incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay.
The result of these two decisions has been the drafting and enactment of the Military Commissions Act 2006. Interestingly the Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld, wrote the rules of trial procedure for this new Act and it has clearly been drafted to overcome the legal issues raised by the Supreme Court in the two cases above. Under the MCA the normal rules of evidence are changed. The burden of proof is now on the defence to prove the prosecution’s evidence unreliable while at the same time not allowing knowledge of the way in which this evidence was obtained, or at times, even access to it. Another outcome has been the stripping of habeas, from the Commission’s trial process. (A habeas corpus petition is a petition filed with a court by someone objecting to his own or another's detention, and showing that the court ordering detention made a legal or factual error.) It creates a new crime of ‘conspiracy’, something the higher English courts have already rejected as a criminal offence. And it allows for retrospectivity, something the Australian Attorney-General has specifically stated as inappropriate to our own legal system, while accepting that it can apply to David Hicks within the US legal system.
There have also been amendments to the War Crimes Act (US Code Title 18, para 2441) an Act which covers combat offenses committed by people who are not active military personnel. The changes remove the offence of degrading a prisoner (is this a back door tolerance of torture?) and no longer requires the provision of a fair trial.
Mori then outlined the different levels of law which might apply to Hicks. Under Australian law there is no statute which Hicks has violated, according to the Australian government. Under US law as an Australian citizen he cannot be charged with aiding the enemy although he was picked up fighting against the US in Afghanistan. The US Congress itself has found that attacking soldiers is not an unlawful war offence, it’s what each side does to the other. Under International Law there are prohibitions regarding the means of attack, and prohibitions on particular conduct towards protected persons or objects, but was Hicks guilty of any of these things. Major Mori thinks not.
The future in some ways is going to be déjà vu all over again as much of the progress achieved in Rasul and Hamdan in testing the legality of the Guantanamo incarcerations will have to be re-litigated subsequent to the MCA. At the moment Mori sees another argument over jurisdiction, something that had been resolved in Rasul.
Of course there was a lot more legal discussion but it wouldn’t be possible to fit all of that into a short overview like this one. I’ve tried to pinpoint the important sign posts in Major Mori’s presentation. It was good to get a better insight into the nexus between politics, the media and the legal system, something we obviously see at close quarters in Queensland and Australia from time to time.
And here is one last interesting fact, this time about David Hicks. The famous photograph where he’s holding what looks like a rocket launcher on his shoulder, was actually taken in Albania, long before he went to Afghanistan. In the full picture he’s posing with a couple of grinning friends. It gives quite a different impression from the cropped version we’ve been shown, the one where it seems he’s firing a few rounds at the US Army right that minute.
Major Mike Mori attracted quite a crowd at the Convention Centre, in spite of the Friday lunch time slot, slightly less than enough time to scramble across the Victoria Bridge and then be back at work for Friday arvo's surprises. One interesting fact about Major Mori is that he was a Criminal Lawyer. This became evident from his persuasive presentation of the David Hicks facts, summarised with a flourish and delivered with the theatre and passion of the good barrister that he clearly is. Another interesting fact is that he volunteered for the role of David Hicks' lawyer, and was not appointed by the Department of Defense, in spite of the assertion otherwise in his Wikipedia entry. This sheds some light on the curious contrast between his haircut and his legal stance. The other things I discovered about him is that his nickname is Dan and he has served in the US Marine Corps since 1983.
He took us through a timeline of Hicks' incarceration, the bouts of solitary confinement, the history and legality of the Military Commissions and the various slowly grinding wheels of justice which culminated in two important US Supreme Court cases which affect the GITMO detainees:
In Hamdi v. Rumsfeld 542 U.S. 507 (2004) the Court ruled that detainees who are U.S. citizens must have the ability to challenge their detention before an impartial judge.
In Rasul v. Bush 542 U.S. 466 (2004) the Court ruled that U.S. courts have jurisdiction to consider challenges to the legality of the detention of foreign nationals captured abroad in connection with hostilities and incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay.
