It’s Spring in the Northern Hemisphere and Autumn in the Southern where swallows are seen massing in the early evening in a state of constant flux and fluttering of wings in preparation for their annual migration to warmer climes.
There has been much activity also within IALL where various members of the Board have been busy preparing for the forthcoming 32nd Annual IALL Conference in Barcelona. The programme is up on the website and Registration opened in March offering for the first time, thanks to our wonderful, Marci Hoffman, Chair of the Communications Committee, and its members, the ability to register and pay online.
The conference will be held at the University of Barcelona, Faculty of Law, 15th – 19th September 2013. The theme of the conference is Catalan Law and Legal Information in a Global context and topics will reflect Catalonia’s unique perspectives on international and domestic issues.
The programme has been put together by a hard-working and enthusiastic Local Planning Committee chaired by Montse Morante Law Librarian, University of Barcelona Resource Center for Learning and Research. Many of the presentations will have a comparative approach (presenting both Spanish and Catalan Law), as well as highlighting the differences between the Spanish and Catalan legal Systems, and how both work in practice. Speakers at the sessions will include highly regarded Catalan legal academics, scholars, legal practitioners and law librarians. Following some of the sessions there will be visits to the Barcelona Bar Association, the Parliament of Catalonia and the National Library of Catalonia.
The Opening Reception on the Sunday will be held in the Historic Building of the University of Barcelona where, following a session on Historical Introduction to Catalan Law, presented by Dr Oriol Oleart, a visit will take place to the University of Barcelona Rare Book and Manuscript Library. A buffet dinner will be served in the Hall of the Historic Building.
The programme for the Optional Day offers registrants two visits, first to the Benedictine Abbey, Santa Maria de Montserrat. The mountains of Montserrat are a truly splendid and majestic backdrop setting and the Abbey houses Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat, a publishing house which has one of the oldest working presses in the world, its first book was published in 1499. The second visit will be to Món Sant Benet, the site of a medieval Monastery founded in the 10th century.
Barcelona promises to present yet another exciting and highly informative Annual Course on International Law and Legal Information. It also offers an excellent opportunity to greet familiar faces and meet new colleagues from around the globe.
Applications for Professional Development Bursaries/Scholarships to enable law librarians to attend IALL’s 32nd Annual Course in Barcelona are now being accepted. IALL is also pleased to announce that additional Bursaries are available to assist law librarians working in Spain to attend the conference in Barcelona. These bursaries will make a contribution towards travel and accommodation, and the conference registration fee will be waived for the successful applicants. For full information on how to apply, please see this webpage.
Please note that the application deadline is 15 June 2013.
A further innovation by the Communications Committee is the ability to renew your IALL membership, and/or become a member of IALL, online – for further information and instructions see the ‘Join IALL’ page. As it says on the registration form for the conference, “Become a member for US$ 60.00/95.00. Register now and save on conference registration and get the International Journal of Legal Information for a year”.
The Committee has also been at work creating a ‘new look’ IALL website and this should be ready for launching before the conference.
We look forward to seeing and welcoming you in September in the very historic, yet modern and beautiful, city of Barcelona – hasta entonces!
Petal Kinder