Category: Events

Conference · Home

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

HSLG1 Comment

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.]

Events · Home

Ovid Platform & Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) Training

HSLGLeave a comment

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

Events · Home

Summer Celebration: Joint HSLG and A&SL members networking evening 2025

HSLGLeave a comment

On a gloriously sunny Tuesday evening, 17th June, HSLG and A&SL hosted another successful joint networking event for members in the Mansion House’s Oak Room. The Role of Librarians in algorithmic and AI literacy: a competency-based approach was presented by Professor Aphra Kerr of Digital Media and Communication at the School of Information and Communication Studies, UCD, and co-PI at the Research Ireland funded ADAPT Centre for AI and Digital Content Technology (2021-2026).

Aphra discussed the Media and Information Literacy approach to algorithmic and AI literacy used by the European-funded Algowatch Project. She also discussed how researchers at Irish colleges are utilising AI in their work and the key blind spots in the new regulations pertaining to AI. Aphra concluded her talk with the librarian’s role in AI literacy. A great evening was had by all.

Conference · Home

HSLG Conference 2025 – Presentations

HSLGLeave a comment

Our 2025 Annual Conference on Cultivating Curiosity: a Wonderland for Librarians was held in Ashling Hotel on Thursday 6th March.

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

Keynote Speaker: Sue Lacey-Bryant – Making Curiosity Count

Mary Dunne – Conceptualising Curiosity 

Peter Reilly – Cultivate your Creativity by Being Curious!

Dympna McGettigan – Health Information Calendar: a health calendar for all

HSE Library ILL Team – Everything, Everywhere All at Once…But in One Place!

Ann Byrne – Follow the White Rabbit: Guiding Nursing Students to Creative Poster Presentations

Niall O’Brien – Following Protocols: adventures in tracking the lifecycle of review protocols

Aoife Lawton – LAI Library Labour Market Taskforce Report: key findings

Mingli Gong – What are the CPD Needs & Challenges in Engaging ICT for Librarians in Ireland?

Mairéad McKeown & Amy Bond – Knowledge Cafe: How We Make Better Sense of a Rapidly Changing and Complex World

Amy’s Top 10 Tips for Hosting a Knowledge Cafe

Conference · Home

Registration for HSLG Conference 2025 – now open

HSLGLeave a comment

The HSLG committee are delighted to announce that registration is now open for the Annual HSLG Conference which takes place on Thursday 6th March in the Ashling Hotel, Dublin.

Our theme for 2025 is “Cultivating curiosity: a wonderland for librarians”.

Our theme explores the role of curiosity within librarianship, which includes:

  • Innovating, challenging and being open to new ideas, experiences and perspectives
  • Planning for the future / creating or adapting to environments of change
  • Delving deep. Understanding and providing evidence of value
  • Lifelong learning
  • Believing impossible things – and making them happen

Register now: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/hslg-conference-2025-cultivating-curiosity-a-wonderland-for-librarians-tickets-1092203563259?aff=oddtdtcreator

The programme is packed with interesting and relevant speakers, with plenty of time to network. Highlights include keynote speaker Sue Lacey Bryant, CILIP President, and a knowledge café led by Mairéad McKeown and Amy Bond of Bord Bia.

Loader Loading...
EAD Logo Taking too long?

Reload Reload document
| Open Open in new tab

The HSLG makes the Bernard Barrett Bursary award available to HSLG members from across Ireland to enable members to attend the annual conference. Members may apply for funds to cover the registration fee and/or travel expenses: https://hslg.ie/about/hslg-bursary/

 

Conference · Home

Dive down the ‘rabbit hole’ with us at HSLG conference 2025 – call for abstracts now open

HSLG1 Comment

We will hold our annual conference in the Ashling Hotel, Dublin on Thursday 6th March 2025.

Our theme is “Cultivating curiosity: a wonderland for librarians”. Maybe you are finding these times are ‘curiouser and curiouser’? (Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland). We would like to invite you to submit an abstract for a presentation.

