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
by Rob Penfold | Jan 5, 2026 | Events
📔 Event Description
Join ALIA HLA and VHLC (Victorian Health Libraries Consortia) for an insightful session on navigating the complex world of publisher negotiations. Learn practical approaches to securing better deals, managing costs, and building strong partnerships that benefit your health library and community. Whether you’re new to negotiations or looking to refine your skills, this event will provide actionable tips and real-world examples to help you achieve the best outcomes.
🎁 Presenters
Cass Gorton – VHLC & Monash Health
John Prentice – VHLC & ANZCA
Juliet Marconi – SA Health
Gnana Segar – Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District
Cass is the Manager – Access and Discovery at Monash Health Library and the Chair of the Victorian Health Libraries Consortium (VHLC). Cass has a background in librarianship, archives, and records management in health, government, and higher education.
John has been the library manager at the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists for over 9 years, and has been a VHLC committee member for much of that time working on deals with Springer, McGraw-Hill, Taylor and Francis and Elsevier. In a previous life at Victoria University he worked on licensing as part of the library e-services team.
Juliet is the Knowledge Manager for SA Health Library Service (SAHLS), responsible for the strategic directions for the Service and enterprise-wide procurement of online resources. Juliet rejoined SA Health in March 2021 when she returned from Cairns, Queensland. She joined the SAHLS team as Manager Library Services for the Northern Adelaide Local Health Network team in late 2022. Juliet was permanently appointed to the SAHLS Knowledge Manager role in January 2025. Since qualifying as a librarian, Juliet has worked in various health library management roles within both South Australia and Queensland, including project management roles in digital health, online services and information & knowledge management services. She is passionate about strategic planning and empowering staff to achieve their professional goals.
Gnana was educated in India and possesses 36 years of experience across three countries. He has dedicated his career to the evolution of Academic and Hospital libraries. Gnana is a specialist in leveraging technology to bridge the gap between complex information and user engagement. His career highlights include leading the creation of the first union catalogue across five universities and implementing the first open-source catalogue within NSW Health. His mission is to champion evidence-based clinical decision-making by providing timely, high-impact information services. Alongside his team, he focuses on empowering health practitioners with the skills to find, appraise, and apply research. By ensuring the best research is at the fingertips of those who need it, they directly contribute to superior patient outcomes and the long-term vision of healthy people and resilient communities.
✅ ALIA HLA Competencies
C3: Resources
C5: Digital, ehealth & technology
View HLA Competencies
🕑 When
Wed 25 Mar 2026
1-2 pm (Vic/NSW/TAS/ACT) / 12-1 pm (QLD) / 12:30-1:30 pm (SA) / 11:30am-12:30 pm (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
by Rob Penfold | Dec 8, 2025 | Events
📝 Event Description
Looking to level up your grey literature skills? This interactive event brings health librarians together to:
* Share practical strategies
* Explore real-world examples
* Discuss challenges in finding and using grey literature
You’ll gain actionable techniques to:
* Improve your searches
* Enhance your training sessions
* Deliver better results for your clients
Connect with peers, learn proven approaches, and walk away with tools you can implement immediately
🗣️ Presenters
Rachel Davis & Sonny Chandra – Canberra Health Services Library
Rachel is a Senior Client Services Librarian at Canberra Health Services Library. Having moved to health libraries after 15 years in public libraries, her passion is empowering people through critical literacies, quality information and lifelong learning. Rachel draws on her background in government and library services to navigate complex information landscapes, including grey literature.
Sonny brings over 26 years of experience in library services across Fiji and Australia, with a strong focus on academic and special libraries. His expertise includes library leadership and management, digital and information literacy, teaching, training, and research support. A Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Sonny is passionate about enhancing learner engagement and interaction. He specializes in designing, delivering, and evaluating library training programs that empower learners and improve learning outcomes.
✅ ALIA HLA Competencies
C2: Reference and Research Services
C6: Health Literacy and Teaching
C7: Health Research
View HLA Competencies
🕐 When
Wed 18 Feb 26
1:00-2:00 pm (Vic / NSW / Tas / ACT)
12:00-1:00 pm 👑 QLD / 12:30-1:30 pm 🍷 SA / 11:30-12:30 pm 🐊 NT / 10:00-11:00 am 🐟 WA / 3:00-4:00 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 benefits of HLA Membership)
Non-Members – $30
🖥️ Register
Register
Additional Information
🧗♀️ Professional Development
One CPD hour towards Health Professional Development Scheme