The result of these two decisions has been the drafting and enactment of the Military Commissions Act 2006. Interestingly the Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld, wrote the rules of trial procedure for this new Act and it has clearly been drafted to overcome the legal issues raised by the Supreme Court in the two cases above. Under the MCA the normal rules of evidence are changed. The burden of proof is now on the defence to prove the prosecution’s evidence unreliable while at the same time not allowing knowledge of the way in which this evidence was obtained, or at times, even access to it. Another outcome has been the stripping of habeas, from the Commission’s trial process. (A habeas corpus petition is a petition filed with a court by someone objecting to his own or another's detention, and showing that the court ordering detention made a legal or factual error.) It creates a new crime of ‘conspiracy’, something the higher English courts have already rejected as a criminal offence. And it allows for retrospectivity, something the Australian Attorney-General has specifically stated as inappropriate to our own legal system, while accepting that it can apply to David Hicks within the US legal system.
There have also been amendments to the War Crimes Act (US Code Title 18, para 2441) an Act which covers combat offenses committed by people who are not active military personnel. The changes remove the offence of degrading a prisoner (is this a back door tolerance of torture?) and no longer requires the provision of a fair trial.
Mori then outlined the different levels of law which might apply to Hicks. Under Australian law there is no statute which Hicks has violated, according to the Australian government. Under US law as an Australian citizen he cannot be charged with aiding the enemy although he was picked up fighting against the US in Afghanistan. The US Congress itself has found that attacking soldiers is not an unlawful war offence, it’s what each side does to the other. Under International Law there are prohibitions regarding the means of attack, and prohibitions on particular conduct towards protected persons or objects, but was Hicks guilty of any of these things. Major Mori thinks not.
The future in some ways is going to be déjà vu all over again as much of the progress achieved in Rasul and Hamdan in testing the legality of the Guantanamo incarcerations will have to be re-litigated subsequent to the MCA. At the moment Mori sees another argument over jurisdiction, something that had been resolved in Rasul.
Of course there was a lot more legal discussion but it wouldn’t be possible to fit all of that into a short overview like this one. I’ve tried to pinpoint the important sign posts in Major Mori’s presentation. It was good to get a better insight into the nexus between politics, the media and the legal system, something we obviously see at close quarters in Queensland and Australia from time to time.
And here is one last interesting fact, this time about David Hicks. The famous photograph where he’s holding what looks like a rocket launcher on his shoulder, was actually taken in Albania, long before he went to Afghanistan. In the full picture he’s posing with a couple of grinning friends. It gives quite a different impression from the cropped version we’ve been shown, the one where it seems he’s firing a few rounds at the US Army right that minute.
Monday, October 30, 2006
ALLG (Q) Xmas Party
Get you're diaries out, and pencil in this important social event!
The ALLG(Q) Festive Christmas Cocktail Party has been booked for Thursday 7 December at the City Gardens Cafe, Brisbane City Botanical Gardens commencing at 5.30 pm.
Cost: $25 members, $40 non members. This includes:
- Pre-dinner savouries will be served at 6.00 pm
- Main course which is fork dish will be served buffet style at 7.30 pm
- Dessert will be then served at 8.20 pm
Champagne provided on arrival, courtesy of Softlink and there will be a cash bar available for drinks (more details to follow).
We need a minimum of 35 for this venue, so the more the merrier! More details on the venue are available from their website, www.citygardens.com.au
Please send an expression of interest in attending this Christmas party to Susan Stockwell by Friday 3 November 2006 if possible to make sure we will have sufficient numbers.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Meet Nancy Pearl
Nancy Pearl, America's rock star librarian is coming to Brisbane!
$10 is all it takes to spend the day with Nancy herself at the newly completed State Library od Queensland. Book online now through Qtix.
Nancy is the best selling author of "Booklust' and More Booklust' and even has her own action figure!
More details of Nancy's visit from the State Library, here.
$10 is all it takes to spend the day with Nancy herself at the newly completed State Library od Queensland. Book online now through Qtix.
Nancy is the best selling author of "Booklust' and More Booklust' and even has her own action figure!
More details of Nancy's visit from the State Library, here.
Friday, September 22, 2006
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!
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!
Monday, September 18, 2006
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.
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.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
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.
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
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.
Friday, September 01, 2006
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.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Online Currents returns!
As a keen reader of Online Currents, I'm pleased to hear that Thomson are going to re-launch it. Online Currents provided critical reviews, news and analysis of the online industry from an Australian perspective, with a high standard of editorial independence.
Take a look at some old issues in the Pandora Archive
Monday, July 24, 2006
Become an ALLG committee member
Have you ever thought about joining the ALLG committee? Be at the centre of the action and help set the direction for the group for the next 12 months.
