WORKSHOP OVERVIEW:

Reviews (systematic or scoping) are a great way to answer research questions or summarise evidence on a topic, but they take a long time and are a lot of work. Fortunately, there are now tools and methodological innovations that can help with doing reviews. One of these tools available is the Evidence Review Accelerator (TERA) built in Australia by a team at Bond University. TERA improves the speed of conducting reviews by accelerating all the tasks in a review. This workshop will cover all the tools available in TERA, but will focus on using the tools of most value to information specialist/librarians.  Attendees will gain practical experience using TERA quickly design and run precise search strategies, while also gaining background information on the other review tasks to better enable review support at their institution. TERA is available at the following website: https://tera-tools.com/, and a 12-month subscription to TERA is included in the workshop fee.

🗣️ PRESENTER:

The workshop will be presented by Justin Clark, a Research Fellow in Evidence Review Acceleration and lead of the Automation program at the Institute for Evidence-Based Practice (IEBH) at Bond University, Gold Coast Australia. He is also the Cochrane Information Specialist for the Acute Respiratory Infections Group, was a member of the Cochrane Information Specialists Executive and the Co-Lead of the search group of the Living Evidence Network. He is one of the inventors of the Two-Week Systematic Review (2weekSR) method, a founding member of the International Collaboration for the Automation of Systematic Reviews (ICASR) and leads the development of the Evidence Review Accelerator (TERA), a suite of automation tools that accelerate the production of evidence synthesis.  His research focuses on improving evidence synthesis methods to reduce the resources needed to conduct reviews of the evidence. For more information about Justin’s research please visit his Research Profile: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=55311800800

💸 COST: ALIA – $120; Non-ALIA – $180

🕧 TIME: 10am – 4pm (face to face)

WHAT TO BRING:

BYO laptop; lunch (or head to nearby eatery at lunchtime)

🌏 WHERE: Face to face in either Melbourne, Brisbane or Sydney

Melbourne

Tuesday May 26^th 2026

Royal Australasian College of Surgeons – Skills & Education Space

250/290 Spring St, East Melbourne VIC 3002

Register here: Advances in Systematic Review Automation Methods – Melbourne Workshop

Brisbane

Thursday May 28^th 2026

Pathology Queensland (CSIRO site)

Block 1 (make yourself known at security)

39 Kessels Rd, Coopers Plains QLD 4108

https://maps.app.goo.gl/14zowXMdZuUg6w61A

Register here: Advances in Systematic Review Automation Methods – Brisbane

Sydney

Friday June 12th 2026

Royal North Shore Hospital – Kolling Institute

10 Westbourne Street, St Leonards NSW 2065

Register here: Advances in Systematic Review Automation Methods – Sydney Workshop

The post Advances in Systematic Review Automation (In Person. May Melb 26 & Bris 28, Jun Syd 12) appeared first on Health Libraries Australia.

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

The post ALIA HLA: Negotiating with Publishers: Strategies for Success (1-2 Wed 25 Mar) appeared first on Health Libraries Australia.

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

The post ALIA HLA: Preserving Our Past: Hospital Libs & Organisational History (1-2 Tue 28 Apr) appeared first on Health Libraries Australia.

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

The post Canva for Librarians: Easy Video Design for Promotion & Training 40 spots (Tue 05 May) appeared first on Health Libraries Australia.

Registration is free and includes the full schedule of symposium sessions. All sessions will in English, held on Zoom, with Zoom-integrated captioning and transcripts available.

Shortly before the event, you will receive an access link for the LESSS Zoom event by email

Registration closes on June 11, 2026.

Sessions (except for networking events and roundtables) will be recorded with transcripts, but presenters may chose to not release that recording for viewing after the conference

View the Symposium home page

The post LESSS – Free online Library Evidence Synthesis Services Symposium (Jun 15-18) appeared first on Health Libraries Australia.

This is a joint effort between HLA & HLi, so it will be twice as good

Theme: The Fire Within : Passion and Purpose in Health Libraries

More details to follow …

The post 📅 Save the Date – HLA + HLi Joint Conference (👉 Oct 15-16 Melbourne) appeared first on Health Libraries Australia.

