by Rob Penfold | Feb 2, 2026 | News
Three good reasons to complete:
- Very short (only 11 questions)
- Only one of the questions is mandatory – basically you only need to respond where you have something to say …
- It will be very helpful to the HLA Committee for shaping strategies, directions, events & more
You have no doubt returned to work bright-eyed & bushy tailed, and eager to advance health librarianship. So grab a cuppa 🍵 and let us know your thoughts:
➡️ HLA Survey 2026 ⬅️
by Rob Penfold | Jan 16, 2026 | Events
📝 Event Description
This hands-on workshop will show you how to use Canva to create engaging and professional videos for library promotion and education resources. This session covers:
• Editing a Canva video template
• Image and text editing, animations and effects
• Using Canva record and screen capture
By the end of this training, you will have created your own short video ready to share for library promotion or educational purposes.
People who have prior experience with Canva will get the most out of this session. There will be hands-on activities. Participants will need access to a Canva account prior to the webinar.
👉 Numbers restricted to 40 participants – get in quick
🧑🏫 Trainers
• Eunice Ang – Medical Librarian, Northern Health
• Keren Moskal – Clinical Librarian and Education Lead – Monash Health
✅ ALIA HLA Competencies
C4: Leadership and management
C6: Health literacy and teaching
View HLA Competencies
🧗♀️ Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
Worth 1 hour towards the Health Professional Development Scheme
🕐 When
Tuesday, 5 May 2026 1:00 pm – 2:15 pm AEST (75 minutes)
🌏 Where
Online Zoom webinar – a link will be sent the day prior.
💸 Cost
ALIA Members – $40 (savings of $35 if you were an HLA Member)
Non-Members – $75
✍️ Register
Register / More information
by Rob Penfold | Jan 16, 2026 | News
I am working on a research project about health librarians’ knowledge and use of topic & methodological search filters in Australia and New Zealand. This research project was one of the winners of the HLA Anne Harrison Award in 2024.
The aim of the survey is to gather information on whether health librarians are aware of topic & methodological search filters, whether librarians use them and where librarians are getting these filters from.
Take the survey here (Takes 5-10 minutes)
I am using “health librarian” loosely. Basically if:
- You have previously worked or are currently working in a health/medical library setting, and
- You have heard of topic or methodological search filters,
you are eligible to take part in the survey 😊
It doesn’t matter if your job title isn’t strictly “librarian”, or if you have never used topic or methodological search filters. I still want to hear from you if you fulfil the two criteria above.
Your participation will be greatly appreciated! Please feel free to 👉 forward this survey on to your colleagues as well.
If you have any questions, please email me at eunice.ang@nh.org.au
by Rob Penfold | Jan 6, 2026 | Events
📝 Event Description
Join us for an engaging lunchtime session exploring the vital role health libraries play in safeguarding organisational history.
Discover practical strategies for building and caring for historical collections, and learn how to access National Library of Australia Community Heritage Grants to support preservation and digitisation projects.
Whether you’re starting a collection or planning a heritage initiative, this session will provide actionable tips and inspiration to keep your health service’s story alive.
🗣️ Presenters
Pat Stott – Eastern Health
Michelle Pitman – Grampians Health
Tania Barry – Northern Health
Cherish Mcdonald – Hunter New England Local Health District
Pat graduated as a Library Technician and worked extensively in primary schools. Joined Eastern Health in about 2008 as a Technician. Completed a Librarian Degree in 2017 with an interest in archives. Gained a Masters Degree in Data Management. Loves learning new stuff, loves discarding and weeding stuff, doesn’t want to specialise, and has a paint and art supply addiction.
Michelle qualified as a late-in-life librarian from Curtin University in 2019 and has worked at the Horsham campus of Grampians Health since November that year. This role has her straddling the vicissitudes of being, simultaneously, a “solo” librarian, while also being part of the library team at the Ballarat campus. She’s however, very grateful for this support or it would get very challenging very quickly! Her professional interests are library marketing, health history and generative artificial intelligence in health and scholarly communications. Her personal interests are her cat ‘Lola’, sourdough bread making, reading Sci-Fi & epic fantasy novels and watching endless YouTube chateau renovation channels!
