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Health Sciences Libraries Journal Vol. 2, Issue 1 (2026) – Published

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The latest issue of HSLJ – Summer 2026, is now published

You can read the latest issue here 

 

Vol. 2, Issue 1, Table of Contents

Editorial

  • By HSLJ Editor-in-Chief, Jean McMahon

 

Research-based Articles

  • Australia’s Place in Library and Information Science (LIS) Education: Evolution, Progress and Future Challenges, Annmarie Whyte

 

Practice-based Articles

  • Not Just Evidence-Based, But Experience-Based: Establishing a Neurodivergent Peer Support Network for Staff in the Library and Information Sector, Andrew Walsh, Joanne Fitzpatrick and Amelia Haire

  • Depicting Trauma, Building Community: Expanding the Scope of Graphic Medicine-Comics, Shared Experience, & Collective Care, Jane Burns

  • Human Books, Real Stories: Creating Space for Empathy at The Human Library in Dublin City University, Eilís O’Neill and Gwendolyn O’Connor

  • Building AI Literacy Through Library-Led Copilot Training: A Practice-Based Case Study, Mairead Mc Keown and David Lombard

  • Growing Together: Scaffolding Systematic Review Training for Early Career Health Sciences Librarians, Bryn Murphy and Emily C. Adydan 

 

Regular Features

  • SHOUT, Mary Dunne
  • James Wilkinson and the Evolution of Public Librarianship in Turbulent Times, Mairead Mooney
  • Libraries are for Everyone, Dr Deborah Reed
  • A Library Career: Spanning Public, Health and School Libraries in New Zealand and Ireland, Penny Wiggle

 

Reports and Reviews

  • HSLG Conference Report, Therese Ahern, Breeda Herlihy, Dymphna McGettigan, Aoife McGrath, Julianne O’Callaghan

 

Updates

  • In Memoriam. Dr Beatrice Doran PhD, MBA, BA, Dip Lib

 

The deadlines for our Winter 2026 issue are:

  • Research articles (peer review) – July 10th 2026
  • General submissions – October 1st 2026

For information on submitting an article please see https://journals.ucc.ie/index.php/hslj/about/submissions

Journal club meetings

HSLG Virtual Journal Club, Friday 24th April 2026 – Systematic review searching as invisible labour

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HSLG Virtual Journal Club, 24th April 2026, 11:00 – 11:45am

Our next journal club meeting will be hosted by Caitríona Lee, Information Specialist at the Health Research Board.

Article:
Ross-White A. Search is a verb: systematic review searching as invisible labor. J Med Libr Assoc. 2021 Jul 1;109(3):505-506. https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.20211226  PMID: 34629983; PMCID: PMC8485967.

Discussion Questions

1. What aspects of literature search-related work, if any, are invisible, erased or undervalued in our own HSLG librarianship work? (Potential examples: Reference interviews; researching, planning and conducting searches – alone or with researchers; data management of results; write-up/documentation; management of search results; search methods training; more?)

2. Health librarianship work is specialist professional work. Is it recognised as such in general? In the Irish context?

3. If our search work is perceived as basic or simple, how are we placed with regard to AI? Is professional search work at risk of being replaced with cheaper, less rigorous AI search if it is ‘invisible’ work?

4. Are there times when the librarian may not want to be credited with a literature search, re authorship or acknowledgements?

5. Posts where the majority of workers are female, such as librarianship posts, have often been under-recognised as professional – has this changed in the past decades?

6. Librarianship is not a vocation (or not only a vocation): it’s a job, it is professional work. Does the perception of library work as a noble vocation contribute to or enable its invisibility?

7. Are there practical things we can do to ensure that our work is recognised as complex, intellectual, rigorous work, that our organisations and professional ecosystems value health librarianship appropriately, and that we remain visible as a profession?

Conference · Home

Conference 2026 – Presentations

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Our 2026 Annual Conference on Celebrating Our Collective Power: Finding Strength in Difference was held in the Ashling Hotel on Thursday 12th March.

We would like to thank our wonderful speakers for their permission to add their presentation slides here.

