This was due to an ALIA HLA submission to the NHMRC in 2024 and will significantly increase the profile of health librarians in biomedical research
Some of the statements include:
“Appoint qualified librarians to advise and support researchers across a range of topics including the scholarly information life cycle, research metrics, open science practices and data management” – p16
” Provide infrastructure for supporting responsible research practices, such as appropriate library services to provide access to a curated collection of information resources and evidence based information collections” – p27
“How does the institution ensure that all researchers have access to support services as needed (for example, statistical advice, library services)” – p29
Following on from the consultation message further below, we hope people have had time to ponder what they want the NSQHS Standards to look like and how library services might be embedded in them.
To encourage participation and to ensure that the ALIA HLA submission covers off areas of interest, we invite you to come to a Zoom meeting to discuss:
📅 When: Thursday September 4th at 1pm (NSW, Vic, QLD, ACT, Tas); 12:30pm (SA, NT); 11am (WA).
The Commission is undertaking broad public consultation to inform the development of the NSQHS Standards (third edition), in collaboration with the healthcare system and community representatives. Submissions close 30 September 2025
ACSQHC is seeking to understand health system needs to ensure the next edition of the standards is relevant, evidence-based, responsive to emerging challenges and innovations in health care, outcomes focussed and integrated within health service organisations by:
Engage health service boards, leadership and clinical teams on the systems, structures, actions and improvements needed to provide high-quality care
Incorporate new and emerging evidence-based practices, and contemporary approaches to clinical governance
Strengthen clinical governance at the health service level to create resilient and scalable structures and systems
Align and adapt to evolving changes in the healthcare system
Develop and mature health service organisations to become high performing learning organisations that focus on outcomes and impact
Evolve the actions to improve cultural safety and eliminate racism in health care
Drive greater integration of care.
The Commission will consult with key stakeholders nationally, including health services, clinicians, clinical experts, consumers, peak bodies and Australian Government, state and territory health departments.
Join ALIA HLA – we encourage all health libraries to reply to the Commission’s invitation
You have 3 avenues to respond – 20-minute survey; focus group participation; a written submission.
Why? We need to speak up and be counted!
Health Libraries in Australia actively demonstrate they contribute and support accreditation. We have created open access resources:
live searches and accreditation aligned examples with ready-to-fill templates.
The NSQHS (National Safety and Quality Health Service) Standards Live Literature Searchesare a collection of PubMed searches developed by Health Libraries Australia to provide updated evidence related to the NSQHS Standards. These searches are designed to be used by health professionals to find relevant research and information to support best practices in Australian healthcare.
This Value Checklist has been developed to help health librarians systematically* collect evidence to demonstrate the success and value of their services
Full details and access to the checklist are available here
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