She has won a number of awards including the ALIA Fellowship 2013 & the HCL Anderson Award 2020 and published quite extensively

She has decided to hang up her (Dockers) boots and swap Libkey Nomad for Grey Nomad

(in the image, Cheryl is on the left with an unknown art gallery attendant on the right)

Her most ardent parting wish is that anyone who hasn’t yet completed the HLA 2026 Survey takes the time to do so

As many librarians are frustrated authors, perhaps the best send off is a Cheryl Poem (by a health librarian who obviously has too much time on his hands …)

An ode to Cheryl, on her retirement (HCL Anderson redux)

There once was a health librarian named Cheryl,

Whose name was not amenable to limerick writing,

Unless she had colleagues named Beryl, or Meryl,

And they co-authored papers, and were diligent in citing.

Still, even if the rhymes elude a limerick,

The HCL Anderson award is worthy of something poetic.

A sonnet in MeSH, perhaps, announced with a gong,

Or NLM classification reworked as the Dockers theme song.

I know. A Haiku!

It’s True, I do know haiku.

See, told you I do.

But back to Cheryl, and all that she does,

For WA, and HLA, and NLA, and ALIA;

For committees and sub-committees and all their paraphernalia;

And, well, frankly, for all of us.

(Sidenote – ALIA is not the Australian Liquor Industry Association…

although that would explain some MARC records I’ve seen – boom-tish!)

But back to Cheryl, and all that she does,

In collecting and parsing and sharing,

And building and joining and supporting,

And setting an example for all of us.

There cannot be a PubMed search string she has not run,

An interdisciplinary comment thread she has not begun,

A publisher price she has not negotiated down,

Or an uppity rep she has not run out of town.

So all hail Cheryl, a paragon of the profession,

Even if she would be appalled by this digression.

Fare thee well in your deserved retirement,

As you pen your memoirs on digital parchment.

No more battling the traffic on Canning Highway.

No more worrying if your job can be done by AI.

No more union claims frustrated at every turn.

No more desire to watch the (publishing) world burn.

No more finding all the full-text… except one!

No more search updates to be redone.

No more fighting mildew in the basement stacks.

No more downtime after more cyber attacks.

Just a new hip to go with the other one

And a new caravan to chase the sun.

Plenty of reading and a Europe trip or two,

A Dockers flag to pine for and some Weagles to boo.

The money is the same but the hours are better.

As one road ends another will lead wherever.

Dream a  new dream and say goodbye to tension,

Set a new goal and say hello to your pension.

All hail Cheryl, a paragon of the profession,

The legacy she leaves is a lasting impression.

Health and libraries are richer for her contribution,

And all of us blessed by her friendship and dedication.

The post Cheryl Hamill – long time fixture in Australian health libraries is exiting stage left appeared first on Health Libraries Australia.

• 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 ⬅️

The post HLA Survey 2026 – Share your thoughts to help us improve (closes 31/03/26) appeared first on Health Libraries Australia.

Collaborative large language models (LLMs) are all you need for screening in systematic reviews (2026, preprint)

    ”collaborative approach utilizing the two best-performing models (GPT-4 and Claude-3S) achieved an average precision of 99.9% and a recall of 98.5%”

AI, Automation, and the Future of Library Science Degree Careers (2026)

Thousands of paywalled research papers could be freed with this simple fix (2026, JCU librarians)

Latest issue of JMLA

    Changing minds and methods: providing health sciences faculty with alternatives to systematic reviews assignments

    Which Systematic Review Software Works Best? A Practical Comparison

        good comparison table

    bims: Biomed News (other listservs of possible interest to health librarians available on the Elist section of HLA)

        how you can create your own alert if you are particularly interested in a topic, and then others can follow it etc

    OpenEvidence

Google Vids – New (Sep 2025) / free (10 min length limit), cloud based, seems pretty easy to use  / can provide text & a pretty good AI voice will provide the voiceovers / introductory video

Research Waste, Redundancy and the Rise of the Machines: The Questionable Future of Systematic Reviews (2026)

Canadian Health Library Value Planner (2026) – available at Health Libraries – How to Demonstrate Value

Google Scholar title OR search

    allintitle:dog | cat | “insulin resistance”

OpenAi launches Prism for researchers

“Prism (free) brings together drafting, editing, citation management, equations, and collaboration in a single, cloud-based environment. Built with native LaTeX support, the platform removes the need for complex local setups while enabling researchers to focus on their work rather than tooling”

AI agents are hiring human ‘meatspace workers’ — including some scientists (2026)