Brendan Kelly, Professor of Psychiatry — Information, intelligence, instinct navigating knowledge in an ocean of AI

Tony Linnane – One person libraries in healthcare settings

Bryn Murphy & Emily Adydan – Growing together: scaffolding systematic review training for early-career librarians

Bennery Rickard – HSE Library day, 24th September 2025: light a big fire

Aoife Lawton – A national eHealth Library for all –​ how can we meed the needs of a nation?

Mairéad McKeown & David Lombard – Preparing future talent for the AI era – through a graduate Copilot upskilling programme

Mary Hearne – Beyond the individual – a collective approach to AI literacy for librarians

Niamh Walker-Headon – HSE Library partner organisation collaborations

Aphra Kerr – Libraries, expertise and literacy in the AI era

Click this link to view the HSLG_conference programme_2026, with presentation abstracts.

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HSLG Conference 2026 Programme

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We are holding our annual conference on Thursday 12th March in the Ashling Hotel, Dublin.

This year’s theme is Celebrating Our Collective Power: Finding Strength in Difference.

Our keynote speaker Professor Brendan Kelly, Professor of Psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin will present on Information, intelligence, instinct: navigating knowledge in an ocean of AI.

We also have an afternoon workshop on Libraries, Expertise and Literacy in the AI Era facilitated by Professor Aphra Kerr, Professor of Digital Media & Communication and a senior adviser at the UCD Centre for Digital Policy. 

Register for this on EventBrite.

Download the programme here

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Home · Journal - HSLJ

Health Sciences Libraries Journal Vol. 1, Issue 2 (2025) – Published

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The Winter issue of our Health Sciences Libraries Journal is now published.

You can access our journal at: https://journals.ucc.ie/index.php/hslj/index

 

Volume 1, Issue 2, Table of Contents:

Editorial

  • By HSLJ Editor-in-Chief, Jean McMahon

Practice-Based Articles

  • We All Have a Story to Tell: Why Librarians Should Write about and Share What They Do, Martin O’Connor
  • Time for SerendipiTEA: A Health Library-Led Cross-Organisational Randomised Coffee Trial, Paul Breen and Liis Cotter
  • The Anatomy of a Journal: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How, Mary Dunne, Breeda Herlihy and Julianne O’Callaghan
  • Face Value: How Living with An Appearance Difference Informs Library Customer Service, Maeve Kerins

Regular Features

  • Marcia Crocker Noyes: The Librarian Who Never Left, Meg Fairfax Fielding
  • A Day in the Life of a Medical Librarian in an Academic Family Medicine Department, Alex Henigman
  • Becoming Tusla’s First Librarian, Ian Feerick
  • A Reflection on Forty Years Working in Libraries, Helen Fallon
  • SHOUT: Sharing Hints, Outcomes and Useful Techniques, Mary Dunne

Reports and Reviews

  • Sharpening Search Skills: Reflections on a Peer-Review Search Strategies Course, Aileen Garrihy

Updates

  • IN MEMORIAM. Dr Bríd McGrath BA (Mod), MLitt, PhD, DLIS

The deadlines for our Summer 2026 issue are:

  • Research articles (peer review) – January 10th 2026
  • General submissions – April 1st 2026

For information on submitting an article please see https://journals.ucc.ie/index.php/hslj/about/submissions

Journal club meetings

HSLG Virtual Journal Club, Wednesday 10th December 2025 – Open Access & Library Publishing

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HSLG Virtual Journal Club, 10th December 2025, 11:00 – 11:45am

Our next journal club meeting will be hosted by Gerry McManus, Library & Information Services, St. Vincent’s University Hospital.

View Gerry’s presentation slides

Article:

Ma, L., Buggle, J. and O’Neill, M. (2023) ‘Open access at a crossroads: library publishing and bibliodiversity’, Insights: the UKSG journal, 36(1), p. 10. https://doi.org/10.1629/uksg.613

Discussion Questions 

  • From a library perspective, what does an ideal OA environment look like?
  • Is this OA vision feasible under current conditions?
  • Is small scale library publishing a viable option?
  • Can we break out of metrics-based research assessment? How can we advocate for this?
Conference · Home

Celebrating Our Collective Power: Finding Strength in Difference – HSLG Conference 2026 – Call for abstracts now open

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We will hold our annual conference in the Ashling Hotel, Dublin on Thursday 12th March 2026.

Our theme is “Celebrating Our Collective Power: Finding Strength in Difference“.

