explodedlibrary bunker

Lifting the veil - the changing face of judgments publishing in the Family Court of Australia by Lyn Newlands, Family court of Australia

• The Family Court of Australia has recently made significant and substantial changes in its approach to judgments publication.
• Family Court (FamC) until recently didn't make 1st instance judgments available.
• Before, FamC published roughly 150-200 judgments per year, chosen by their value to legal precedent, mostly appellate decisions.
• This practice contributed to the reputation of the FamC as a secretive court as 1st instance decisions give a better window into how court really works.
• In 2005, FamC judgments project - they developed policies and standards for judgments, developed a style guide and catchwords.
• From 2007, all judgments would be published unless there is a non-publication order.
• Discuss some of the practical aspects of devising and implementing changes to longstanding practice.
• Development of standard judgements template and style guide.
• Some of the judges weren't happy about this, but over time the change has been accepted.
• Identify some of the ongoing challenges faced by the Court in making its judgments publicly available.
• s 121 of the Family Law Act requires the FamC to anonymise all judgments before publishing them by redacting out names, addresses, workplaces.
• They decided to use pseudonyms for party names, otherwise there'd by too many cases called B and B published in the year.
• This change has improved media coverage of FamC decisions.
• They couldn't ask judges associates to do the anonymisation, so a specialist group (Judgments Publication Office) was created to do this.
• Some personal observations about the challenges and rewards of stepping outside the traditional role of the Law Librarian.
• Working on the judgments project has taken her out of her regular library work, but she finds that her librarian skills have been helpful with this project.
• Challenges:

Anonymisation for parties with high media profiles.

Judgments often contain a lot of person information which is irrelevant to the issue, but which can be used for identity theft.

• Whatever role you're in (whether traditional librarian or not) it is vital to have good mentors.
• Q  How are the pseudonyms selected?
• Start with same initials, be of similar length, be culturally appropriate, generally be of similar ethnic background.
• The unanonymised version is preserved separately.
• Anonymisation is a very work intensive process.

Mission impossible or how to establish a special library on time and on budget by Hayley Leaver, University of South Australia

• Outlines how library staff at the University of South Australia overcame the dual challenges of strict time frame and limited budget to establish a high quality special library to support a news undergraduate law degree.
• Challenges:

Identifying core legal material and integrating this into a crowded library.

It was difficult securing complete sets of authorised law reports for Australia and England.

Legislation - only Cth acts as passed and reprints and SA acts as passed and reprints.

Online collection is more extensive - Big 3 databases; journals databases; ebooks.

First class graduate in 2010 - big need was providing legal reference training to the rest of the UniSA library staff.

After hours reference service via phone, email, chat.

Information literacy training - legal research workshop; an online tool - self paced info literacy resource, adapted from Deakin.

• They found that there's very little recent literature about the establishment of new libraries in Australia.

Staying relevant: how to adapt the library services to other firm operations in this time of financial crisis by Branco Bulovic, Hicksons

• Highlights the importance of having knowledge of the firms' operations and understanding the legal business, in general, for the provision of library services and for the organisation of adequate and economically feasible library systems in small and mid-tier law firms.
• Libraries should be aware of the overall firm's goals and perspectives and the way library services fit within these.
• Money is motivating factor - Libraries are closing or being outsourced.
• The library is part of a firm's overheads.
• Librarians need to reduce this perception of being an overhead.
• Role of library is:

evaluation and selection

training and access - via catalogue, ILL, accession, portal building etc

• Need to find savings
• Reduce time spent on research by only checking one source - communicating the source checked, then offering to check more sources if required.
• Librarians need to know how a matter is being billed and should limit or spend time on a research task according to how recoverable the time is.
• Law librarians need to be perceived as being capable of managing the resources we are given.
• Need communication with other departments in the firm.
• Marketing makes money for the firm and the knowledge department needs to be supporting the making of money for the firm, therefore should treat marketing as a priority client and respond to requests by marketing promptly.
• Use resources in more efficient way
• Concentrate on projects that have a need and have staff to contribute to the maintenance of the product.
• Avoid false savings  - don’t' cheat on getting resources (by academic password).
• Re lack of resources to maintain KH products - Use Summer Clerks to populate KHDB.