” … just a few of the tasks assigned to people on RentAHuman.ai — a platform that allows people to advertise their time and talent to artificial-intelligence agents”

Open-source AI tool beats giant LLMs in literature reviews — and gets citations right (2026)

Australia introduces open science policy to expand access and collaboration in health research (2026, old news but comes into effect Jan & Feb for MRFF & NHMRC respectively)

“Academic research generates more than 6.5 million papers annually, and over 20 million datasets, each representing potential training signals for the artificial intelligence systems reshaping discovery. Yet most institutional data remains locked in formats optimized for human consumption rather than computational processing“

Are AI Tools Killing Review Articles? Two Failure Modes Suggest Otherwise (2026, Aaron Tay)

Keyboard shortcuts for Outlook (web version)  – in case of use to anyone else who prefers the web version of Outlook (may work in the program also – not sure)

(note – this is with Gmail keyboard shortcuts activated via settings (cog icon top right) > General > Accessibility > Keyboard Shortcuts > select Gmail)

Search:

category:         e.g. category:tickets   (via Label as above)

subject:           e.g. subject:iron

from:                e.g  from:juliet

Boolean:         e.g. AND OR NOT     (e.g. received:12/03/2024 AND subject:ticket)

attachments:    e.g. hasattachment:yes     attachments:*.docx

received:            e.g. received:today  “this week” “this month” “this year” 12/03/2024

to:                        e.g. to:juliet

Many of you may have heard that Cheryl Hamill is exiting stage left (today actually) after many years being a leading light in health librarianship.

Read the poem written for her – by a librarian with clearly too little work to do – and discover her most ardent parting wish …

“One in four animals on the planet earth is a beetle. Think of your three closest friends – if none of them are beetles, statistically speaking you are probably a beetle” 🪲 

New issues of JEAHIL, JCHLA (reviews of Lens, DynaMed, OpenAlex etc)

New Aaron Tay posts:

The Blank Box Problem: Why It’s Harder Than Ever to Know What to Type Into an AI Search Bar

Deep Research, Shallow Agency: What Academic Deep Research Can and Can’t Do

Model Context Protocol (MCP) Servers – Wiley AI Gateway & PubMed – How Claude can now pilot test search strategies using PubMed

Google Scholar Labs (ask it a natural language question and it provides a set of citations with each having a summary of the answer underneath it)

Google Scholar blog (highlights and comments now available in Scholar PDF Reader)

Interesting read – Technically Accurate, Medically Fatal : The AI Error We Caught in Real-Time

Very extensive wiki on AI compiled by a medical librarian (Dean Guistini). Scroll down to see the most visited topics, review on individual tools

Conducting Systematic Reviews in a Day: Enter Artificial Intelligence (one of the authors is from the Centre for Journalology so must be good)

“We recently introduced otto-SR (Otto Science Institute), a generative AI system for automated screening and data extraction that incorporates advanced prompting strategies and agentic LLM workflows. Data from currently unpublished studies involving benchmarking against dual human reviewers suggest that otto-SR achieved superior performance in both screening (otto-SR: 96.7% sensitivity, 97.9% specificity; human: 81.7% sensitivity, 98.1% specificity) and data extraction (otto-SR: 93.1% accuracy;  human: 79.7% accuracy) tasks. Most notably, otto-SR reproduced and updated an entire issue of the Cochrane library (12  SRs) in under 2 days*, highlighting the potential for automation to accelerate evidence synthesis and to provide decisionmakers with timely information. Across these 12 SRs, otto-SR  included nearly twice as many eligible studies as the original Cochrane authors (114 versus 64 studies)”

* “Using otto-SR, we reproduced and updated an entire issue of Cochrane reviews (n=12) in two days, representing approximately 12 work-years of traditional systematic review work“. From the preprint describing Otto

Queryome: Orchestrating Retrieval, Reasoning, and  Synthesis across Biomedical Literature

“More recently, the concept of agentic RAG has gained traction, promising more sophisticated “deep research” capabilities. Systems developed by industry leaders such as OpenAI [16], Perplexity AI [17], and Google [18] have demonstrated the ability to decompose complex questions, perform iterative searches, and synthesize more comprehensive reports. Yet, these general-purpose agentic systems are not specifically tailored for the biomedical domain … to bridge this gap, we introduce Queryome, a multi-agent deep research system designed specifically for end-to-end biomedical literature analysis. Queryome orchestrates a hierarchy of collaborating AI agents that perform iterative, multi-faceted searches against a curated, comprehensive search engine covering the entirety of PubMed [1]. Crucially, the  system is engineered to reason over abstract text of every retrieved article, ensuring that its  final synthesis is deeply grounded in the available evidence”