Tania is an experienced information and knowledge professional with over 20 years’ experience across academic, local government and health sectors. Her work focuses on strategic leadership, workforce development and building high-performing teams that deliver inclusive, community-focused services. In her current role at Northern Health, she leads library and information literacy services, ensuring staff, students and community members can access and apply evidence-based information to support health outcomes.
Cherish a wearer of multiple hats, she can wax an eyebrow (was a beauty therapist in a past life) while doing a literature review (poorly, area of PD) and whip up a smart-looking CANVA graphic to market library services. Cherish is passionate about equity of access to health information and library services, a good espresso, the collection and maintenance of organisational history, and library marketing. She recently completed a Master of Library & Information Science at CSU, and is on the organising committee for the Hospital Librarians COP. Most importantly, she has an honorary PhD in snack collection for her two chaotic children and French bulldogs, in the words of Em Rusciano, a “maximalist power queen” and very tired.
✅ ALIA HLA Competencies
CA3: Resources
View HLA Competencies
🕐 When
Tuesday, 28 April 2026
1-2pm (Vic/NSW/TAS/ACT/QLD);
12:30-1:30pm (SA/NT);
11am-12pm (WA);
3-4pm (NZ)
🗺️ 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 (One of 14 reasons to consider HLA Membership)
Non-Members – $30
✍️ Register
Register / Additional Information
🧗♀️ Professional Development
One CPD hour towards Health Professional Development Scheme
by Rob Penfold | Jan 5, 2026 | Events
📗 Event Description
Join us for a practical session on literature searches, focusing on how to present results effectively to clients.
Learn strategies to make your search outputs clear, actionable, and tailored to client needs.
🗣️ Presenters
Jana Waldmann – The King Prince Charles Hospital – Metro North Health
Susie Moreton – Epworth Healthcare (Epworth Knowledge Services)
Jackie Edwards – Murrumbidgee Local Health District
Maddie Beer – Monash Health
Jana is the Manager, Library Services at The Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane, Queensland. You’ll find her most days trawling medical databases for evidence to support patient care, organisational change, and research. With a background in magazine and technical publishing, she is a big fan of templates and making documents functional but pretty. She has a passion for evidence synthesis methods, working with research teams on reviews and raising awareness of best practice through education and training.
Susie trained as a teacher before completing her Masters in Information Science. She has worked in academic libraries and publishing, and joined Epworth in 2009 where her passion for autodidactism, discovery and access has enabled her to contribute across all domains. EKS is a fully accessible web-based knowledge service which is integrated with Epworth’s clinical, education, research and quality activities. Susie has positioned literature searching as EKS’s premier service for doctors and senior staff, leveraging our expertise in discovery, access and understanding of our requestors’ needs.
Jackie is Library Manager at Murrumbidgee Local Health District, located at Wagga Base Hospital. I support MLHD staff and affiliated students from UNSW Rural Medical School and CSU School of Rural Medicine. I have extensive experience in local government, health, and University libraries. My interests include user experience, digital resources, and research.
Madeleine is a Medical Librarian at Monash Health Library with extensive experience in advanced literature searching to support clinical care, research, and organizational decision-making. She also delivers training webinars to enhance literature searching skills among healthcare professionals.
✅ ALIA HLA Competencies
C3: Resources
C5: Digital, ehealth & technology
View HLA Competencies
🕐 When
Thursday, 5 March 2026
1-2 pm (Vic/NSW/TAS/ACT) | 12-1 pm (QLD) | 12:30-1:30pm (SA) | 11:30am-12:30pm (NT) | 10-11 am (WA) | 3-4 pm (NZ)
🗺️ 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 (One of 14 reasons to consider HLA Membership)
Non-Members – $30
📝 Register
Register / Additional Information
🧗♀️ Professional Development
One CPD hour towards Health Professional Development Scheme
