xiv INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEGAL INFORMATION [Vol. 41.1

IALL 2012 Conference report: The 31st Annnal Course on International Law and Legal Information Toronto, Canada, 30 September-4 October, 2012

JUDIT GERENCSÉR

Background

As a littie child, I dreamed about becoming a librariarr and helping people in their information needs in ali possihle ways. I had a neighbor who worked as a librarian at the local public library and who often told me stories a bo ut the life of librarians. When I receíved my diploma in library and information science in 2000, it was a dream-come-true for me. Being a librarian is not only a job for me, but a Iso a profession wi th real goals, motivations and challenges.

Librarianship for me is always a changing and renewing profession. It makes it possihle to use many kinds of skills and knowledge at the same time. Librarianship is always a job wi th a broad scope, because you can do dozens of different things every day. If you become a librarian, you have the opportunity to see and explore the whole world!

Wheo you are at the heginning ofyour library career, you must do everything to help and support your professiooal development. Nowadays, there are many opportunities to study abroad, apply for and win scholarships and explore international environments. As for international librarianship, in my opinion, this is the best way to see the world, to train yourself, to develop yourself, improve your special knowledge, your language knowledge and your skills, and to estabiisb professional relatioosbips ali round the world. This experience is not only important for you as a person, but also for aU aspects ofyour professional development and for your (library) society.

It is also very significant for a librariarr to have her own research topic and her own fi e ld of interes t. Court libraries and law librari es in Hungary and abroad; and the legal information systems and voluntary work in this field have been the focus of my research and interest since 2006. I would like to know more a bo ut the fi e ld of information science, and I th ink the attendance

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at the IALL Annual Course helped to broaden my knowledge and facilitate my professíonal development.

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I have been a member of the Association of Hungarian Librariaus (AHL) since 2000. The AHL brings tagether groupsof librariaus to educate, network, promote and help each other. The Section of Law Librarians of the Association ofHungarian Librarians was established in 2011. I am one of the co-founders and at presen t I am warking as a Board member and Secretary of the Section of Law Librarians.

In May of las t year w h en I was preparing for the Ann ua l Assembly of the Section of Law Librarians, I tri ed to l o ok for information about the institutions and organizations abroad that are responsible for legal information and law libraries ali round the world. It is my responsibility within the Section of Law Librarians to build professional relationships wi th foreign library institutions and organizations. While I was tooking for the needed information about IALL for the Annual Assembly, I found information about the IALL's Professional Development Bursary Program, whichmakesit possihle for three librarians and information professionals, current employment in librarianship with significant legal context to their work, to be able to participate at the IALL's 31st Annual Course in Toronto, Canada from 30 September to 4 October 2012.

Aceording to the management of the AHL Section ofLaw Librarians, IALL could possibly be one of our most important strategic foreign partner associations in the future. Ali in all, after having a long discussion with my family members, friends and colleagues and taking into consideration all the possihle advantage ofparticipating at the annual conference (as for my professional development and the establishment of future co-operation between IALL and AHL), I decided to write the application material and try out myself in the competiti on. W ben I receíved the officiaJ letter from Barbara Garavaglia, the chair ofiALL's Scholarships Committee, that my application w as successful and I w as awarded the bursary, I was so happy that it is not possihle to describe. I was truly honored to be one of the recipients of the IALL seholarship program !ast year. I was sure that the attendance and opportunity was going to contribute significantly to my professional development and the establishment of future cooperation between IALL and AHL.

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The recipients of lALL 2012 Pro fessional Development Bursary (with name badges), from left to right:

l . Gloria Orrego Hoyos: Biblioteca Max von Buch at Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires, Argentína

2. Gerencsér Judit: The Curia's Library ofHungary, Hungary 3. Joseph A. Semugabi: Law Development Centre Library,

Kampala, Uganda

Conference oyerview

The 2012, IALL Annual Course took p la ce in Toronto, Canada between 30 September and 4 October. It was organized under the following title: Canada: the Cultural Mosaic and International Law. The conference was jointly hosted by the Faculty ofLaw, University of Toronto and the Osgoode Hall Law School, York University. There was an Optional Day, which was heldat Niagara FaUs. The venue ofthe conference was the following places: The Great Library of the Law Society ofUpper Canada, University of Toronto, University of York- Osgoode Hall Law School and, for the optional day, at Niagara College Canada. The academic conference program presented Canada's unique perspectíves on international and domestic issues.

The Opening Reception was held on Sunday 30th September at the beautifui and historic home of Ontario's Law Society ofUpper Canada. Prior to the reception a guided tour was offered for the participants of the conference at the Great Library.