Committee members meet every month or two to discuss what's happening in law librarianship and publishing, plan professional development opportunities to benefit all members and set the direction for the association.
Being on the committee is a great networking opportunity, and can be fun. No experience is necessary, just a desire to give something back and get things done.
Look out for the call for nominations coming soon. If you have any questions, contact me at cdavies@legalaid.qld.gov.au or call 3238 3931.
Committee members meet every month or two to discuss what's happening in law librarianship and publishing, plan professional development opportunities to benefit all members and set the direction for the association.
Being on the committee is a great networking opportunity, and can be fun. No experience is necessary, just a desire to give something back and get things done.
Look out for the call for nominations coming soon. If you have any questions, contact me at cdavies@legalaid.qld.gov.au or call 3238 3931.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Comlaw session at QUT
Well attended - 40 people. Feedback that it was a very worthwhile session.
Here are some of the key points raised in the session:
Here are some of the key points raised in the session:
- Still best way to use it is to Browse as Cathy found that identical searches give different results on different days.
- Comlaw have introduced an Advanced Search option now- click on the Tools Menu and it gives a list of various searches available - choose Advanced Search. This seems to be quite good. Guided search not available yet
- An Advanced Seach in Title field gives a list of results that is quite useful. However an Advanced Search fulltext search eg Antartica gives a result list with all the results as "Act Compilations" ie you don't get the name of the legislation.
- Some strange terminology used on Comlaw - apparently it is so the 'lay' person can find things. Bit like not studying Shakespeare at school as it is too hard for the 'lay' person to understand a new terminology. For example "Current Law" means all compilations and reprints and unamended principal titles. "Principal Act" is the Act enacted.
- As the Legislative Instruments on Comlaw are now the official version, their pdf symbol has a green tick to acknowledge this.
- Act Compilation
Shakespeare Night at the Supreme Court
Barbara Flowers reports on last night's ALLG(Q) social outing: Shakespeare’s briefs : or let’s kill all the lawyers
Last night the Supreme Court Library hosted an evening of Shakespeare performed by the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble along with Judge Nase. It was a kind of short scrutiny of Shakespearean views of justice and the law. We were very taken with the opening sequence, a man engaged in some detailed housework involving a vacuum cleaner, while one of his colleagues wielded a bottle of spray’n’wipe among the balustrades. They were surprisingly thorough. The ‘Court functionary’ who disregarded us while displaying her legs along the bench was more disturbing. Some of us couldn’t help but comment on the poor showing it made, but in the end we did cotton on. It was all part of the show, and an interesting lead-in by the Actors to a trial scene from The Winter’s Tale, the trial of Hermione, accused of adultery by her husband.
Curiously, the last evening at the Supreme Court I attended, when QUT Law Library formally transferred its Pacific collection to the Court Library, the ABC journalist Sean Dorney also discussed the topic of adultery. He made the observation that under customary law in the Pacific Islands, adultery is viewed as of far greater criminal importance than murder, because of the problems it introduces into a tribal society. Plus ca change, and all that. But I digress.
The great Shakespearian set piece for lawyers (and actors) is of course the trial scene from The Merchant of Venice, which was the second of the two segments performed last night. As a nod to the fact that we were sitting in an actual Court room, some part of the play was screened as video evidence and was convincingly hard to see and understand. I thought this a clever idea not executed with a proper sense of the audience, as so much of the crucial language was hastily and inaudibly spoken. There are certain protocols required of Shakespearian actors and intelligibility must surely be among them. But Portia did her stuff and came up trumps, and it was all very satisfying.
It was an evening which combined an interweaving of the real work of a Court, as we ‘rose’ for each of Judge Nase’s entrances, alongside the other work of theatre and good drama. I enjoyed it a lot.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Renew Your ALLG Membership
It's that time again... it's time to renew your ALLG membership!
And the good news is that you won't have to dig too deep! 2006-07 membership fees are as follows:
Ordinary Membership $45.00
Honorary Membership $35.00
Student Membership $20.00
Take full advantage of the fabulous CPD and networking events on offer to ALLG(Q) members and renew your membership for the coming year. To find out more information, the new 2006-07 Membership Renewal Forms are now available to download from the ALLG website.
Go to 'Join Us' on the left hand menu and select the Membership Renewal Form.
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