Networking

The ALLA has approximately 600 members. With the exception of overseas applicants, all members join a state or territory ALLA Division. An ALLA National Executive of 15 members comprises both divisional representation, as well as elected national positions. It is most often from a national perspective that ALLA represents and advocates on behalf of law librarians and works to collaborate with the wider profession.

In May this year ALLA joined representatives from other peak bodies at the Peak Bodies Forum convened by the National Library of Australia. This annual meeting facilitates all library sectors sharing information and provides opportunities for collaboration. A particular area of discussion that impacts on all sectors within Australia is that of an ageing library workforce and difficulties associated with recruitment for entry level positions. At the recent ALLA conference, held in Sydney, this important topic was again being discussed during a presentation examining some of the issues which impact on library education and law librarianship, demographic and career data relevant to law librarians.

The Association has also been involved with a national cross-sectoral project entitled Electronic Resources Australia (http://era.nla.gov.au). This project was established in response to a Senate report on Libraries in the Online Environment. It is intended to facilitate free end-user access to online general reference resources. Whilst there are no legal resources available for subscription, ALLA will continue to support the development of the project and advocate that ERA consider the inclusion of legal services.

Advocacy and access

For over fifteen years, the ALLA has actively campaigned for, and supported, the development of law libraries within the Pacific Region through the Pacific Law Library Twinning Program. The ALLA Library Twinning Program was born at the 1991 Asia Pacific Law Librarians conference out of concern about the ad hoc provision of legal materials to the South Pacific. Several organisations at this time voluntarily took on ‘twinning’ arrangements with like organisations in the Pacific, focussing on the provision of both legal texts and training of librarians.

Since this time law librarians from Australia have travelled through the region to provide expertise and training in the establishment of law libraries, physical organisation of collections, cataloguing of materials and support of library staff.

The release of the White Paper on the Australian Government's overseas aid program Australian Aid: Promoting Growth and Stability with one of its organising themes being to foster functioning and effective states through, amongst other areas, the law and justice sector, provided a confirmation to ALLA of the importance of this work and the long established relationships fostered by this Program.

In 2007, the program involves 14 Australian and New Zealand law libraries twinned with 22 counterparts in the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu and Samoa.

In addition the ALLA supports the Twinning Program through the provision of a Pacific Law Libraries Scholarship, which provides an opportunity for law librarians and law library staff to attend the ALLA annual conference.

Professional development

In recognition of achievements and contribution to the profession, ALLA has implemented a series of Awards and Scholarships which provide opportunities for ongoing professional development. In 2007 the Lynn Pollack Memorial Scholarship was introduced. Lynn Pollack was inspirational in her dedication to her profession, encouraging and supporting colleagues and taking an interest in their careers. The Scholarship aims to assist new law librarians in their professional development and provide a young law librarian with the opportunity to attend the Australian Law Librarians' Conference.

Information ALLA Carte, the 2007 ALLA conference has just wound up – we were promised a heady ‘ragout of flavours’ and this was successfully delivered. Two hundred delegates gathered at the University of Sydney to participate in a stimulating and informative conference and array of social events. Concepts and realities that we are working with today were on the programme - digitisation of collections, collaboration, collective intelligence, unmediated access to information, intranets, career development and education.

With conference presentations still fresh in the mind and ALLA approaching its 40^th anniversary, it is worth reflecting on the immense cultural, social and technological changes that have influenced our profession. The challenges and opportunities that lie ahead are how we will continue to weave these changes into our profession and organisations and how we in turn as a profession will look for return on investment.

Planning for next year's conference is now well underway and on behalf of your Australian colleagues, I extend an invitation to you to join us in Perth, Western Australia in September 2008.