Available as an app for Windows & MacOS

Instats videos – quite a few are free (using Filters (top right) > Sort by > Free. Many are quite technical but there are a number on research, using statistical tools (R, Python etc). An upcoming one is AI Tools for Research 2.0 (requires free registration, can be watched later)

Previously mentioned the many useful ebooks available via Open Educational Resources (OER) but difficulty in keeping track on new ebooks available. You can sign up to receive updates here

Spotted in the Fin Review re terrible corporate jargon – being “Promoted Outwards” is “not about job cuts but giving employees the opportunity to embrace new challenges outside the organisation”

TRIP Mind Maps live / Video introduction

Amusing PubMed article

The post Odds & Ends of Possible Interest (Updated – 05 Mar 2026) appeared first on Health Libraries Australia.

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

The post Survey of health librarians on the use of topic & methodological search filters appeared first on Health Libraries Australia.

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

The post ALIA HLA: Making It Matter – Deliver Search Results That Hit the Mark (1-2 Thu 5 Mar) appeared first on Health Libraries Australia.

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

The post ALIA HLA: Unearthing Grey Literature: Learn, Share, Apply (1-2 pm Wed 18 Feb 26) appeared first on Health Libraries Australia.

In this session, we’re shining a spotlight on the creative and impactful ways hospital libraries are reaching out to their communities. You’ll hear from passionate professionals who are doing fantastic work through pop-up libraries and outreach services in their health settings. Each speaker will share their unique approach—how they’ve brought library services beyond traditional walls, connected with staff in new ways, and made health information more accessible and engaging.

Whether you’re looking for inspiration, practical ideas, or just curious about what’s possible, we hope you come along and learn from others and share your own successes with us all.

📢 Presenters

• Cherish Mcdonald – Hunter New England Local Health District
• Megan Giles & Sue Bethune – Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service
• Michelle Pitman – Grampians Health

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.

Megan is a librarian with a special interest in hospital librarianship, committed to partnering with clinicians, students and partner organisations to enable improved health outcomes through evidence-based practice, research and collaboration. Coupled with extensive experience as a psychologist (organisational) and health professional, she is passionate about creating a welcoming learning environment, enabling access to contemporary evidence, and leveraging ‘teachable moments’ to build capacity and confidence amongst library clients.

Sue is a passionate health sciences librarian who uses her extensive background in education to foster self-efficacy and independent learning in library clientele. This is achieved through recognition that all learning environments must be non-threatening, relaxed, and based on hands-on activities if new skills and ideas are to be embedded. Sue particularly enjoys the intricacies of specialised librarianship and has worked in law, music, health and university libraries.

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!

✅ ALIA Competencies

C2: Reference and Research Services
C6: Health Literacy and Teaching

🕐 When

Wednesday, 26 November 2025

 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)

11:00-12:00 (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
Non-Members – $25

✍ Register

Register | Additional information

The post On the Go: Mobile & Pop-Up Health Library Services (Online1-2 pm Wed 26 Nov) appeared first on Health Libraries Australia.

📝 Register

Speaker: Dr Farhad Shokraneh

This free session will delve into the most recent developments in the field of using AI in evidence synthesis, highlighting the gaps between research and practice. The session will include a summary of research, useful tools with brief practical points, guidance on responsible use, and reporting guidelines. Since it is expected that most participants will have expertise in library and information science, there will be a greater focus on using AI in information retrieval for systematic reviews.

Health Technology Assessment international (HTAi) Information Retrieval Group (IRG)

The post HTAi Free webinar – Responsible Use of AI in Evidence Synthesis (Oct 30) appeared first on Health Libraries Australia.

🎓 Doing a PhD

👑 Prince Charles Hospital Library

🏥 Hospital history project

& more

Like to be published by writing up a project / improvement / process / anything of interest to health librarians?

Send an email to Daniel McDonald who will guide you through the process

The post Latest Issue of JoHILA Now Available – with Articles on 🎓 👑 🏥 🖼️ & more … appeared first on Health Libraries Australia.

