Innovation, Transition, & Growth: Thriving in a Shifting Health Ecosystem
Health libraries and librarians are continuously adapting to an evolving landscape of healthcare, technology, and information management. How can we embrace change, drive innovation and support our clients and our own wellbeing?
The Lakeside Hotel and conference centre is 10 minutes’ walk from Macquarie Centre. Sydney Olympic Park is a 20-minute drive, and Sydney International Airport is a 35-minute drive away. Free on-site parking, free Wi-Fi and restaurant.
Adjacent to Macquarie University Hospital and Macquarie University and Macquarie Shopping Centre with 120 spacious rooms with private kitchenette, free Wi-Fi and restaurant.
The modern air-conditioned suites boast a well-equipped kitchenette or kitchen where you can enjoy preparing a fresh home-cooked meal. Each suite has a spacious seating area with a flat-screen TV, internal laundry and free Wi-Fi.
Corner Epping Road and Herring Road, Marsfield, NSW
Nightcap at the Ranch Hotel offers 15 comfortable and affordable 3.5-star guest rooms with free Wi-Fi. Nightcap at the Ranch Hotel features a bistro and two bars.
The location of the hotel makes it ideal for servicing businesses and residents in North Ryde and Macquarie Park with 192 rooms. Free Wi-Fi, Free Express Start™ Breakfast or a Grab & Go option.
Sophie Scott OAM | Adjunct Professor The University of Sydney Sydney School of Public Health | Prevention Research Collaboration Faculty of Medicine and Health Keynote Speaker & Mental Wellbeing & Neuroscience Authority
SOPHIE SCOTT OAM is an international speaker, award-winning broadcast journalist, educator, Associate Professor Author, TedX speaker and was named a TopVoice on LinkedIn. Sophie understands public health and how to communicate it effectively. She has been a leading voice on Australian TV, radio and online in health and science for more than 2 decades. She’s won numerous awards for her ground-breaking health journalism and has a strong reputation for integrity and balance. She was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (an award instigated by Queen Elizabeth ll) for services to Australian broadcasting and community health. Her professional expertise is health journalism, patient safety investigations and advocacy for health prevention. She was awarded an Australian Museum Eureka Award for excellence in medical reporting in 2004. She is a skilful communicator, with a strong history as a keynote speaker at leading medical conferences, a TEDx speaker and now presentation coach for health and science experts. Sophie has degrees in history, a Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology and has written 3 science-based health books.
Dr. Susan McLaine | Creative Director of Bibliotherapy Australia
Dr. Susan McLaine is a leading advocate and practitioner of bibliotherapy, which uses literature and storytelling to promote wellbeing. For nearly 20 years, she has researched, delivered, written, and spoken about bibliotherapy both in Australia and internationally. Dr. McLaine has offered bibliotherapy in a facilitated, self-reflective format for both adults and children through programs at St Vincents Health Australia, the State Library Victoria, BUPA, and Vision Australia. Her innovative podcasts have been described by The Guardian as “the closest thing to a hug.” Additionally, she travels across the country and offers online training for professionals and non-professionals looking to enhance their wellbeing practices.
This session is being delivered in collaboration with HLI and ALIA Research Advisory Committee.
Focus groups can be a great way for health librarians seeking to explore attitudes, perceptions, and experiences of their patrons. They can also be used as a brainstorming session to help bring in to focus the issue at hand, which can then be followed by more targeted data collection using a questionnaire or semi-structured interview. This session will outline the pros and cons of using focus groups in a health library context. Whether you’re new to focus groups or looking to refine your approach, this session will provide useful insights to support your evidence-based practice!
Presenter: Katherine Howard
Dr Katherine Howard is Intersect Australia’s Digital Research Analyst for UniSA. She supports UniSA researchers by providing expertise in various digital tools and technologies, facilitating access to NCI’s HPC (Gadi), and coordinating Intersect’s training program for UniSA staff and students. Katherine’s background is in Information Science and she has extensive national and international experience as a researcher and academic. Katherine was most recently a Research Fellow with the ARC-funded ‘Library and Information Science Research in Australia’ (LISRA) project, aimed at enabling and encouraging research in Australia’s library and information profession. Prior to this, she was an Early Career Development Fellow at RMIT; has held academic positions at QUT and UniSA; and undertaken sessional work with Curtin University and Charles Sturt University. Dr Howard has received many scholarships and research awards. She was awarded a two-year scholarship to undertake the Erasmus Mundus International Master in Digital Library Learning, studying with world-renowned Information Science scholars in Norway, Estonia and Italy. Katherine was the first person outside of North America to win a Eugene Garfield Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, and her PhD, completed at QUT, was nominated for an Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award. Katherine’s research focuses on new and emerging roles for information professionals, particularly around data science, research data management, and in the GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives and museums) sector. She also has a keen interest in the Digital Humanities.
ALIA Competencies C2: Reference and Research Services C7: Health Research
This session will demonstrate how artificial intelligence (AI) can enhance grant writing. Attendees will discover techniques to leverage AI for developing ideas, creating initial proposal drafts, enhancing content quality by improving clarity and aligning language with funder priorities, and developing supplemental documents such as letter of support, budget development. We will also briefly discuss challenges and responsible use of AI for grant writing.
Leila is a senior research librarian and a published researcher with over twenty years work experience in academic and health libraries. Leila has extensive knowledge and deep understanding of research paradigm and methodology, research process, dissemination, and implementation. During her career, Leila has been supporting research and teaching needs of staff and students from established researchers to HDR students. She has contributed to large scale research projects such as national level public health research, international polices, clinical guidelines developments and systematic reviews as a consultant and co-author. Leila supports researchers’ needs through research life cycle and provides consultation and assistance with literature reviews, grant applications, data management planning, scholarly publishing and open access, research promotion and impact assessment. As part of her current role, Leila is a scholarly communication advisor for Central Coast Local Health District (CCLHD) supporting research staff and faculty conjoints in conducting and publishing research projects.
🗓️ When
Wednesday 6 August 2025 1.00pm to 2.00pm (AEST)
🌍 Where
Online webinar Zoom – a link will be sent the day prior.
This event will be recorded and sent to attendees following the event.
💲 Cost
ALIA Members – Free Non-Members – $22. Another reason to consider HLA Membership
Catchii is a web-based software for systematic review screening, developed here in Australia. It supports all stages of the screening process, from duplicate removal to data extraction, and includes features such as multi-user collaboration, advanced keyword highlighting and AI-assisted screening. Most importantly, Catchii is completely free to use, offering a viable alternative to paid tools while remaining comparable in functionality. This session will present Catchii’s features and demonstrate its use in systematic reviews. For more information: https://catchii.org
🗓️ When
Wednesday 23/7/25 1:00pm – 2:00pm AEST
🌍 Where
Online webinar Zoom – a link will be sent the day prior.
This event will be recorded and sent to attendees following the event.
💲 Cost
ALIA Members – Free. Another reason to consider HLA Membership Non-Members – $22
If your library has introduced an innovative technology solution, we invite you to share your great idea with us, receive accolades and $3,000 to implement or further your idea.
The Award focuses on innovation projects in health care information delivery with practical outcomes. The submission must fall into one of the following categories:
The innovation is proposed (and the funds will be used to implement the innovation)
The innovation has already been achieved (and the funds will be used to further develop the innovation, or for the professional development of the team)