The conference sessions for the first two days took place at the Chestnut Conference Centre situated in a facility belonging to the University of Toronto. On Wednesday, the lectures moved to the newly renovated

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Osgoode Hall Law School and it inclucted a tour of the renovated building and the Libraty J

About 150 law librarians and legal information professionals from about 20 countries participated at IALL 2012 Annual Course in Toronto, Canada 2 Arnong the represented institutions can be found the fo ll awing ones: university law übraries,3 court libraries from the level of supreme court, regional, federat and territorial, and nationallibraries,4 and publishers and library consortia. 5

Academic Program

The follawing major themes were highlighted during the con ference:

• Canada and multiculturalism • International Human Rights: the Canadian Approach • Canadian Aboriginal Law • Polygamy, Women & Children-Canada's obligations under

International Law • Canadian Legal Research l Common Law and Civil Law • The Canadian response to international terrorism • Environmental Law: Canada's Interna6onal Obligations • Canadian Cons6tu6onal Law • Open Access to Legal Information in Canada • Intema6onal Trade Law • New information sources in the fi e ld of legal information services

J Petal Kinder: IALL 31st Annual Course on International Legallnforrnation and Law Early Bírd Registratien Extended To 24 August. - http://practicesource.com/iall-31 st-annual-course-on-intemational-legal-information-and-law-early-bird-registration-extended-to-24-august/

2 These included delegates from the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, India, Germany, the Netherlands, Estonia, Latvia, Nigeria, Uganda, Australia, Argentína, Korea, Turkey, Norway, Finland etc.

3 Yale University, Oxford University, University of Toronto, York University, Rutgers University, University ofCalifomia, Emory University, University of Michigan, and many others.)

4 E.g., Library of Congress, National Library ofEstonia. 5 These included HeinOnline, Oxford University Press, BRILL, Justis Publishing,

VLEX, Walters Kluwer Law & Business, and NELLCO.

xviii INTERNA TI ON AL JOURNAL OF LEGAL INFORMATION (Vol. 4 !.l

Among the speakers and Jecturers of the conference were well-known, farnous and appreciated Canadian law librarians, legal academics, scholars, legal practitioners, j uris ts and members of the le gal community w ere welcorned by the participants.

Library Visits

Beside the academic programs, conference· delegates also enjoyed opportunities to visít severallibraries and institutions concerning law and legal information:

• The Law Society ofUpper Canada-http://www.lsuc.on.ca/ • The Great Library of the Law Society ofUpper Canada-

http://rc.lsuc.on.ca/library!home.htm • Judicial Library Services at Ministry of the Attorney General-

http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/courts/ • Legislative Assembly Ontario:

http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/home.do • Legislative Assembly Library -

http://ontla.on.ca/web/go2.jsp?locale=en&Page=/lao-organization/library _ma n date _history &menultem=lao-organization

• Osgoode Hall Law School-http://www.osgoode.yorku.ca/ • Osgoode Hall Law School Library -

http://www.osgoode.yorku.ca/library • Toronto Public Library- http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/

In actdition to the officiallibrary visits, I also managed to see a court library in reality in Toronto. Louise Hamel,who is the manager of the Judicial Library Services at Ministry of the Attorney General and the Executive Board Member of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries made this drearn come true to me. She was sokind and helpfui to show me her workplace as a private library tour and gave me an opportunity to see a real court library from inside. I would like to express my special thanks her kindness on ce again wi th the help of this conference report, as wel l.

Social Events

An Optional Da y was also offered for the participants of the conference and as one of the 20 J 2 bursary winners I could j o in this program, as weil. During the Optional Day we could listen to lectures concerning

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international trade law, The Optional Day also inclucted a tour to Niagara College's winery and a vísit to the beautifui and farnous Niagara Falls.

From Left to Right: Barbara Garavaglia, Gloria Orrego Hoyos and Judit Gerencsér at Niagara College

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Conference delegates could also participate at two major dinners, as wel!. The first was held on Monday evening and was sponsored by Kluwer Law International. It took pl ace at the CN Tower, one of the tallest buildings in the world. There were spectacular views over Lake Ontario and the Toronto sky line. The IALL ' s Annual dinner was heldat the Bram & Bluma Appel Salon at Toronto Public (Reference) Library at the heart of Toronto city.

l am really grateful for the opportunity to see and visít CN Tower and Niagara Falls. It was an adventure and memory for a lifetime.

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The author at Niagara Fa/ls

Post-conference Activities, Experience and Future Plans

As the librarlan and acting bead of the Curia's Library of Hungary, roy p ri mary interest is in the presen t and future in fonnation service of the judges and j usti ce personneL I do my best to support the judicial activity and provide the higbest level of service for the judges and other justice personnel in the Hungarlan integrated court library system. It is very important for me to know and understand in a more comprehensive way the legal systems and legal issues concerning the who le world. The IALL Annual Course showed great diversity and richness in the chosen conference themes and presentations, ali of which w ere worth listening to and I will be ab le to a pp ly this knowledge in my everyday work in the future.

With the help of participating at the TALL Annual Course, I learned a lot of new information about the law librarles in the Canada and a bo ut their strategies and approaches in legal research. I could meet and discuss many interesting topics with many librariaus and information specialists from ali over the world.

The attendance at the IALL An nu al Course could help me and AHL to see how an internationallibrary association works and I am sure it is going to result in very fruitful co-operation within the two organizations (International Association of Law Librarles and Association ofHungarian Librarians).