👉 These are not run by ALIA or HLA

1️⃣ Open Science & Evidence Synthesis Thursday, October 23, 2025 @ 15:00 UTC/11 am EDT Register here

In this webinar, attendees will learn about the importance of Open Science principles in evidence synthesis and how adopting Open and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) workflows are vital for maintaining rigour in evidence synthesis. The session will cover both theory and practical advice, indicating the tradeoffs and cost implications of each component of Open Synthesis. We will discuss examples of good and bad practice, as well as becoming aware of tools to support open practices.

2️⃣ Framing the Research Question & Managing Search Volumes Monday, November 24, 2025 @ 16:00 UTC/11 am EST Register here

We’ll cover the importance of question framing in evidence synthesis as the foundational step in any review project. Attendees will learn about what types of questions can be answered with evidence synthesis and see examples of diverse types of questions. We will cover the theory of question formulation and practical examples of questions formulated for real-world review projects. We’ll discuss the practicalities of the implications of question framing – namely, the volume of evidence we then have to screen for relevance. The session will discuss how to manage this tradeoff of sensitivity (getting everything) versus specificity (staying manageable), and show examples of the time needed for different breadths and types of question.

3️⃣ Adaptive Approaches to Reviewing Evidence & Diverse Workflows Thursday, December 11, 2025 @ 16:00 UTC/11 am EST Register here

What happens if your review isn’t quite standard practice? How can you ensure you finish your review if time runs out? This webinar will focus on real-world application of evidence synthesis methodology best practice and give practical suggestions of ways to ensure you finish your review if resources, time or staff are limited. We will cover the nooks and crannies that lie between standard review types, not the traditional systematic review and meta-analysis but the more unconventional types of review – part-map, part framework. These often more exploratory methods are vital for maintaining rigour and allowing for ongoing work whilst still producing a high-quality, publishable output. We will cover what to do and what to call them. We will also cover practical ways in which you can plan for limitations in your workflows, ensuring you still have a rigorous product even if you run out of time.

About the Speaker

Neal Haddaway is an independent interdisciplinary researcher working in the field of environmental and social policy, but with a particular interest in agri-food supply chains. He has been working as an evidence synthesis methodologist since 2012 and has authored almost 200 publications, including methodology articles, systematic reviews, systematic maps and other forms of syntheses. He has contributed to best practice guidance for systematic reviews and maps. He has worked with the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence as Centre Director and Trustee, the Campbell Collaboration as Co-lead of the Climate Solutions Coordinating Group, and within the Cochrane Climate-Health Working Group. He established the Evidence Synthesis Hackathon and Evidence Synthesis and Meta-Analysis in R Conference, and has personally produced a suite of free online tools, including PRISMA2020 flowcharts and citationchaser. He has been teaching evidence synthesis methodology for 13 years and provides methods courses and training workshops across the world.

The post Three free webinars on evidence synthesis methods by Neal Haddaway (Oct-Dec) appeared first on Health Libraries Australia.

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

This publication is listed on the Resources for Health Libraries Undergoing a Review HLA page

The post Medical Libraries included in the new 2025 NHMRC Good Institutional Practice Guide appeared first on Health Libraries Australia.

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 4^th at 1pm (NSW, Vic, QLD, ACT, Tas); 12:30pm (SA, NT); 11am (WA).

🌏 Where: Zoom

🗣 Topic: NSQHS Standards – 3rd edition

https://alia-org-au.zoom.us/j/83653358035?pwd=4tahWpwGdDS2bNhAy4chU7lhFEWXPR.1 Meeting ID: 836 5335 8035 / Passcode: 019898

Consultation open on the NSQHS Standards (third edition)

NSQHS Standards (third edition) Engagement Hub

9 July 2025 | NSQHS Standards 

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 Searches are 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.

The post NSQHS Standards are being updated – Zoom meeting to discuss (1:00 pm, 04 Sep) appeared first on Health Libraries Australia.

Full details and access to the checklist are available here

*a favourite word for health librarians

The post HLA Library Checklist (use to demonstrate value) now available appeared first on Health Libraries Australia.

Description

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

See also: HLA Competencies

🕥 When

Tuesday, 16 September 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 (just 1 of 14 benefits of HLA Membership)
Non-Members – $22

✍ Register

Register | Additional Information

The post ALIA HLA: Research Methods for Health Librarians 2: Focus Groups (1-2 pm Tue 16 Sep) appeared first on Health Libraries Australia.