Evolution: from gorillas to guerrillas by David Bratchford, Qld Legal Aid Commission

• Gorillas face extinction around the world as their natural environment changes and their habitat shrinks.
• Gorillas - almost extinct and with a great need to evolve/adapt to survive.
• If legal library services are to avoid extinction, they must adapt to change and flourish in niches beyond their traditional territory.
• LAQ has evolved from a traditional legal library, using hard copy and a card catalogue, to a networked library, using electronic resources and emerging technologies.
• Because law libraries are often small, under resourced and relatively lacking in formal power, the Guerilla model can serve them well.
• Like Guerrillas, they need to be mobile, nimble, flexible, resourceful and good at forming alliances to create a big impact and effect cultural change.
• Like guerrillas, they are reliant on the good will and support of the populace (library customers) to survive.
• Guerilla librarianship - borrowing the concept from the marketing industry - is an approach to practice involving:

creativity

customer engagement

flexibility

• Adopt strategies of Guerrilla warfare:

move among the people.

gather intelligence.

learn environment.

build support.

• Learn user needs.
• Learn about the business to provide services important to them.  LAQ examples:

sensing db

db of awards

current awareness tools - Crime Online, Family law notes

db of key decisions in areas of practice

official misconduct db

policy handbook - book/db hybrid

• Organisational alignment - be seen by management to be providing relevant services.
• Combine forces

Collaborate;

cooperate;

form partnerships;

extend your capability and provide needed services.  LAQ example:

Current awareness services - legal groups provide content and commentary on material.

• Relationships with key people

IT (administrator developer)

industry (publishers, law firms)

• The Right weapon
• cheap, reliable.  LAQ example:

flexible and cheap database s/w and Internet technologies that provide:

seamless experience via IP fixing

web pages generated dynamically, on the fly, by queries

Accessing Web 2.0 technologies, wireless and broadband

• Choose your battles

Don't engage in battles that you can't win or that cost too much to win.

Needs analysis: what is need, is it available anywhere else,

Cost/benefit analysis: ease to develop, impact on users, cost to maintain.

Judicious use of retreat

Resource not being used or not being updated - be flexible and adaptable and abandon underutilised services.

• The power of propaganda

Capture the hearts and minds of the people - Marketing is a key weapon.

Multiple tools:

presence on Intranet

updates on new resources and changes to services

targeted email

face-to-face

internal reporting mechanisms - capture management hearts and minds

training and awareness sessions

marketing and relationship building exercises

• Key tools

Technological:

database software

web design software

• People:

skills

training

communication

negotiation

marketing

• Support:

of customers

from IT

• Culture of Innovation:

avoid chain-of-command

go straight to the customer and design solutions

empowers library staff to think about how things can be improved

embed innovation into practice.

• Re innovation - Hard to get people to provide content in a timely fashion.

Project management methodology for implementing an electronic document, library, knowledge or records management system by Ana Govan, Whitehorse Strategic Group

• Many implementations of Information Technology fail.  But adhering to project management methodology and Information Technology governance can reduce these risks dramatically when implementing an Electronic Document and Records Management System (EDRMS).
• Identify risk areas - Information audit; Pay attention to your organisation's regulatory/legal framework.
• Identify lobbyists for you - somebody in senior management.
• Secure funds by making a business case - Project description, reason for the project, alternative options, risks, KPIs.
• Scoping the system - Compare vendors and systems; even site visits.
• Canvassing vendors.
• Project governance structures - Folder hierarchy; Budgets.
• Procurement - Understand the tendering process.
• Implementation - Buy or build?; Testing phase with a pilot group; Training and change management; Escalation points, when people don't cooperate.
• Review phase - Can involve an external auditor.

Professionals and Web 2.0 by Linda Moore, Wolters Kluwer

• Web 2.0 is rapidly changing the landscape of professional information, in particular how professionals search for information and communicate with one another.
• Features of Web 2.0:

User generated content,

collective intelligence

Web 1.0 was a one-way conversation, Web 2.0 has conversation in every direction.

• CCH recently undertook research to better understand the relationship between professionals, information and Web 2.0 applications.
• Survey of 200 legal professionals.
• How the legal profession is using Web 2.0
• 59% use Web 2.0 technology at least once per week - most use it for professional purposes.
• 54% of social media usage is for professional research.
• Challenges and opportunities that the increased use of Web 2.0 offers for legal publishing and research.
• Can information that's free really be worthwhile? - Slaw.ca won a legal publishing award in Canada this year.
• Legal publishers still provide value.  Free sources often have issues with timeliness and accuracy.
• Readers have always interacted with information, now it is possible to share that interaction, which can create a cycle of continuous improvement. Legal publishers have a role in facilitating this.
• Information has been unlocked from the book (and even the webpage).
• 72% of professionals value information from peers as much as something published in a book.
• Right now professionals are more consumers, rather than contributors, to information.  Can Web 2.0 change this?
• In Web 2.0 you have to be authentic, otherwise you will be found out and embarrassed.
• CCH has a Blog in Belgium call TaxTalk which has led to the creation of 6 products.