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After coming home to Hungary, J tried to find all the possible ways to inform the Hungariarr librariaus - especially law librariaus - and information specialistabout the results ofthe conference in Hungary, too. For example, after participating at the IALL Annual Course, I have been invited so far for four conferences and official meetings to talk about my experience. In October 2012 I ga ve a detailed presentation for court librariaus about my experience. Then in December 2012 the Section of Law Librariaus Association of Hungaria n Librariaus erganized a workshop in December, w here I was the keynote speaker and I presented my professiorral and personal experience about the IAL L annual conference in Toronto. I was invited to give a presentation about the IALL conference in Toronto and my professiorral and personal experience to the Networkshop conference in March, 2013, which is one ofthe biggest annual eventsfor Hungarian librarians. In April, I was invited to the ann ua l meeting of Central European Association for Canadian Studi es (CEA CS) to the Embassy of Canada in Hungary to share my experience conceming the conference and to meet teachers, professors, and seholars who deal with Canadiarr studies and research in Hungary. I have also written some articles about the professiorral and personal impact of the IALL con ference, and I am preparing two Ionger ones now.

I have a lot of plans and new ideas that I gained while partic ipating at IALL. I would like to realize the most ofthem in the near future. My professional future plans thanked to participating at IALL's Annual Course:

to have and estabiisb aligned cooperation between law librariaus and law libraries in Hungary and abroad to promote the further education of law librariaus in Hungary to write and publisb educational roaterials (essays, course books) and carry out courses for law librariaus in Hungary to promote the citizens' public legal information and estabiisb programs, projects and organize events for them to write and publisb articles in the field ofthe traditional and non-tradition information sources of le gal information to participate at the professional activity of IALL in an actíve way and to promote IALL's work in Hungary to organize professional program for Hungariarr law librariaus conceming current issues of legal information

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Coneiusion

Behind my achievements there is always a very strong desire to learn new things and transfer my new knowledge to others who may also value it as I do. I h ope to became a very successful and effectíve member of law librarians' society, using ali ofmy energies tobring about constructíve change and create a path to the "good life," not only for myself, but also for other librarians. I know I can provide something meanihgful to the world of librarians.

I believe IALL's 31 th Annual Course on International Legal Infonnation and Law was a successful blend of academic, cultural, and social activities and events. On the academic side, the lectures collectively offered an excellent overview of the Canadi an le gal system, le gal Iiterature, court librari es, and the profession of law librarianship in Canada. The cultural events and prograros compteted thelecturesin an excellent way, and made it possihle for the participants to explore Toronto from anather perspective. Moreover, the Annual Course provided several opportunities for establishing partnersbip with other librariaus and infonnation professionals in the field of legal infonnation, which I truly appreciated as a new IALL member.

Wi th the help of the conference, the professionallectures, the library visits and social events I could deepen my knowledge and experience caneerning legal information in law librarles from aU round the world. I have gained an insight into the Canadian and American law librarianship and I do my best to help and strengthen the Curia's Library of Hungary and the Section of Law Librariaus foreign relatioosbips in order to provide services meeting the requirements of the 21 st century.

On a personal note, I am very grateful that l could meet and became friends with Gloria Orrego Hoyos, Barbara Garavaglia, Kristina J. Alayan, Louise Hamel, Megan A. O'Brien and Luu Xinb, thanks to the conference. As for Gloria, we were not only "just" the recipients ofiALL scholarships, but we were also roomroates during the conference. W e spent almost a week tagether and we managed to estabiisb a very fruitful and fantastic professional and personal cooperation and relationship with each other. I am very thankful to her in many respects. With Gloría's help, I gained more information about law librariaus and the legal information system in Argentina. She has a wide range of knowledge and experience caneerning the disseminatien and serving of legal information in Argentína and abroad. As Professor of Law and Legal Research, she is an experienced and acknowledged person in the field of online legal information and legal research in Argentína and in the world. I

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would like to learn more from her. I do hope our personal and professiorral relationship is going to grow stronger, enriched from cultural and tibrary-related viewpoints in the future, too.

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my special thanks to Petal Kinder (the President ofiALL), Jeroen Vervliet (the first Vice President ofiALL), Jennefer Aston (the second Vice President ofiALL) , the Members of the Board ofDirectors ofiALL, the IALL Scholarships Committee (expecially for Barbara Garavaglia and. Xinh Luu) forawarding me one of the 2012 Pro fessional Development Bursaries. My attendance at the 31 th Annual Course has been the highlight of my professio nal career, and I am extremely grateful for the 2013 year's membership in IALL , too.

I would also like to thank the support of the Association ofHungarian Librariaus (AHL) and the Section of Law Librarians of AHL , which also provid ed financial assistance for my joumey to Toronto, Canada. Finally, I would like to express my unending gratitude to my recommenders: Dr. Balázsné dr. Veredy Katalin, Dr. Pálvölgyi Mihály, Sándor Gertrud, Dr. Solt Pál, Sümeginé dr. Tóth Piroska and Dr. Várhegyi Éva.