Conference · Home

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

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

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:

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Document versions of the presentations:

Quality Assessment Search Strategies (PDF)

TARCiS (Powerpoint)

Conference

HSLG conference 2024 – presentations

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

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

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.

Conference · Events · Home

Registration for HSLG Conference 2024 opens

The HSLG committee are delighted to announce that registration is now open for the Annual HSLG Conference which takes place on Thursday 7th March in the Ashling Hotel, Dublin.

Our theme for 2024 will be “Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?”. There’s always something that can potentially disrupt our professional work (remember search engines were meant to herald our doom?). We’ve managed to survive, and often thrive, in the face of adversity, but can produce a better response when we work together and plan ahead.

Sharing our ideas and innovations at this conference is one way to become stronger.

In the library of “Howling Innovation,” the big bad wolf of change is not to be feared but embraced — could it be a companion in the quest for knowledge, a catalyst for evolution, and a muse for the ever-changing melody of progress? Join Dr Lollie Mancey for an exploration of the changing landscape of libraries in an AI world, questioning how we safeguard our core values and functions to ensure that libraries not only survive challenges but thrive in the ever-evolving landscape of information and technology.

Register Now: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/hslg-conference-2024-whos-afraid-of-the-big-bad-wolf-tickets-757718395117?aff=oddtdtcreator

The programme will include the following speakers:

  • Dr Lollie Mancey – Howling innovation: unleashing the spirit of change in libraries
  • Mairéad McKeown and Lauren Sneyd – How the Bord Bia Library is helping its users learn, know and sustainably grow with AI
  • Caitríona Lee – Literature searches and AI in health libraries
  • Eimear Carney and Jean McMahon – Mentoring for librarians ‘fireside chat’
  • Breeda Herlihy – First year of the HSLG literature search peer review buddy scheme
  • Louise Farragher – Mind the Gap: mapping reviews and evidence gap maps
  • Marie Carrigan – Using citation-based literature mapping tools for scoping reviews

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 · News

Call for Abstracts for HSLG Annual Conference 2024

The HSLG will hold our annual conference in the Ashling Hotel, Dublin on Thursday 7th March 2024.

Our theme for 2024 will be “Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?”. There’s always something that can potentially disrupt our professional work (remember search engines were meant to herald our doom?). We’ve managed to survive, and often thrive, in the face of adversity, but can produce a better response when we work together and plan ahead.

  • What can we do to prepare for the future?
  • What issues should we be talking about?
  • Are potentially scary issues challenges or opportunities?
  • How can we produce a strong, structured approach to practice that will withstand potential assaults?

Sharing our ideas and innovations are one way to become stronger, so we’d also like to hear about any subject that interests you. We would like to invite you to submit an abstract for a presentation on our theme or sub-themes. Subthemes include:

  • artificial intelligence
  • environmental issues
  • library community support
  • CPD
  • workforce challenges
  • censorship

Presentations will be 20 minutes. You can submit your abstract to contacthslg@gmail.com by Friday 19th January 2024. Please include a presentation title, name of presenter(s), organization, and abstract of 300 – 500 words.

CPD · Events

Graphic Design for Librarians

After an invitation from the HSLG, Diana K. Wakimoto kindly delivered a webinar on “Graphic Design for Librarians” to over 50 attendees on 21 September 2023. 

She covered the fundamentals of graphic design to enable us to design effective and engaging visual communications as well as giving a quick introduction to some graphic design tools like Canva and Adobe Express.

Diana is a library faculty member at Cal State East Bay (Hayward, CA). She teaches information literacy, manages the archives, provide reference and research assistance, develops the collections in biological sciences. She publishes in the areas of libraries and graphic design, public services, ePortfolios, and evidence-based practice, and serves on various library and university-wide committees. She is author of the book Easy Graphic Design for Librarians: From Color to Kerning.

Slides from the webinar

Link to the resource guide provided: https://bit.ly/3Zyj3VL

Recording from Zoom of the webinar by Diana Wakimoto on “Graphic Design for Librarians”.

CPD · Events

Taking your Social Media to the next level!

Saoirse de Paor, teaching & learning librarian at Maynooth University library, gave a presentation at the joint HSLG & A&SL networking evening. She has kindly agreed to share her slides of the presentation. Taking your Social Media to the Next Level!

With her social media and communications hat on, Saoirse de Paor spoke of the different ways that social media platforms can enhance how libraries engage and interact with their users and how it can further promote library services, supports and resources in a new and innovative way.

From working in social media-specific roles and the experience gained from running student initiatives and online campaigns on behalf of Maynooth University Library, Saoirse has gained an insight into the many social media tips and tricks that can help others in the profession to increase visibility and outreach strategies as well as helping to foster connections, partnerships and collaborations.

From developing a brand, to using multiple means of engagement, she will give you the tools to take your library’s social media to the next level!

Saoirse de Paor, BA, MLIS, ALAI.

Saoirse works as a Teaching & Learning Librarian at Maynooth University Library. Her interests include information literacy, development of online learning resources as well as social media promotion and outreach.

Saoirse is the social media officer for the Library Association of Ireland as well as a member of the Communications team for the Career Development Group (of the LAI). She sits on the Digital Communications team of Maynooth University Library and manages various social media campaigns and initiatives as a member of the Teaching & Research Development Team. She also co-led the Irish Communications team at IFLA’S World Library International Congress 2022 in Dublin.

Twitter: @SaoirsePeri

LinkedIn: Saoirse de Paor