Subthemes include
• Innovating, challenging and being open to new ideas, experiences and perspectives (new developments, critical appraisal, AI, technology, tools etc)
• Planning for the future / creating or adapting to environments of change (planning, forecasting, work roles, change etc.)
• Delving deep. Understanding and providing evidence of value (user experience, marketing, research, evaluation)
• Lifelong learning (such as CPD)
• Believing impossible things – and making them happen (success stories or adventures)

Submit your abstract to contacthslg@gmail.com by Monday 13 January 2025. Please include a presentation title, name of presenter(s), organization, abstract of 250 – 300 words, and whether you will speak for 10 or 20 minutes.

Successful presenters will have the conference fee waived.*

Ticket prices:

HSLG member: €35

Non-LAI member: €80

LAI member/student/unemployed €50

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

Developing strategic foresight and quality reviews: insight from the HRB

HSLGLeave a comment

On 1st October the HSLG committee were delighted to welcome academic & health librarians for an in person CPD event in the Health Research Board. Brian Galvin spoke about managing uncertainty through strategic foresight, and Ailish Farragher, Caitriona Lee and Louise Farragher gave a number of presentations on improving search strategy development and reporting for better evidence.

Foresight is an approach to planning and policymaking that attempts to manage uncertainty. It does that this by using a variety of tools to identify possible threats and opportunities in the medium or long-term. This is not prediction but an attempt to develop an information resource that helps with decision making in the present. Engaging in foresight work develops anticipatory capacity and enables a more active role in supporting policy making and mobilising joint action.

Improving search strategy development and reporting for better evidence – The IS team discussed how you can improve your search strategy development and reporting, ensuring your contribution to the review is to a high standard

  • using PRESS peer review of search strategies to improve your search strategy and choice of search resources
  • using available guidance for searching for systematic reviews, scoping reviews and rapid reviews (Cochrane, JBI etc)
  • using established quality assessment tools (AMSTAR, JBI for Systematic Reviews) to guide search decisions
  • using reporting standards (PRISMA-S) to guide search decisions and reporting

Guidance on terminology, application, and reporting of citation searching: using the TARCiS statement, and tools that can help.

Below are slides from these presentations:

Loader Loading...
EAD Logo Taking too long?

Reload Reload document
| Open Open in new tab

 

Document versions of the presentations:

Quality Assessment Search Strategies (PDF)

TARCiS (Powerpoint)

Conference

HSLG conference 2024 – presentations

HSLGLeave a comment

Our 2024 conference – Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? took place in the Ashling Hotel, Dublin on 7 March 2024.

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

Events · Home · HSLG Bursaries

The Anne Madden EAHIL Bursary 2024

HSLGLeave a comment

In honour of our retired colleague Anne Madden, the HSLG provides a bursary award to attend the annual EAHIL (European Association for Health Information and Libraries) conference. https://eahil2024.rsu.lv/

The bursary is available to HSLG members and provides funding for early-bird registration, and reasonable travel and accommodation costs.

This year, the conference is being held in Riga, Latvia on 12-14 June. Early bird registration closes on 2 April. Closing date for this bursary is 3pm 26 March.

Information about HSLG bursaries and the application form can be found on our bursary webpage.

Events · HSLG Bursaries

Bursary for 2024 Graphic Medicine pre-Conference workshop, RCSI, Dublin

HSLGLeave a comment

The HSLG committee are delighted to announce our support for the 2024 Graphic Medicine Conference being held in TUS, Athlone, July 2024.

We are offering 5 bursaries for HSLG members to attend the 2-hour, pre-conference workshop which is taking place in RCSI, Dublin on 16 July 2024: Developing Graphic Medicine Collection.  The workshop leader is Matthew Noe, Lead Collection & Knowledge Management Librarian at Harvard Medical School.

Target group: All librarians interested in health and comics

Registration: €50

Venue: RCSI, York Street, Dublin

The bursary will cover the cost of registration and public transport costs for those travelling to a long distance to the event. Bursaries and places at the workshop are limited so please apply as early as possible.

Information on applying for bursaries and the application form can be found on our bursaries webpage.