Librarian 2.0: the most adaptable to change? by Helen Partridge, Queensland University of Technology

• The library and information science profession is quickly recognising that library 2.0 requires a LIS professional that is better equipped and broadly educated than one just ten years ago.
• But what is librarian 2.0?
• In the last 18 months, extensive discussion and debate exploring the core competencies needed by librarian 2.0 have appeared.
• 30% of Australian's started their own Blog last year (2008) [and other factoids about the uptake of Web 2.0 technology].
• Librarians need to be comfortable with this technology.
• Research project funded by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council that identified the skills, knowledge and attitudes of librarian 2.0.
• Discussion on the findings that have emerged from the research.
• LIS education has been criticised for being out of touch with the industry.
• Feedback from industry: generic capabilities, not specific IT skills are the key.
• Consider whether the skills and knowledge of librarian 2.0 are really any different from that of "library 1.0".
• The difference (referring to graduate capabilities) is that Web 2.0 is raising the bar.

How did we ever live without SharePoint? by Jason Schoolmeester, Solicitor for the NT

• Explanation of what is SharePoint - Web page with modules (web parts) to add functionality; Document sharing via document library.
• How can SharePoint be used by lawyers?
• Multiple lawyers collaborating on matter - only one copy of doc - most up-to-date version.
• Case studies from Director of Public Prosecutions and Solicitor for NT on how they are using SharePoint.
• DPP: 

Quite similar to JOIN

Tries to provide DPP staff with access to all the resources they need to do their job

Theoretically, anyone could update the content

DPP lawyers produce research notes which are very useful.  Previously, these were not shared well.  Now any lawyer can add a research note into the system, and specify how important it is - and then the research note is subject to approval by senior lawyers.

they use SharePoint as a single place to store information about their matters.

they added a 3rd party search software into their portal.

• SFNT:

He's made a few different SP sites - Reference manual - very similar to a wiki.

SP databases can be exported to Excel very easily, to generate reports.

It's also useful as a workflow management system.  When working in groups, SharePoint makes it easy to project sites to keeping track of different documents and different versions of documents.

Sitting as a Magistrate in NT Magistrates Courts by Vince Luppino, Darwin Magistrates Court

• Outlined the basic info environment:

85% Criminal.

no District court in NT - this work handled by Mags court.

jurisdiction covers vast area with remote and tiny communities - must fly between locations.

circuit courts sit 1 day per month (or up to 4 days) in temporary accommodations.

Only 22 Acts passed by NT government in 2009.

• Outlined the basic info needs of the judiciary:

legislation most needed resource.

current legislation, repealed legislation and point in time legislation.

Need to know what legislation and penalties where in force at the time of the offence.

• History of meeting info need:
• Hard copy legislation received via Post and marked up by hand to reflect amendments.
• Got a computer in the court with internet - Downloaded latest version of legislation and printed in hard copy and accessed via lever Arch files.
• In those days the practice was to carry client files and the most recent copies of legislation from Darwin to the circuit courts, which was dangerous and expensive.
• 15 pieces of legislation accounted for 90% of what he'd need.
• Developed Lotus Notes database of Current and historical acts - included every reprint and amendment act.
• Now had laptop for circuit courts - stored client files, stored copy of latest version of LN database.
• This system worked well for some time.
• Modern technology and modern mobile phone coverage has enabled Government LAN via a laptop, using a mobile broadband rated modem.
• Moved to a web-based system via Outlook and IE
• Problems with synchronisation because using older version of IE and 2003.
• Now online to www via modem at circuit courts.
• This combination allows Magistrates to have remote access to all online subscription and internet based resources at all circuit court locations, including remote communities, as are available in chambers.

Keynote Address by Ian Gray, Chief Magistrate, Victoria JOIN brings Victorian Courts into 21st Century

• Judicial officers undertake to be consistent in sentencing and decision making.
• The tools at the disposal of the modern judicial officer are vast.
• In Victoria, the Judicial Officers Information Network (JOIN) and in New South Wales (JIRS) offer a fast and accessible point for judicial officers to access:

case law,

legislation,

bench books,

Judicial College of Victoria publications,

online journals and

sentencing statistics.

• The system is a portal to key websites and resources, including sentencing statistics to aid consistency in sentencing.
• Demonstration of system via case study "Jason".
• Magistrates only spend an average of 7 minutes hearing a case.  There are variations, they will spend more time sentencing something like Affray than something more straightforward like shoplifting.
• Magistrates don't try to just punish, they make sentencing packages which use a variety of features to address the underlying causes of crime.