We all have different values, preferences, priorities, stakeholders, professional goals and ways of working. This diversity provides benefits to our profession with greater access to new ideas and innovations.

  • Technology – how do we prepare for technological innovations such as AI
  • Impact – how do we make a difference to others
  • User Engagement – how do we ensure our services meet the varied needs of library users
  • Resilience – how do we function well in the face of adversity
  • Lifelong Learning – (such as CPD)

Submit your abstract to contacthslg@gmail.com by Tuesday 13th January 2026. Please include a presentation title, name of presenter(s), organisation, abstract of 250-300 words, and whether you will speak for 10 or 20 minutes.

Successful presenters will have the conference fee waived.*

Tickets are now on sale register on Eventbrite

Ticket Prices:

HSLG member: €35

Non-LAI member: €80

LAI member/Student/Unemployed: €50

[*Note: Standard presentation will be limited to a maximum of two presenters, with short presentations limited to one.]

Home

HSLG AGM

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The Annual General Meeting of the Health Sciences Libraries Group will take place online on Thursday 27th November 2025, from 11:00-12:00.

HSLG members are invited to register for the AGM via Eventbrite. The AGM will take place via Zoom, and a link to join the meeting will be circulated closer to the date.

We are also inviting nominations to the HSLG committee for the term 2025-2027. Information on the nomination form and submission instructions are here, but do get in touch if you have any questions. Nominations must be received by no later than 5pm on Monday 24th November.

Come join us to hear about what we have done in 2025, as well as our plans for 2026.

Events · Home

Ovid Platform & Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) Training

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The Health Sciences Libraries Group is holding an in-person CPD event on Ovid Platform & Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP). This event will be held on Tuesday 28th October 2025 at the Health Research Board.

This is an LAI CPD credited event and is open to all LAI members. Non-LAI members are welcome to join a waiting list by contacting contacthslg@gmail.com.

Morning session: Introduction to your resources and literature searching on the Ovid Platform, Rani Southern-Darbar, Senior Customer Success Consultant, Wolters Kluwer.

Afternoon session: How to critically appraise a Randomised Controlled Trial using The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme, Miriam Williams, Library & Information Service, Tallaght University Hospital

Register here through Eventbrite.

HSLG members can apply for funds to cover the registration fee and/or travel expenses for this event. See more here HSLG Bursaries – Health Sciences Libraries Group

Home · Journal - HSLJ

HSLG launch our new Health Sciences Libraries Journal

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The HSLG committee are delighted to announce the launch of our new diamond open access Health Sciences Libraries Journal (HSLJ).

The purpose of HSLJ is to provide a forum for those working in the library and information sector to share and showcase knowledge and experience. Through harnessing our collective knowledge, we aim to enhance our ability to make evidence-informed decisions in practice, enable creativity and change, and promote our value and professional abilities.

You can access our journal at https://journals.ucc.ie/index.php/hslj/index

Volume 1, issue 1, table of contents:

Editorial

  • By our Editor in Chief Jean McMahon

Practice-based articles

  • Cultivating the Power of Curiosity in Professional Practice, Mary Dunne
  • Strengthening the Future of Health Science Librarianship: An Introduction to Coaching and Mentoring, Eimear Carney
  • Guiding Success: Staff Support for Undergraduate Nursing Students in Academic Poster Design, Ann Byrne and Irene O’Dowd
  • Navigating Complexity: Strategies for Libraries in a Rapidly Changing World, Mairéad McKeown and Amy Bond
  • Practical Techniques for Being More Creative at Work, Peter Reilly

Reports & reviews

  • Report of the HSLG Conference 2025, Jim Healy

Regular features

  • SHOUT: Sharing Hints, Outcomes and Useful Techniques

Please consider submitting an article for future issues. We welcome submissions from those across all sectors with topics that are of potential interest to health librarians. There are a number of submission types. Research articles will be peer reviewed. Practice-based articles include items such as case studies, project reports and commentaries. We also welcome book, podcast, website reviews and recommendations, product reviews and event reports.

We aim to publish two issues each year.

  • The deadline for general submissions is 01 April (for summer) or 01 October (for winter).
  • The deadline for (peer reviewed) research articles is 10 January (for summer) or 10 July (for winter).

For more information on submitting an article please see https://journals.ucc.ie/index.php/hslj/about/submissions